Bitcoin Controls on European Commission President’s 2017 Priority List
The European Parliament has released a new report, focusing on digital currencies like bitcoin for the first time, in a bid to tackle anti-money laundering (AML) issues, which is a priority that the European Commission hopes to achieve by the end of 2017. Before his election as President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker set out policy priorities, which would serve as his Commission’s guidelines for the following five years. With the stated aim of focusing on the ‘big things’, Juncker outlined ten key areas in which he wanted ‘the EU to make a difference and deliver concrete....
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The European Parliament has recently released a report entitled ‘The Juncker Commission’s ten priorities: State of play at the start of 2017.’ It includes digital currencies for the first time as part of the Commission’s anti-money laundering efforts, which is a priority the Commission hopes to deliver by the end of 2017. The proposed amendments seek to....
The executive branch of the European Union today adopted a proposal meant to make it more difficult for terrorists and money-launderers to operate by revising existing anti-money laundering (AML) protections. Tucked away in the list of changes proposed by the European Commission is a measure specifically designed to prevent terrorists from using virtual currencies and other financial tools deemed as risk for abuse, such as prepaid cards. Under the terms of the proposal, virtual currency exchanges and custodian wallet providers will be brought under the purvey of the EU's Anti-Money....
The European Commission’s recent decision to delay new anti-money laundering legislation by six-months is the latest in a string of new developments impacting digital currencies in the EU. This proposed directive which will now be pushed back to June 2017, proposes stricter controls around corporate entity structures and virtual currencies, with greater powers granted to tax authorities to investigate crimes. A January 25, 2017 vote of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs has been scheduled before it moves on to a wider vote by the European Parliament. Terrorist acts in....
The European Banking Association (EBA) has called for more details regarding the European Union's (EU) plan to impose tighter anti-money laundering (AML) controls on digital currency exchanges and custodial wallet services. The group, which counts more than 100 major banking institutions as members, offered comment yesterday on a prior proposal from the executive branch of the EU to bring exchange and wallet services under the Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Proponents say the move would end the perceived anonymity of purchases and transactions conducted using the technology. Still,....
The European Commission and its partnering agencies including Europol have become increasingly active in its investigation on terrorist financing and and the use of digital currencies such as bitcoin in the dark web. As a part of its global initiative to reduce and restrict financial flows of terrorists and money laundering, the European Commission has proposed to regulate digital currency exchange platforms under the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which would require bitcoin exchanges to keep sensitive customer data records for bitcoin-to-fiat trading. “These platforms have....