Key takeaways:

• The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a guidance on AML approach to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.
• The new guidance expands the application of AML rules to a broad range of virtual asset service providers, including virtual-to-virtual exchanges.
• The FATF also requires all members to ensure that virtual asset service providers are registered or licensed.
• The implementation and compliance with the new FATF rules may prove challenging to the virtual asset service providers.