Reform of the anti-money laundering law, would oblige the CNBV to monitor virtual assets: UIF

The reforms that are expected to be carried out to the Law for the Prevention and Identification of Operations with Resources of Illicit Origin, known as ley antilavado, would entail changes in the supervision of different authorities, since, for example, the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) would be in charge of supervising the operations of virtual assets, a power that today rests with the Service tax administration (SAT).

During her participation in the annual forum of the GMC360 firm, Mireya Valverde Okón, Director of Regulatory Affairs of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), indicated that the draft reforms to the ley antilavado, currently stuck in the Senate since 2019, they would also seek to strengthen the powers of some authorities, such as the next Financial Guard, the CNBV, the State Economic and Patrimonial Intelligence units, as well as the National Customs Agency.

In this context, Valverde Okón commented that, with the reforms, it is expected that the CNBV take direct supervision of operations with virtual assets or cryptocurrencies.

It is intended to transfer the supervisory power that the SAT currently has to the National Customs Agency of Mexico regarding the provision of foreign trade services as customs agent or proxy and to the CNBV regarding the offer of virtual asset exchange by part of subjects other than financial entities ”, he highlighted.

At the time, Santiago Nieto Castillo, former head of the UIF, stated his intention that the CNBV was in charge of supervising operations with cryptocurrencies for the purposes of preventing laundering and financing terrorism, given the technical knowledge and technology that this regulator has to monitor these movements.

As a result of the entry into force of the law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions, in March 2018, the SAT to take the supervision of virtual asset exchange platforms as a vulnerable activity for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

In this sense, currently those operations that exceed the equivalent of 57,800 pesos must be reported, through notices, to the SAT and to the UIF. According to data from the unit now in charge of Pablo GomezFrom 2020 to September of this year, 4,779 notices have been presented from the 23 platforms that report such information.

Other faculties

The official of the UIF pointed out that reforms to the anti-money laundering law They would also allow this unit to coordinate with the next Financial Guard, the mechanisms for receiving and analyzing information, preventing and detecting money laundering.

Likewise, Valverde Okón pointed out that the reforms would also create the rules for the FIU to promote the implementation of the economic wealth intelligence units of financial entities, so that they can generate information at the local level to support the investigations of said instance.

The FIU official highlighted the need to approve the draft reforms to the anti-money laundering law, as Mexico is currently under intensified monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI) against money laundering, which is why the legal framework in the fight against terrorist financing must be strengthened

“The justification for this reform is to meet the deficiencies identified by the GAFI and also comply with international standards and the commitments we have with the global network. This reform aims to strengthen the anti-money laundering regime for vulnerable activities, which is a universe of 100,000 obligated subjects, ”the official said.

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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx

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