From now cryptocurrency will be under AML rules in Thailand

Thailand’s financial regulator is willing to amend local laws in order for those to include cryptocurrency.

Preecha Charoensahayanon, Police Major and secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), said:

"We believe that, while currently not an issue, cryptocurrency will be a tool of new money laundering. We may not find any clue, but that doesn’t mean the wrongdoing does not occur.”

At this point, AMLO does not receive complaints with respect to money laundering involving cryptocurrencies, but Preecha said that the country must be ready for this, since criminal elements will increasingly use digital assets to conceal their illegal funds. In order to prepare for this, the secretary-general plans to amend local legislation and bring cryptos into the AML regime. The aforesaid process will start with the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Changes shall be made in accordance with international standards on crypto exchange service providers, hence cryptocurrency exchange platforms will have to report their financial activities to the AMLO. Local representatives explain that such information is very important for tracking of laundered money through the internet.

Worth to note that Thailand is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which recently announce guidelines for cryptocurrency and how platforms monitor and report suspicious transactions.

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