Navigating New Compliance Challenges: The Impact of the Money Transmitter Modernization Act on Payroll Processing - Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Among the many state licenses that can impact financial services companies, money transmitter licensing can be among the harder to figure out. In addition to uncertainties about digital currency and developing technologies,...more
Regulators are increasingly taking enforcement action against crypto asset industry participants for violating anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions laws. Regulators are concerned about the illicit use of crypto...more
On February 21, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced several legislative initiatives to establish consumer protections for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets and provide...more
On November 28, 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, agreed to pay $362,158.70 to settle charges relating to its...more
Government attitude and definition - As in many countries, the regulation of cryptocurrencies in Canada is divided among various levels of government and administrative agencies, depending on the nature of the activity...more
State-chartered crypto banking entities and other crypto financial institutions will now be subject to a "transparent and equitable framework" when applying for direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment systems...more
Two recent federal enforcement actions—announced the same day—have underlined the need for crypto companies to carefully consider their anti-money laundering (AML) obligations or else risk significant penalties....more
On May 24, 2022, nine Canadian cryptocurrency companies—Wealthsimple, CoinSmart, Netcoins, Shakepay, VirgoCX, Tetra Trust, BlocPal, Balance and Coinsquare—announced their membership in the Travel Rule Universal Solution...more
Cryptocurrency, and its most-noted asset Bitcoin, has been breaking into the mainstream press. While most lawyers have heard terms like “blockchain” and probably even know a few people who have been deeply interested in the...more
Entities dealing in "virtual currencies", money services businesses (MSBs) and other reporting entities (REs) to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will become subject to new compliance...more
By now, most everyone knows that ransomware is software that infects your computer system, makes your data irretrievable and usually breaks things along the way. To unlock your system, the bad guys (or girls) demand you pay a...more
Kenneth Blanco, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), recently provided remarks about FinCEN’s “Travel Rule” at the first truly-virtual Consensus Blockchain Conference. ...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has indicted a man from Ohio for running Helix, a darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service that is alleged to have laundered bitcoins worth $300 million....more
With the emergence of digital assets, the question has arisen whether digital assets held in “wallets” in foreign exchanges need to be reported on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign...more
Earlier this month, the leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a joint statement reminding individuals...more
Last month, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released new guidance to clarify when the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) will apply to businesses that involve cryptocurrencies (what FinCEN refers to as convertible...more
Some Answers — Producing Even More Questions - On May 9, 2019, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) published a comprehensive “interpretive guidance” (the “Guidance”) to “remind” businesses and individuals...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance on May 9, 2019, underscoring the application of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations relating to money...more
Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) backed up its strong public statements about enforcing the anti-money laundering (AML) laws with respect to cryptocurrency by bringing an enforcement action against...more
There exists no uniformity with respect to how businesses that deal in virtual currencies (also known as "cryptocurrencies") such as Bitcoin are treated among the states. For these proprietors, often the first question asked...more
QuadrigaCX, one of the largest Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges, recently left users in the lurch when it took its website offline and filed for creditor protection in Nova Scotia. ...more
Hemos leído que la Moneda Virtual (MV) es un "activo especulativo" que, en determinadas circunstancias, puede utilizarse para pagar bienes o servicios o ser retenido para inversiones; y que su intercambio o uso de intercambio...more
We have read that Virtual Currency (VC) is a “speculative asset” that under certain circumstances may be used to pay for goods or services or be held for investment; and that its sale, exchange or use has tax consequences...more
Technology evolves and events unfold at a dizzying pace in the blockchain world, but even by those standards this past week was tough to keep up with. Every day seemed to bring a new first for the industry...more
Address Emphasizes Role of SARs in Fighting Illegal Activity, Including Drug Dealing Fueling the Opioid Crisis - Kenneth Blanco, the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), discussed last week...more