The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has found that the standards for Virtual Assets (VAs) and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) it has set are not implemented effectively. As the status report on the targeted implementation of its standards found, most jurisdictions are not embracing the FATF’s Travel Rule (Travel Rule).

Most jurisdictions are yet to fully implement the FATF’s Recommendation 15 and its Interpretive Note. Of the 53 jurisdictions assessed, none were rated Compliant, 12 were rated Largely Compliant, 33 were rated Partially Compliant, and 8 were rated Non-Compliant. Jurisdictions have been slow to implement the Travel Rule.

29 of 98 responding jurisdictions claimed to have passed Travel Rule legislation, but only 11 had started enforcement and supervisory measures. 26 of the 98 are in the process of passing legislation, but 36 have not even begun to introduce the Travel Rule. New Zealand will be in that latter group, as the Travel Rule has not been introduced here.

The private sector has successfully used technological solutions (albeit with some limitations) to facilitate compliance with the Travel Rule. There are, however, still improvements to be made in strengthening interoperability between solutions to ensure full compliance and enable global implementation. As the public and private sectors have implemented the Travel Rule, they have encountered issues (in particular) between jurisdictions that regulate VAs and VASPs and those that do not.