Strengthening AML/CFT Cooperation for Cryptoassets in Latin America: Comparative Analysis of Chile, Argentina, and Peru (2020–2025)

Abstract

The expansion of cryptoasset usage in Chile, Argentina and Peru between 2020–2025 has driven regulatory reforms aligned with FATF recommendations, yet with uneven effects on anti-money laundering enforcement and cross-border financial investigations. Based on documentary and comparative analysis, this study identifies three critical gaps that limit cooperative effectiveness in the region: non-equivalent legal definitions for virtual assets and service providers (VASP), partial implementation of the Travel Rule and persistent challenges in generating digital evidence that meets interoperable admissibility standards. These gaps reduce transactional traceability and the reliability of Suspicious Transaction Reports, while enabling high-risk practices such as illicit use of stablecoins, mixers and low-visibility cross-border crypto transfers.

The article argues that the formal adoption of international standards has progressed faster than operational capacity within AML/CFT systems, creating conditions for regulatory arbitrage and crypto-enabled financial crime. A phased strengthening agenda is proposed, focusing on minimum conceptual harmonization, improved evidentiary interoperability, and the development of technical capacities for supervision, VASP compliance and digital legal cooperation among financial intelligence units, market supervisors and central authorities.