FATF closely monitoring Facebook's Libra crypto, official says
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international money-laundering watchdog, is having a close watch on Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency, Libra.
Xiangmin Liu, president of the FATF, told Reuters on Tuesday that the watchdog wants to ensure “if there are significant risks, they need to be addressed.”
“The anonymity afforded by virtual assets is being exploited by serious criminals. These activities are likely to be growing quickly, as law enforcement agencies are only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” Liu said.
Libra has been facing growing regulatory scrutiny ever since it was announced in mid-June. Around that time, the FATF also released its final cryptocurrency guidelines, mandating exchanges to collect and transfer customer information, in order to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Just yesterday, senior U.S. Treasury official, Sigal Mandelker, also said that Libra and all other cryptocurrencies must comply with U.S. regulations. “Whether it’s bitcoin, Ethereum, Libra, our message is the same to all of these companies: anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism has to be built into your design from the get-go,” she added.
