Japan will call on the G20 to strengthen measures to prevent money laundering using cryptocurrency

Japan will call on its G20 counterparts at a meeting next week to combine joint efforts to prevent the use of crypto currency for money laundering, a government official said with direct knowledge of the matter.

Finance Ministers and Central bankers from the 20 largest economies of the world will gather in Buenos Aires on March 19-20, the discussion of the cryptocurrency is included in the agenda.

But the prospects of reaching agreement on concrete global rules of financial leaders of the group of twenty and to refer to them in the joint communiqué low, given the differences in the approaches of each country, according to another official involved in the negotiations of the “big twenty”.

«The discussions will focus on steps to combat money laundering and consumer protection, not on how cryptocurrency trading can affect the banking system» – one official said

“There is a common understanding among G20 members that applying too strict rules is not a good solution.”

FATF, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the development of world standards in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, a group of 37 countries created by the G7 industrial powers to combat illegal financing, will inform the G20 about its findings on the use of cryptocurrency operations for laundering criminal proceeds.

Japanese politicians fear that while there is a broad consensus among the G-20 countries about the need for such steps, some countries have weaker rules than others, which leaves loopholes for money laundering, the official said.

Japan was the first country to adopt a national system to control cryptocurrency trading, although it has conducted a few crypto-exchange inspections this year after stealing $ 530 million on the US exchange Coincheck Inc.

France and Germany said they would make joint proposals to regulate the cryptocurrency market.

The head of the Supervisory Board of the European Union said that the short-term strategy could be to focus on the application of rules for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, warning consumers about the risk of trading crypto-currencies and not allowing banks to hold them.

Japanese officials said the trick would be to enforce consumer protection rules and prevent illegal activities, without stifling innovation in the fast-growing cryptocurrency and financial-tech sectors.