According to reports, Japan is planning to modify its foreign currency regulations to prevent Russia from avoiding economic sanctions. Tokyo’s senior officials have confirmed to sources that they would propose a modification to the Foreign Exchange as well as the Foreign Trade Act in the current parliament session in order to tighten safeguards against Russia’s possible misuse of digital assets to circumvent sanctions.
Japan revised legislation plans to prevent Russia from avoiding sanctions
According to Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research and Technologies, “the revision probably permits the government of Japan to apply the legislation to crypto-asset exchanges like banks and obligate crypto exchanges to evaluate whether their clients are Russian sanction targets.
During a session of parliament Wednesday on March 27, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged for the modification of the legislation. After visiting the Group of Seven conference in Belgium last week, he emphasised the need for synchronised actions with Western partners. In compliance with the asset-freezing restrictions, the government of Japan urged crypto exchanges not to conduct transactions for Russia and Belarus on March 14.
In a similar development, last week, Democratic senators in the United States presented legislation to prohibit international bitcoin companies from doing business with sanctioned Russian enterprises. Furthermore, on March 9, the European Union released advice indicating that sanctions against Russia covered crypto assets.
