The European Union is considering the creation of a new agency dedicated to combating money laundering, with one of the main goals being to increase reporting requirements around crypto asset transactions.

A Reuters report on July 8, citing leaked EU documents, said the European Commission is proposing the formation of a new Anti-Money Laundering Agency (AMLA), which will serve as the head of a supervisory system."core", also including national regulators.

The report also notes that European lawmakers are drafting new requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that will impose strict data collection standards around parties making crypto asset transfers. The data collected will also be made available to European regulators.

The report noted that crypto asset transfers are currently outside the scope of EU financial services regulations, stating:

"The lack of regulation exposes holders of crypto assets to the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism, as the movement of illicit funds can be accomplished through the transfer of crypto assets."

The EU is under pressure to tighten anti-money laundering oversight after several member states launched investigations into Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender, after 200 billion euros worth of suspicious transactions flowed through its tiny Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015 .

In the absence of a supranational regulator dedicated to money laundering, the EU has historically had to rely on national authorities to enforce its policies.

"that money laundering, terrorist financing and organized crime remain major issues and should be addressed as a priority within the Union,"These documents point out.

"By directly supervising and taking decisions on some risky cross-border financial sector business entities, the Directorate will directly contribute to the prevention of money laundering/terrorist financing incidents in the EU."

Urging the US SEC to also crack down

Europe is not alone in taking action against crypto assets, US Senator Warren urged the SEC to crack down on the same day"highly opaque and unstable"digital asset market.

"While the demand for crypto assets and the use of crypto asset exchanges is skyrocketing, the lack of regular regulation leaves ordinary investors at the mercy of manipulators and fraudsters"Warren said.

"These regulatory loopholes endanger consumers and investors and undermine the safety of our financial markets. The SEC must make full use of its powers to address these risks, and Congress must step up efforts to fill these regulatory gaps."

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also attempted to take action against major cryptocurrency exchange Binance in recent weeks, seemingly in an effort to prompt local banks to stop processing payments with the platform.

Compilation: Bibabu

Compilation: Bibabu