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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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Gold and art worth millions forfeited by NCA and linked to crime

May 7, 2024

The criminal assets were seized by NCA officers during an investigation into ML, whose clientele included drug traffickers. Mayhew-Lewis, of Oxted in Surrey, was caught with eight kilos of gold bars and shavings when he was arrested in 2019 by West Midlands Police officers acting on NCA intelligence. The officers found the precious metal – now worth more than £400k – stowed in a compartment of his Bentley…

FinCEN reminds financial institutions to remain vigilant to environmental crimes

May 7, 2024

FinCEN reminds financial institutions to remain vigilant in identifying and reporting suspicious activity related to environmental crimes. Environmental crimes frequently involve transnational criminal activity related to several of FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Priorities, including corruption, fraud, human trafficking, and drug trafficking…

UK commits to combatting corruption and recovering assets to the OSCE’s Economic and Environmental Committee

May 7, 2024

One of the enduring challenges in tackling corruption is untangling the complex web of corporate structures used to launder criminal proceeds and hide stolen assets. In the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the UK is fully committed to recovering and returning corruptly-obtained assets in accordance with due process…

European Parliament imposes ban on products made with forced labour from EU single market

May 7, 2024
Member state authorities and the European Commission will be able to investigate suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufacturers. If a product is deemed to have been made using forced labour, it will no longer be possible to sell it on the EU market (including online) and shipments will be intercepted at the EU’s borders…

European Commission publishes Q&As on new reforms in the AML/CFT framework which rests on 4 legal acts

May 7, 2024

A Regulation establishing an EU AML/CFT Authority in the form of a decentralised EU regulatory agency:

• A new Regulation on AML/CFT containing directly applicable AML/CFT rules, including a revised EU list of entities subject to AML/CFT rules (known as obliged entities);
• A Directive on AML/CFT replacing the existing EU AML/CFT Directive and containing provisions not appropriate for a Regulation and requiring national transposition, such as rules concerning national supervisors and Financial Intelligence Units in Member States;
• A recast of the 2015 Regulation on Transfers of Funds (Regulation 2015/847)…

HM Treasury released its annual AML/CTF Supervision Report for the period April 2022-2023, offering a timely insight into the activities of the UK’s 25 AML supervisors

May 7, 2024

These include: Total fines across 25 regulators decreased from £504 million in 2021-22 to £197 million in 2022-23, mainly due to fewer large fines by the FCA, FCA and the Gambling Commission imposing higher fines compared to HMRC and PBSs, FCA’s perspective that retail banking (including payments), wholesale banking, wealth management and crypto-asset firms pose the greatest risk of being exploited for ML…

NCA unmasks LockBit cyber-crime gang leader by infiltrating the group’s network, taking control of its services, including its leak site on the dark web

May 7, 2024

LockBit were one of the most prolific ransomware groups in recent years, responsible for attacks on over 200 UK businesses and major public service providers. UK and Allies crack down on malicious cyber-criminal activity emanating from Russia that seeks to undermine global integrity, prosperity and security…

 

FATF re-rates Georgia on Recommendation 12 in latest compliance report

May 6, 2024

Notes efforts undertaken by the country to address technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2020 Mutual Evaluation Report. Notably, the amendments introduced by Georgia in 2023 to its AML legislation have fully addressed the deficiencies previously identified regarding measures applicable to politically exposed persons.

House of Commons publishes research briefing on company registration in the UK

May 6, 2024

The UK Government is reforming Companies House and the company registration regime in the UK. This briefing looks at the company regime and the ongoing reforms.

Europol announces the global drug kingpin’s inner circle taken down

May 6, 2024

The primary objective of operation codenamed “Black Tie” was to indict and prosecute a Bosnian-Herzegovinian/Dutch national considered a High Value Target by Europol and the Netherlands. In 2023, the suspect was sentenced to seven years in prison for drug trafficking by Dutch authorities. Another operational objective was to disrupt the entire criminal organisation under the command and control of the High Value Target. This joint international investigation was comprised of Belgian, Bosnian-Herzegovinian, French, and United States law enforcement, supported by Europol.

Europol: Global drug kingpin’s inner circle taken down involving 23 accomplices and corrupt officials based in Bosnia and Herzegovina

May 6, 2024

In a large-scale raid conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, law enforcement officers swarmed homes and offices of 23 persons suspected to be part of the ‘inner circle’ of a drug kingpin apprehended in November 2022. Europol supported yesterday’s action, which serves as another milestone in the fight against the so-called ‘super cartel’, an alliance of criminal networks that controlled much of Europe’s cocaine trade.

EU publishes FAQs concerning sanctions against Russia and new reporting obligations

May 6, 2024

According to the FAQs, Article 5r establishes new reporting requirements intended to provide national competent authorities (“NCAs”) with information on the flow of funds out of the European Union related to Russian-owned entities as opposed to entities that are partly Russian-owned and are legitimately operating in the European Union. The reports are also intended to enable NCAs to better assess whether certain types of transfers pose a risk of violating Russia-related sanctions and to help determine the sources of Russia’s revenue…

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