Category: Regulation

As the government lays out its plans for a major expansion of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) anti-money laundering (AML) supervision responsibilities, we look at how these proposals can be strengthened. After a period of transition, the FCA will become the AML supervisor for around 60,000 firms in the legal, accountancy and trust and company services sectors. These are currently supervised by 22 different professional body supervisors in a regime widely criticised as ineffective. As recently as March this year, the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS) found that eight years after it was established to enhance supervision of…

Key Takeaways Risk-Based Approach Elevated: Financial institutions must continuously identify, assess, and mitigate ML/FT risks as a core operational capability, not a periodic exerciseBoard Accountability Strengthened: Senior leadership is expected to take direct ownership of AML/CFT strategy, governance, and resource allocationFrom Compliance to Effectiveness: Regulators are focusing on whether controls work in practice, not just whether rules are followedData and Technology Centralized: Strong data governance and effective use of monitoring systems are now foundational to AML/CFT programsCross-Border Risk Intensified: Greater scrutiny is placed on international transactions, correspondent banking, and trade finance exposureDeep Dive New guidance from the Japanese Financial Services…

Key Takeaways From Volume to Value: FinCEN is proposing a shift away from paperwork-heavy compliance toward measuring how effectively institutions detect and stop illicit finance.Risk-Based Programs Reinforced: Firms would have greater latitude to focus resources on higher-risk areas, rather than spreading efforts thinly across low-risk requirements.Supervisory Clarity: The proposal seeks to reduce subjectivity in exams by distinguishing between design flaws and implementation failures.2024 Proposal Scrapped: The rule replaces FinCEN’s earlier 2024 proposal and aligns with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.Deep Dive There has long been an unspoken tension at the heart of anti-money laundering compliance. Banks file more reports,…

Key Takeaways Unified AML Risk Framework: The Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism is developing a common methodology for assessing money laundering and terrorist financing risks across the EU non-financial sector.Supervisory Alignment: The framework is intended to help national supervisors focus on higher-risk areas and guide decisions on the frequency and intensity of both on-site and off-site inspections.Early Industry Engagement: AMLA is hosting an online roundtable on 4 May 2026 to gather stakeholder input before launching a formal consultation on the methodology.Targeted Participation: Invitations have been extended to EU-level trade associations and representative bodies covering non-financial…

A Republican-led House committee voted on Tuesday to effectively dismantle a landmark anti-corruption law, advancing legislation that would exempt American business owners from a federal requirement to disclose their true identities to the government. The House Financial Services Committee voted 26 to 25 to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, a bipartisan measure enacted in December 2020. In its place, the panel advanced the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, a bill with strong Republican backing and 191 co-sponsors that would significantly narrow the scope of federal financial disclosures. Under the proposed replacement, foreign nationals would still be required to report their…

Canada is to establish a new and powerful law enforcement agency to investigate financial crime, in stark contrast to the US, where weakened federal investigators have struggled to pursue fraudsters and the White House has pardoned convicted money launderers. A bill to create the Financial Crimes Agency (FCA) completed its first reading in parliament this week. The legislation was introduced by the governing Liberals and with their parliamentary majority, the party is likely to move it through both levels of government quickly. The new agency, tasked with investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, is the result of a public inquiry that…

Key Takeaways AMLA Moves From Setup to Delivery: The 2026–2028 Single Programming Document marks AMLA’s transition from institutional build-out to operational supervision at EU level.Three Pillars Will Shape EU AML Oversight: AMLA’s priorities center on completing the Single Rulebook, driving supervisory convergence, and strengthening cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units.2026 Is the Inflection Point: The Authority will focus on turning mandates into practice through direct supervision, FIU framework implementation, and the foundations for indirect oversight.Early Signals for the Market: By prioritising clarity on areas such as customer due diligence and supervisory consistency, the SPD gives firms advance notice of where expectations…

Key Takeaways AMLA Centralizes AML Supervision: The new EU authority will reduce national fragmentation and assume direct oversight of higher-risk institutions from 2028.Financial Crime Is a Prudential Risk: Weak AML controls can expose banks to governance, operational, legal and reputational risks that threaten safety and soundness.ECB and AMLA Formalize Cooperation: A 2025 Memorandum of Understanding sets the framework for information exchange, policy coordination and supervisory alignment.Digitalization Raises Both Risk and Opportunity: Cyber-enabled fraud and crypto-asset activity heighten exposure, while artificial intelligence offers enhanced detection tools.Implementation Is the Next Test: The effectiveness of Europe’s new AML architecture will depend on coordinated,…

The United Kingdom Money Laundering Regulations, enacted in 2017, established a wide range of specific legal obligations on United Kingdom businesses of all types to guard against those businesses being used as conduits for money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF). Those obligations include: Customer due diligence (CDD) measures (ie, ‘taking steps to identify your customers and checking they are who they say they are’), including CDD in establishing a new business relationship (eg, obtaining information on the source and origin of funds that the customer will be using in the relationship).Updating risk assessments on customers if their circumstances change.Establishing and…

SIMPLIFYING AML rules across the EU will help institutions to share data to combat financial crime, according to a senior European Commission figure. Claude Bocqueraz is Deputy Head of the Financial Crime Unit at the European Commission’s DG-FISMA, said the move will be spearheaded by AMLA, the EU’s new Anti-Money Laundering Authority. “For years, one of the biggest bottlenecks in the AML system has been the difficulty of exchanging data and information,” she said. [The] new EU AML package has taken significant steps to enhance cooperation and information sharing at all levels. [It] introduces a legal basis for public private…

Corporate finance firms help businesses raise money by connecting them with investors or lenders and are vital to the growth and success of the UK economy – making effective financial crime controls essential. 11% of responding firms reported having no documented business-wide risk assessment, which is a requirement under the Money Laundering Regulations. Without a business-wide risk assessment, firms are leaving themselves and the wider market vulnerable to money laundering, fraud and other forms of financial crime. Other findings from the survey that highlighted areas for improvement included: 10% of firms stated they did not retain documented evidence of customer…

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has identified serious shortcomings at Varengold Bank AG in the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. BaFin has therefore ordered the institution to take appropriate and suitable measures to remedy these shortcomings. In addition, BaFin has imposed on Varengold Bank AG an administrative fine of EUR 3.3 million and a coercive fine of EUR 500,000. In the special inspection conducted in 2022 and in the annual audits for 2022 and 2023, Varengold Bank AG was found to have serious shortcomings in the prevention of money laundering, in particular in the execution of transactions…

Speech by Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, at the 1LoD Financial Crime Summit. It’s great to be here to help kick off this year’s Financial Crime Summit. This is actually my second ‘kick off’ of the week – I was lucky enough to be at the Serbia-England game on Tuesday. On the terraces rather than on the pitch – I’m still waiting patiently for my call-up to the squad – but in the meantime, I take every chance I get to catch a match. There’s nothing like being in the stands – the high stakes,…

The European Commission is once again raising the stakes in the fight against financial crime by updating its list of high-risk countries. These jurisdictions, which exhibit significant gaps in their anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) frameworks, will now face increased scrutiny from EU financial institutions. In short, EU entities dealing with these countries will need to tread carefully, applying enhanced vigilance when engaging in financial transactions. The goal is simple: keep the EU’s financial system secure and ensure it doesn’t become a conduit for illicit activity. A closer look at the newly added names on…

Two days after the European Commission overhauled its list of high-risk countries for money laundering, removing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while adding several others, including Monaco, Lebanon, and Venezuela, a Member of the European Parliament said that the Parliament will examine the commission’s decision. “The members of the ECON committee will now engage with the Commission to clarify the evidence underlying the decisions for listing and de-listing of individual countries,” Markus Ferber, a German MEP with the European People’s Party (EPP) told OCCRP commenting on the updated list. “At this stage, it is too early to give a clear…

At the 2025 SIFMA Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Conference in Washington, D.C., Matthew R. Galeotti, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, unveiled significant changes to the Department’s approach to white-collar crime enforcement. In his speech, Galeotti underscored a shift towards increased transparency and fairness for businesses, with an emphasis on self-reporting and cooperation in exchange for more predictable outcomes in investigations and penalties. The focus of these revisions, Galeotti explained, is to eliminate the punitive overreach that has historically deterred businesses from engaging in proactive compliance and reporting efforts. Highlighting the Department’s role in tackling…

While financial institutions, on the one hand, are in the process of implementing and preparing to apply the fundamental amendments and changes that will take place in upcoming years by the EU AML Package—entering into force mainly in mid-2027—there are, on the other hand, signs of a relaxation of AML compliance requirements in the US. Meanwhile, the Federal Financial Services Authority (“BaFin”) published a remarkable sanctions decision in a case where a payment institution was penalized for failing to establish and maintain a proper business organization in the area of detection of suspicious transactions. BaFin, the German regulator, argued that…

Key Takeaways Wider Investment Choices: MAS is proposing a framework to allow retail investors to access private market investment funds, including private equity, private credit, and infrastructure.Two Fund Options: The proposal outlines two structures—Direct Funds for transparency into investments and Long-term Investment Fund-of-Funds (LIFF) for diversification and expert management.Consultation Process: MAS is seeking feedback on regulatory requirements and the types of assets suitable for retail investors.Future Potential: The proposal aims to create a sustainable and diversified market, with the potential for future listings of private market investment funds.Deep Dive The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is looking to broaden the…

Washington, D.C., 18 April 2024 – The Ministers of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to combat financial crime, and fully support the FATF as the global standard-setter for preventing and combatting money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF). During this biennial meeting in Washington DC, members recognised the achievements of the Singapore Presidency under FATF President T. Raja Kumar. These included major steps taken to enhance the FATF Standards on asset recovery – improving jurisdictions’ toolkits to recover the proceeds of crime, and also to reinforce…