Asia Pacific

On a mission to help the next 100 million people build their wealth with crypto, Finblox is a Hong Kong-based startup aiming to help people protect their savings from inflation.

Hong Kong’s government has set out amendments to its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, including a virtual asset service provider (VASP) licensing regime. The government is also launching a registration program for dealers in precious metals and stones (DPMS). […]

Nicole Rose, CEO of Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, has warned that more money laundering prosecutions are needed to bolster the global credibility of Australia’s AML/CFT regime. The warning was issued by Rose at Australasia’s 2nd Annual Anti-Money Laundering (AML) […]

Is Cryptocurrency Legal in Malaysia? Cryptocurrencies: Not legal tender Cryptocurrency exchanges: Legal, must register with the Malaysian Securities Commission  Although cryptocurrencies are legal in Malaysia, they are not considered legal tender. The country’s central bank, Bank Negra Malaysia, has issued […]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a new technical note assessing the state of banking, the microfinance sector and non-financial corporates (NFCs) in the Philippines. In it, the IMF highlighted certain economic activities, such as those practiced in casinos, […]

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has announced it will target Italian organized crime groups (OCGs) and money laundering syndicates in the next phase of Operation Ironside, which exposed 51 crime groups through a Trojan horse app called AN0M. AFP assistant […]

China and Russia have vetoed a US-led UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that proposed tougher sanctions on North Korea after the country’s latest ballistic missile tests. This marked the first split in the Council since measures were introduced against Pyongyang […]

G7 finance ministers have called for action to “monitor and address financial stability risks arising from all forms of cryptoassets.” Meeting in Germany, the group argued for the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule, and stronger […]

Appearing at FINSIA’s “The Regulators” event on May 13 2022, AUSTRAC CEO, Nicole Rose, outlined the regulator’s priorities for 2022. The key focus areas pertain to high-risk, cash-intensive sectors such as pubs, clubs and betting agencies. To achieve this, AUSTRAC […]

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned the cryptocurrency mixer service Blender.io, on account of it being used in a heist backed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to fund the […]

Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Coinhako has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer Digital Payment Token (DPT) Services under the Payment Services Act (PSA). The exchange is one of five firms […]

On May 2 2022, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) to improve the bank’s compliance program and bring it into line with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing […]