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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, HMRC and Met Police intensify crackdown on illegal crypto trading, targeting 3 unregistered P2P businesses in London and issuing cease-and-desist letters at all three

September 17, 2026

The FCA warns that unregistered P2P crypto activity can provide criminals with routes to move and launder illicit funds outside established AML controls, highlighting the continued focus of regulators and law enforcement on informal crypto channels operating outside the UK registration regime. The latest action builds on the FCA’s April crackdown, with evidence gathered during that operation now supporting criminal investigations and further enforcement..

FCA sets out its 2028 AML supervision plans for legal & accounting firms, signalling a more intelligence-led approach that will use AI, 56M daily records and cross-sector data to detect FC risks sooner

September 17, 2026

The FCA will prioritise firms presenting the greatest risks, with closer scrutiny of new applications, complex structures and weaknesses such as over-reliance on parent-company controls. It is also backing greater intelligence-sharing between firms, regulators and law enforcement, while supporting a £3,000 threshold for DAML SARs to reduce low-value reporting. The regulator says compliant firms should face less duplication and unnecessary burden…

EP calls for an urgent, coordinated EU crackdown on drug-trafficking networks, targeting ports, intelligence gaps, financial channels, maritime surveillance and international cooperation

September 17, 2026

MEPs call for stronger cooperation between customs, police and judicial authorities, better information sharing and more resources for law enforcement. A major concern is the exploitation of European ports and maritime routes by organised crime groups, with Parliament calling for stronger port security and improved monitoring of trafficking routes.

Egmont’s report examines how FIUs produce and utilise strategic intelligence, highlighting approaches to data use and analysis and how strategic findings can strengthen national AML/CFT responses

September 17, 2026

The report finds that FIUs across the Egmont membership have varying levels of strategic-intelligence capability, with differences in how they organise analysis and produce strategic outputs. It highlights data access and analytical capacity as key areas for improvement, while stressing the need to ensure strategic intelligence has a greater impact on national risk assessments, policy and operational responses. The report also identifies emerging good practices and common challenges that could help FIUs strengthen their strategic-analysis functions…

FCA’s Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance clarifies which firms will need FCA authorisation under the UK’s new 2027 crypto regime, with existing MLR registrations not automatically carrying over

September 16, 2026

It clarifies which cryptoasset activities fall within the UK’s new regulatory regime from 25 Oct 2027, including safeguarding, trading platforms, dealing, arranging and staking. Existing MLR registrations and permissions will not automatically convert into FCA authorisation, so firms should assess their activities and permissions now. Applications open 30 Sept 2026, with transitional applications due by 28 Feb 2027…

GFI’s latest report identifies more than $3.2 trillion in global trade-value gaps, exposing the scale of potential trade misinvoicing and illicit financial flow risks

September 16, 2026

Using bilateral trade data from the UN Comtrade database, GFI finds that reported trade-value discrepancies increased by more than 80%, from $1.76 trillion in 2013 to over $3.2 trillion in 2022. China recorded the largest average annual gap at $695.7 billion, while several smaller economies showed particularly high discrepancies relative to their total trade. GFI calls for stronger customs analytics, greater international data sharing…

Singapore Parliament issues the Scams (Countermeasures) and Other Matters Bill 2026, giving authorities stronger powers to disable scam-linked accounts across financial and digital services

September 16, 2026

The Bill would allow specified police officers to order banks, payment providers, digital payment-token providers, telecom companies and online platforms to restrict services, disable accounts and disclose information where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they are being used for scam-related offences. Account-disabling orders could cover bank, payment, crypto/digital payment-token, telephone and online accounts, generally for up…

INTERPOL’s Operation Phoenix across 5 MENA countries nets 48 arrests, including 8 Red Notice suspects, while database checks uncover 246 hits and authorities seize drugs, cash, gold & luxury vehicles

September 16, 2026

More than 700,000 INTERPOL database checks generated 246 hits, while authorities seized 11 luxury vehicles, cash, 1.8kg of gold, 13,000 Captagon pills, 123 crystal meth capsules and 530 mobile phones. The operation was also notable as INTERPOL’s first MENA operation in which female police officers had full operational responsibility, including border checks, interviews and international coordination…

Home Office’s Proceeds of Crime in England and Wales 2023–24, estimates that profit-driven crime generated at least £21.9B in proceeds, with up to £8.9B potentially reinvested in further crime

September 15, 2026

The report represents the Government’s first step towards addressing longstanding evidence gaps around the scale and economic impact of ML. Drug supply accounts for the largest identified share of criminal proceeds at £14.3 billion, followed by fraud at £2.6 billion. The Home Office estimates that £6.1–£8.9 billion of the proceeds identified may be reinvested in further criminal activity, while £13–£15.8 billion may be used for consumption…

Home Office announces £500M crackdown on dirty money networks, funding 500 new officers to trace and recover criminal assets and disrupt the financial infrastructure behind organised crime

September 15, 2026

The investment will support a more proactive, intelligence-led approach, including greater use of financial intelligence, technology and public-private information sharing to disrupt the financial infrastructure behind money laundering. The government says the previous year’s activity stripped almost £350 million from criminals and denied them access to more than £1 billion…

AMLA plans to coordinate its first joint FIU analysis exercise by end-2026 to identify cross-border ML patterns and align national intelligence approaches

September 15, 2026

AMLA is developing common risk-assessment methodologies and a common supervisory approach to help identify sectoral and geographic vulnerabilities and translate them into supervisory priorities. From July 2027, Article 75 of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation will enable information-sharing partnerships between financial institutions under specified conditions. AMLA and the European Data Protection Board are developing joint guidelines…

AMLA outlines its Crypto Action Plan for 2026 and beyond, focusing on stronger EU-wide understanding of crypto-related ML/TF risks, greater supervisory convergence and enhanced blockchain analytics

September 15, 2026
At the 10th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptoassets in Luxembourg, AMLA Executive Board Member Simonas Krepšta noted that AMLA’s ongoing crypto-sector risk analysis will feed into a forthcoming report, while stressing that despite the stronger framework under MiCA and the new EU AML/CFT package, fragmented blockchain analytics and remaining vulnerabilities require a coordinated EU-level response…
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