On 26 October 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) launched a public consultation on its guidance on beneficial ownership. At the March 2022 Plenary, the FATF adopted amendments to Recommendation 24, and agreed to immediately start the work to update guidance on beneficial ownership with a view to help support the implementation of the … Continue Reading
On 26 October 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) launched a public consultation on Recommendation 25 and its interpretive note (R.25/INR.25) on the transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements. The FATF is also considering amending the definition of beneficial ownership in the glossary to provide more clarity regarding legal arrangements. The FATF’s objective … Continue Reading
On 23 August 2022, the Wolfsberg Group published best practice guidance on requests for information (RFIs) initiated as a result of transaction monitoring. An RFI is used when a correspondent (or any other provider of payment services) is seeking to understand the background of a transaction that has been processed through an account or relationship … Continue Reading
On 20 July 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a report intended to help jurisdictions enhance, design and implement information collaboration initiatives among private sector entities in accordance with data protection and privacy (DPP) rules so that the risks associated with increased sharing of personal data are appropriately taken into account. The report … Continue Reading
On 30 June 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a targeted update concerning the implementation of its Standards on virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with a focus on FATF’s Travel Rule. The FATF has found that many countries need to strengthen understanding of money laundering / terrorist financing risks … Continue Reading
Introduction In May 2021, following a 3 month consultation, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) issued its consultation conclusions for a new licensing regime for virtual assets services providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong. Recently, further steps were taken to make the new licensing regime for VASPs a reality with the Hong Kong Government … Continue Reading
In the latest instalment of our Regulation Around the World series, financial services partners in 13 jurisdictions provide an update on anti-money laundering developments. Our global updater is accompanied by further analysis and insights in our Regulation Around the World podcast which is available now to stream and download. The podcast features speakers from the … Continue Reading
On 17 June 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published the outcomes of its plenary on 14 to 17 June 2022. Delegates from over 200 jurisdictions participated in the plenary and the FATF expressed its deepest sympathies for the people of Ukraine, and as a result of Russia’s invasion, the FATF agreed to severely … Continue Reading
On 11 May 2022, the Wolfsberg Group published FAQs on how undertaking screening for negative news and other forms of adverse information can enhance a financial institution’s awareness of potential financial-crime risk posed by both existing and prospective customers. The Wolfsberg Group recognises that there is no universally agreed and accepted definition of negative news. … Continue Reading
On 19 April 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report providing an overview of the state of global efforts to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. The report finds that in terms of laws and regulations, 76% of countries have now satisfactorily implemented the FATF’s 40 Recommendations. This is a significant … Continue Reading
On 7 March 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a public statement regarding amendments it had adopted to Recommendation 24 and its Interpretative Notes on 4 March 2022. The Recommendation requires countries to prevent the misuse of legal persons for money laundering or terrorist financing and to ensure that there is adequate, accurate … Continue Reading
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis have recently published the results of research showing that there has been a huge increase in the use of decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols to launder money over the last year. DeFi is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies. In 2021, there was … Continue Reading
On 13 December 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank published a report setting out a draft framework and methodology for risk assessment in remittance corridors having the potential of being identified as “safe remittance corridors”. At its October 2020 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, the G20 endorsed the Roadmap … Continue Reading
On 1 July 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published: A stocktake report that examines commercially available or emerging technologies that facilitate advanced anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) analytics within regulated entities or collaborative analytics between financial institutions, while respecting data privacy and protection. A report that highlights the necessary … Continue Reading
On 30 June 2021, there was published: Report from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on ethnically or racially motivated terrorism financing. The report, which is based on inputs from around 30 jurisdictions, focuses on the funding behind ethnically or racially motivated terrorism, also referred to as extreme right-wing terrorism. The report highlights the challenges … Continue Reading
On 29 June 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published guidance on proliferation financing risk assessment and mitigation. The guidance seeks to develop a common understanding about the impact of the changes that FATF made in October last year to Recommendation 1 and its Interpretative Note to require countries and private sector entities to … Continue Reading
On 28 June 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published: A press release concerning the outcomes of the FATF Plenary held on 20-25 June 2021. The press release for the plenary reports that delegates finalised work in a number of important areas. These include a report that details the financial flows linked to environmental … Continue Reading
Following a 3-month consultation on the proposal to introduce a licensing regime for virtual assets services providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong under the amended Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (the AMLO) (see our previous blog here), the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has now issued its consultation conclusions in a paper published … Continue Reading
2021 Financial crime Outlook series Senior management and boards are increasingly acknowledging the threat of financial crime as a critical risk to their business that must be addressed. This has been exacerbated in the last 12 months through the impact of the pandemic as well as rising domestic and international tensions. Our financial crime compliance … Continue Reading
On 19 March 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a public consultation on proposed revisions to its 2019 guidance on the risk-based approach to virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The FATF is proposing to update its guidance in order to: Clarify the definitions of VA and VASP to make … Continue Reading
On 18 March 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced that in February it had launched a new project to study and mitigate the unintended consequences resulting from the incorrect implementation of the FATF Standards. The project will look at four areas: De-risking. Financial exclusion. Suppression of non-profit organisations (NPOs) or the NPO sector … Continue Reading
On 11 March 2021 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Egmont Group published a joint report on trade-based money laundering (TBML) risk indicators. This follows on from a report published in December last year by the same bodies highlighting pertinent trends and developments with respect to TBML for market participants to be aware of. … Continue Reading
2021 Financial crime Outlook series Senior management and boards are increasingly acknowledging the threat of financial crime as a critical risk to their business that must be addressed. This has been exacerbated in the last 12 months through the impact of the pandemic as well as rising domestic and international tensions. Our financial crime compliance … Continue Reading
On 4 March 2021 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released new guidance aimed at supporting the application of a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) supervision. This builds on previous guidance released in 2015, but widens the scope of the guidance to enhance applicability to more recently AML regulated … Continue Reading
