On Thursday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) advised the leading economies to ensure efficient implementation of standards placed for the illegal flow of money. The regulator wrote that the Group of Seven (G-7) economies must take the lead in implementing recommendations put in place to combat illicit financial flows through crypto.
In a letter addressed to the head of G7 nations, T. Raja Kumar, the president of FATF advised the nations to come forwards and start implementing the standards for the larger good.
Sources reveal that the strongly framed message titled “An end to the lawless crypto space” was published ahead of a meeting of G-7 leaders in Hiroshima, Japan which is scheduled to start on Friday.
The Group of Seven (G7) is a grouping of seven major industrialized democracies and advanced economies of the world, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.
As reported by Todayq News, the group’s finance ministers and central bank governors have already discussed crypto regulation in a meeting last weekend, and are set to reiterate their support for tougher crypto rules globally at the summit.
In recent times, the FATF has been actively urging countries to implement its controversial “travel rule” which mandates crypto service providers to collect and share information on transactions above a certain threshold. The rule has been designed with the intent to curb money laundering and the financing of terrorism through digital assets.
The FATF president also wrote that countries across the globe need to step up for the “travel rule” to be efficient. He added that 73% of countries are still “non-compliant or only partially compliant” with the watchdog’s standards. Quoting him:
Around the globe, countries have made progress in implementing most of the standards; however, progress on implementing FATF’s updated requirements on crypto assets has been relatively poor. Countries need to take urgent action to shut down lawless spaces, which allow criminals, terrorists, and rogue states to use crypto assets.
Although analysts estimate around 0.1% to 15.4% of crypto transactions to be unlawful, the FATF has said there may be too low. Kumar said G-7 countries taking the lead in “fully and effectively implementing FATF’s global standards is crucial to our collective success.”
Notably, the FATF has taken various measures to control money laundering and financing of terrorism via crypto. The institution also has a “grey list” for nations that don’t follow its anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for cryptocurrencies.”
The FATF’s list of countries that it considers to be “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” is known as the “grey list.” One of the countries who are on the grey list includes Dubai which has been making efforts to be removed from the list.