The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a report which is entitled Virtual currencies: key definitions and potential AML/CTF risks (the Report).

The Report builds on FATF’s 2013 Guidance on new payment products and services by suggesting a conceptual framework for understanding and addressing the anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CTF) risks associated with virtual currencies. In particular, the Report proposes a common definitional vocabulary that seeks to clarify what virtual currency is and classifies the various types of virtual currency, based on their different business models and methods of operation and identifies the participants in typical virtual currency systems.

The Report also applies certain risk factors to specific types of virtual currencies to identify potential risks and describes some recent investigations and enforcement efforts involving virtual currency.

View Virtual currencies: key definitions and potential AML/CTF risks, 27 June 2014