Chamber’s Token Alliance Addresses Anti-Money Laundering Compliance in its “Understanding Digital Token” Series
September 10, 2019
Today, we are pleased to introduce “Considerations and Guidelines for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance” to complement our “Understanding Digital Tokens” series. This report supplements our earlier reports from the series on securities and non-securities tokens, consumer protection, and the data and trends on the industry.
(Read our recent blog posts here describing the series.)
AML compliance continues to be a primary focus of industry since FinCEN published its original guidance on convertible virtual currencies in 2013. The latest approval by the FATF of Recommendations involving virtual assets and virtual asset service providers and FinCEN’s most recent guidance for virtual currency businesses keep these issues at the forefront of industry priority.
Modernizing the United States’ AML laws is an important goal, particularly in light of the advances in blockchain and digital asset technology that enable people and industries to engage in commerce in new and important ways. Like any industry and any currency, these technologies can be used for incredibly important purposes; but also, in some cases, to engage in unlawful activity.
These AML guidelines and considerations are designed to assist industry to detect and deter illicit activity by:
- Stressing the importance of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing;
- Setting out the rules and regulations that certain categories of businesses must follow with respect to establishing formal anti-money laundering policies and practices;
- Highlighting OFAC requirements and sanctions screening; and
- Establishing a set of guidelines for token sponsors and token trading platforms to consider when crafting AML compliance programs.
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn as we introduce future segments including guidelines around cyber security and the introduction of legal landscapes surrounding additional countries and the laws that apply to digital tokens.