Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association Criticized for Its Slow Start to Regulation

Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) has reportedly copped a fair amount of flack from the Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) over its slowness in getting regulation off the ground. According to the FT, the FSA is said to have highlighted key issues with the JVCEA, including its delays in introducing anti-money laundering (AML) regulation and lack of communication between directors, member operators and its secretariat: signaling poor management. The report also noted that the FSA had already once issued an "extremely stern warning" to the JVCEA in December to get its operations in order and that it was not "clear what kind of deliberations the body was having, what the decision-making process was, why the situation was the way it was, and what the responsibility of the board members was". In June, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also called on the entity to speed up its listing approval process for digital assets on local crypto exchanges but still be mindful of the need to protect users.