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Two US banks ordered to overhaul AML/CFT by FDIC
Sutton Bank, Ohio and Piermont Bank, New York have agreed to consent orders by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) detailing unsafe or unsound banking practices, including in management of money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
Online Published Date:
01 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
VASP AML rules widely introduced, with notable exceptions, finds FATF
A Financial Action Task Force (FATF) survey points to significant advances in imposing AML/CFT on the use of virtual assets (VA) and on virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with 49 out of 58 countries reviewed establishing controls.
Online Published Date:
03 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
Start at the top - German reconstruction
Structural reform of AML at federal level and a fillip with Frankfurt's selection as base for the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority should prove positive for Germany's efforts against illicit finance but much will depend on how the Länder respond, finds Jens Kastner.
Online Published Date:
05 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
Highest risk EU crime groups focus on real estate for laundering, says Europol
In a report drawn from intelligence on 821 criminal networks with 25,000 members active in the European Union (EU), Europol finds that "almost all" use "at least basic money laundering techniques".
Online Published Date:
08 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
What's the difference between a front company and a shell company?
Let's look, in turn, at the headline features of each, says Tim Parkman of Marker, and drill down into the more practical implications.
Online Published Date:
10 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
Adverse Screening v. Positive Screening
On leaving his position as Europol's Director in 2018, Rob Wainwright said: "We have identified 400 top money launderers who are running billions through the European banking system with a 99% success rate." It's unlikely this has changed in the last six years, writes Tim Parkman of Marker. The statement, almost comedic in its frankness given the international effort lavished on AML regulation over the last 35 years, begs a big question: Why is it apparently so easy for them?
Online Published Date:
10 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
No EUphemisms - Fourth Directive findings
Pushing seven years since the European Union's fourth anti-money laundering directive (2015/849) took effect - on 26 June 2017 - it is reasonable to ask how the legislation is working. The Council of Europe (CoE) did so; its 'Assessment of the Concrete Implementation and Effective Application' of 4AMLD, published on 22 March [2024], summarises 37 months of study. Although the CoE recognises that "significant" work has been undertaken, whether, as it claims, "effectively addressing ML and TF has become one of [member states'] key priorities" is open to massive doubt after reading the report.
Online Published Date:
11 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
Core findings: UK SARs review
Is suspicious activity reporting up, down, how much, by whom, and why? Tom Vidovic looks for answers in the latest annual report from the UK financial intelligence unit.
Online Published Date:
12 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
Shared pain, compliance gain
Teamwork makes the dream work is a common rallying call when a business is successful. Recruiting people with the right skills and competence contributes to positive outcomes. So far, so good, writes Martin Woods, until less competent people at other firms undermine this success. Behold the new UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) 50/50 reimbursement regime.
Online Published Date:
15 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
EU ministers formally approve law criminalising sanctions evasion
The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has given its final approval to a directive requiring EU member states to criminalise and impose dissuasive penalties for deliberate evasion of sanctions.
Online Published Date:
15 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
313 - 01 May 2024
PKB Private Bank convicted in Switzerland after "aggravated money laundering" by staff
PKB Private Bank SA must pay a CHF750,000 (US$821,376) fine after the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland found that between 2011 and 2014 its controls had failed to prevent criminal "aggravated money laundering" by two employees in connection with the "Lava Jato" corruption case, centred on Brazil.
Online Published Date:
16 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
UK parliamentarians propose economic crime policy agenda
Two UK all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) of MPs have published an Economic Crime Manifesto, second edition, cataloguing reforms they say are needed to shift the country's status from "haven for illicit wealth" to a "global leader in the fight against corruption,fraud and dirty money".
Online Published Date:
18 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
First FS & LA of Lorain agrees to US OCC directive on CDD, AML staffing and training
Ohio, USA bank First FS & LA or Lorain has entered into a formal agreement with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to upgrade its anti-money laundering controls to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) as part of a larger, strategic plan to address "unsafe or unsound practices".
Online Published Date:
18 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Is FATF on the right track?
In late 2024, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will celebrate 35 years as the global standard-setter for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) - an opportunity, critics tell Paul Cochrane, to review and potentially reform its role in the fight against illicit finance.
Online Published Date:
20 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Commerzbank fined €1.45m in Germany for CDD breaches
BaFin, the German financial services regulator, has ordered Commerzbank and its comdirect Bank arm to pay a €1.45m (US$1.55m) penalty for customer due diligence failings.
Online Published Date:
22 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
MEPs block removal of UAE, Gibraltar, Panama from EU AML/CFT blacklist
The European Parliament has pushed the European Commission into a politically awkward position by refusing to follow the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) lead in removing the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Gibraltar and Panama from the European Union (EU) ML blacklist.
Online Published Date:
24 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Toke stock - Canada, cannabis and criminal proceeds
Nationwide legalisation of marijuana consumption by adults in Canada in 2018 was experimentation on a grand scale, so how's the trip been so far - high, mellow or gone to pot? Keith Nuthall explores the changing market and money flows.
Online Published Date:
24 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
European Parliament passes AML reforms
Legislation underpinning major revision of the European Union's (EU) anti-money laundering framework was voted through by the European Parliament on 24 April.
Online Published Date:
25 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Gilt edge - Zimbabwe
A shiny new currency - Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) - will not, of itself, cure the country's economic ills, and certainly not if the authorities fail to assert control over the trade in physical gold, report Ceaser Mhukahuru, in Harare, and Keith Nuthall.
Online Published Date:
26 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Two US community banks take FDIC consent orders to rectify BSA compliance
River Bank & Trust, Alabama and Exchange Bank, Oklahoma have agreed to overhaul their Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering compliance frameworks after inspection by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Online Published Date:
28 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024
Canada's FIU requests STRs via generic messaging service after hack
FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit (FIU), has asked obliged entities to file their most sensitive suspicious transaction reports (STRs) via a commercial file-sharing system after the AML agency was hacked in March.
Online Published Date:
29 April 2024
Appeared in issue:
314 - 03 June 2024