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FCA drops criminal investigation into Monzo bank over potential breaches of anti-money laundering rules

UK Monzo bank has been informed that a criminal money laundering investigation by the financial regulator has been halted but civil proceedings against it continue…

BBC: Standard Chartered escaped prosecution for ML carried out billions of dollars of transactions for funders of terrorist groups

Standard Chartered was accused of falsifying Swift transaction data to move billions of dollars through its New York branch on behalf of sanctioned entities like the Central Bank of Iran. The bank has admitted to breaching sanctions against Iran and other countries, paying over $1.7bn in fines, but has not admitted to conducting transactions for terrorist organizations…

OFSI has reissued a Russia-related general license allowing the use of banking services of designated financial institutions

OFSI issued General License on May 28, 2024 allowing individuals to use retail banking services for personal use, with a maximum payment value of £50,000 and expiring on May 27, 2026. Relevant Institutions processing payments under General License must report payment details to HM Treasury within 14 days maintain accurate records of transactions for 6 years…

NCA issues guidance on how to request a defence from the NCA under POCA and TACT

This document is intended to inform you of the approach when reporters, through submitting a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR), seek a defence (or ‘consent’) from the National Crime Agency (NCA) to a money laundering of terrorist finance offence.

UK Finance publishes Annual Fraud Report 2024

Shows that £1.17 billion was lost to fraud in 2023, although a modest overall decline in both the value of losses and the number of cases compared with 2022 when losses amounted to £2.97 million.

TI-UK provides guidance for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

This report supports anti-corruption and ESG/sustainability professionals to better understand “corruption and bribery” and “political engagement” as sustainability matters in the context of the European Union (EU) Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

UK Finance releases its 2024 Annual fraud report, detailing the amount its members reported as stolen through payment fraud and scams in 2023

The report highlights criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2023, a four per cent decrease compared to 2022, Banks prevented a further £1.25 billion of unauthorised fraud through advanced security systems, 76 per cent of APP fraud started online and 16 per cent started through telecommunications networks…

Home Office publishes circular on money laundering: the confidentiality and sensitivity of suspicious activity reports and the identity of those who make them

Outlines the procedure for determining if the disclosure of SARs in certain circumstances might cause a real risk of serious prejudice to an important public interest.

The City of London Police reports that over £28.7 million was lost to courier fraudsters in the past year, with individuals in their 80s being the most frequent target

People in their 80s are most likely to be targeted by criminals carrying out courier fraud, with this age range accounting for 43 per cent of all victims, data from Action Fraud shows…

FCA proposes to update its Financial Crime Guide on sanctions, proliferation financing and transaction monitoring

The Guide aims to enhance understanding of the FCA’s expectations and to help firms assess the adequacy of their financial crime systems and controls, and remedy any deficiencies. The FC Guide contains various self-evaluation questions, along with examples of good and poor practice drawn from FCA work and other financial crime publications.

 

JMLSG consults on proposed revisions to Sector 18 (Wholesale markets) in Part II of its Guidance

The deadline for comments on the proposed revisions is 1 July 2024.

UK Law Society reveals that two-fifths of organised crime networks launder money through property

Organised crime is one of the biggest economic crime threats in the UK and Europe. New Europol research shows 41% of the most threatening criminal networks launder through property and 86% make use of legal business structures…