Category: Financial Crime

How can financial institutions and law enforcement better fight criminals in an increasing complex and borderless society? Modernizing FinCEN may be a way. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is one of U.S. Treasury’s primary agencies that oversees and implements policies to prevent and detect money laundering. FinCEN’s role in stopping terrorist financing, drug traffickers, and international criminal organizations cannot be overstated, working on a global scale in anti-money laundering (AML) efforts. But how can financial institutions and law enforcement better work together to fight criminals in an increasing complex, technologically sophisticated, and borderless society? Some would argue modernizing FinCEN…

It has been confirmed that the EU’s smallest Member State, Malta, has been added to the Financial Action Task Force’s ‘grey list’, something which may cause detrimental effects to the Maltese economy. Following the FATF’s five-day plenary session, it has been announced that Haiti, Malta, the Philippines, and South Sudan, have been grey listed by the global financial watchdog. They join countries such as Albania, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Uganda and Syria under increased monitoring by the body, which has called for these jurisdictions to “complete their action plans expeditiously and within the agreed timeframes”, after “strategic deficiencies” were identified in their…

An “overwhelming majority” of countries expressed opposition to Malta being placed on a global watchdog’s financial crime greylist. Sources briefed on the confidential greylisting discussions in the past week said numerous FATF member countries were of the view that Malta had done enough to avoid being placed on the list of jurisdictions deemed untrustworthy in the fight against financial crime. Despite having majority support, Malta’s efforts to remain off the greylist were torpedoed by the US, UK and Germany. “The FATF does not take decisions by a vote. Decisions are taken by consensus which is neither based on unanimity nor…

Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions released its annual True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance Global Report. The results derived from the comprehensive survey of 1,015 financial crime compliance decision makers at financial institutions including banks as well as investment, asset management and insurance firms globally. The projected total cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions reached $213.9 billion in 2021, surpassing the $180.9 billion recorded in 2020. The majority of this sizeable year-over-year increase is represented by Western Europe and the United States. The decision makers who took part in the study oversee financial crime compliance processes such as…

The TRACE Foundation, a non-profit organization established to support projects that encourage greater commercial transparency, today announced the winners of the 2021 TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting. The annual award recognizes journalism that uncovers business bribery or related financial crime. Zorayda Gallegos Valle, a freelance journalist writing for El País in Mexico, won the TRACE Prize for her investigation that uncovered the Mexican Army’s scheme to divert at least $156 million of public resources through hundreds of shell companies contracted to complete infrastructure projects. “I am grateful to the TRACE Foundation for supporting investigative journalism because it plays an important…

Why do we need to talk about global perspectives on economic crime right now? IFAC, the global organisation for the accountancy profession, explains.“The root of the problem is that the economic incentive is always going to drive criminals to innovate and take risks,” says Scott Hanson, Director, Public Policy & Regulation at IFAC. “They’re always got that motivation to stay two steps ahead.” Add to that the accelerated pace of technological change, and the challenge is augmented exponentially. “The unfortunate news is that for every door that policymakers, law enforcement, and their professional allies, like accountants, close, technology opens new…

A huge rise in financial crime was recorded last year, driven by the rapid shift to digital banking and commerce following COVID-19 lockdowns. This is according to Feedzai’s Financial Crime Report Q1 – 2021, which compared the volume of financial fraud and crime in Q4 and Q1 2020, with the latter quarter mainly unaffected by the pandemic. The study found there was a 650% surge in account takeover (ATO) in Q4 compared to Q1, with malicious actors taking advantage of the growth in online accounts during the crisis. The authors noted that the expansion of online banking and real-time payment…

January 20, 2021. Inauguration Day. The end of an era. Following four years under President Donald Trump, the United States will have a new president. What should we expect under the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris? Your answer to this question will likely depend on your top priorities. At FINTRAIL, we have been working to help our clients understand and prepare for any and all financial crime-related changes that are anticipated under the new administration. While some specifics are up in the air, it is clear that tackling illicit finance will be a top priority.…