According to local news source Kyodo News, Japan will begin imposing stronger anti-money laundering regulations on June 1st, including the so-called “travel rule” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). After the nation’s anti-money laundering measures were deemed insufficient by the international financial crimes watchdog FATF, Japan’s cabinet made the decision on Tuesday. The FATF’s efforts to quicken the global implementation of its travel rule, which requires exchanging information about crypto money transfers between financial institutions, had received backing from the Group of Seven (G-7) intergovernmental political forum The travel regulation has been a source of contention for the Japanese crypto business since 2021 when the Financial Services Agency (FSA) asked providers of virtual asset services to put it into effect. In accordance with FATF recommendations, the Japanese government made a cabinet resolution modifying existing legislation in October of last year. The amendments would prevent cryptocurrency-related money laundering.
Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange has been granted “in-principle” permission to operate as a digital asset trading facility and as a supplier of custody services at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) by Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA). Co-founder and CEO of Bybit Ben Zhou think the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has “promising potential” to build the cryptocurrency market. After all application requirements have been met, the firm will receive permanent permission to start providing services to residents. In recent months, Bybit has increased the range of services it provides, including crypto loan services for customers and a new debit card for cryptocurrency purchases made in partnership with Mastercard. Kazakhstan is actively developing a digital currency at the experimental stage.
