Japan seeks tougher crypto AML regulations amid N. Korean cyberattacks

The Japanese government approved amendments to existing financial regulations to prevent money laundering utilizing cryptocurrencies and increase penalties on those involved, according to local media reports.

See related article: North Korea’s Lazarus Group attacks Japanese crypto firms, police say

Fast facts

• The Cabinet, Japan’s executive body, approved the revisions to laws associated with the country’s Foreign Exchange Act and the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds.

• The amendments mandate that crypto exchanges share user information such as names and addresses between platforms.

• They also allow the country to freeze the assets of local entities or individuals designated by the United Nations for helping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

• On Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Hirokazu Matsuno announced that the government has frozen properties belonging to five entities involved in the development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles.

• Last week, the country’s National Police Agency also announced that North Korea-backed hacker group Lazarus has been sending phishing emails to local crypto exchange employees laced with malware, where some companies have been hacked and had their cryptocurrencies stolen.

• The six amendments will be submitted to the National Diet, the country’s legislature, according to local reports. 

See related article: Japan plans new crypto transfer rules to combat money laundering