On October 11, the leaders of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (collectively, the Agencies) issued a joint statement reminding persons engaged in activities involving digital assets of their anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA).

In substance, the joint statement reminds various market participants — such as futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, money service businesses and broker-dealers — that AML/CFT obligations apply to entities that the BSA defines as “financial institutions.” AML/CFT obligations include the implementation of an effective AML program, recordkeeping and reporting. These requirements apply to all activities in which the registrants are engaged and are not limited in their application to activities that are subject to regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act or the securities laws, as applicable.

Additionally, the leaders of the respective Agencies each added comments above and beyond the joint statement that reinforced the respective mission of the Agencies and commitment to upholding the regulations discussed in the joint statement.

The full joint statement is available here.