This week, the US Department of Commerce issued a report about investigations of export control and antiboycott violations. FATF published information about countries’ progress in complying with its Recommendation 15 about VASPs. FinCEN requested information on a possible change to the CIP rule. John and Elliot discuss these items and others and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Apr 05, 2024•14 min
What is Tuning and Optimization? Why should financial institutions do this exercise? Are there any benefits or regulatory prescriptions for it? Josh and Jon, our experts in this field, provide a comprehensive overview of tuning and optimization, delving into the details of why it's essential, how it's done, the benefits for financial institutions, and what it looks like from a transaction monitoring perspective. Tune in now!
Apr 03, 2024•18 min
This week, the US Department of Justice filed a forfeiture action to seize New York apartments allegedly purchased with funds from a corruption scheme in Mongolia. FATF upgraded its assessment of the US’s response to Recommendation 24 on beneficial ownership. The Wolfsberg Group issued new guidance on internal audit programs for financial crime compliance programs. The US Treasury released a report on managing AI-specific cybersecurity risks in the financial sector. John and Elliot discuss these...
Mar 29, 2024•14 min
John and Elliot are at the AML Partnership Forum this week. They review key themes from the meeting and discuss US Homeland Security’s Global Human Trafficking: A Year in Review report, the ICIJ’s Annual Report for 2023, and a GAO anti-money laundering report.
Mar 22, 2024•14 min
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has issued its Annual Threat Assessment. The Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and Justice issued a joint Compliance Note on the obligations of foreign-based persons to comply with US sanctions and export controls. John and Elliot discuss these reports, other items, and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Mar 15, 2024•13 min
There are many things to talk about this week. A US District Court issued an opinion disrupting the beneficial ownership registry. The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued a letter to CEOs about the inadequacy of compliance with money laundering regulations. An op-ed about avoidance of sanctions in the US art market. An investigative article into facilitating shell companies. John and Elliot discuss all these items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Mar 08, 2024•14 min
John and Elliot discuss the outcomes from the FATF Plenary, new sanctions issued against Russia, the results of the Puerto Rican Bankers’ AML Forum, and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Mar 01, 2024•16 min
Dr. Gerald Fitzgerald of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University discusses his recent report on the use of misinformation and how it harms the humanitarian work of Muslim charities and NGOs and causes derisking.
Feb 27, 2024•26 min
As financial crime evolves, so do the challenges organizations face in combating it. In this thought-provoking episode, Vesna McCreery, Managing Director for EMEA & APAC, and Patrick Bowe, our newly appointed Head of Product, delve deep into the complexities of emerging financial crime and geopolitical risks, and the intricate interplay between data management and technology. Tune in to stay informed and learn how we can navigate through these challenges!
Feb 26, 2024•23 min
This week, the EU published the text of its new AML Regulation and Directive, FinCEN issued guidance on the beneficial ownership registry access rule, and Puerto Rico adopted new rules for IFEs and IBEs. John and Elliot discuss these and other items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Feb 23, 2024•15 min
FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on giving investment advisors reporting and recordkeeping obligations under the BSA this week. FinCEN also posted a Financial Trend Analysis reviewing the use of convertible virtual currency and online child sexual exploitation and human trafficking. John and Elliot discuss these and other happenings this week and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Feb 16, 2024•14 min
This week, there are several important items from the US Treasury. It issued its 2024 risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. FinCEN sent a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on residential real estate transactions to the Federal Register for publication. John and Elliot discuss these issuances and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Feb 09, 2024•15 min
This week, Transparency International released its Corruption Perception Index for 2023. John and Elliot discuss the Index and several other items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Feb 02, 2024•15 min
This week, George Mason University published a report about Anti-Muslim Discrimination and Information Manipulation, the Basel Institute on Governance reported on successful efforts to improve public integrity in Peru, and the GAO issued a report on the need for more accurate collection of data on foreign investment in US farmland. John and Elliot discuss these items and others and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Jan 26, 2024•14 min
This week Nasdaq issued its 2024 Global Financial Crime Report, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime released a report on casinos, underground banking, and money laundering, and the Anti-Defamation League published a report on the use of cryptocurrency exchanges by US extremists to foster their fundraising efforts. John and Elliot discuss these reports and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Jan 19, 2024•12 min
Jim Lee, IRS:CI Chief, returns to AML Conversations to share his thoughts on the IRS:CI 2023 Annual Report, the work of the J5, several key IRS cases, and the first coverage of the 2023 BSA Data Challenge.
Jan 18, 2024•38 min
We talked with John Byrne and Elliot Berman about what they see as the trends in financial crime prevention for 2024.
Jan 15, 2024•17 min
This week, several interesting reports were released. Eurasia Group issued its Top Risks 2024, Human Security Collective published The Future of FATF Recommendation 8, FinCEN issued a Financial Trend Analysis and much more. John and Elliot discuss these and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Jan 12, 2024•13 min
This week, the US Beneficial Ownership Registry went live, Senator Menendez was charged with additional allegations, export enforcement is back in the news, the US Department of Justice received new authority in foreign bribery cases and much more. John and Elliot discuss these and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Jan 05, 2024•13 min
This episode originally aired on September 22, 2023 The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has published a Small Entity Compliance Guide for beneficial ownership information. A set of FAQs accompanies the guide. John and Elliot discuss the guide, the current compliance deadlines announced by FinCEN, and their thoughts on what may change shortly. They also chatted about a recent consent order between FinCEN and an international banking entity in Puerto Rico.
Dec 29, 2023•15 min
This week, an advisory on spear-phishing was issued, the US Department of Justice brought indictments for an $80 million pig butchering scheme, and several other interesting things surfaced. John and Elliot discuss these and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Dec 22, 2023•13 min
This week, the US Treasury issued a Fact Sheet on its action to disrupt corruption, FINTRAC levied fines against another bank for AML/CFT program violations, The US House passed changes to the beneficial ownership registry rules, and several other interesting things surfaced. John and Elliot discuss these and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Dec 15, 2023•15 min
Concluding our four-part series on Artificial Intelligence (AI), David McLaughlin, Founder of QuantaVerse and the current EVP of Technology Sales at AML RightSource, alongside our brilliant Principal Data Scientist, Leandro Loss, discuss how AI solutions are crafted and how their extraordinary capabilities are reshaping compliance; now, and in the future. Tune in to find out more about how this powerful technology can be our ally in the battle against financial crime.
Dec 13, 2023•43 min
We talk with Mark Freedman, an international security expert who covers how to react to terrorism by Hamas and other criminal organizations and how geopolitics and intelligence gathering assist corporations in addressing risk.
Dec 11, 2023•29 min
We talk to Oliver Wyman and Atlantic Council’s Dan Tannebaum about the state of sanctions, their value as a national security tool, recommendations on detecting sanctions evasions, and what to expect going forward.
Dec 07, 2023•21 min
It has been another busy week. The Center for International Private Enterprise issued a report on the importance of business integrity to the rebuilding efforts in Ukraine. The IRS issued an alert on charity scams. The US Treasury was urged to push the IMF to increase enforcement of its 2018 Governance Framework, and FinCEN issued a statement about the Counter Terrorism Financing Taskforce. John and Elliot discuss these communications and their meaning for the financial crime compliance communit...
Dec 01, 2023•12 min
What can we learn? In an exclusive interview with the Project Manager of the Basel AML Index, John sits down with Kateryna Boguslavska, who has overseen the Index since 2017, and covers the key themes and takeaways for the global AML community.
Nov 28, 2023•31 min
It has been another busy week. The Basel Institute on Governance released its AML 2023 Index. The US and the UK issued sanctions on Hamas leaders and financiers, and the US House Financial Services Committee approved several interesting new bills. John and Elliot discuss these activities and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Nov 17, 2023•13 min
John talks with Chuck Taylor of our Financial Crime Advisory about recent discussions in the popular press about why banks close customer accounts.
Nov 10, 2023•14 min
It has been a busy week. FinCEN issued an alert and final rule, OFAC issued sanctions against cartel activity on fentanyl, and Canada and the UK adopted new laws on beneficial ownership reporting. John and Elliot discuss these actions and what they mean for the future.
Nov 10, 2023•13 min