Japan will revise its foreign exchange law to prevent Russia from evading Western financial sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine through cryptocurrency assets, top government officials said on Monday. The government will submit a revision of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act to the current parliament session to strengthen protections against potential sanctions-busting by Russia through digital assets, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a press conference. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also called for the law to be amended in a Monday parliament session, where he stressed the need for coordinated moves with Western allies after attending last week’s Group of Seven summit in Belgium. A finance ministry official told Reuters discussions were underway about the proposed amendment, saying he could not provide further details. The revision “presumably enables the government to apply the law to crypto-asset exchanges like banks and oblige them to scrutinize whether their clients are Russian sanction targets,” said Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research and Technologies.
Full story: Japan to revise foreign exchange law to end crypto loophole for sanctions on Russia.
