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The 2020 Suspicious Activity Report (SARs) Annual Report has been published today (19 November). Read the report. The UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) saw another record number of SARs, receiving and processing 573,085 (a 20% increase on the previous period of 478,437), with an 81% increase in requests for a defence against money laundering or terrorist finance (62,408). The UKFIU continued its efforts to provide law enforcement agencies with focused asset recovery opportunities as a result of Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests. Over the year £172m was denied to suspected criminals as a result of DAML requests – up…

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The FATF Recommendations are recognised as the global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) standard. For more information about the FATF, please visit the website: www.fatf-gafi.org. This document and/or any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.…

Detail of outcome The government response sets out a range of proposals to improve the reliability and accuracy of information on the Companies Register, including: identity verification: introducing compulsory identity verification for all directors, People with Significant Control and those filing information on behalf of a company reforms to Companies House powers: providing the Registrar of Companies stronger powers to query, seek evidence for, amend or remove information and to share it with law enforcement partners when certain conditions are met protecting personal information: improving the processes for removing personal information from the register company accounts: the response proposes further…

Whether it’s elaborate scams and attempts by criminals to con innocent victims into handing over their money or providing access to data which can then be used to gain illicit funds, stories of those impacted by fraud are becoming increasingly common. In particular, Covid-19 has seen criminal gangs focus on taking advantage of people’s fears and uncertainties around the virus, sometimes to devastating effect.  This is demonstrated by a sharp rise in the number of impersonation scams, which nearly doubled in the first six months of the year, with almost 15,000 cases reported. Such scams occur when the victim is…

Publication of Source of Wealth and Source of Funds (Private Banking/Wealth Management) FAQs  The Wolfsberg Group is pleased to publish Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on how Financial Institutions can identify, mitigate and manage money laundering risks by undertaking Source of Wealth (SoW) and Source of Funds (SoF) checks on relevant customers, when appropriate and/or required by applicable regulation. Such checks are to be considered among the key elements of customer risk assessment and risk management for certain customers, as defined by each Financial Institution. This document is primarily aimed at Financial Institutions’ Private Banking/Wealth Management customer segments and the Group…