29.03.2024

UK Gov’t Includes Blockchain in Negotiation for US Free Trade Agreement

The document sets out the U.K. government’s position coming into the negotiation of a post-Brexit FTA with the U.S.

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade recently published its agenda for negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Contained within the wide-reaching document, blockchain is identified as one area in which businesses and the country will benefit from an FTA.

It lays out the country’s key objectives for such an agreement and ring-fences certain institutions and protections as non-negotiable. These include Britain’s National Health Service and drug prices, consumer and worker rights and protections, and environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.

Of most interest to the blockchain industry, however, is the proposal of a dedicated chapter covering Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Special provision for SMEs

As around two-thirds of U.K. services trade with the U.S. is delivery remotely, the proposed chapter on SMEs will include:

“A digital trade chapter with cutting edge provisions that will aim to maximise opportunities for digital trade across all sectors of the economy.”

It is claimed that an FTA with these provisions will benefit U.K. business in the digital economy, specifically highlighting the blockchain industry as a potential beneficiary:

“In areas such as data flows, blockchain, driverless cars and quantum technology we have the opportunity to help shape global rules through ambitious digital trade provisions.”

High hopes

Setting out one’s position before starting negotiations gives no guarantee of the shape of any final agreement. The U.S. position on many of the elements within may be diametrically opposite, so only time will tell what a final agreement looks like, if one can be reached at all.

However, it is evident that the U.K. government values its blockchain industry and is prepared to fight in its corner. As Cointelegraph recently reported, the European Union’s potential to collaborate on blockchain standards provides a strong environment to push forward innovation.

However, with the U.K. no longer being a part of the EU it now has the freedom to go its own way.

US Congress Asks Financial Crime Director to Study Blockchain Tech

The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill that calls for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to study blockchain technology in its fight against financial crime.

On Sept. 19, the House passed the bill “Advancing Innovation to Assist Law Enforcement Act”, which requires the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Kenneth Blanco, to carry out a study on the use of emerging technologies, such as blockchain technology, within the FinCEN. The bill reads:

“The Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) shall carry out a study on … whether AI, digital identity technologies, blockchain technologies, and other innovative technologies can be further leveraged to make FinCEN’s data analysis more efficient and effective.”

The Senate received the bill on Sept. 23, and referred it to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Crypto and casinos

Cointelegraph previously reported that FinCEN Director Kenneth Blanco urged casinos to follow the guidelines of the financial crime-fighting agency in regards to suspicious convertible virtual currency (CVC) activity.

Blanco said that casinos dealing with crypto payments should consider how they will conduct due diligence on CVC transactions and blockchain analytics, further explaining:

“I encourage casinos to closely review both documents on FinCEN’s website to see how we are addressing this industry and its interactions with others in the financial sector. Casinos should be filing SARs when they encounter suspicious CVC activity and any cyber events that affect, facilitate, or conduct transactions. We know that casinos are targets for cyber and cyber-enabled criminal activity such as ransomware attacks and business e-mail compromise schemes.”

Blanco briefed members of the US House about Facebook’s Libra coin

On June 28, Cointelegraph reported that Blanco briefed several members of the United States House on the potential for Libra’s use in crimes such as money laundering, and illicit financing activities. Blanco talked about current research into artificial intelligence and machine learning and their use in regulating cryptocurrencies.

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