Category: Money Laundering

U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Law Set to Change Antiquities Trade as Buyers’ Identities No Longer Concealed The U.S. Congress recently passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act (the “Act”) of 2020, in which art and antiquities dealers are bracing themselves for more stringent federal oversight. Under the bill, the antiquities sector will no longer be spared from the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The new regulations require antiquities dealers to report any suspicious activities and any cash transactions exceeding US$10,000 to the authorities, and to ensure that potential buyers are not among those being sanctioned by the U.S. government. The liability of extensive record-keeping…

Digitization of financial services has opened the doors for more complex financial crime, says ACAMS’ McDonell The continuing modernization and digitization of the financial services industry made easier access to financial services more available to everyone, but it also has created the opportunity for illicit actors to concoct more complex, digitized crimes. In an interview with Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, Rick McDonell, executive director of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), discusses this crucial development and notes how important it is for financial institutions to ensure that their compliance departments and officers are properly trained to detect this…

UK gambling regulators have reached a £1.3m settlement with licensee White Hat Gaming after the company’s approach to social responsibility (SR) and anti-money laundering (AML) was found wanting. On Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the regulatory settlement with White Hat Gaming regarding its “inadequate” policies and procedures for identifying and managing customers deemed to be at a higher risk for problem gambling and money laundering. The shortcomings involved seven customers’ accounts at four White Hat sites – Grandivy.com, 21Casino.com, Hellocasino.com and Dreamvegas.com – that emerged following a March 2019 UKGC compliance assessment. The following January, the UKGC notified…

Money services business fined for flouting money laundering regulations. Today (7 January 2021), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published the latest list of businesses handed fines for breaching strict regulations aimed at preventing criminals from laundering illicit cash. The list includes money transfer company MT Global Limited, which has been handed the largest ever fine issued by HMRC, for significant breaches of the regulations between July 2017 and December 2019 relating to: risk assessments and associated record-keeping policies, controls and procedures fundamental customer due diligence measures Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Economic Crime, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Businesses who…

In the tumult of recent weeks, a major legislative milestone in the American fight against kleptocracy has sneaked by almost unnoticed. It demands our attention, especially because its work is only half done. On Jan. 1, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was signed into law, when Congress overrode then-President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, to which it was attached. The CTA mandates that the incorporators of new corporations or limited liability partnerships will have to file annually to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Department of the Treasury (FinCEN), listing the names, dates of birth,…

Landmark laws to thwart the use of U.S. shell companies by terrorists, human traffickers, arms dealers and kleptocrats are set to be enacted after more than a decade of lobbying and politicking with rare bipartisan support. The sweeping anti-money laundering reforms hitched a lift in the annual defense spending bill that passed the Senate 84-13 today, and was approved by the House 355-78 earlier this week. The Corporate Transparency Act requires U.S. companies to report their true owners to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN — largely ending anonymous shell companies in the country. The International…

DNB ASA, Norway’s largest financial services group, announced Monday it is facing a potential fine of NOK 400 million (U.S. $45.4 million) for inadequate compliance with the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act. The penalty, which has been proposed as part of a preliminary report issued by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet), derives from a routine inspection of DNB’s AML controls conducted in February. “The possible fine that DNB has been notified of is not related to any suspicions of money laundering or complicity in money laundering, but rather what Finanstilsynet considers to be inadequate compliance with the anti-money laundering…

This guidance on suspicious transactions is applicable to all reporting entities (REs) that are subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and associated Regulations. It is recommended that this guidance be read in conjunction with other suspicious transaction report (STR) guidance, including: What is a suspicious transaction? Reporting suspicious transactions to FINTRAC Money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) indicators are potential red flags that could initiate suspicion or indicate that something may be unusual in the absence of a reasonable explanation. Red flags typically stem from one or more factual characteristics, behaviours, patterns…

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI are investigating SEB, Swedbank and Danske Bank over possible breaches of U.S. anti-money laundering regulations and fraud, Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri reported on Tuesday, sending the banks’ shares lower. Sweden had received requests for help from U.S. authorities investigating a Baltic money-laundering scandal that has already led to local fines for Swedbank, Danske and SEB, the newspaper reported. The banks were being investigated by the DOJ, the FBI and federal police and a federal prosecutor in New York over possible fraud and breaches of anti-money laundering regulations, it added. Although…

Leaders of the G20 reiterated their commitment to following anti-money laundering policy measures recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which stressed their importance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic at a summit over the weekend hosted by the Saudi presidency. “We support the Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) policy responses detailed in FATF’s paper on COVID-19, and reaffirm our support for the FATF, as the global standard-setting body for preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing,” a G20 leaders’ declaration published on Sunday stated. The anti-money laundering authority reminded G20 leaders in a prepared written statement that…

MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES are being brought against a private bank in Switzerland which is already in the process of winding down operations. Falcon Private Bank – based in Zurich but with a presence in Luxembourg, London and Dubai – has been charged with money laundering by the Swiss Attorney General. These charges are understood to relate to an instance of organisational deficiencies in relation to a corporate criminal case, Swiss media outlet Handelszeitung reported Thursday. Former Falcon Bank chief executive Eduardo Leemann has also been charged in connection with the case and will appear in court next year. His spokesperson…

Having announced measures to verify the identity of individuals forming UK companies through the Companies House reform bill, it appears the government is now taking money laundering seriously, writes Michael Harris, director of financial crime compliance at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. There is no doubt that the proposed Companies House reform is a positive move, especially given that the National Crime Agency estimates that money laundering costs the UK economy £37bn ($48.2bm) a year – a huge sum that indicates there is still much to do in the fight against financial crime. The new Companies House rules come in amid proposals…

The Treasury Committee says it will examine the effectiveness of anti-money laundering systems and sanctions, listing areas of concerns investigated by ICIJ. Image: Photo by Kirsty O’Connor/PA Images via Getty Images Prompted by the FinCEN Files, a powerful U.K. parliamentary committee has launched a fresh anti-money laundering inquiry 19 months after it outlined findings that the nation’s response to billions of pounds in money-laundering was “fragmented.” In light of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ recent investigation, the U.K. Treasury Committee says it will examine the effectiveness of both anti-money laundering systems and sanctions. The Treasury Committee says the precise scale…

Lack of face-to-face contact is a key reason why criminals graduate towards internet agents, its latest updated AML guidance says. HMRC has updated its AML guidance for sales and lettings agents including a warning that online-only operators are at higher risk than traditional high street firms. It claims that sales and lettings transaction made without face-to-face contact including online, over the phone or via an intermediary reduce an agent’s ability to spot whether money laundering is being attempted. “This is particularly true when dealing with customers in higher-risk overseas jurisdictions,” the guidance says. But leading AML software firm Smartsearch says…

Investigation by North Yorkshire Police after reports of investment scam. After receiving information about a company that was suspected of laundering money from investment scams, North Yorkshire Police identified two business bank accounts which they believed held monies obtained through fraud. Using powers introduced in the Criminal Finances Act 2017, Account Freezing Orders (AFO’s) were obtained on both bank accounts and a frozen funds investigation was commenced. One bank account contained £210,000 and the other £124,000. These AFO’s enabled North Yorkshire Police to investigate and obtain evidence into a large scale money laundering network involving two companies, whilst preventing this…

A network of clothing manufacturers in Leicester are involved in money laundering and VAT fraud, a BBC investigation has found. The companies are based in the city’s garment district where a local MP said such activity was “endemic”. Some of the firms involved have supplied fast fashion brands, including Boohoo. Boohoo told the BBC it would never knowingly conduct business with anyone acting outside of the law. It has now terminated its relationship with one of the firms highlighted by the investigation by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4. Leicester textile firms face enforcement action Clothes factories ‘doubled staff during pandemic’…

The UK financial regulator has discontinued half of its criminal investigations into breaches of the money laundering rules since January, and is yet to bring a single prosecution — despite a pledge to make full use of its powers. Figures released under a freedom of information request show that, in the year to date, seven out of 14 criminal investigations into contraventions of the money launderingregulations have been shut down by the Financial Conduct Authority. Five of these were “single track”, or solely criminal, probes, while the other two were “dual track” investigations that could have resulted in either criminal or civil proceedings. As a…

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE EVALUATION OF ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MEASURES AND THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM (MONEYVAL) STRASBOURG The Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL Committee has issued a report aimed at helping the global community to counter new criminal activities which are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sale of counterfeit medicines and cybercrime. The Committee, which specialises in measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, focuses in its new report on threats, vulnerabilities and best practices. The aim is to assist policymakers, practitioners and the private sector in applying a more targeted and effective response to the money laundering and terrorist financing risks in Europe. The report found…

The Financial Action Task Force(FATF), an intergovernmental organization that develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, has released an updated report, titled, Virtual Assets Red Flag Indicators of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. Published on September 14, 2020, the report notes that virtual or digital assets have been using innovative technology to quickly transfer value, globally, and may offer certain benefits, such as making digital payments faster and at more competitive rates. However, the FATF cautions that the anonymity associated with virtual assets can “attract criminals, who have used [them] to launder proceeds from a range of offenses such as…

Alongside the world’s worst COVID-19 death rates, the United States is facing an impending economic recession following the first wave of the pandemic. But, while millions of Americans struggle to stay afloat amid record job losses, there is a sector that seems strangely unaffected by the post-pandemic economic fallout: Real estate purchases. Alarmingly, in the U.S., there are few regulations and checks of who is purchasing homes. As a result, housing remains a key vehicle for criminals looking to stash cash, launder money, and buy up homes in a tight market. In the wake of the 2008 recession, the U.S. real estate…