This week, John and Elliot discuss the National Strategic Assessment for 2024 for the UK, George Santos's plea, the latest edition of the Cornerstone from Homeland Security, the policy brief on environmental crime from the FACT Coalition, and several other items. They explore their impact on the financial crime prevention community.
Aug 23, 2024•17 min
In this week's episode, the discussion centers on cybersecurity risks linked to foreign interference in U.S. elections, the impact of Russian money transfers to the UK, and the latest SEC actions against financial institutions. John and Joe also cover the Federal Reserve's stance on decentralized systems, and important regulatory updates for the AML community.
Aug 16, 2024•19 min
This week, the US State Department issued a report on wildlife trafficking, The European Central Bank published a report on payment fraud, and Health Canada discussed the dangers of the increase in domestic fentanyl production. John and Elliot discuss these items and others, including a fraud warning from the FBI, the AML law passed in Singapore, and more.
Aug 09, 2024•15 min
This week, the GAO issued a report on payment scams, the OCC responded to a letter from members of Congress about the actions of some state legislatures to limit the authority of national banks, FinCEN issued clarification about the data being captured in the beneficial ownership information registry and more. John and Elliot discuss these items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Aug 02, 2024•21 min
John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community this week. These include a report on foreign investment in the US, the interagency statement on the AML/CFT program proposal, and the regulatory agenda for the Treasury Department. They also talk about the report from the House Financial Services Committee working group on AI, new sanctions on fentanyl producers, and a Europol report on migrant smuggling.
Jul 26, 2024•15 min
We spoke to Les Joseph, the recently retired head of the Global Financial Crime Intelligence Group at Wells Fargo, about his storied career in the private and public sector, during which he tackled corruption, money laundering, and many aspects of financial crime.
Jul 22, 2024•29 min
John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community this week. These include an OCCRP article on crypto ATMs, FinCEN’s Alert on red flags related to the financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and a joint notice on timeshare fraud, Senator Robert Menendez's corruption conviction, an AUSTRAC report on the current state of money laundering enforcement in Australia, and other items.
Jul 19, 2024•12 min
John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community this week. These include FATF’s Horizontal Review of Gatekeepers’ Technical Compliance Related to Corruption, remarks by US Treasury Under Secretary Nelson at the Pacific Banking Forum, a new IRS warning on identity theft, and other items.
Jul 12, 2024•17 min
This week, John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community. These include the results of the recent FATF Plenary, a new statement from the Wolfsberg Group on effective monitoring for suspicious activity, the proposed rule from FinCEN to strengthen and modernize AML/CFT programs, and other items.
Jul 05, 2024•18 min
This week, the US State Department issued its 2024 Trafficking Persons Report, the EU imposed additional sanctions against Russia, the OCCRP shared the content of an interview with the outgoing FATF president about the impact of Dubai Unlocked on the FATF’s assessment of Dubai, and OFAC announced sanctions on the elements of an Iranian shadow banking system. John and Elliot discuss these reports and other items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
Jun 28, 2024•18 min
AMLRS Advisory Board member and former OSFI official shares his expert views on changes and challenges for AML in 2024.
Jun 25, 2024•34 min
This week, the US Department of Justice made two announcements about repatriating funds seized from criminal actors. The Federal Reserve issued a cease and desist order regarding banking as a service. FinCEN issued a reminder about the importance of detecting elder financial abuse. John and Elliot discuss how these items impact the financial crime prevention community.
Jun 21, 2024•14 min
Kim Grauer, Director of Research for Chainalysis, discusses the key themes in their 2024 report. Among the many topics and metrics, they cover: • Money Laundering • Ransomware • Scams • Sanctions
Jun 18, 2024•27 min
This week, the US Department of Justice issued a fact sheet on its Initiative to Combat Transnational Human Smuggling and Trafficking Networks. The Egmont Group published the outcomes from its recent plenary. The FinCEN held an outreach session on implementing the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements in Phoenix. The US Treasury published a request for information on the Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Services Sector, and FinCEN issue...
Jun 14, 2024•15 min
Josh and Jon return for our third and final segment on tuning and optimization. They discuss tuning and optimizing for sanctions and customer risk rating models, how this process can differ from transaction monitoring, and conclude with some valuable departing knowledge on the series as a whole.
Jun 12, 2024•27 min
John Byrne talks with well-known Australian AML Expert Aub Chapman on the AG’s proposal, key themes, and his insight on the potential for real success upon completing the process.
Jun 12, 2024•34 min
This week, Europol announced a successful crackdown on money mule service providers. The BASEL Institute for Governance released a paper on informal networks and anti-corruption. The US Treasury issued an Illicit Finance Risk Assessment of Non-Fungible Tokens. The Council of the European Union approved its new AML/CFT regime. John and Elliot discuss these items and several others and their impact on the financial crime prevention community.
Jun 07, 2024•14 min
This is a broad-based investigation into how Dubai remains a destination for illicit funds moved by drug lords, corrupt public officials, and money launderers. We discuss the methods behind and the results of a recently announced investigation by 70 media outlets worldwide.
Jun 03, 2024•35 min
This week, the Basel Institute on Governance published its 2023 Annual Report, OFAC published regulatory changes about Cuba, and MONEYVAL’s issued an update to its mutual evaluation of the Holy See. John and Elliot discuss these items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.
May 31, 2024•13 min
John and Elliot discuss the 2024 National Illicit Finance Strategy, FinCEN’s new Exchange series to fight fentanyl trafficking, the second stage consultation on reforming Australia’s AML/CFT regime, and several other items. They share their insights on how these reports and actions impact the financial crime prevention community.
May 24, 2024•14 min
This week, John and Elliot discuss a new report from the OCCRP about global bad actors using Dubai real estate, the World Wildlife Crime Report from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, a report from FINTRAC on virtual currency ATMs, a report from the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group, and more.
May 17, 2024•15 min
John and Elliot discuss several recent announcements and actions significant to the financial crime prevention community this week. These include the indictment of Congressman Henry Cuellar on money laundering and bribery charges. The US sanctioned the LockBit ransomware group, Remarks by Andrea Gacki at the SIFMA AML conference, a new FinCEN advisory on Iran-backed terrorist organizations, and more.
May 10, 2024•15 min
Join Joe McNamara (AML RightSource), Elena Christopher (HFS Research), and John Byrne (AML RightSource), on a deep dive into the recent joint market impact report, “Driving the Evolution of Financial Crime Compliance: The People and Tech Imperative”. Joe, John, and Elena discuss some of the report’s interesting findings on the evolution of financial crime compliance, the driving force behind the survey, as well as a few practical insights found between the lines of the report. Discover how techn...
May 09, 2024•31 min
This week, the White House released a new National Security Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience. The Attorney General recommended reducing restrictions on marijuana. Global Financial Integrity and several other organizations released a report identifying 25 cases in which illegal, allegedly illicit, or suspicious funds were funneled into commercial property in the US. John and Elliot discuss these and other events of the week that are important to members of the global ...
May 03, 2024•14 min
This week, John and Elliot discuss several items issued by FinCEN, including elder financial abuse and environmental crime, Treasury Undersecretary Nelson’s visit to Puerto Rico, and BaFin’s fining of Commerzbank.
Apr 26, 2024•15 min
If transaction monitoring thresholds are too sensitive or not sensitive enough, financial institutions run the risk of missing genuine criminal behavior. Likewise, without periodic tuning and optimization, systems may fail to detect emerging criminal methodologies or comply with the latest AML rules. In this episode, our advisory experts, Joshua and Jonathan, take a deep dive into the technical process of tuning and optimizing, sharing best practices and insights to ensure systems operate effect...
Apr 24, 2024•30 min
FinCEN issued a Notice about fraud schemes using counterfeit US passport cards this week. The FBI uncovered a complex money laundering strategy using casinos, sportsbooks, and FanDuel accounts. New bi-partisan stablecoin legislation was introduced in the US Senate. John and Elliot discuss these and more happenings and how they impact the financial crime prevention community.
Apr 19, 2024•16 min
This week, John and Elliot discuss Treasury testimony in the US Senate Banking Committee, Treasury’s updated cybersecurity MOU with Ukraine, a DOJ report on pandemic fraud, an interesting article on the impact of Russia sanctions, and more.
Apr 12, 2024•16 min
The money laundering challenges and potential abuse of the myriad “Residency and Citizenship by Investment Programmes.”: A FATF-OECD Report. Our panellists discuss the 2023 Report and the need for improved awareness of enabling the movement of illicit funds without proper oversight and reporting. Graham Peachey: UK Home Office Senior Policy Advisor and Project Co-lead for the Financial Action Task Force project on Misuse of Residency and Citizenship by Investment Programmes. Tivon Sterin: Senior...
Apr 09, 2024•37 min
American Mother: A conversation with Diane Foley, President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. Diane discusses her book, her decade-long effort to change American policy on hostage negotiations, the continued need to ensure the safety of journalists traveling aboard, and the overall importance of journalism in a world racked with terrorist activity.
Apr 08, 2024•19 min