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Singapore does its paperwork
A small change for life insurers in Singapore – if they report a suspicious item to the STRO (Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office, Singapore’s FIU and part of their polic force), the regulations...
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Slightly off-topic: Great Minds Think Alike (GMTA)!
If you read my article on Bitcoin (it’s on the Publications page as well as on ACAMS Today, you’ll know that one of the ways I suggested dealing with the AML implications of Bitcoin was to require the...
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WSJ article on FinCEN’s new virtual currency guidance
The Wall Street Journal yesterday posted a nice article about FinCEN’s new guidance on virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Linden dollars). It validates with hard numbers some of the things others have...
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Last Week: Kuwait passes better AML/CFT law
Courtesy of KYC360 – Kuwait’s parliament, by a 45-0 vote, passed a stricter AML/CFT law. It gives up to 15 years in jail for financing terrorists, and an OFAC-like fine of up to 2 times the amounts...
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FinCEN Imposes Section 311 Sanctions on Two Lebanese Concerns
The enhanced reporting measures for Kassem Rmeiti & Co. for Exchange and Halawi Exchange Co. are effective immediately for the next 120 days. Additionally, FinCEN is issuing a notice of proposed...
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FinCEN gives FATF some props
How? By issuing two advisories that basically reprint FATF's recent roundup of deficient jurisdictions that are not making progress on addressing the weaknesses in their AML/CFT regimes, and the...
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FinCEN’s Virtual Currency Guidance Bites Liberty Reserve
FinCEN today imposed the most restrictive Special Measure under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act on Liberty Reserve, a virtual currency system that is alleged to have been used to launder $6 billion....
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Monday’s Old News: FinCEN issues DPRK Advisory
FinCEN took the unusual step of reminding banks about the ongoing financial crime threat from North Korea, with an 8-page Advisory document. In FinCEN's words: The U.S. Department of the Treasury...
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Wednesday’s Old OSFI News: Reminder of Whose AML Controls are Not So Hot
Canada's OSFI took time out Wednesday to issue a notice going over the global country-specific AML threats, devoting specific sections to Iran, North Korea, the countries designated by FATF and CFATF...
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Yesterday’s News: MAS Publicizes June 21 FATF Statement
As FinCEN and OSFI have done, the Monetary Authority of Singapore Issued the following statement on its website: 4 July 2013 FATF Statement On 21 June 2013, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of...
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EU gets tough on beneficial owners
The European Parliament voted to amend the draft Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) so that beneficial owners of EU companies and trusts would have to be listed in public registries, which would be...
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Singapore goes the way of FinCEN on Virtual Currencies
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a notice last Thursday announcing its intention to regulate virtual currencies in order to manage AML/CTF risks: 2 Virtual currency transactions, given...
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Upcoming July Thomson Reuters events added to event calendar
There are two webcasts for the US coming up on the 24th and 30th on interesting topics – trends in AML and sanctions compliance, and change management for compliance processes. Additionally, there's a...
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FBME Bank Ltd sanctioned under Section 311
Special Measure 5, of course – prohibiting them from access to the US financial system. You may wonder how a bank gets on FinCEN's bad side… here's one way (from the press release): “FBME promotes...
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Singapore amends AML laws
From Channel News Asia, Singapore has amended its Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act in 3 significant ways. First, the maximum jail term for money laundering has been hiked from...
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HKMA to host 2 AML seminars – September 11th & 19th
Yesterday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced two AML seminars. Each firm can send 2 attendees to hear from the HKMA and Joint Financial Intelligence Unit, as well as Vicent Li from HSBC. The...
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HKMA takes note of new consent order between NY and Standard Chartered Bank
I guess this is what happens if the first massive fine doesn't your attention: US action against Standard Chartered Bank The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) has taken note of the Consent Order...
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Get a Whiff of This…
AML professionals know about FinCEN's February guidance about Marijuana-Related Businesses. If you'd like to hear about how to use this publicly-available information as part of a risk-based AML...
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Word of the Day: FBAR
The FBAR, aka FinCEN Form 114, is the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. It is filed by a person if the sum of the their foreign asset accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during a...
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Word of the Day: Geographic Targeting Order
A Geographic Targeting Order allows FinCEN's director to impose additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements in a limited specific area. The Order can be imposed on any number of businesses,...
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