i-law

Money Laundering Bulletin

Blue Ridge Bank ordered by OCC to overhaul AML and complete SAR look-back

Blue Ridge Bank of Virginia has escaped financial sanction for a US Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering programme characterised by "systemic internal controls breakdowns" in a consent order published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) mid February.
Online Published Date:  21 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Kanon Gaming fined €67,874 in Malta over CDD failings

Online gambling operator Kanon Gaming Ltd did not check for source of wealth and/or funds in 90% of files sampled by the Maltese Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), according to an enforcement notice, dated 30 January 2024 but published in late February.
Online Published Date:  22 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Consent requests - official answers

The consent regime, in Part 7 of the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, under which an AML-regulated entity can file an 'authorised' (defence against money laundering - DAML) disclosure and if it doesn't hear otherwise from law enforcement within a set period, go head with a transaction, is set to stay.
Online Published Date:  22 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Barclays and Lloyds reveal AML investigations in UK

UK high street banks Barclays and Lloyds have been under investigation by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations and its own rules, according to their 2023 annual reports.
Online Published Date:  22 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

USA, EU, UK pile on Russia sanctions as war in Ukraine enters third year

The USA, the European Union (EU) and the UK have issued hundreds of new sanctions on Russians, Russian entities and associates overseas, one day ahead of the second anniversary of their country's major invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Online Published Date:  24 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

FATF appoints new president; reforms guidance on trust transparency ahead of 5th mutual evaluation round

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has appointed a new president - Elisa de Anda Madrazo, of Mexico - as the global AML body faces the launch of its fifth mutual evaluation round later this year.
Online Published Date:  24 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Lineage Bank to review BaaS AML/CFT controls under US consent order

Tennessee-headquartered Lineage Bank has agreed with the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to embark on a wholesale overhaul of its management and business practice under a consent order signed on 30 January 2024, but not published until late February.
Online Published Date:  26 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Moving targets - crypto now and next

Rumours of Bitcoin's demise and the eclipse of virtual assets more widely as media of exchange, speculation or investment, have been proved spectacularly wrong in the last year, while authorities globally move, fitfully, to bring the sector under AML/CFT control, Keith Nuthallconsiders with what success.
Online Published Date:  26 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

UK banks report financial crime & compliance factors significant in SME account closures

Leading UK banks have attributed up to almost all their closures of SME accounts last year, over 140,000 or 2.7% of the total, to financial crime issues or regulatory obligations.
Online Published Date:  28 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

NatWest offshore arm fined UK£1.4m in Isle of Man over risk assessment update

The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited (RBSI), a subsidiary of UK's NatWest Group plc, is to pay a UK£1,440,481 civil penalty to the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority for late implementation of changes to its customer risk assessment process.
Online Published Date:  29 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Way to go! - USA AML advances

Long a conspicuous laggard, the United States of America is finally catching up to international AML standards, in customer due diligence, with the launch, this January, of a beneficial ownership register for companies, and through proposed extension of AML rules to investment advisers and some real estate practitioners. Milestones acknowledged, Keith Nuthall, finds the journey is far from over.
Online Published Date:  29 February 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

First Farmers & Commercial Bank ordered to build effective AML program by US regulator

A Tennessee community bank has acceded to a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that calls for a wholesale reconstruction of its anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Online Published Date:  11 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Gemini Trust Co fined $37m in New York, in part for CDD failings

A New York limited trust company that directed customers to make unsecured loans to an unregulated third-party company it had not adequately checked, leaving 200,000 of them unable to access their virtual currency deposits, will pay US$37 million under a consent order signed with the New York Department of Financial Services at the end of February.
Online Published Date:  11 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Refit for purpose - the UK Money Laundering Regulations

The politics is clear in the ministerial foreword - ensuring UK regulation is "attractive to investors and supports economic growth" - but for all that, HM Treasury's consultation on how to improve the Money Laundering Regulations, the legislative nuts and bolts of the AML/CFT regime, is a thoughtful, thorough piece of work, and accompanied by a survey on the costs of compliance.
Online Published Date:  13 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Wise words

All AML/CFT practitioners, however experienced, need to keep current - stay up to date with the ever-evolving global trends; after all, it's curiosity and willingness to learn that maintains both expertise and interest. Some high-profile professionals generously shared their recommendations for instructive and inspiring written, video and audio content with Brenda Dionisi, as well as some nuggets of advice based on long experience at the financial crime frontline.
Online Published Date:  14 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

MEPs approve new criminal asset confiscation law

The European Parliament has approved a European Union (EU) directive negotiated with the EU Council of Ministers that will insist the 27 member states have appropriate regulations and procedures to freeze and confiscate the proceeds of crime.This legislation was prompted by concerns that only 2.2 % of the proceeds of EU-focused crime are currently confiscated.
Online Published Date:  15 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

EFG pays US$3.7m in US over Cuba, Kingpin, Russia sanctions breaches

Swiss private banking group EFG International AG will pay US$3,740,422 to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for apparent violations of various US sanctions programmes between 2014 and 2023.
Online Published Date:  15 March 2024
Appeared in issue:  312 - 01 April 2024

Copyright © 2024 Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited. Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 13831625 and address 5th Floor, 10 St Bride Street, London, EC4A 4AD, United Kingdom. Lloyd's List Intelligence is a trading name of Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited.

Lloyd's is the registered trademark of the Society Incorporated by the Lloyd's Act 1871 by the name of Lloyd's.