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Mr Green pays UK£3m as gambling regulator sees red over AML & harm prevention failures
Remote casino operator Mr Green Ltd will pay the UK Gambling Commission UK£3m, plus UK£10,349.77 towards its investigation costs, over “systemic failings” in social responsibility and anti-money laundering controls between 1 November 2014 and 16..
Online Published Date:
27 February 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
U.S. Bank former risk officer fined US$450,000 for undercutting SARs filing
Michael LaFontaine, past Chief Operational Risk Officer at U.S. Bank, oversaw capping of alert numbers from its automated transaction monitoring system, which led to under-reporting of suspicious transactions to law enforcement, says FinCEN, the US..
Online Published Date:
05 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Kenya fines five banks for AML failings
Five Kenyan banks have been fined 385 million shillings (US$3.75 million) for anti-money laundering breaches, the country’s chief prosecutor announced on 5 March [2020].KCB Group, Equity, Co-op Bank Kenya, StanChart Kenya and Diamond Trust were..
Online Published Date:
06 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Digital ID guidance – FATF notes potential to lower customer due diligence risk
By Keith Nuthall
Online Published Date:
08 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Swedbank reports potential sanctions violations to OFAC
A review of Swedbank’s client business between March 2007 and March 2019 by law firm Clifford Chance has unearthed 586 transactions, total value approximately US$4.8 million, which may have breached US sanctions, the lender reported on 11 March..
Online Published Date:
11 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
London properties subject to UWOs linked to Kazakh PEPs
High-end London properties, the target of three unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) obtained by the UK’s National Crime Agency, are ultimately owned by Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of Kazakhstan’s former autocratic president Nursaltan Nazarbayev, and..
Online Published Date:
11 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Reserve currency – US dollar substitution
Selva Ozelli, CPA is an international tax attorney and Certified Public Accountant who frequently writes about tax, legal and accounting issues for Tax Notes, Bloomberg BNA and the OECD.
Online Published Date:
11 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
On radar - cryptocurrency
Selva Ozelli, Esq., CPA is an international tax attorney and CPA who frequently writes about tax, legal and accounting issues for Tax Notes, Bloomberg BNA, other publications and the OECD.
Online Published Date:
11 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
UK Government announces economic crime levy to boost AML
Firms subject to the UK Money Laundering Regulations will pay a levy to support work on the government’s Economic Crime Plan [1], the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his budget on 11 March 2020. [2]No level has yet been set for the..
Online Published Date:
11 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Betway pays UK£11.6m for ‘VIP’ customer failings
Online gambling firm Betway will pay UK£11.6 million after the UK regulator found flaws in its anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls for seven high value customers. [1]The Gambling Commission’s investigation concludedthat lack of..
Online Published Date:
13 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Freeports – has UK Government recognised the risks?
Ruth Paley(+44 207 919 0527,RuthPaley@eversheds-sutherland.com), Of Counsel, Corporate Crime &Investigations, Eversheds Sutherland.
Online Published Date:
13 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Money remitter fined NZ$2.55m in first New Zealand conviction for AML breaches
Jiaxin Finance Limited, a New Zealand money services business, Qiang Fu, its owner, and his mother, Fuqin Che have been convicted of anti-money laundering offences after working with brokers to remit over NZ$53 million into New Zealand for an..
Online Published Date:
16 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Withers LLP rebuked by UK Solicitors Regulation Authority for AML training lapses
UKlaw firm Withers LLP has been censured by the regulator after delays intraining staff in compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, whichtook effect on 26 June 2017.In November 2018, the Solicitors Regulation Authority askedif the firm..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Tristram Hicks spent a decade on the UK Criminal Finance Board and in operationalcommand of financial investigators. He now teaches and researches.
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Staggered progress – AI adoption
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are touted as game-changers in the detection of financial crime but, despite some promising results, Paul Cochrane finds obstacles to roll-out, not least around regulators’ ability to green-light new..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Raise the bar: European Banking Authority revises Guidelines on ML/TF risk factors
Denis O’Connor, a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, was a member of the British Bankers’ Association Money Laundering Committee from 2003-10 and a member of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group’s Board and Editorial Panel between 2010 and 2016. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial crime issues, both in the UK and abroad.
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Off grey – Serbia
Serbia may have travelled far since thedark days of the Balkan conflict in the 1990s, but its AML/CFT advance has beenpartial. Zlatko Čonkaš, in Novi Sad, Sara Lewis, in Brussels, andKeith Nuthall review remaining obstacles on the road to compliance..
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Will the levy break, or break you first?
John Binns (+44 (0)20 7430 2277, jbinns@bcl.com) is a partner in the businesscrime and corporate regulatory department of BCL Solicitors LLP (www.bcl.com).
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Doing free ports right: a UK challenge
Stephen Baker (+44 (1534)766254, stephenbaker@bakerandpartners.com) is seniorpartner and Eleanor Davies (+44 [1534] 766254, eleanordavies@bakerandpartners.com) an associateat Baker & Partners in Jersey.
Online Published Date:
17 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Brexit – how will it impact the UK’s AML regime?
Rob Dalling (+44 330 060 5447, rdalling@jenner.com) is a partner and Amanda Azarian (+44 330 060 5405, aazarian@jenner.com) an associate at Jenner & Block.
Online Published Date:
18 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020
Two weeks in the sun
Perhapsto make up for our rather drab climate at home we Brits, writes Sue Grossey,have always had an eye for a tropical paradise, and our fourteen BritishOverseas Territories (the crumb-sized remnants of Empire) are predominantlywarm rather than..
Online Published Date:
18 March 2020
Appeared in issue:
272 - 01 April 2020