TOP STORY

Apr

To Combat Opioid Epidemic, Congress Grants FinCEN New Blacklisting Power

Tucked into a bill that allocates tens of billions of dollars towards Ukraine’s defense is a provision that newly empowers U.S. officials to unilaterally designate foreign banks, accounts and transactions as a “primary money laundering concern” when linked to fentanyl trafficking.

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Midweek Roundup: Binance Founder Gets Light Sentence, TD Bank Anticipates $450 Million Penalty, and More

U.K. chancellor opposes FCA's name-and-shame strategy, Austrian regulators warn Raiffeisen Bank, and more, in the midweek roundup.

May 1, 2024

Republicans Take Aim at Corporate Transparency Act

By Fred Williams

Congressional Republicans have stiffened their opposition to the Corporate Transparency Act months after U.S. officials brought a key feature of the law online: a new, federal database of beneficial owners designed to block criminals from using shell companies to hide their finances.

May 1, 2024

China-based Syndicates Using Fake Passports, Bribes to Undermine US AML Programs

By Chelsea Carrick

"Chinese money laundering organizations," or CMLOs, are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system after using fraudulent Chinese passports to open accounts, and, in some cases, paying bribes to avoid detection, federal officials warned Tuesday.

May 1, 2024

Legal Brief: Tracking the Finances of Environmental Crimes

By Larissa Bernardes

The ACAMS moneylaundering.com legal team examines U.S. and global initiatives to trace and target the proceeds of illegal logging, fishing, mining, wildlife trafficking and other environmental crimes.

April 29, 2024

Weekly Roundup: Isle of Man Gaming Firms Raided, US Aid Package Brings Sanctions Risks, and More

EU lawmakers approve sweeping AML reforms, Dutch finance minister criticizes banks' intelligence-sharing plan, and more, in the midweek roundup.

April 26, 2024

Enforcement Actions

Malta FIAU Fines Four Entities €60,000 for Reporting Failures

The Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit outlined administrative measures it imposed on nine reporting entities for violating the Centralised Bank Account Register Regulations, including fines totaling €60,000 imposed on four institutions.

April 30, 2024

Malta FIAU Fines MTACC Limited €52,000 for Violating AML/CTF Regulations

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit fined the St. Julian's, Malta-based financial institution €52,000 and issued a reprimand for violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations.

April 30, 2024

Legs & Regs

HMT: UK Regulators Issued 1,007 Fines Totaling Nearly £197 Million for AML Deficiencies in 2022-2023

HM Treasury published a report on the activities of the U.K.’s 25 anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing supervisors between April 6, 2022, and April 5, 2023.

May 1, 2024

OFSI Publishes Financial Sanctions FAQs

HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation produced a series of frequently asked questions on the implementation of financial sanctions in the U.K.

May 1, 2024

FDIC Deputy General Counsel Testifies on Bank Merger Policies

James L. Anderson, the Deputy General Counsel at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, testified before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on the agency’s role in overseeing bank merger transactions.

May 1, 2024

OFAC Adds 298 Russia Sanctions Entries to SDN List

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department published a notice concerning 298 additions to the Specially Designated Nationals List with respect to Russia.

May 1, 2024

Financial Crime Matters: Ex-OCC Official Discusses Recent FinCEN Rulemaking

March 25, 2024

In this episode of Financial Crime Matters, Kieran Beer, editor in chief of ACAMS moneylaundering.com, and Daniel Stipano, former deputy chief council for the OCC, discuss the Corporate Transparency Act and FinCEN’s creation of a national database of beneficial owners.

Edmund Fitton-Brown on Yemen and the Houthis

March 11, 2024

In the latest episode of Sanctions Space, Justine is joined by Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior advisor at the Counter Extremism Project and former U.K. ambassador to Yemen. They discuss the ongoing tensions in the Red Sea, the political situation in Yemen and the origin and aspirations of the Houthi group, as well as sanctions actions taken by the U.S. and others against the Houthis.

The Assembly Europe

DATE: 05/7/24 - 05/8/24

LOCATION: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Netherlands

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Money laundering-related red flags associated with virtual assets and virtual asset service providers include:

A. The use of the same IP-address for a large number of seemingly unrelated virtual asset wallets.
B. Depositing virtual assets and then immediately withdrawing them.
C. Both A and B.
D. None of the above.