EU lawmakers should extend anti-money laundering requirements to some businesses that use or exchange virtual currencies, according to the economic bloc's law enforcement agency.
If you ask British banks how they view Bitcoin start-ups, you might conclude that digital currency firms in the U.K. have it no different than elsewhere. That is to say: bad.
British officials will soon review the promises and risks of alternative payment systems, including virtual currencies, as part of a broad initiative to promote advances in financial technology.
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.
Governments will need to bolster their countermeasures to battle fast-growing threats of fraud in the electronic money market, experts warned Friday.
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.
Even with the parliamentary passage of the EU's anti-money laundering directive last month, tough debates lie ahead for the economic bloc's plans to better identify financial criminals, say observers.
The expected approval of amendments to the EU's proposed Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive will shine greater light on tax evaders and financial criminals hiding behind shell companies and trusts, according to Judith Sargentini, a Dutch member of the European Parliament.
European parliamentary members are set to require countries to publish registries naming the beneficial owners of privately-held corporations and trusts as part of a broad overhaul to the EU's anti-money laundering rules.
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.
The U.S. Justice Department seizes digital funds tied to an Internet black market, Republicans line up behind effort to fight FATCA and more, in this week's news roundup.
An EU plan approved Thursday that could force banks in member-states to open accounts for most applicants would complicate anti-money laundering compliance efforts, according to critics.
China prohibits the trading of bitcoins by financial institutions over money laundering concerns, the U.K. closes 100 suspicious Bank of Cyprus accounts, and more, in this week's news roundup.
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.
A Pakistani opposition leader believes that new legislation will open the "doors for money laundering", banking executives in the U.S. and elsewhere believe that most financial institutions are unlikely to meet the January 2013 deadline for the FATCA, and more, in the weekly roundup.