Virtual Currencies Included In Amendments To EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive
Amendments to the European Union anti-money laundering law places virtual currencies under the same obligations as other payment institutions, according to the European Parliament news service. The MEPs recently agreed to the amendments by a vote of 89 to 1. The amendments approved by the Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties committees are designed to eliminate gaps in the EU’s laws to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. The law would also include stricter rules to prevent tax evasion. Citizens To Gain Access To Trusts. EU citizens will be able to access....
Related News
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has advised that the European Commission establish a regulatory regime specific to virtual currencies such as bitcoin. Commenting on the commission’s proposal to amend the existing European anti-money laundering directive, the EBA expresses the opinion that, in the long term, oversight of digital currencies should not fall under regular anti-money laundering provisions, but rather under a specialized EU body. In a response to the commission published by the EBA in August 2016, the banking authority suggests that the existing anti-money laundering....
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....
Money laundering and terrorist financing remain the top two concerns for financial regulations to this very day. 4MLD, a new regulatory directive, will have significant consequences for virtual currencies in Europe. 4MLD Targets Virtual Currencies. It does not come as a complete surprise to learn companies in Europe will have to adhere to stricter KYC....
Last month, the European Commission published a draft directive proposing to extend anti-money laundering (AML) regulation to both virtual currency exchange services and custodial wallet providers. The draft suggests that many Bitcoin companies operating within the European Union will need to apply know-your-customer (KYC) types of checks on their users, to be enforced by 2017. Phrasing of the directive left some uncertainty over its extent, however —in particular over what are considered “wallet providers offering custodial services of credentials necessary to access virtual currencies.”....
The European Commission published a new directive draft last week proposing to extend strict anti-money laundering (AML) regulation to both virtual currency exchange services and custodial wallet providers. Intended to counter “money launderers, tax evaders, terrorists, fraudsters and other criminals,” the directive could mean that many Bitcoin companies in the E.U. will have to apply know your customer (KYC) types of checks on their users. The proposal, which particularly focuses on terrorist financing, intends to restrict the anonymous use of virtual currencies, presumably referring to....