Tokyo, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Legislative Council is set to recommend that authorities be allowed to confiscate crypto assets illegally obtained by crime groups and others, it was learned Tuesday.
   

The advisory panel has drafted recommendations on revising the organized crime punishment law. It plans to finalize the recommendations and submit them to the justice minister in September.
   

Based on the recommendations, the Justice Ministry will submit a bill to revise the law during this autumn’s extraordinary parliamentary session at the earliest.
   

Under the current law, multiple court rulings have denied that crypto assets are monetary claims that can be confiscated, according to the ministry.
   

The panel will propose revising the law to state that assets in general can be confiscated.
   

In August 2021, the Financial Action Task Force, an international organization, said in a report that Japan’s efforts in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing were inadequate.
   

Following the report, the panel faced calls to consider measures against the possession and transfer of criminal proceeds using digital technologies.