Latest Significant Developments in Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for 2021

Global AML Regulations for Stablecoins and NFTs Align with FATF Recommendations

In a concerted effort to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, regulatory bodies worldwide are aligning their policies for stablecoins and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

United States The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, sets stringent rules for stablecoin issuers. Only permitted U.S. and registered foreign issuers can operate, and they must adhere to operational, capital, reserve backing, and AML standards. Non-compliance is met with heavy penalties, and stablecoins must not mislead about government backing. The Act also requires monthly public disclosures on reserve composition and annual audits for large issuers, strengthening transparency and aligning with FATF's emphasis on risk-based AML measures. Digital asset service providers must also comply with AML regulations, with the finalized rules expected soon.

Hong Kong The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is rolling out a strict licensing regime for fiat-pegged stablecoins, with the first license anticipated by early 2026. The regulatory bar is set high, requiring detailed applications specifying fiat currency backing. This regime aligns with international AML standards by licensing issuers and enforcing strong operational scrutiny, consistent with FATF guidance on Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).

Europe (Malta, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) European countries are implementing FATF-compliant AML/KYC frameworks for digital assets, including NFTs and stablecoins. Malta’s regulatory framework, under MiCA and its Virtual Financial Assets Act, requires crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to enforce customer identity verification, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting to financial intelligence units, applying these rules to NFT platforms dealing with virtual financial asset transactions as well. Switzerland and Liechtenstein require VASPs to comply with FATF standards, including due diligence, transaction monitoring, and reporting suspicious activities, supervised by national financial authorities.

Alignment with FATF Recommendations - FATF’s updated guidance requires VASPs—including issuers, exchanges, and custodians of stablecoins and NFTs—to apply AML/CFT controls such as customer due diligence (CDD), suspicious transaction reporting, and licensing/registration. - Countries like the U.S., Hong Kong, Malta, and Liechtenstein have strengthened regulatory frameworks to enforce FATF’s risk-based approach. - The focus on transparency (reserve backing disclosures), issuer licensing, and public audit requirements reflects FATF’s push for reducing illicit finance risks associated with digital assets.

The FATF now considers stablecoins as either virtual assets or traditional assets, and NFTs and stablecoins are digital representations of value that can be digitally traded or transferred and used for investment or payment purposes. The EU has presented an AML legislative package that focuses on creating a new authority to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, with 6AMLD being mandatory for all EU Member States except Denmark and Ireland.

The FATF encourages national authorities in member countries to share information about VASPs with each other, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced a digital platform called "Collaborate Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases" (COSMIC) to help financial institutions share information on customers and transactions.

In summary, recent AML regulations worldwide for NFTs and stablecoins are converging towards FATF-compliant regimes that ensure stringent issuer controls, transparency, customer identity verification, transaction monitoring, and licensing of digital asset service providers, reflecting a global effort to reduce money laundering and terrorism financing risks in the digital asset space.