The use of the sanctions regime and compliance system to reduce the risks of illegal transactions involving virtual assets: foreign and Russian experience

Criminologically significant consequence of the development of information and telecommunications and digital technologies, the emergence of non-standard means of payment using elements of cryptography virtual currencies, has been an increase in the risks of illegal transactions, and, above all, the legalization of proceeds from criminal activity and terrorist financing. The anonymity with which high-tech criminals operate forces governments to change approaches to regulating the turnover of virtual assets, to look for new management, legal and economic tools that will be effective in identifying, preventing and minimizing damage from illegal financial transactions. These circumstances cause an urgent need for scientific justification and subsequent assessment of the organizational experience of different countries in the field of control of the turnover of virtual assets. The advantages of virtual assets that are used for conducting illegal activities require compensation by expanding the controlling function of state administration by imposing sanctions and implementing a compliance system that ensures their implementation for individuals and legal entities involved in the production and turnover of virtual assets. Purpose: based on the analysis of the US experience in applying sanctions and implementing the compliance system that ensures their fulfillment, to determine the vulnerabilities and possibilities of this approach of establishing state control in the sphere of virtual assets and to assess the prospects for its use in Russian jurisdiction. Methods: the classification method is used to distinguish the main types of virtual assets; the axiomatic method is used to form the terminology of the study; the legal analysis is used to establish the legal nature of sanctions; the method of comparative study of regulatory legal acts and related documents is used to assess the US and Russian experience in implementing the compliance system; the logical and expert-analytical methods are used to identify the advantages and vulnerabilities of sanctions. Results: the authors conclude that the controlling function of the state in relation to the turnover of all types of virtual assets can be expanded by introducing a sanctions regime against participants in the exchange and conversion of virtual assets acquired by criminal means; it is possible to ensure the effectiveness of sanctions by introducing a compliance system into the activities of participants in the turnover of virtual assets, aimed primarily at overcoming anonymity in digital environment; the vulnerabilities of the system of sanctions and related compliance control are the constant complication of the network of imposed sanctions and the lack of a unified position of different bodies and institutions regarding the list and status of virtual assets in different jurisdictions, which in a crisis of international law leads to the superiority of national control instruments.