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Not one in four law firms fully compliant with UK ML Regulations
Of 512 law firms inspected in 2023/24 (April to April), 110 (23%) were fully compliant with the UK Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), the Solicitors Regulation Authority says in its latest AML annual report.
Online Published Date:
01 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
UK asset recovery incentivisation scheme "deeply flawed", finds NGO
The mechanism by which confiscated criminal assets are recycled into further UK law enforcement efforts to combat economic crime is opaque and creates perverse incentives, according to research by the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption, published on 4 November.
Online Published Date:
05 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
Metro Bank fined UK£16.7m over transaction monitoring misses
A logic error in the code underpinning Metro Bank's automated transaction monitoring has cost it a UK£16,675,200 (US$21,277,972) penalty from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Online Published Date:
12 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
Risk assessment - right from the start
If the problem isn't defined, it can't be solved: so with risk - if not specified and assessed it cannot be controlled. The risk-based approach (RBA) - a staple of anti-money laundering literature and standards for nearly two decades - positively insists on proper assessment if limited compliance resource is to be targeted effectively, and yet... organisations struggle to comply, but then it is only this year that the USA has made the RBA a regulatory obligation. Keith Nuthall explores a fundamental, persistent challenge and how technology providers are rising to it.
Online Published Date:
13 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
Mule accounts bide time before use, research finds
Mule accounts lie dormant or are used legitimately for eight months, on average, before activated for money laundering, based on the experience of three UK high street banks.
Online Published Date:
13 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
American Life Insurance pays OFAC after agent works around Iran sanctions
American Life Insurance Company (ALICO), part of MetLife, Inc., has settled with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over apparent violation of US sanctions on Iran; it will pay a civil penalty of US$178,421.
Online Published Date:
15 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
Six UK law firm AML fines posted in four days
Six law firms have paid fines for core anti-money laundering breaches, according to a spate of enforcement notices published on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website between 12 and 15 November.
Online Published Date:
16 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
319 - 01 December 2024
Onto the front foot: AI v. financial crime
Artificial intelligence (AI) says, "I detected a criminal!" The criminal says, "I trained you to say that." Welcome to the new reality, says Mayank Sharma of FinScan, where criminals are magicians using AI tricks to make your money go away, and if you don't have tools that are more sophisticated, the only thing left is an expensive lesson.
Online Published Date:
16 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
HSBC pays UK£0.3m in Isle of Man for not stopping payments
The Isle of Man branch of HSBC has been ordered to pay a civil penalty of UK£293,930 (US$352,520) to the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority for unauthorised payments from accounts blocked over proceeds of crime concerns.
Online Published Date:
27 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
BVI shell companies bought £5.5bn of UK property with suspect funds - TI
Of UK£11.1 billion (US$14.1bn) invested in 1,600 UK properties, since 2016, using funds with dubious origins, half (UK£5.9bn (US$7.5bn)) came via shell companies set up in UK Overseas Territories, with most (UK£5.5bn (US$7.0bn) from entities registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), according to research by Transparency International UK.
Online Published Date:
28 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
Wise instructed to repair CDD files by Belgian regulator
UK fintech Wise was ordered, in 2022, to obtain proof of address for "hundreds of thousands of customers" by the National Bank of Belgium, its regulator in Europe, sources have told the Financial Times.
Online Published Date:
29 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
Lombard Odier charged with 'aggravated money laundering' by Swiss prosecutors
Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier and one of its former relationship managers were indicted for 'aggravated money laundering', on 26 November.
Online Published Date:
29 November 2024
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025