Statement Regarding Account Verifications
The Bitcoin market continues to evolve, as do regulations and conditions of compliance for Mt. Gox to continue bringing secure services to our customers. It our responsibility to provide a trusted and legal exchange, and that includes making sure that we are operating within strict anti-money laundering rules and preventing other malicious activity.
As a result, beginning May 30th, 2013 all Mt. Gox user accounts are required to be verified in order to perform any currency deposits and withdrawals.Bitcoin deposits do not need verification, and at this time we are not requiring verification for Bitcoin withdrawals.
has this changed sometime in the past 2 months with an official announcement?
Yes. Because MtGox' idea of "pr" is "lie every chance you get".