Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen clarified on Tuesday that non-custodial service providers should not be subject to the stringent anti-money-laundering reporting rules developed by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force
Fast facts
- Yellen responded to written questions from Senator Pat Toomey, a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, before her scheduled testimony before Congress Nov. 30 on the effects of Covid-19 on the economy.
- In last October, the FATF updated its guidance that appeared to subject DeFi operators to stringent anti money laundering regulations. This seemed in part to contradict rules under FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, which, Toomey wrote, “has made clear that miners, certain wallet providers, software developers, and other non-custodial services are not subject to Money Service Business registration.”
- Yellen explained that the FATF did not intend to regulate entities that “provide only ancillary services or products to a virtual asset network.”