According to Foresight News, the third plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-money laundering regulator, pointed out that four years after strengthening the standard for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), the global implementation of these measures is still relatively poor. Nearly three-quarters of jurisdictions only partially comply with or do not comply with FATF requirements. Many jurisdictions have not yet implemented basic requirements, and more than half of the respondents have not taken any measures to implement the Travel Rule. The rule is a key requirement of the FATF to prevent funds from being transferred to sanctioned individuals or entities. The FATF calls on all countries to apply anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism rules to virtual asset service providers without further delay.
On June 27, FATF will release a report urging countries to quickly implement FATF recommendations on virtual assets and VASPs, including the travel rule, to stop these vulnerabilities. The report also highlights emerging risks, including illicit virtual asset-related activities used by North Korea to finance its weapons of mass destruction programs, and risks from DeFi and peer-to-peer transactions. In addition, FATF said it will continue to promote global compliance and publish a table in the first half of 2024 showing what measures FATF member jurisdictions and other jurisdictions with significant virtual asset trading activities have taken to implement Recommendation 15.