Bitcoin Enables Drug Dealing, Just as Major Banks Do
Last week Charlie Shrem, the 24-year-old founder and chief executive of a leading Bitcoin payments company, was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after getting off a plane from Amsterdam. Shrem, along with a Florida man named Robert Faiella, was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering linked to alleged sales of more than $1 million in Bitcoins to people who wanted to buy drugs on Silk Road, an online marketplace that only accepted the crypto-currency. The arrests underlined growing concerns among law enforcement that Bitcoin, a purely anonymous means of exchange, had become the preferred currency of the criminal underworld, and that payments companies like Shrem’s had become the enablers of drug trafficking and other nefarious enterprises. But you know what else has a history of enabling nefarious criminal enterprises? Banks. [Read More…]Flaherty says budget will crack down on money laundering through charities
Jim Flaherty says the government will outline plans to curb the link between terrorists, organized crime and charities, as part of stricter rules for charitable status that will be delivered in the new federal budget next week. “There are some terrorist organizations, there are some organized crime organizations that launder money through charities, and make donations to charities,” he said during a media conference in Toronto on Friday. “That’s not the purpose of charitable donations in Canada, so we’re becoming increasingly strict on the subject. You’ll see some more on Tuesday.” The finance minister didn’t offer specifics on what measures would be taken, but said he’s not concerned about suggestions that changing rules for charities could be seen as a way to silence critics of the government. “If the critics of the government are terrorist organizations and organized crime, I don’t care,” he said. [Read More…]OSFI releases draft advisory on required notifications of proposed changes of directors and senior officers of Canadian federal financial institutions
On January 20, 2014, Canada’s federal financial institutions regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), released for comment a draft Advisory setting out new requirements for prior notification to OSFI of potential changes to directors or senior officers of Canadian federally-regulated financial institutions (FRFIs). The draft Advisory complements OSFI’s Corporate Governance Guideline, released in January 2013, which provides that FRFIs should notify OSFI of any potential changes to the membership of the “FRFI Board and Senior Management and any circumstances that may adversely affect the suitability of Board Members and Senior Management”. The draft Advisory also supplements OSFI’s 2008 Guideline E-17 (Background Checks on Directors and Senior Management of Federally Regulated Entities (FREs)) [Read More…]Federal budget 2014 puts Bitcoin in crosshairs with new anti-money laundering regulations for virtual currencies
The federal government seems to think Bitcoin could be the latest currency used for money laundering purposes. Ottawa plans to introduce legislative amendments and regulations to strengthen current standards and improve Canada’s compliance with international standards. Among the changes are “anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin,” according to its 2014 Budget document [Read More…]Canada to regulate bitcoin in war on dirty money
Ottawa plans to crack down on virtual currencies such as bitcoin to make it harder for anyone to launder money or finance terrorists. Tuesday’s federal budget outlined plans to update anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations to account for virtual currencies. The details were scarce, but proposed measures could allow the federal government to track any transfers worth $10,000 or more – something Ottawa can already do for hard currencies. [Read More…]Industry News
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