When an established company considers holding crypto, the compliance questions usually come first. Is the activity permissible? Is the exchange or custodian acceptable? Have the wallets been screened? Are AML and sanctions controls adequate? Those questions can all have satisfactory answers while the transaction still produces an outcome the institution did not intend. The reason […]
AML
Posted inAML
End of BOI rule doesn’t mean end of BOI responsibilities for banks, small businesses
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ended the requirement that small businesses report beneficial ownership information (BOI) but neither businesses nor banks should consider themselves off the hook about BOI, experts said. FinCEN announced Aug. 11 it was killing the BOI rule, a mandate that certain small businesses report information about any persons holding […]
Posted inAML
LexisNexis Risk Solutions exec on how compliance in all sectors supports the virtuous circle of crime prevention
Katarina Pranjic recently added “investigations” to her job title of regulatory policy director, economic crime, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Despite her credentials, she found her new immersion in investigations “exciting and terrifying,” revealing how compliance and investigations can gain from collaborating.
Posted inAML
FinCEN analysis finds smuggling transactions in SARs reached nearly $5 billion
Banks and money services businesses (MSB) reported nearly $5 billion in transactions over three years with suspected links to human smuggling and trafficking, according to an analysis by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The federal Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requires banks and MSBs, which include currency exchangers, check cashing businesses and […]
Posted inBest Practices
Record-setting AML penalty against UBS was years in the making
FinCEN and several other regulators levied a combined $125 million penalty against UBS Financial Services (UBSFS), a broker-dealer and futures commission merchant, due to a series of long-standing compliance failures. The total penalty was a joint effort of federal regulators, including FINRA ($20 million), the Securities and Exchange Commission ($20 million), and the Commodity Futures Trading […]
Posted inAsia
Singapore’s AML framework has a gap against financial crime, FATF finds
Singapore performs well on detecting and prosecuting financial crime, according to a new FATF and APG report, but enforcement still struggles to target the organizers behind its growing cyber-fraud problem.
Posted inFinancial Services
UBS hit with record $125M civil penalty for ‘willful’ BSA violations
UBS Financial Services was slapped with a record $125 million joint civil penalty by four regulatory agencies for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, including a failure to implement and maintain an anti-money laundering compliance program and failure to file suspicious activity reports.
Posted inOpinion
Malta AML expert discusses how country is staying ahead of EU AML rules
Elena Tabone of Malta’s FIAU discusses AML/CFT supervision priorities as the unit prepares for AMLA’s 2028 rollout, new EU rules in 2027, a MONEYVAL evaluation, and rising AI-enabled fraud risks.
Posted inBest Practices
The hidden compliance cost of building AI-based AML tools in-house
“We can build that internally” sounds like control and savings — until the subject is AML risk assessment technology. A simple internal build can quietly become a governance liability. The real question isn’t whether the tool can be built, but whether it can be governed.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Merrill Lynch to pay $7.5M for failure to file Suspicious Activity Reports
Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch brokerage unit has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle SEC charges that it failed to file numerous Suspicious Activity Reports between April 2020 and September 2024 due to gaps in its transaction monitoring threshold.
