The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently issued a public version of a more detailed and confidential report previously sent to Congress summarizing the GAO’s review of the use of virtual currencies to facilitate human and drug trafficking.  The GAO’s report, Additional Information Could Improve Federal Agency Efforts to Counter Human and Drug Trafficking, (“the Report”) is lengthy.  The GAO examined two issues:  (1) U.S. agencies’ collection of data on the use of virtual currencies for human and drug trafficking; and (2) the steps taken and challenges faced by U.S. agencies to counter human and drug trafficking facilitated by virtual currencies.  In this post, we will describe the Report at a high level, but will focus on the emerging trends identified in the Report and the GAO’s recommendations to counter the use of virtual currency in facilitating human and drug trafficking by amending BSA/AML regulation of virtual currency kiosks, otherwise known as virtual currency ATMs, so as to identify specific locations.
Continue Reading  GAO Publishes Report on Nexus Between Virtual Currencies and Human and Drug Trafficking Financing