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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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FCA launches a consultation on its proposed regulatory framework for cryptoassets, aiming to ensure consumer protection and market integrity while supporting innovation – feedback by 12 Feb 2026

December 16, 2025

The proposals aim to create an open, sustainable, and competitive crypto market that protects consumers while supporting innovation. Key areas under consultation include listing and disclosure standards for cryptoassets, market‑abuse safeguards, operational standards for crypto trading platforms, requirements for intermediaries, rules for staking and DeFi activities, lending and borrowing frameworks, and prudential safeguards for firms. The FCA says the approach will apply similar regulatory principles to crypto as to traditional finance…

FATF’s Mutual Evaluation of Belgium Report finds that despite a strong legal AML/CFT framework, gaps in virtual asset oversight, BO checks, sanctions, and enforcement have led to enhanced follow-up

December 16, 2025

FATF’s Mutual Evaluation assesses Belgium’s measures against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing as largely aligned with international standards but notes persistent weaknesses in effectively addressing key risks such as virtual assets, organised crime-linked laundering, and resource constraints that limit investigations and prosecutions. It highlights uneven supervision, limited use of sanctions, insufficient technological tools for the FIU, and gaps in beneficial ownership accuracy, and provides a roadmap of key actions Belgium must complete within three years to strengthen its AML/CFT/CPF effectiveness…

Egmont shares key updates at the 70th MONEYVAL Plenary in Strasbourg, highlighting stronger FIU independence, expanded training, and closer international cooperation to combat ML/TF

December 16, 2025

At the 70th MONEYVAL Plenary in Strasbourg, the Egmont Group was represented by its leadership (including Vice Chair Daniel Thelesklaf and Chair Elżbieta Franków-Jaśkiewicz), where it shared updates on strengthening the independence and autonomy of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), expanded training initiatives for 2026, and highlighted collaborative projects analyzing mutual evaluation findings to identify regional training needs—especially around cooperation with law enforcement and the use of financial intelligence…

HMT releases 2024–25 UK AML/CTF Supervision Report, outlining significant reforms to the UK’s supervisory regime, confirming plans to shift AML oversight of legal, accountancy and TCSP sectors to the FCA

December 15, 2025

It introduces new transparency through detailed data on inspections, risk ratings. Only 1% of businesses are now deemed “low risk” for AML purposes. The “medium risk” category has grown proportionately, from 53% to 85%. The report details how supervisors including the FCA, HMRC, the Gambling Commission and professional-body supervisors strengthened risk-based supervision through targeted interventions, registration assessments…

FinCEN convenes banks and law enforcement in a FinCEN Exchange to tackle transnational ML, exposing $7.1B in Chinese-linked suspicious activity and blocking access to global financial systems

December 15, 2025

The FinCEN Exchange public-private partnership event brought together financial institutions, federal law enforcement and Treasury officials to focus on identifying and dismantling sophisticated money-laundering networks, specifically those linked to Chinese actors and organised crime. FinCEN shared intelligence, stressed the importance of Bank Secrecy Act reporting, and reiterated its commitment to ongoing cooperation to counter these networks and protect the financial system…

ESAs publish 2 Factsheets designed to help consumers protect themselves from crypto and other online frauds and scams and explain how fraudsters increasingly use AI to deceive consumers

December 15, 2025

The three ESAs released two consumer-focused factsheets offering clear guidance on recognising common online fraud and scam tactics—such as phishing, impersonation, investment and Ponzi schemes—and how fraudsters increasingly use technologies like artificial intelligence to deceive. The materials explain warning signs, offer prevention tips (e.g., be cautious with personal/banking information and verify message sources) and will be translated into all official EU languages for wider accessibility…

EBA-ECB’s Payment Fraud Report 2025 reveals that while SCA has reduced card fraud, overall fraud losses rose from €3.5B in 2023 to €4.2B in 2024 as criminals adapt to exploit new payment channels

December 15, 2025

The report highlights that fraudsters are adapting, notably through payer manipulation (social engineering) and by targeting payment types or scenarios where Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is exempt or less effective. Breakdown by instrument shows credit transfer losses at about €2.20 billion and card payment losses at €1.33 billion in 2024, with users bearing a significant share of credit transfer fraud losses. It also notes that card fraud is markedly higher outside the EEA where SCA is not mandated…

Basel AML Index 2025 ranking 177 countries, reveals that 54% improved AML/CFT frameworks, yet high-risk nations like Myanmar, Haiti, and DRC face rising ML threats, urging stronger legal and accountability systems

December 15, 2025

The 14th Basel AML Index finds that global money-laundering risk remains largely unchanged, with only marginal improvement, as progress in some high-risk regions, particularly parts of Sub-Saharan Africa is offset by rising risks in traditionally strong jurisdictions such as Europe and North America, highlighting uneven advances amid growing threats from virtual assets and emerging technologies…

UN Anti‑Corruption Conference Dec 2025 in Doha opens with a strong call to harness AI and emerging technologies to strengthen the global fight against corruption and economic crime

December 15, 2025

The Conference highlights how innovation can help detect, prevent, and disrupt complex corrupt practices under the UNCAC. There is a need for an integrated and coordinated approach, one where agencies work across sectors and borders, with all relevant partners, to bring down networks of crime and collusion in tandem…

Vietnam’s State Bank seeks to enforce AML law, mandating robust risk assessments, customer risk classification, and reporting of high-value and suspicious transactions

December 13, 2025

Circular 27 sets out detailed criteria and scoring methods for assessing money-laundering risks of reporting entities, requires entities to build formal risk-management processes and to classify customers by risk level, and mandates internal AML policies that align with risk profiles and legal requirements. The Circular also establishes comprehensive reporting obligations — including reporting of domestic transfers ≥ VND 500 million, international transfers ≥ US $1,000, large transactions and suspicious activity…

MAS Singapore issues Consultation paper on Proposed Guidelines on AI Risk Management, urging FIs to identify, assess and manage AI risks responsibly – feedback due by 31 Jan 2026

December 13, 2025

The consultation paper sets out MAS’s supervisory expectations that all financial institutions maintain clear governance and board-level oversight of AI risk, establish robust systems for identifying and inventorying AI applications, and conduct risk materiality assessments based on impact, complexity and reliance. It further requires proportionate lifecycle controls covering data quality, fairness, transparency, human oversight and third-party risk, as well as sufficient organisational capabilities to support safe AI deployment…

NCA’s Operation Venetic uncovers an organised crime group member’s role in a North East England cocaine plot, underscoring a decisive crackdown on serious drug trafficking

December 12, 2025

The defendant, linked to an organised crime group using the encrypted EncroChat platform, admitted conspiring to supply multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine after NCA analysis of encrypted messages revealed his role in coordinating drug movements and payments. The case forms part of the wider Operation Venetic crackdown, which has dismantled numerous UK criminal networks by exploiting intelligence obtained from EncroChat to uncover large-scale drug supply, violence, and money-laundering operations…

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