In Related Case, Federal Court Holds that Bitcoin-to-Bitcoin “Tumbler” Can Represent “Money Transmission”
On April 27, IRS CI and FBI Special Agents arrested Roman Sterlingov, a dual citizen of Russia and Sweden, for his...more
Australia announced on April 11 that all digital currency exchanges operating in the country will be regulated by the Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (“AUSTRAC”), the country’s financial intelligence agency. ...more
4/12/2018
/ AML/CFT ,
AUSTRAC ,
Australia ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Currency ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Virtual Currency
On February 23, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) signaled that the inter-governmental body “will step up its efforts in monitoring the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering.” ...more
3/2/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
FATF ,
G20 ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held hearings focused in part on Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) and the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”)....more
2/8/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Popular ,
Securities Violations ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Testimony ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Virtual Currency
As the value of bitcoin continues to soar (USD:BTC this past weekend exceeded $19,000.00:1), we thought that now would be a good time to emphasize the need to ensure regulatory compliance with the many federal and state AML...more
12/22/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Virtual Currency
Despite the staggering $8 billion figure estimated to be spent on global compliance in 2017, U.S.-based rules regarding Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (“CFT”) remain anchored in their...more
2/22/2017
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Laundering ,
Technology ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Terrorist Financing ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
The New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) has issued its fifth BitLicense to date, continuing a marked effort to bring legitimacy and controls to the virtual currency (“VC”) industry, whose advantages in...more
In part two of our review of the 2016 developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues, we discuss four additional key...more
2/7/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forfeiture ,
Money Laundering ,
Virtual Currency
Under Internal Revenue Code section 7609(f), the IRS may issue a “John Doe” administrative summons to discover the identities of unknown taxpayers. A “John Doe” summons can be a powerful enforcement tool because it allows the...more
2/7/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
John Doe Investigation ,
Money Laundering ,
Summons ,
Swiss Banks ,
Tax Evasion ,
Technology ,
Virtual Currency