1 year ago
At the “Annual Oversight of Wall Street Firms” proceeding earlier the Senate Committee connected Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs connected Dec. 6, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) questioned slope CEOs astir illicit fiscal activities involving cryptocurrencies arsenic portion of a broader effort to beforehand regulatory legislation. Present astatine the proceeding were the CEOs of JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and more.
Senator Warren utilized her clip to nonstop attraction to the usage of cryptocurrencies for illicit finance. Warren cited estimates that $20 cardinal successful crypto transactions past twelvemonth funded transgression organizations and rogue regimes. She called for updating laws truthful that anti-money laundering regulations screen cryptocurrencies similar accepted banking.
Cryptocurrency, she declared, “is the caller mode today’s terrorists bypass the Bank Secrecy Act.” She quoted alarming statistics, specified arsenic an estimated $20 cardinal successful illicit crypto transactions past twelvemonth that funded assorted unsafe transgression activities. She elaborated:
“Now laws intelligibly request to beryllium updated, but crypto lobbyists are moving overtime to artifact immoderate legislation. They assertion crypto is special, and it shouldn’t person to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, adjacent if that means letting terrorists and cause traffickers and ransomware criminals and rogue nations determination billions of dollars. Totally unrestricted.”
Rather than calling for crypto bans, Sen. Warren called for barring the usage of crypto by transgression organizations, terrorists, and rogue nation-states. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, however, went further, agreeing that the predominant usage lawsuit for cryptocurrencies is presently among “criminals, cause traffickers, anti-money laundering [violations], taxation avoidance.”
Dimon took the astir hardline stance of the day. While conceding that the anonymous quality of crypto transfers was not rather accurate, helium drew attraction to the quality of a crypto web to determination ample amounts of wealth anyplace instantaneously without moving past immoderate regulatory checkpoints:
“You tin determination wealth instantaneously due to the fact that it doesn’t spell through, arsenic you mentioned, each these systems we person built up implicit galore years—know-your-customer, sanctions, OFAC; it tin bypass each of that. I if I [were] the government, I’d adjacent it down.”
In addressing these concerns, Senator Warren advocated for extending anti-money laundering rules to cryptocurrencies. The clip for Congress to act is now, she urged, highlighting the necessity of preventing violent attacks oregon rogue nations’ programs from being financed done unregulated crypto transactions.
Rules and regulations
Although the CEOs unanimously agreed that cryptocurrencies should beryllium subjected to the aforesaid anti-money laundering rules arsenic accepted banks, they voiced accordant pushback against perceived overregulation successful their ain industry.
The treatment connected cryptocurrencies was portion of a broader proceeding connected fiscal regulations. The slope CEOs warned lawmakers astir the imaginable economical interaction of the projected caller regulations. They expressed concerns astir the projected “Basel Endgame III” regularisation and others, citing fears that these regulations could impede lending, harm tiny businesses, and adversely interaction the broader economy.
While these banking giants are pushing backmost against what they comprehend arsenic onerous regulations, determination is simply a unanimous statement among them for the request for cryptocurrencies to autumn nether anti-money laundering rules. In their view, this is simply a indispensable measurement towards preventing the misuse of these integer assets for illicit activities successful a uncommon infinitesimal of statement betwixt banks and their regulators.
The station ‘I’d adjacent it down’: Jamie Dimon endorses crypto prohibition successful Senate hearing appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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