News
Despite New York’s Pending Rules, More Clarity Needed for Bitcoin Exchanges, Say Experts
By Steve Viuker
printWith New York rules for digital currency exchanges in the works, other states are stepping up to draft rules of their own, speakers at a Manhattan Bitcoin conference said Monday. At a panel during Mediabistro's Inside Bitcoin conference, consultants in the nascent industry outlined the impact of U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) rules on certain digital currency exchanges. In November, officials in the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) said the state agency will propose its own AML regulations within a year. The state's effort is laudable, in part because currency firms deemed money services businesses (MSBs) under federal...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
The U.S. Justice Department's use of deferred prosecution agreements has been effective though often misunderstood, according to Jonathan E. Lopez, a former deputy chief of the department's Money Laundering and Bank Integrity Unit who oversaw investigations into HSBC and MoneyGram.
Businesses that transmit or control virtual funds on behalf of others have 45 days to apply for a state-issued license that imposes anti-money laundering controls, New York said Wednesday.
An expected New York State regulatory proposal is likely to raise questions on how much senior bank executives can and should know about their anti-money laundering programs, according to compliance experts.
This time last December, one might reasonably have expected that 2014 would be a year of modest changes for the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance sector. Then came JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and a convoy of Russian tanks to quash that notion.
Love or hate New Yorks plans to shield Bitcoin and its competitors from financial crooks, one thing is certain: the proposal is only the first of dozens that will shape the industry.
Virtual currency businesses operating in New York may soon have to obtain special licenses and establish anti-money laundering, cyber security and consumer protection programs, the state's banking regulator announced Thursday.
More than a year into an effort by the digital currency industry to convince critics that its promise doesn't extend to criminals more than consumers, Bitcoin proponents are questioning whether they have the right messenger to deliver their message.
For all of the legitimate concerns and overheated rhetoric about the rise of crypto-currencies, the biggest problem for Bitcoin may be one seldom discussed by critics: its abuse by tax dodgers.
Federal lawmakers are unlikely to move quickly to regulate digital currencies despite congressional skepticism about the technology, a senate staffer told attendees of a Bitcoin conference in New York.
Some criminals in Australia are using Bitcoin to launder the proceeds of drug shipments, Cambodia approved new legislation that strengthens the mechanisms for freezing terrorist assets, and more, in the midweek roundup.
A pair of congressional reports on the financial crime risks associated with Bitcoin and other digital currency platforms are slated for publication in April, say sources.
New York should require some digital currency companies to collect and periodically verify customer information to deter financial criminals, Manhattan's district attorney told state regulators Wednesday.
With greater regulatory clarity, U.S. banks would embrace the digital currency companies they currently turn away due to compliance concerns, Bitcoin investors told New York State regulatory officials Tuesday.
A well-known advocate of digital currencies and the head of a Bitcoin exchange house facilitated over $1 million in transactions tied to an online black market, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. officials have sent formal warning letters to a number of virtual currency firms it suspects have failed to register as money services businesses, the head of the nation's financial intelligence unit said Tuesday.
The indictment Wednesday of an online black market for narcotics and weapons vendors could further hamper proponents of a growing digital currency in the eyes of bank compliance officers.
Nearly all digital coins studied by researchers at the University of California in San Diego were used to purchase goods from a black market Web site selling illicit goods, a recent study found.
The second installation of a two-part story on how the Bitcoin market is changing under the scrutiny of federal and state officials.
When FinCEN issued its innocuously entitled guidance, "Application of FinCEN's Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies" in March, an already speculative currency may have received its death blow.
The U.S. Justice Department is expected to decide within the fiscal year whether prosecutors can bring charges against entities using a controversial virtual currency, an FBI official said Thursday.