G20 officially supports FATF’s crypto guidelines that require exchanges to share customer data

The Group of Twenty (G20), an international forum for the governments from 19 countries and the EU, has officially welcomed cryptocurrency guidelines set by the global money-laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

At the 2019 G20 summit held on June 28–29 in Osaka, Japan, the forum said: “We reaffirm our commitment to applying the recently amended FATF Standards to virtual assets and related providers for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.”

The FATF released its final crypto guidelines on June 21, which compels exchanges to collect and transfer customer information such as originator’s name, his account number and location information, as well beneficiary’s name and beneficiary’s account number, during transactions.

G20 was already affirming their intention to hold to FATF guidelines, but it has now officially announced the support at the summit.

On the contrary, industry leaders at crypto companies such as Circle, Coinbase and Chainalysis, say that adhering to the FATF guidelines globally could be costly to implement and would require unprecedented collaboration globally.

G20 further said that it is “closely monitoring” developments in the cryptocurrency industry and remains “vigilant to existing and emerging risks,” though crypto assets currently “do not pose” a threat to global financial stability.

The group also welcomed the on-going work by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on the possible implications of decentralized financial technologies and how regulators can engage other stakeholders.