Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization focused on combating money laundering is going to start discussions on introducing binding rules governing cryptocurrency exchanges, Reuters reported quoting a Japanese government official as the source.

This follows the G20 meeting held in March where global financial policymakers agreed to closely watch cryptocurrencies and related activities.

Currently, the cryptocurrency exchanges are governed by non-binding guidelines, which leads to inconsistent enforcement among countries. The existing rules require exchanges to be registered or licensed, fulfill KYC requirements to prevent money laundering, report any suspicious trading activity on their platform.

The official said that the FATF will begin discussions on June 24 to assess if the existing rules are still appropriate and explore how they can be applied to new exchanges. The official also said that the discussions will also focus on how to work with countries that have banned cryptocurrency trading altogether.

The official further said that the Japanese government is pushing for adoption of new binding rules by 2019 and hopes to gain the cooperation of the European and the US governments. The government of Japan is due to chair the G20 in the year 2020.