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Delist drive - South Africa
Unimpressed by the slow rate of improvement in South Africa's anti-money laundering regime following its mutual evaluation in 2021, the Financial Action Task Force sought to force the pace in February this year, putting the country under 'increased monitoring', so on the 'grey list'. Paul Cochrane, in Pietermaritzburg, looks at the response across the months since.
Online Published Date:
06 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
307 - 02 October 2023
UK sanctions compliance - more honoured in the breach?
It's rarely - correction, to date, never - a cause for celebration when the UK financial services regulator publishes findings on how well those it supervises are complying with the rules. True to form, on 6 September we learnt that "some firms' systems were unable to generate alerts against certain names on OFSI's [Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation] consolidated list of persons subject to sanctions, and some firms were unable to provide reasonable justification for the omissions".
Online Published Date:
06 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
307 - 02 October 2023
Three in ten crime groups in EU use professional launderers, underground banking - Europol
While around 70% of criminal groups active in the European Union (EU) use "basic money laundering techniques" the rest employ professional laundering networks and/or deal with the underground banking system, Europol reports in its first European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment.
Online Published Date:
12 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Small steps - St Kitts & Nevis must stride
A Caribbean micro nation, St Kitts & Nevis currently lacks the capacity to address its money laundering risks, finds Keith Nuthall, but so far (below the radar?) has escaped grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force.
Online Published Date:
15 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Bancrédito International fined US$15m by FinCEN for reporting, correspondent banking failings & lack of AML program
In FinCEN's first enforcement action against a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity (IBE), one of the oldest and some-time largest in that jurisdiction, Bancrédito International Bank and Trust Corporation has admitted to violations of the US Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and will pay a US$15 million civil penalty.
Online Published Date:
16 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Infowars - the large language model threat
Technology vendors are keen to promote the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, helping obliged entities detect and block illicit money flows. But every technology can also be wielded by bad actors; AI is no different. It can be abused to attack and evade know your customer (KYC) controls, Keith Nuthall discovers.
Online Published Date:
17 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Set fair - Cayman Islands sails into line on AML
For long the archetypal sunny place for shady people's money, Cayman Islands has worked hard to push back the grey-listing clouds cast by the Financial Action Task Force in early 2021. Clear skies of AML/CFT regime compliance are now a realistic prospect, finds Keith Nuthall.
Online Published Date:
17 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Stopgaps - Chinese monetary control
Domestic property market jitters and a clampdown on junket operators mean that money, legal and not, will be looking for alternative investment opportunities and channels out of China. Jens Kastnerlooks for the checks on the balances.
Online Published Date:
21 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
pKYC: Lessons from real-world deployments
Always know your customers without the need for time-consuming, costly, regular manual reviews - it is now possible and happening: Clark Frogley of Quantexa, explains how.
Online Published Date:
23 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Emigrant Bank pays US$31,868 to OFAC over Iranian-held CD account
New York-based Emigrant Bank has accepted a US$31,867.90 penalty from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over its operation of a Certificate of Deposit (CD) account for two individuals resident in Iran.
Online Published Date:
25 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Mr Q operator fined £690,947 by UK Gambling Commission for AML and social responsibility breaches
Lindar Media Ltd, which trades as Mr Q and MrQ.com, has been ordered to pay £690,947 by the UK Gambling Commission for failure to meet licensing conditions between July 2021 and September 2022.
Online Published Date:
25 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
DWS, Deutsche Bank subsidiary, fined US$9m by SEC for AML faults
DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc, Delaware-registered investment advisor to a set of mutual funds, and a majority-owned indirect subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG, has agreed to pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) US$9 million for failings in its anti-money laundering controls between at least January 2017 and December 2021.
Online Published Date:
26 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023
Luxembourg scores 'moderate' in half of FATF effectiveness ratings
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has demonstrated how it wants countries to focus as much on effectiveness as technical compliance, with its latest mutual evaluation report on Luxembourg requesting more AML action in high-risk sectors.
Online Published Date:
28 September 2023
Appeared in issue:
308 - 01 November 2023