The United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and its director Kenneth Blanco spoke at the University of Georgetown recently where he made it clear that the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws directly apply to everyone. The FinCEN chief said that fintech firms offering cryptocurrency users anonymity must comply with AML “just like everyone else.”
As reported in the banking trade publication American Banker, Blanco seemed confident towards anonymous crypto payment systems that could conceal the criminal activity and/or enable users to anonymously engage in any type of criminal behaviour.
The FinCEN chief was also in the cryptonews for stating that the key objective of the AML policy is to obtain information about who is involved in a payment transaction. As he noted:
“There is a reason you want to know … the person on the other side of that transaction — they might be dealing in some kind of illicit activity. Whether it’s opioids … or human smuggling on the other side … you want to know who that person is.”
Blanco also told the audience that it is not hard to obtain this type of information. “All we’re asking for is name, address, account number, transaction, recipient, and amount,” the FinCEN chief pointed, adding:
“So when you tell me you don’t know who’s on the other side, you’ve got a big problem. Because you are required to know, and that is what our expectation is going to be.”
Earlier this month, the chairmen of three primary financial regulators in the US released a joint statement in which they warned crypto users of AML and combating the Financing of Terrorism obligations. Led by the FinCEN chief, they reminded that crypto companies that they are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). As Blanco said in this regard:
“Your BSA obligations are still going to be there […] Whether you’re stablecoin, centralized, decentralized — [it] doesn’t matter. You’ll still have to be able to comply.”
Even though Blanco did not say anything worth mentioning in the Libra coin news, he did make it clear that as far as FinCEN is concerned, there is no distinction between stablecoins and other types of cryptocurrency.
As of recently, US House of Representatives has passed a bill that calls for FinCEN to study blockchain technology in its fight against financial crime.
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