Taiwan Eyes November Deadline for Bitcoin AML Regulation

Taiwan aims to formally regulate bitcoin under anti-money laundering rules before the end of the year.

According to the Taiwan Central News Agency, Chiu Tai-san, the country's minister of justice, said at an anti-money laundering event on Friday that the nation aims to have the legal framework ready before a visit to Taiwan by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering in November.

Set to visit the country for a bilateral evaluation of existing AML efforts, according to the report, the group is an inter-governmental agency for the Asia Pacific region that works in a similar capacity to its global counterpart, the Financial Action Task Force.

Wellington Koo, chairman of Taiwanese financial watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Commission, who was also present at the event today, commented that the current problem with bitcoin is "Who has purchased it and who it is sold to."

The remarks come soon after a previous report indicating Taiwan's justice department has already started a conversation with other regulators and industry players on the best way to capture bitcoin under AML rules and bring more transparency to cryptocurrency trading in the country.

According to the news report, banks in Taiwan have already been ordered by the FSC to label bank accounts offered to bitcoin trading platforms as "High risk clients." Further, transactions through these accounts above a certain threshold are required to be flagged to the regulator in a bid to prevent potential money-laundering.

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