The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. As a policy-making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
The FATF launched regulations for virtual assets in June 2019, called Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers. This guidance aimed to help countries and virtual asset service providers understand their AML and counter-terrorist financing obligations, and effectively implement the FATF’s requirements as they apply to the virtual asset sector. The FATF strengthened its standards to clarify the application of AML and counter terrorist financing requirements on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. Countries are now required to (i) assess and mitigate their risks associated with virtual asset financial activities and providers; (ii) license or register providers; and (iii) subject them to supervision or monitoring by competent national authorities. Virtual asset service providers are subject to the same FATF measures that apply to financial institutions.
In view of the above, countries are now obligated to comply with all FATF requirements, as otherwise there is a risk of being included in the grey list of countries.
The below table provides a list of countries which have introduced regulations governing crypto assets, and names of the regulatory authorities in such countries1 :
| Sr. No. | Country Name | Primary Regulatory Body | Current Status as of 31 December 2020 |
| 1 | Argentina (G20)2 | Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV) / Central Bank of Argentina | Partly Regulated |
| 2 | Australia (G20) | Australian Government (AUSTRAC) | Regulated |
| 3 | Brazil (G20)3 | Comissao De Valores Mobiliarios (CVM) / Central Bank of Brazil (BACEN) | Unregulated |
| 4 | Canada (G20) | Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) | Regulated |
| 5 | China (G20) | The National Internet Finance Association (NIFA) | Partly Regulated (Several banking restriction. Coin offerings are prohibited) |
| 6 | Estonia | The Estonian Government | Regulated |
| 7 | France (G20)4 | Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) | Regulated |
| 8 | Germany (G20) | Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) | Regulated |
| 9 | Gibraltar | Gibraltar Financial Services Commission | Regulated |
| 10 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) | Regulated |
| 11 | India (G20) | RBI, Ministry of Finance, Supreme Court of India | Unregulated and await regulation |
| 12 | Indonesia (G20) | Financial Services Authority | Partially Regulated |
| 13 | Italy (G20) | Italian Ministry of Economic | Regulated |
| 14 | Japan (G20) | Payment Services Act (PSA) / Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) | Regulated |
| 15 | Malaysia | Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) | Regulated (IEOs) Further regulations awaited in 2021 |
| 16 | Malta | Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA) | Regulated |
| 17 | Mexico (G20)5 | CNBV – Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores | Regulated |
| 18 | Philippines | Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) | Partially Regulated |
| 19 | Russia (G20) | Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation | Regulated |
| 20 | Saudi Arabia (G20)6 | Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) | Partly Regulated |
| 21 | Singapore | The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | Regulated |
| 22 | South Africa (G20) | South African Reserve Bank (SARB) | Unregulated, Bill proposed and awaiting regulations 2021 |
| 23 | South Korea (G20) | Financial Action Task Force (FATF) | Regulated |
| 24 | Spain | Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) | Regulated |
| 25 | Sweden | Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) | Partly Regulated, Waiting for further guidelines in 2021 |
| 26 | Switzerland | Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) | Regulated |
| 27 | Thailand | Thailand’s Security Exchange Commission (TSEC) | Regulated |
| 28 | Turkey (G20)7 | Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) / Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) / Financial Crimes Investigation Board of Turkey (MASAK) | Unregulated |
| 29 | United Arab Emirates | Securities and Commodities Authority | Regulated |
| 30 | United Kingdom (G20) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Regulated |
| 31 | United States (G20) | Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) | Regulated in majority states |
- https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/argentina.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory
https://www.bis.org/regauth.htm - https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/argentina.php
- https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/brazil.php#:~:text=Cryptocurrencies%20have%20yet%20to%20be%20regulated%20in%20Brazil.&text=Recently%2C%20the%20Brazilian%20Securities%20and,be%20acquired%20by%20investment%20funds
- https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/france.php
https://news.bitcoin.com/france-new-cryptocurrency-measures-fight-anonymous-transactions/ - https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/mexico.php#:~:text=In%20March%202018%2C%20Mexico%20enacted,as%20a%20means%20of%20payment
https://www.globallegalinsights.com/practice-areas/blockchain-laws-and-regulations/mexico - https://hackernoon.com/saudi-arabias-ban-on-bitcoin-is-unlikely-to-last-lo1y3xjg
- https://www.mondaq.com/turkey/fin-tech/985690/will-cryptocurrencies-be-regulated-in-turkey-soon
Countries marked as “regulated” in the table above, have major guidelines in place for crypto assets, covering aspects such as taxation, settlement and process of declaration. Countries marked as “partly regulated” do not yet have in place guidelines for a few of these aspects.
