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Legal Futures admits that one in five law firms are fully compliant with AML regulations

November 4, 2024

Only 22% of law firms inspected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) last year were fully compliant with AML rules. The SRA’s annual AML report revealed a significant increase in enforcement actions against firms and individuals. Non-compliance was primarily due to inadequate focus by senior executives, insufficient training and supervision, and ineffective systems that allowed unchecked transactions…

FCA fines Starling Bank £28.96m for serious shortcomings in its AML systems, notably regarding financial sanctions screening and the identification of beneficial owners and high-risk individuals

October 28, 2024

Deficiencies detected include Starling only screened its customers against the sanctions records for individuals who were known to reside or have links to the UK. A misconfiguration in the screening system that had existed since 20 July 2017 resulted in customers or prospective customers only being screened against individuals on the Consolidated List…

FCA cracks down on unregulated “finfluencers” promoting illegal financial products on social media, increasing scrutiny and taking legal action against those violating regulations

October 26, 2024

The FCA issued 38 alerts on social media accounts run by finfluencers suspected of promoting financial products illegally as scams increasingly impact young people. With 62% of 18-29-year-olds following influencers and many trusting their advice finfluencers’ promotions can significantly shape financial decisions…

Home Office announces a new charter with the insurance sector to clampdown on fraud at the Joint Fraud Taskforce meeting

October 26, 2024

The new voluntary charter is designed to identify loopholes in the insurance market, enhance collaboration and criminal justice outcomes, better understand the scale of the problem and improve victim support. The charter covers the vast majority of the insurance sector ranging from general insurance firms to underwriters and has the backing of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association, Lloyd’s of London, Lloyd’s Market Association and the International Underwriting Association, alongside ABI.

HMRC updates its Economic Crime Supervision Handbook

October 25, 2024

The aim of the EC-S handbook is to give you clear and comprehensive guidance on how to undertake your role within EC-S. It will help you understand the legislation, how our policies work and how they should be applied. It will also explain how to apply the sanctions framework and the powers available for you to use under the MLR2017…

FCA fines Volkswagen Finance £5.4m for failing to treat its customers in financial difficulty fairly

October 24, 2024

Volkswagen Finance failed to consider customers unique situations resulting in the wrongful repossession of vehicles from vulnerable individuals many of whom depended on their cars for work. Volkswagen Finance implemented a compensation scheme, enhanced staff training, and revamped its debt collections approach. Therese Chambers from the FCA underscored the critical role cars play in people’s lives and called attention to how…

Meta expands its partnership with UK banks through the FIRE programme to combat online scams, enabling intelligence-sharing that has led to the removal of thousands of fraudulent accounts

October 22, 2024

The Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE) programme, allows banks to share intelligence with us directly to combat scams on our platforms. The early stage of this pilot has already led us to take action against thousands of accounts run by scammers, with approximately 20,000 accounts removed based on data shared…

FCA publishes results of non-financial misconduct survey

October 21, 2024

The survey of over 1,000 investment banks, brokers and wholesale insurance firms found that the number of allegations reported increased between 2021 and 2023.

Gambling Commission shares details on it’s approach to tacking unlicensed gambling

October 21, 2024

The Chief Executive of the commission, Andrew Rhodes, outlines how the evidence-based approach being undertaken to tackle illegal gambling markets in the UK.

Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) publishes AML Annual Report for 2022/23

October 20, 2024

The report aims to provide transparency over AAT’s work as a supervisory authority in this period, including an overview of all AML monitoring activities and providing insight into member compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended, updated or re-enacted from time to time) known as the ‘Money Laundering Regulations’ in this report.

Dun & Bradstreet launches podcast on ‘Exploring the intersection of Technology and Organised Crime’, featuring insightful discussion with renowned investigative journalist Geoff White

October 18, 2024

Geoff, known for his extensive work on the Snowden leaks and his recent book “Rinsed,” shares his expertise on how technology is both a tool and a target for financial criminals. From the challenges of money laundering in the digital age to the role of cryptocurrency and AI in combating financial crime, this episode offers a comprehensive look at the evolving landscape of financial crime and the innovative solutions being developed to tackle it.

AML Intelligence: Banks urge social media platforms to intensify efforts against fraud