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In many jurisdictions bitcoins are not considered legal currency and therefore fall outside the scope of money-laundering legislation. __________________ * Available only in English, which is the working language of the subsidiary body. (...) The working group drew the following conclusions: (a) Domestic inter-agency cooperation, the ready exchange of information together with international collaboration with judicial authorities and financial intelligence units need to be encouraged so as to effectively target and disrupt the financial flows of drug-related criminal organizations in the region; (b) It is important that anti-corruption measures in place are regularly revised to ensure they are effective and support the development of an appropriate organizational culture; (c) The legislation enabling the seizure of funds and assets derived from trafficking should be reviewed and updated to respond to the changes in money-laundering practices employed by criminal organizations such as the use of informal banking systems (hawala) and the emergence of bitcoins. 4. The working group made the following recommendations: (a) Governments are encouraged to engage in international regional and subregional cooperation as an effective measure against money-laundering; (b) Governments are encouraged to enact or amend their legislation so that it complies with international standards and relevant conventions to combat the financing of the illicit drug trade; (c) Governments should ensure that the anti-corruption measures that they have put in place to maintain the integrity of their financial investigation units are regularly revised so that they are effective and support the development of an appropriate organizational culture.

The decision-making matrix is an attempt to offer some initial system-wide guidance as a response to the needs formulated by many United Nations system organizations. (...) The ongoing blockchain applications do not offer a critical mass, quantitatively and qualitatively, to demonstrate the usability and relevance of blockchain in its specific core features. (...) During the review, the technical literature consulted by the JIU team, offered a plethora of blockchain-related concepts used by practitioners and theorists of blockchain.

Challenges relating to the emergence of the darknet and the use of bitcoins were mentioned, as was the need to undertake action in that regard at the national and international levels. (...) In many jurisdictions, bitcoins are not considered legal currency and therefore fall outside the scope of money-laundering legislation. (...) The Chair instructed the Secretariat to formulate that and other relevant topics into themes for consideration by working groups on the basis of the priorities in the region and in consultation with States represented at the Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Asia and the Pacific, as required. 40. The Philippines offered to host the Forty-first Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Asia and the Pacific.

Lazer (Compliance Officer, TransferWise, Inc.), accompanying her remarks with a digital slide presentation, said that her company, which had been established seven years previously, provided cross- border money transfer services that were faster, cheaper and more convenient than those offered by banks. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, TransferWise was licensed to operate in many other countries around the world. (...) Lazer (Compliance Officer, TransferWise) said that she could not make an informed judgment of the risks associated with the potential use of virtual currencies by terrorists from the standpoint of TransferWise, as it offered only traditional international money transfer services. (...) Currency exchange platforms must be subject to anti-money-laundering regulations and any use of bitcoin for terrorist activity should be reported to the authorities.

Available at www.independent.co.uk /news/world/americas/charlottesville-latest-james-alex-field-crowdfunding-white-nationalists- kkk-neo-nazis-gofundme-a7893891.html. 38 Southern Poverty Law Center, “In place of traditional fundraising sources, bitcoin fills a gap for hate groups”, 27 December 2017. Available at https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/12/27 /place-traditional-fundraising-sources-bitcoin-fills-gap-hate-groups. 39 Southern Poverty Law Center, “Bitcoin and the alt-right”. Available at https://www.splcenter.org /bitcoin-and-alt-right. 40 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 35 (2013) on combating racist hate speech, para. 45.