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Bright prospects - the market for talent
Demand for AML professionals, while it cannot ultimately defy economic trends is resilient, buoyed presently by increasing volume and complexity of regulation. Opportunities, especially for those with years of experience in the frontline or who can understand and apply next generation IT, are golden, finds Paul Cochrane.
Online Published Date:
18 January 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
EU lawmakers strike deal on AML single rulebook laws
The European Union (EU) is set to gain a single AML rulebook across all 27 member states, after late night talks that ran into 18 January ended with a deal between the European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers on a new regulation and directive.
Online Published Date:
19 January 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
ICBC pays US$30m in New York for persistent AML and OFAC compliance breaches
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and its New York branch have settled with the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) over findings of non-compliance with Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) requirements, as well for falsifying records by backdating certifications of know your customer (KYC) programs at correspondent banking clients.
Online Published Date:
20 January 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
FinCEN issues draft rule on US real estate transaction reporting
Non-financed, that is, 'all-cash' US residential real estate transactions, where the sale or transfer is made to a legal entity or trust, would, with some exemptions, be reportable to FinCEN under a proposed new rule, made public on 7 February.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Fentanyl and war shake up USA's ML/TF/PF risk assessments
The scourge of the fentanyl trade and heightened international tensions caused by Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Hamas' attack on Israel and the resulting war in Gaza have shifted the USA's assessment of its money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF) risks.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
City National Bank pays OCC US$65m, in part for AML control & risk assessment deficiencies
"Unsafe and unsound" practices in strategic and operational risk management, including around anti-money laundering, as well as in investment management, at City National Bank, California, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, have brought down a fine of UK$65 million from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
What does a money launderer look like?
If the aim is to halt, or at least disrupt, criminal fund flows, and fast, pinpointing launderers in the customer portfolio will mean thinking creatively, maybe differently, as AML professionals did on a recent Institute of Money Laundering Prevention Officers webinar.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
SkyCity increases settlement provision for AML flaws after court hearing - Australia
Australasian casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd notified the market on 1 February 2024 that it had increased the sum set aside to cover a civil settlement after informing the Federal Court in Australia that it had reached an agreement with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) over alleged contraventions of local anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing law; proceedings were originally filed on 7 December 2022.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Endgame - asset recovery in play
If the goal of anti-money laundering is to combat crime by interrupting the illicit flows that both fund it and reward those involved, internationally overall confiscation figures point to signal failure. Keith Nuthall looks at the reasons and finds some cause to believe in better.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
From victim support to systemic change - the impact of the PSR reimbursement scheme on financial crime prevention
In an era when the velocity of financial transactions increasingly defines the value of firms, the introduction of the UK's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Fraud Reimbursement Scheme has been subject to debate, with concerns raised over its effectiveness in reducing fraud. Mario Menz argues that the scheme will not only reduce fraud but strengthen the financial system's defences against financial crime.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
US AML officer fined US$100,000 by FinCEN & faces prison term
An experienced wholesale currency trader, whose work in a New York credit union, including as Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) officer, was a "major contributing factor" in its closure, has received a US$100,000 civil penalty from FinCEN and agreed to a five-year ban from employment by any 'financial institution' as defined in the BSA. Gyanendra Kumar Asre pleaded guilty in federal court, on 31 January [2024], to failing to maintain an AML programme in violation of the BSA while he directed the New York State Employees' Federal Credit Union (NYSEFCU) into international bulk cash and cheque clearing operations. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
State of play - the gaming sector
Criminals have a positive bias to risk so it's only natural they should gravitate to casinos and other gambling venues for recreation but also as a way to disguise and layer their illicit gains. The money laundering typologies may be well known but huge demand and economic benefits, in terms of employment and tax revenue, also mean regulation is hard-won, finds Keith Nuthall.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
FINRA fines US broker-dealers for AML programme and testing breaches
Two US securities brokerages have each accepted a fine and censure from the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for anti-money laundering compliance failings.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Financial crime prevention - an unexpected ESG ally
As financial services firms are increasingly seeking ways to show how they have integrated Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) into their strategies and objectives, Mario Menz explains how a strong financial crime function not only helps firms meet legal and regulatory obligations but also showcases a strong commitment to ESG goals.
Online Published Date:
13 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
US investment advisors on notice of AML obligations as FinCEN issues draft rule
The risk that sanctioned individuals, corrupt officials, tax evaders, "foreign adversaries" - China and Russia are named - and other criminals might put money into US securities, real estate and other assets is FinCEN's rationale for issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would impose anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements on certain investment advisors.
Online Published Date:
13 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Disentanglement - hard choices for Western companies still in Russia
Although the invasion of Ukraine two years ago prompted an exodus of foreign companies from Russia, some were less willing and/or found it hard to divest. The tightening mesh of Western sanctions together with exit charges and conditions imposed by Moscow make any further withdrawal from the market a complex proposition, as Rob Dalling and Karam Jardaneh of Jenner & Block explain.
Online Published Date:
14 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Take down - a low-down
Law enforcement is driven by intelligence, with the temptation to leave informants and laundering operations running to maximise knowledge, but eventually the cost of doing so will outweigh the benefit. Keith Nuthallwent in search of the tipping point.
Online Published Date:
15 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
People power
AML, increasingly tech-heavy, is still, ultimately, about human bad actors and catching them (out), which demands skill and judgment in the good actors, qualities that can only properly be built through experience of working with other financial crime compliance professionals. Paul Cochrane and Keith Nuthallconsider knowledge needs and current gaps.
Online Published Date:
15 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Deutsche Bank still to fix transaction monitoring as BaFin extends monitor term
BaFin, the German financial services regulator, has rattled its sabre at Deutsche Bank again, threatening, on 15 February, to fine if long-standing transaction monitoring failings are not resolved.
Online Published Date:
16 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Triangulation - three states, one goal
Countries once part of Yugoslavia face a tough challenge in upgrading their anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems to meet international standards. The record of three countries - Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina - shows how remaining outside the European Union, which leaves complete political responsibility for difficult AML/CFT reforms with their national governments, can mean slow progress, this despite all wanting to join the bloc, with AML reform a precondition of membership.Zlatko Čonkaš, in Novi Sad, Serbia and Keith Nuthall check on movement and momentum in the Balkans.
Online Published Date:
16 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Tricky tracery - sanctions
As war and conflict intensifies in different regions, so economic weapons - sanctions - are increasing in number, scope and complexity. Businesses are scrambling to keep up, while authorities are looking to clamp down on violations. Paul Cochrane reports on a dynamic frontline in compliance.
Online Published Date:
19 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Value add - the use of consultants
Short of competent staff, aiming to upgrade a monitoring system or compelled to rethink the whole compliance framework by a regulator, there will be specialists for hire who can help. Laura Syrett looks up the contractors.
Online Published Date:
20 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
EU AML reforms - a triumph of hope?
More than half the European Union's (EU) member states have at least one active infringement case open against them over their failure to implement the bloc's anti-money laundering legislation, Sara Lewis reports from Brussels, so there is reason to question how effective its radical revision will prove in practice.
Online Published Date:
20 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024
Resistance and reform - British Virgin Islands
Who ultimately owns or controls BVI-registered companies will be discoverable by those with a 'legitimate interest' in combating money laundering and terrorist financing but not, for now at least, by the general public. Keith Nuthallreviews a successful rearguard action fought against the UK government by one Overseas Territory even as London contemplated direct rule.
Online Published Date:
21 February 2024
Appeared in issue:
311 - 01 March 2024