Government to Begin Regulating Virtual Assets To Meet FATF Requirement

• Minister of Finance Dr. Nigel Clarke, says the government is moving to begin regulating virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies. This is in keeping with the recommendations of global financial watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in relation to Jamaica’s compliance with the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.
• Clarke explains that as the technologies surrounding virtual assets advance, so too must Jamaica’s financial regulation. He further stated, “Since Jamaica’s framework has to date not specifically addressed the risk caused by virtual asset providers, Jamaica’s rating was downgraded from compliant to partially compliant.”
• “This is a process that is always ongoing and we have to keep the fabric of our regulation in step with the advancements of the world and new technologies that can allow for the abuse of procedures and laws,” he stated. Dr. Clarke further adds that the Financial Services Commission FSC, the current regulator for this sector, is spearheading the work to develop draft regulations for virtual assets.
• Overall, Jamaica has made major strides in achieving compliance with the AML/CFT of the FATF. There are 40 FATF recommendations that determine a country’s capacity to combat the risk posed by criminals to launder proceeds of crime and finance terrorism. The government recently applied for a rerating of Jamaica’s compliance with the 40 FTAF recommendations and received an improved report.
• The report concluded that Jamaica was either fully or partially compliant with 37 of the 40 FATF recommendations. This marks a significant improvement compared to a 2015 assessment that concluded Jamaica was compliant or largely compliant with only 17 of the 40 FATF recommendations.

(Source: JIS)