Japan’s FSA Deems Crypto Dealers Necessary for Ongoing AML Efforts

Japan’s federal regulatory authority FSA lays ground for anti money laundering requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges to combat financial crime concerns.

Junichi Nakajima, the recently appointed commissioner of the Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan stated that cryptocurrency exchanges and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) have the same regulatory obligations as banks and other financial institutions to deal with money laundering effectively. 

As per a statement given by the financial regulator’s chief, Japan is planning to incorporate crypto dealers and businesses offering digital assets as part of the Anti Money Laundering plan to combat criminals and bad actors. He emphasized the motive in these words,

“In the sense that those restrictions are restricted to deal with, cryptocurrency dealers are similar to banks. Since we have the same list of international terrorists, it will be more cost-effective and more accurate if we create a shared system, rather than do it by individual financial firms.”

He further added that FSA aims at making the plan ready for the new platform within a year. On the other hand, the Executive Director and Chief Analyst at Monex Group (Brokerage Division), Nana Otsuki, shared his views that the inclusion of cryptocurrency dealers in a system of this kind would benefit them in the long run. He said,

“In the medium to long term, it is more sustainable if they can eliminate the perception that cryptocurrencies are dangerous financial products with underground funds and turn them into pure investment tools, even though their volatility remains high.”

Otsuki mentioned that for this project to be successful would require administration to pool its resources effectively, develop a framework for cross-government collaboration, and ensuring that individuals having a complex non-Japanese identity are registered  properly in the database.  

Despite the efforts to address monetary crime concerns, the financial services agency has set up an organised group to carry out research for financial innovation based on bitcoin, blockchain and other cryptocurrencies. 

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