We want to do things right. In fact, we want to be leading the way when it comes to regulatory compliance. As crypto comes of age and regulators around the world roll out new licensing and registration regimes, we’re doubling down on our commitment to compliance.
We announced last week our shiny new Money Transmitter Licenses in the US, which are vital for companies wishing to provide money transfer services. This week, in an effort to protect our customers, we will discontinue services in all jurisdictions recently greylisted by The Financial Action Task Force.
The FATF “grey list” is comprised of 22 jurisdictions that have fallen short in their efforts to comply with the task force’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) guidelines. According to the task force’s website, these jurisdictions have “strategic deficiencies” when it comes to countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and “proliferation financing,” or funds linked to nuclear weapons.
“We need to prioritise our customers and these jurisdictions do not align with our values as a company,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO at MoonPay. “We therefore will no longer offer our services in any of the 22 greylisted jurisdictions.”
Money laundering is a serious crime defined by the UN Vienna 1988 Convention as “the conversion or transfer of property...disguising the illicit origin of the property or of assisting any person who is involved in such offense to evade the legal consequences of his actions”. The UN estimates that the amount of money laundered globally in one year is 2-5% of global GDP.
The jurisdictions on the FATF grey list are under “increased monitoring”, which means they have committed to improve but have not yet done so. The 22 jurisdictions include:
Albania
Barbados
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cayman Islands
Haiti
Jamaica
Malta
Mauritius
Morocco
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Senegal
South Sudan
Syria
Uganda
Yemen
Zimbabwe
Malta, which was placed on the grey list in June, was just weeks later added to the UK’s list of “high risk” countries for money laundering and terrorist financing. It is currently the only European country on the list.
Removing our services from these jurisdictions is a significant step for us, but protecting our customers and partners is an ongoing commitment. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that MoonPay remains a trusted, compliant, and secure platform for our users.
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