Category: Money Laundering

EBA Alerts on the Detrimental Impact of Unwarranted De-Risking

Money Laundering, Terrorism
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its Opinion on the scale and impact of de-risking in the EU and the steps competent authorities should take to tackle unwarranted de-risking. Providing access to at least basic financial products and services is a prerequisite for the participation in modern economic and social life and de-risking, when unwarranted, can cause the financial exclusion of legitimate customers. It can also affect competition and financial stability. De-risking refers to decisions taken by financial institutions not to provide services to customers in certain risk categories. De-risking can be a legitimate risk management tool but it…

Swedbank ex Chief Charged Over Money Laundering Scandal

Fraud, Money Laundering, Prosecutions
The former chief executive of Swedbank has been charged with fraud, market manipulation and the unauthorised disclosure of inside information, after an investigation into a large-scale money laundering scandal in the Baltics. Birgitte Bonnesen, who was sacked as chief executive two years ago when the scandal came to light, “repeatedly spread misleading information” that the bank did not have any issues with its anti-money laundering (AML) processes in Estonia, according to Sweden’s Economic Crime Authority. Thomas Langrot, the chief prosecutor and head of the investigation, said Bonnesen either intentionally or through gross negligence disseminated misleading information about the state of…

Millions Seized in Gibraltar Money Laundering Operations

Money Laundering
Since 2016, the Gibraltar Money Laundering Investigation Unit has seized almost 2.4 million euros, as well as luxury yachts and apartments, from the proceeds of organised crime. Chief Inspector Tunbridge of the Economic Crimes Unit has attributed a collaborative relationship with Spain to its success, but admits that Brexit has made investigations all the more difficult. A huge amount of drugs is trafficked from Morocco to Spain, and foreign criminal organisations have money laundering through illegal activities in Gibraltar down to a fine art. Mr Tunbridge explained that criminals know very well that if they commit a crime in one…

Chinese Police Make First Arrest For CBDC Money Laundering

Money Laundering
Chinese officials have hunted down a gang suspected of laundering money using the digital yuan. Chinese officials have arrested members of a criminal group charged with alleged money laundering using the country’s CBDC, the digital yuan. The news implies the Chinese government and law enforcement will have greater control and oversight over financial activities in the country with its CBDC. China Records First Illegal Use Case of e-CNY The Xinmi Public Security Department arrested members of a gang, composed of 11 members, in the Fujian Province for allegedly scamming a person for 200,000 yuan ($32,000). Reportedly the victim, named Qu,…

U.K. Hands Down Largest Sentences for Money Laundering

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
A U.K. court sent two men behind bars for a total of 33 years for laundering the equivalent of nearly US$95 million and fraudulently claimed $13.44 million in COVID-19 Bounce Back Loans for their fake companies, the National Crime Agency reported. Artem Terzyan, 38, from Russia was sentenced to 17 and Deivis Grochiatskij, 44, from Lithuania to 16 years in prison after a seven-weeks-long trial in September. Their sentences are believed to be one of the largest ever handed down in the U.K. for money laundering, the NCA said. The investigation started in October 2017 when the police noticed another…

NatWest Fined £264.8 Million Over Anti-Money Laundering ‘Failures’

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
NatWest received a £264.8 million fine after failing to comply with account-monitoring requirements, becoming the first bank to be criminally convicted under the UK’s anti-money laundering regulations. The fine relates to NatWest’s failure to properly monitor its business relationship with jewellery firm Fowler Oldfield. Over a period of less than four years, the Fowler Oldfield deposited around £365 million—mostly in cash—despite having an estimated annual turnover of just £15 million In sentencing remarks published on Monday, Mrs Justice Cockerill accused NatWest of “failing to comply” with its legal obligations, but without “any deliberate flouting of the rules or any criminal…

FCA Fines HSBC £64m for Failings in its AML Processes

FCA, Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Banking giant HSBC has been fined £63.9 million by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for failings in its anti-money laundering (AML) processes. The FCA claims HSBC’s transaction monitoring systems showed “serious weaknesses” over a period of eight years from March 2010 to March 2018. The regulator says HSBC did not dispute its findings and agreed to settle “at the earliest possible opportunity”. As a result, the bank’s total fine was discounted by 30% from £91,352,600 down to £63,946,800. In particular, the FCA says HSBC failed to “consider whether the scenarios used to identify indicators of money laundering or terrorist…

FCA Fines Sunrise Brokers LLP £642,400 for Serious Financial Crime Control Failings

FCA, Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Sunrise Brokers LLP has been fined over £600,000 for deficient anti money laundering systems and controls. This is the second case brought by the FCA in relation to cum-ex trading, dividend arbitrage and withholding tax (WHT) reclaim schemes. The first FCA case relating to cum-ex trading concluded in May 2021. The FCA found that Sunrise had deficient systems and controls to identify and mitigate the risk of facilitating fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to business introduced by the Solo Group, between 17 February 2015 and 4 November 2015. On review it was found that the Solo trading throughout…

Gambling Commission Orders Greentube to Pay £685,000 for AML and Safer Gambling Failings

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
The GB Gambling Commission has ordered Novomatic subsidiary Greentube Alderney to pay £685,000 (€805,448/$912,304) over social responsibility and money laundering failings. A review of the business’ activities, launched in December 2020, uncovered failings in the anti-money laundering (AML) policies and safer gambling protocols across Greentube’s Admiralcasino.co.uk and Bellfruitcasino.com sites. This amounted to breaches of licence condition 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 15.2.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), and provision 3.4.1 of the Social Responsibility Code. The condition 12.1.1 breaches related to Greentube Alderney’s AML processes, with the review finding deficiencies in its record keeping and evaluation of the assessments…

FinCEN Launches Regulatory Process for New Real Estate Sector Reporting Requirements

FinCEN, Money Laundering, Regulation
WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a potential rule to address the vulnerability of the U.S. real estate market to money laundering and other illicit activity. The systemic money laundering vulnerabilities presented by the U.S. real estate sector, and consequently, the ability of illicit actors to launder criminal proceeds through the purchase of real estate, threatens U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. financial system. FinCEN has long been concerned with the potential for corrupt officials and illicit actors to launder the proceeds of…

FinCEN Seeks Comments on Modernization of U.S. AML/CFT Regulatory Regime

FinCEN, Money Laundering, Regulation
WASHINGTON— Today, FinCEN is issuing a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on ways to streamline, modernize, and update the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime of the United States. FinCEN is particularly interested in comments on ways to modernize risk-based AML/CFT regulations and guidance, issued pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) so that they, on a continuing basis, protect U.S. national security in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Today’s RFI also supports FinCEN’s efforts to conduct a formal review of BSA regulations and related guidance, which is required by Section 6216 of the Anti-Money…

Trail of Venezuela’s Stolen Billions Leads to Carribbean Luxury Properties

Bribery, Corruption, Money Laundering
Key Findings A Venezuelan under investigation for laundering stolen oil money acquired a lucrative stake in a luxury hotel in Colombia through a company registered in Luxembourg. He and another woman under investigation, the girlfriend of former Venezuelan energy official Javier Alvarado Ochoa, sat on the board of directors of the company that owns the hotel. Three senior executives at an energy consultancy that received a $23 million contract from Venezuelan state power company Corpolec, which was led by Alvarado, also had stakes in the hotel. A Venezuelan expert in anti-money laundering said the setup was “unusual” and should be…

Nearly Half of UK’s E-Money Firms Red Flagged for Money Laundering Risk

Money Laundering
Nearly 40% of the e-payment sector in the United Kingdom, which made more than £500 billion (US$660.2 billion) worth of transactions in 2020/21, have been flagged red — a warning of money laundering risk, a Transparency International UK research published on Tuesday found. While most e-payment enterprises appear to respect the regulations, the paper warns that without stronger oversight, Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) will become a preferred channel for those trying to launder the proceeds of crime and corruption through Britain — “if they are not already.” Transparency International UK examined all 261 enterprises in the country that had been…

Danish Woman Remanded Over Laundering of $4.5b in Danske Bank Scandal

Money Laundering
A Danish woman was remanded in custody on Wednesday over her alleged involvement in a money laundering case in which more than 30 billion Danish crowns ($4.5 billion) was channelled through Danske Bank’s (DANSKE.CO) Estonian branch, Denmark’s public prosecutor said on Wednesday. The 49-year old Danish citizen faced preliminary questioning at Copenhagen city court on Wednesday, where she was put into custody for 21 days, the prosecutor told Reuters. The woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban, had been extradited to Denmark from Britain, where she had been kept in custody, the prosecutor said, adding she had ties…

Swiss Court Confiscates Funds Linked to Uzbek Ex-President

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
The Federal Criminal Court has ordered the confiscation of over $293 million (around CHF270 million) belonging to a shell company linked to Gulnara Karimova. The company, called Takilant, of which Karimova (daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov) was the beneficial owner, was linked to two of the five Swiss bank accounts under criminal investigation. The total amount confiscated from the company was over $350 million. The court came to the conclusion that a large part of this sum had to be confiscated, since several of those involved – including Karimova and her assistant – were found guilty…

Notorious Money Launderer Reza Zarrab’s Lavish Life and New Business in Miami

Money Laundering, Organised Crime, Sanctions
Facing 130 years in prison, infamous Turkish-Iranian money launderer Reza Zarrab took a plea deal in 2017 agreeing to testify in U.S. courts. Federal officials have since kept him out of the spotlight, while allowing him to live a government-sanctioned life of luxury under a false identity in Miami. But the man who made his fortune cleaning profits from sanctions evasion and dealing with companies tied to slave labor and organized crime has been anything but idle. An investigation by OCCRP, Law&Crime and the Miami Herald found that Zarrab remains connected to his former criminal network and has received multiple…

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing: Supervision Report 2019-20

Money Laundering, Terrorism
Annual report for 2019 to 2020 on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision. Downoad: Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing: Supervision Report 2019-20 This report provides information about the performance of AML/CTF supervisors between 6 April 2019 – 5 April 2020 and fulfils the Treasury’s obligation, under Section 51 of the MLRs, to publish an annual report on supervisory activity. The report includes supervisory and enforcement data on both the statutory and Professional Body Supervisors, highlighting any notable changes in supervisory activity and any fines that supervisors have issued. The report concludes that actions taken by supervisors have remained broadly consistent…

How Goes the War Against Laundering

Money Laundering
If a willingness to do the right thing were the fuel that powered the attack on money launderers, that initiative would be a total success. Compliance professionals, regulators and law enforcement officers are motivated, but we struggle to think outside the box and change our method of operation. It’s time for us to work together and recalibrate. We have a pretty good idea about the amount of illicit funds that slip past the efforts of law enforcement, regulators, and the private sector. One need only assess the findings of the UNODC about their estimates of illicit funds seeking money laundering…

Singapore: MAS Proposes Information Sharing to Prevent Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing

Money Laundering, Regulation
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has released1 for consultation the proposals in its paper, FI-FI Information Sharing Platform for AML/CFT, which will require Financial Institutions (FIs) to share with each other information on customers or transactions, where they cross material risk thresholds, on a secured digital platform owned and operated by MAS to be named ‘Collaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases’ (COSMIC). Although the proposals are primarily addressed to the initial participant FIs that MAS has identified as major players in the commercial and small-medium enterprises banking segment comprising the three local banks and three qualifying full banks,…

Treasury Highlights ‘Weaknesses’ in Anti-Money Laundering Effort

Money Laundering
About 12% of the professionals supervised by anti-money laundering authorities are ‘at risk’, according to the latest annual report of supervisory activity published by HM Treasury. Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing: Supervision Report 2019-20 concludes that efforts should continue to address ‘significant deficiencies’ in supervision by the 22 legal and accountancy sector supervisors. The report covers the activities of the Solicitors Regulation Authority as well as bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority and Gambling Commission. The SRA is by far the largest of the nine legal sector supervisory bodies – the Bar Standards Board has an AML population of…

More Than 1,000 Arrested and $27m Intercepted in Massive Financial Crime Crackdown

Fraud, Money Laundering
LYON, France: An operation coordinated by INTERPOL codenamed HAECHI-II saw police arrest more than 1,000 individuals and intercept a total of nearly USD 27 million of illicit funds, underlining the global threat of cyber-enabled financial crime. Taking place over four months from June to September 2021, Operation HAECHI-II brought together specialized police units from 20 countries, as well as from Hong Kong and Macao, to target specific types of online fraud, such as romance scams, investment fraud and money laundering associated with illegal online gambling. In total, the operation resulted in the arrest of 1,003 individuals and allowed investigators to…

Swiss Watchdog Faults Two More Banks in Venezuela Money Laundering Probe

Money Laundering
ZURICH, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s financial regulator reprimanded two more Swiss banks for breaching their obligations to combat money laundering as it wrapped up a five-year investigation into banks’ dealings with people linked to Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. The FINMA watchdog contacted 30 Swiss banks during its investigation. It has already taken issue with two former chief executives of private bank Julius Baer (BAER.S) and rapped Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) for anti-corruption failings. read more FINMA has now reprimanded five banks in total since the investigation began in 2016. In the final case disclosed on Thursday, the regulator criticized…

Understanding the Reasons Behind Malta’s FATF Grey Listing

FATF, Money Laundering
The 2018/2019 evaluation MONEYVAL, a Council of Europe body tasked with assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, published an evaluation report on Malta in September 2019. This evaluation exercise was not specific to Malta: in fact, regular evaluations on countries around the world are carried out. These evaluations are carried out either by the FATF itself or, as in Malta’s case, by other FATF-style regional bodies such as MONEYVAL. The FATF is the international standard-setter for Anti Money Laundering/Counter Funding of Terrorism (AML/CFT). MONEYVAL is a regional player that falls…

Rabobank Faces Punishment Over Customer Anti-Money Laundering Checks

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
AMSTERDAM, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Dutch cooperative Rabobank (RABO.UL) said on Monday it had been ordered by the Dutch central bank to fix its customer due diligence practices and that it is facing a “punitive enforcement procedure.” In a statement, Rabobank said it had received an instruction from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on Oct. 12 to remedy deficiencies in its compliance with laws against money laundering. It said it was too early to say whether the procedure would result in a fine. “These deficiencies mainly concern the execution, recording and outsourcing of client due diligence, transaction monitoring and reporting of…

PrivatBank Latvia hit with yet another fine for anti-money laundering failures

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Latvia’s banking regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said November 23 it was hitting AS PrivatBank with a fine of more than three quarters of a million euros “for breaches of regulatory requirements in the field of anti-money laundering and combating terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CTPF)”, plus various other measures.The sanctions come following inspections carried out in 2020 as a result of which FKTK “has concluded that AS “PrivatBank” needs to strengthen internal governance, improve its internal control system, implement and improve risk management culture corresponding to the nature of Bank’s activities and ensure full-scale internal audit functioning.”…

Israel to impose new AML rules on digital currencies

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Regulation
Israel is bringing its digital currency industry under the purview of its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations. The move is meant to stamp out crime from the sector and give it legal recognition and certainty. Israel’s Authority for Combating Terror Financing and Money Laundering recently announced that it’s seeking to raise its monitoring of digital currency transactions. Authority Director Shlomit Wegman said that the move would give the agency the ability to stamp out crime from Bitcoin. With the new regulations, virtual currency service providers (VASPs) now have clear standards to operate under, Wegman…

L.A. Casino Fined $500,000 for Looking the Other Way When a Gambler Brought Duffle Bags Stuffed With $100m

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Federal prosecutors say the unnamed whale — described only as a Chinese national — made over 100 visits to the Bicycle Hotel & Casino over eight months in 2016 Officials at the Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens, Calif., admitted they filed financial reports for a high roller’s huge cash transactions in the name of the gambler’s assistant, which was against the law. These wagers were too rich for the Department of Justice’s blood. A Los Angeles County casino was hit with a hefty fine for failing to properly alert financial regulators and the Internal Revenue Service when a…

HKMA Takes Disciplinary Actions Against 4 Banks

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
HKMA Takes Disciplinary Actions Against 4 Banks for Contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (19 November) that it had completed investigations and disciplinary proceedings for four banks under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Chapter 615 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (AMLO) (Note 1). The Monetary Authority (MA) has imposed pecuniary penalties of a total of HK$44,200,000 against China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCBA), CTBC Bank Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Branch (CTBCHK), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBCA) and UBS AG, Hong Kong…

Homebuyers Bidding Against Criminals Using Property to Launder Money

Money Laundering
Australians heading to auctions this weekend could be outbid by financial criminals who are using the property market to launder money, an inquiry has been told. The Senate has been told Australia is a “honey pot destination” for organised crime and its outdated laws are allowing widespread money laundering in the property sector and contributing to inflated house prices. It is examining the strength of Australia’s money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, which have not undergone a substantial update since they were introduced in 2006. Representatives from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Federal Police, Home Affairs and the financial crimes…

Crypto Crime Landscape Shifts to Bigger Threats Targeting Smaller Numbers

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Terrorism
The use of cryptocurrencies for illicit activities from ransom money, money laundering and funding for terrorist activities continues unabated. The tightening regulation does not appear to be making enough of a difference yet. Over the past eighteen months, the Covid crisis appears to have made matters worse as the authorities shifted their focus to fighting the pandemic. While the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) continues to warn about illicit use of virtual currencies, even the task force’s member nations – including some of the leading G20 economies – have failed to transpose the latest FATF Standards into their domestic regulation.…

NatWest Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Failings

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Britain’s NatWest bank has pleaded guilty to failing to prevent the laundering of nearly £400m. Natwest gave guilty pleas in a London court to three offences of failing to “adequately monitor and therefore prevent money laundering” by one of its customers between 2012 and 2016. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) first brought the case to public attention in March, accusing the bank of paying round £365m into the customer’s accounts – of which around £264m was in cash. “The facts of the case are complex, the likely sentence is a very large fine,” a lawyer for the Financial Conduct Authority…

Police Seize $2.7m of Crypto From a British Teenager in a Credit Card Fraud Scheme

Digital Currencies, Financial Crime, Money Laundering
Police in England seized more than $2 million worth of crypto from a 17-year-old involved in a credit card scam. Lincolnshire Police said seized 48 bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after discovering money-laundering links in the case. The teenaged boy was charged with false representation and money laundering. Police in an English county said they’ve seized more than $2 million worth of cryptocurrency from a 17-year-old boy who obtained the coins through online fraud. Detectives from the Lincolnshire Police’s cybercrime unit took possession of the digital currency in a case centered on an unnamed boy involved in an April 2020 credit…

The U.K. Gambling Commission Sanctions Victoria Gate Casino Leeds for Customer Care and AML Failures

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Leeds’ Victoria Gate Casino (VGC Leeds), trading as Global Gaming Ventures, has been handed a £450,000 penalty package by The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). It comes after a shortfall in the firm’s AML and customer care duties, after an investigation undertaken by the UKGC. These failings, the Commission claims, came from VGC failing to effectively implement its anti-money laundering and safer gambling policies and procedures. The Commission investigated the handling of 10 customers following concerns identified at a compliance assessment in July 2019. Helen Venn, Commission executive director, explained: “These failings were identified as part of our ongoing drive to…

‘Tick box’ AML Regime Isn’t Working, Society Tells Treasury

Money Laundering, Terrorism
Current money laundering regulations disproportionately affect small firms and promote ‘tick box compliance’, the Law Society has told the Treasury. Responding to a consultation about the effectiveness of the UK’s anti-money laundering regime, the Society warned that the current regime ‘undermines the effectiveness and proportionality of the measures’ and drives up costs for legal services consumers. Law Society president I.Stephanie Boyce said: ‘At its centre, the UK AML regime should be effective at reducing money laundering and terrorist financing. It must be built on an evidenced-based assessment of the risks and what works to mitigate those risks. ‘A risk-based approach…

NBG Bank Fined €337,422 by FIAU For Money Laundering Breaches

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
A Malta-based bank has been fined €337,422 for a series of money laundering regulations breaches, including weak oversight over a “very well-known” businessman’s multi-million US Dollar transactions. In an announcement made on October 19, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit said that NBG Bank Malta had breached several anti-money laundering rules. NBG Bank Malta, formerly Finansbank Malta, was established in 2005 and is a subsidiary of NBG Group based in Greece. It services high-net-worth clients and corporations. In one of the files reviewed by the FIAU, it turned out that although a customer had been subject to adverse media reports in…

International City Businesses Hand Over €34m Proceeds of Crime in the UK’s Largest Account Forfeiture

Money Laundering
The City of London Police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the private sector have worked together, using specialist powers, to achieve the largest ever proceeds of crime forfeiture in the UK. Du Toit & Co LLP (a South African law firm operating from UK offices) and Xiperias Ltd (a Cypriot registered company, which claimed ownership of the bulk of the funds) both agreed to forfeit €34m, to settle litigation alleging that the funds in two bank accounts were from unlawful conduct. Temporary Commander Clinton Blackburn, from the City of London Police, said: “Money laundering, the process of legitimising money gained…

Solicitors Regulation Authority Visits 85 Firms in a Year as Part of AML Crackdown

Money Laundering
Regulators went to an average of seven law firms a month in the past year following up concerns about a lack of anti-money laundering policies. In its first report as a professional supervisor, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said it made a total of 85 visits in the period and carried out a further 168 desk-based reviews. The most common reason for non-compliance with anti-money laundering regulations was not having a proper risk assessment in place, poor client due diligence and insufficient checks on the source of funds. Other reasons for rule breaches were a failure of staff to follow procedures,…

Anti-Money Laundering Act is a Wake-up Call for Compliance Officers to Modernise AML Programs

Money Laundering
Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a $390 million penalty against Capital One for “willful” anti-money-laundering (AML) failures that happened during a period between 2008-2014. For compliance operators in the space, the action was a strong signal of rigorous enforcement, and perhaps a sign of increased pressures to come. Anti-Money Laundering May Now be Getting its Time in the Spotlight Looking at the U.S. market, aside from recent enforcement actions, imminent regulatory changes are paving the way for this increased interest in AML compliance. On the very first day of 2021, the U.S.…

Jordan, Mali and Turkey ‘Grey Listed’ by Global Finance Watchdog

Money Laundering
Jordan, Turkey and Mali were categorized last week as “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring,” or countries that have to work on removing strategic deficiencies in their systems to counter money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing, a global finance watchdog said. The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) issues black lists and grey lists when a country is deemed to be at high risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. But issuance of the latter means that the country has pledged to work with the FATF to address those issues. Jordan joins Yemen and Syria as the third Arab country on the list,…

Real Estate Developers and Used Car Dealerships Will Soon be Brought Under Jamaica’s Anti-Money Laundering Laws

Money Laundering, Terrorism
Signals are being sent that real estate developers and used car dealerships will soon be brought under Jamaica’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework given their high vulnerability to financial crimes. In fact, the authorities have detailed cases of crimes involving real estate transactions and drug dealers getting involved in real estate acquisitions in Jamaica’s AML/CFT National Risk Assessment report for 2021, which was recently released by the Bank of Jamaica. The report observes that the proceeds of crime have been used by criminals to finance real estate development projects as a means of laundering money in Jamaica.…