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Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing

Over 20 years of articles and reference material

A page dedicated to global, regional, UK and US anti-money laundering developments and initiatives.

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Ireland publishes its 2026 AML/CFT/CPF Strategy, bringing AML priorities under a single coordinated framework while strengthening measures on crypto, BO, financial intelligence, sanctions & AMLA readiness

August 12, 2026

A major focus is on emerging and increasingly sophisticated financial crime risks. Ireland plans to strengthen AML requirements around crypto-assets and crypto transfers, including enhanced checks involving private wallets and greater due diligence when dealing with overseas crypto firms. The strategy also seeks to strengthen oversight of higher-risk sectors such as gambling…

FinCEN permanently exempts U.S. companies and persons from BO reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act, and will delete previously reported U.S. person data from its BOI database

August 11, 2026

The final changes significantly narrow the Corporate Transparency Act framework by exempting domestic companies that had previously been expected to submit beneficial-ownership information. The move reduces the pool of ownership data available to law-enforcement and financial-intelligence authorities and marks a substantial reversal of the previous US transparency regime…

RUSI’s latest research reveals how North Korea uses crypto-to-fiat off-ramps to convert stolen cryptocurrency into illicit funds supporting its WMD programmes

August 11, 2026

RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security examines how North Korea moves stolen virtual assets through both crypto and traditional financial infrastructure, including VASPs, intermediaries and off-ramp services, to generate usable funds linked to its weapons programmes. The report recommends clearer guidance for banks dealing with VASPs, more consistent VASP onboarding, stronger information-sharing arrangements and better identification of virtual-asset-related payments…

AUSTRAC suspends Cryptolink’s VASP registration for 3 months, shutting down 96 crypto ATMs over failures to meet AML/CTF reporting and information requirements

August 10, 2026

AUSTRAC suspended Cryptolink’s virtual-asset service-provider registration for three months after concluding that the company remained too high risk to continue operating its crypto-ATM network. The regulator says Cryptolink failed to meet basic threshold-transaction reporting obligations despite an earlier enforceable undertaking addressing alleged late reporting and weaknesses in its AML/CTF risk assessments…

Gambling Commission backs a multi-agency crackdown on illegal gambling, uncovering 16 illicit betting terminals, cash and gold, and highlighting links to ML and organised crime

August 10, 2026

Operations in Sheffield and Doncaster uncovered 16 illegal betting terminals alongside cash and gold and resulted in three arrests. The action involved the Gambling Commission, South Yorkshire Police, the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, local authorities and Immigration Enforcement. The Commission warned that illegal operators can exploit vulnerable people and undermine legitimate businesses, reaffirming its commitment to working…

EPPO targeted an alleged €33 million VAT carousel involving Chinese clothing imports into the EU

August 10, 2026

Italian authorities placed two suspects under house arrest and conducted searches and asset-seizure measures in an EPPO investigation into companies allegedly used to introduce clothing imported from China into Italy and subsequently sell it without paying the VAT due. Investigators estimate the missing-trader scheme caused more than €33.4 million in VAT losses and allege that numerous companies formally controlled by front persons were used as part of the criminal organisation.

FinCEN extends targeted reporting requirements in Minnesota, requiring FIs to report certain international transfers of $3,000+ to help trace and disrupt proceeds linked to govt-benefit fraud

August 7, 2026

The Geographic Targeting Order requires banks and money transmitters in two Minnesota counties to report certain international funds transfers of $3,000 or more. The renewed measure, which took effect on 11 August for a further 180 days, is intended to help authorities trace proceeds linked to suspected large-scale diversion of state and federal benefit payments…

Europol-backed crackdown dismantles major Western Mediterranean smuggling network, with 78 arrests and €5M in high-speed vessels seized in a drug, migrant and weapons trafficking operation

August 7, 2026

A Europol-supported operation led to 78 arrests in Spain against a network operating between Europe and Algeria and linked to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland. Authorities seized cash and assets linked to money laundering, including a hawala ledger, alongside drugs, weapons and 18 high-speed vessels; Europol supported both the organised-crime and financial investigations…

FCA steps up scrutiny of Annex 1 Firms, citing financial crime risks linked to over-reliance on third parties and parent-company controls, generic procedures, and complex lending structures such as SPVs

August 7, 2026
FCA tightens its oversight for unregulated lenders, safe-custody providers, money brokers and financial leasing companies because of concerns that some may facilitate financial crime. The FCA has found over-reliance on parent-company AML controls and generic procedures, rather than controls tailored to each firm’s own risks and operations, as well as risks arising from complex lending structures such as SPVs….

AMLA launches survey for Electronic Money Institutions and Payment Service Providers to assess the Central Contact Point framework and identify AML/CFT implementation gaps – feedback by 15 Sept 2026

August 6, 2026

AMLA is inviting electronic-money institutions and payment-service providers to provide feedback on their experience of the existing Central Contact Point framework under the AML Directive and Delegated Regulation 2018/1108. The exercise will inform work on the arrangements through which cross-border financial firms maintain contact with national AML/CFT authorities…

Malta FSA unveils its 2026 Financial Crime Compliance Strategy, shifting towards stronger risk-based supervision, regulatory cooperation and industry engagement, while aligning with EU AML reforms and AMLA

August 6, 2026

The strategy shifts supervision from checklist-based compliance to evidence of effective controls, with continuous oversight, stronger scrutiny of MLRO competence and governance, and greater integration of AML risk with prudential, IT, operational resilience and technology risks, alongside closer alignment with the EU AML framework and digital assets…

FCA issues Handbook Notice 143, bringing the UK’s new cryptoasset regulatory framework into effect and raising governance, reporting and compliance expectations for virtual asset firms

August 4, 2026

The changes introduce a more comprehensive regulatory approach for cryptoasset activities, bringing enhanced accountability, transparency and oversight across the sector. For financial crime professionals, this marks a significant step towards strengthening controls around virtual assets, with greater expectations on firms to manage money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud and wider…

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