- Two exchanges in Japan were visited by the FSA
- This was to ensure that customer protection and monitoring measures were being observed
- Both exchanges have recently seen a change in management
Even as the crypto industry sees more and more growth across the world, it also sees more interactions with various regulatory bodies, one of which is the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in Japan. The FSA is currently working towards making sure that the crypto industry in Japan is safe while still stimulating economic growth through it. They recently began creating new regulations for cryptocurrency margin trading and are rumored to be exploring the industry interest in a cryptocurrency ETF.
The latest development regarding the FSA and the crypto industry involves the raiding of two cryptocurrency exchanges by the agency due to a change in management in both firms which was reported on April 23, 2019.
Due Diligence
Besides the changes in management in both firms, the FSA also visited them to investigate the internal oversight which includes consumer protection and monitoring measures, which are two of the most important regulations regarding crypto.
The two exchanges in question are Huobi Japan and Fisco cryptocurrency exchange and the investigation was done to ensure that the correct measures were implemented for consumer protection and legal compliance.
Huobi Japan has been in operation for over a year now after the Hupbi Group acquired BitTrade Exchange which was a government-registered exchange in Japan. Fiasco cryptocurrency exchange also took over a government-registered exchange Zaif after they suffered a cryptocurrency heist which saw losses of $60 million.
It is apparent that while the FSA wants to stimulate growth through the crypto industry, a lack of adherence to laws and regulations will not be tolerated and it is not unheard of for an exchange to be visited by law enforcement to make sure that this is taking place.
It is also isn’t particularly surprising when it is considered that cryptocurrency for the use of money laundering increased by 10 times in 2018 in Japan and that such, law enforcement is on its toes and on high alert to make sure that such incidents are reduced.
As a means to reduce such incidences of money-laundering, the National Police Agency in Japan has trained data analyst specialists and artificial intelligence specialists try to help identify drug trade and money laundering transactions within the crypto space with more ease.
All these go to show that Japan has a zero-tolerance policy towards money-laundering even within the industry and that all who are involved in the industry itself will be put under scrutiny.
