Integrated Review’s illicit finance pledges are limited, but banks can help
The UK’s long overdue Integrated Review includes welcome plans to track down economic criminals. Too many of these criminals are still going undetected, due to a lack of resources and focus. But some say the review lacks detail and
Why China’s Belt & Road initiative faces overwhelming odds in its fight against corruption
The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) needs no introduction. Started in 2013, the Chinese infrastructural development project had come to embody its parent nation in many ways – audacious in scale, problematic from a wide range of perspectives, yet,
Achieving global financial crime regulation with the UN
The United Nations fears its sustainable development goals are threatened by financial crime; a global response is required, the organisation argues The United Nations has become one of the most powerful voices in the battle against financial crimes such as
The Empire Strikes Back! AML and the US CBP Forced Labor Process
Star Wars fans will be familiar with the title of Episode V of the epic space franchise; in modern day reality, the “Empire” (in this case, in the form of the United States Customs & Border Protection - US
Concerning our coasts – money laundering and trafficking in global fishing
The catastrophic effects of the global fishing industry have never been so readily accepted as now. Environmental agencies focusing on our waters and their complex natural systems - such as Sea Shepherd in the UK - have worked tirelessly
Will universities learn their lesson on money laundering?
A new report into potential money laundering involving universities’ overseas students is the latest warning of the higher education sector’s vulnerability. The imperative to act grows stronger by the day. What is banned in the UK’s scrapyards but perfectly legitimate
Client monitoring: reducing false positives and leveraging STP
Despite the massive cost and reputational risks Financial Institutions (FI) are exposed to, efficient fraud & AML systems largely remain elusive. Furthermore, incumbent fraud systems generate a large volume of false positives in the process of detection, where a
Banks face tough battle against crypto money launderers
Bank bosses can no longer bury their heads in the sand. Virtual currencies such as bitcoin are becoming mainstream and many traditional banking customers are transacting with cryptocurrency exchanges. The institutions must ensure robust anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorist
The money mule pandemic which continues to challenge banking AML
There have been a multitude of negative aspects to life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK has recently surpassed the one-year mark since locking down for the very first time to reduce hospital admissions and reduce the infection rate.
Between Covid & Compliance – the current highs and lows of the dope industry
The decriminalization of marijuana has been gathering increased momentum in recent years, particularly in the United States. At least 35 states currently allow the use of marijuana in one way or another (recreational vs medicinal). Driven by exceptional demand and
The rise of adverse media screening in KYC, AML and CDD
In highly regulated industries, the need for enhanced due diligence (EDD) on customers and counterparties has never been so necessary. In the case of tier one banks and other large financial institutions (FIs), compliance protocols can differ between jurisdictions
Where is FinCEN on Virtual Currencies?
Virtual currencies (sometimes referred to as cryptocurrencies) continue to move into established commerce. The number of merchants accepting the currencies is growing, as are the number of people looking to the currencies as investment vehicles, and to use them