Our latest article focused on Interpol’s latest opinion, money’s opinion. This new tool allows member countries to request information on assets related to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offenses. This is included in cryptocurrency, which is increasingly associated with criminal activity despite its many legitimate uses.
While all member countries will have access to the advice of money as a means of targeting crime linked to cryptography, not all member countries take the same approach to stop the growing illicit activities linked to crypto. A sample of application styles:
- Canada: Although the crypto is not treated as a form of legal tender in Canada, the country allows its use. Canada has been more proactive than others about cryptographic regulations. Given the concerns and uncertainties in cryptocurrency, the federal government has clearly declared that the entities regulated by the federal government, such as banks, must comply with all applicable legal requirements and all directives of federal regulators when working with cryptographic assets. In 2024, the RCMP began to train more officers to investigate cryptographic crimes.
- European Union countries: In 2020, the fifth and sixth directives to combat EU money laundering entered into force, tightening the bonds of KYC / CFT (know your customer / terrorism counter) and standard declaration requirements. KYC’s objective vis-à-vis cryptographic activity is to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes, while CDD (reasonable diligence of the customer) is a set of measures that banks and other financial institutions must take to identify their customers, assess their risks and monitor their transactions. In addition, although the crypto is not an official legal obligation, the EU requires that certain providers of crypto-target service are looking for an operating license. The Crypto-Active Regulation Markets (MICA), a framework that increases consumer protections, establishes an explicit conduct of the cryptographic industry and introduces new license requirements, has been put into force in 2023. This legislation is intended to give regulators the tools they need to follow the cryptography used for money laundering and the financing of terrorism while providing users with users with users with users with users Protoches. The EU also adopted the new cryptographic regulations in 2023; Including plans to create an authority on the EU scale to combat money laundering.
- The People’s Republic of China: Crypto trading is generally prohibited in China and crypto is not recognized as legal. However, local governments would use private companies to sell digital documents that have been seized in exchange for money in the middle of a slow economy.
In contrast striking with each of the examples above, and despite the alarming rate of criminal activity involving the crypto, as Reuters reported, is the American approach:
- The United States The Ministry of Justice dissolves its national team of application of cryptocurrency and orders prosecutors to reduce cryptographic surveys to focus on drug cartels and terrorist groups. The unit known as NCET was launched in February 2022 as part of the Biden administration attempt to fight against fraud and illegal finance. But under President Donald Trump, whose family builds his own cryptographic enterprise, apparently having 75% of net revenues of token sales by World Liberty Financial, the American government now reverse the course on the crypto. The president promised to make the “planet’s cryptographic capital” in the United States. The Trump administration reverses the previous position of the United States while Interpol increases efforts to prevent illegal activities, especially in the cryptocurrency sector. The newly declared emphasis on the prosecution mainly these cases of cryptography linked to drug trafficking and terrorism necessarily excludes the crime of white settlers such as fraud, money laundering, diversion of assets, embezzlement and tax evasion, which may or may not be practical for the American president and his family.
The introduction by interpol of money opinions is a significant step in international efforts to trace illicit assets, in particular as cryptocurrencies become an increasingly common vehicle for financial crime. The question of whether these assets are prosecuted aggressively will depend on the way in which law enforcement initiatives are robust in each member county.
It seems that the United States has decided not to direct the pack.
As always, thoughts and comments are welcome.
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