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Recovery phase - Lebanon
As if it didn't have enough to contend with - financial sector meltdown and armed conflict between Hezbollah and Israel - Lebanon has also recently joined the Financial Action Task Force's list of jurisdictions with serious anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism deficiencies. Paul Cochrane looks at the challenges the country faces to secure removal.
Online Published Date:
16 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
US$14m SEC arrow twangs Robin Hood's SAR outlaw ways
Robin Hood Financial LLC and Robin Hood Securities LLC (together 'Robin Hood'), broker-dealers registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are to pay a US$45 million penalty for wide-ranging rule breaches, from mismarking short sales in fractional shares as long through to failure to prevent access by a third party who was able to download "information related to millions of individuals": US$13.5million is attributable to failings to "timely file SARs [suspicious activity reports]" as required under the Exchange Act Section 17(a) and Exchange Act Rule 17a-8.
Online Published Date:
16 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
Greentube Alderney to pay UK£1m over gambling AML control breaches
Online gaming operator Greentube Alderney Limited, which trades as Admiral Casino, will pay UK£1 million (US$1.22 million) after the UK Gambling Commission discovered anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance failings, between September 2022 and June 2023, and weaknesses in its implementation of social harm prevention controls.
Online Published Date:
16 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
BitMEX fined US$100m for wilful lack of AML controls
Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX was sentenced, on 15 January, to pay a US$100 million criminal fine for "wilfully failing to establish, implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) program"; it had filed a guilty plea to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) in July 2024.
Online Published Date:
16 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
Block, Inc pays US$80m to US state regulators for AML flaws
US fintech Block, Inc., which operates 'Cash App', a mobile payment service, for 50 million customers, has agreed to pay US$80 million to settle claims by 48 state financial regulators that it violated Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/anti-money laundering (AML) rules: no details of the breaches were provided in the enforcement notice published by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).
Online Published Date:
16 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
LPL Financial pays SEC US$18m over defective CDD
Investment adviser and broker-dealer LPL Financial LLC has agreed to settle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over findings that it failed to comply with its own customer information program (CIP) and ongoing customer due diligence (CDD) obligations between May 2019 and December 2023.
Online Published Date:
18 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025
A safe speed?
If you're an entrepreneur in the banking and payments space with whizzy new fintech, ready to revolutionise money deposits and flows, what will you prioritise?
Online Published Date:
20 January 2025
Appeared in issue:
320 - 01 February 2025