The G20 has long been interested in cryptocurrencies.
In particular, it is the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) that is dealing with this sector.
Recently, President Marshall Billingslea, during an interview given to the Financial Times, stated that a new global standard for the fight against money laundering (AML) is in its final stages.
This standard will improve the regulatory framework of the crypto world.
He added that this global standard could be released as early as next month during the FATF plenary assembly.
The aim would be to fill the gaps in national regulations and discuss how to supplement them.
He also reiterated that “it is essential that we establish a global set of standards that are applied in a uniform manner” in all G20 countries.
The FATF has been working on this project for months in an attempt to find some form of common consensus among all the G20 countries, given that, according to Billingslea himself, the current state of the regulations in force resembles “very much a patchwork quilt or spotty process”, which is “creating significant vulnerabilities for both national and international financial systems”.
Already in July of this year, the G20 had indicated October as the possible date for the release of new measures regarding the fight against money laundering in the crypto space, this date now seems to be confirmed.
At the end of the interview, Billingslea also mentioned the risks associated with the use of virtual currencies for possible money laundering, but he also explicitly defines them as “a great opportunity”.
He concluded by adding that “you can’t tilt too far in one direction or another” with regulation since blockchain “will continue to evolve”.
However, the G20 does not have the authority to impose new regulations on member countries, so the one developed by the FATF will basically be a global standard to which countries will have to adapt their laws independently.
Therefore, it is only when the regulations are actually updated by the individual states that the new standard will come into force and it may take years.
