On 2 September 2020, MONEYVAL (the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism) published a report detailing the money laundering and terrorist financing trends emanating from the Covid-19 pandemic, identified through feedback from jurisdictions within MONEYVAL’s remit. MONEYVAL notes that, so far during the pandemic, whilst the … Continue Reading
In September 2020, SWIFT (a global member-owned cooperative and provider of secure financial messaging services) published a report to support market participants in understanding the money laundering techniques which underpin large-scale cyber-attacks. The report sets out the end-to-end journey commonly used by criminals to launder funds obtained through illicit cyber-crime related activities, and focusses on … Continue Reading
On 2 September 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a new webpage updating market participants on the pilot of its “digital sandbox” and recent DataSprint. The FCA notes that its latest DataSprint, held in July and August 2020, enabled 120 market participants from multiple sectors and disciplines to collaborate to develop data models and … Continue Reading
On 2 September 2020, there was published on legislation.gov.uk The Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. The statutory instrument amends the Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2019 (the 2019 Regulations) as follows: Regulation 2(2) … Continue Reading
On 1 September 2020 the European Services and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a call for evidence to gather insights and feedback from market participants relating to the practical implementation of MiFID II and MiFIR provisions for equity and non-equity instruments. ESMA seek responses on a dedicated template on or before 31 October 2020. Historically, ESMA … Continue Reading
On 26 August the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report relating to the postponement of the effective date of new regulatory technical standards (RTS) on settlement discipline pursuant to Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR). The RTS was initially planned to come into force on 13 September 2020, but in May 2020 … Continue Reading
On 2 June 2020 the European Parliament posed questions relating to the registration and monitoring of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in Member States as required by the provisions of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD). VASPs include virtual currencies, fiat currencies and custodian wallet providers. Responses were received from the Financial Markets Law … Continue Reading
In August 2020 the FCA published its latest edition of Market Watch, issue 64, focussing on the implementation of MiFID II during the Brexit transition period. Importantly, the FCA reminds firms that Brexit temporary transitional powers won’t be applied to transaction reporting rules under MiFID II. Therefore, firm and Approved Reporting Mechanisms (ARMs) must comply … Continue Reading
On 26 August the Institute of International Finance (IIF) provided feedback to the European Commission on its Action Plan for a comprehensive Union policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, published in May 2020. The IIF notes that a more coordinated approach to implement and oversea the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism … Continue Reading
On 24 August 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper (CP20/17) focused on extending its annual financial crime reporting obligation to include firms that carry on regulated activities that potentially pose a higher money laundering risk. This follows its 2019/20 Business Plan commitment to consider extending the reporting obligation to more firms. … Continue Reading
On 20 August, the European Banking Authority (EBA) updated data relating to the 37 largest institutions in the EU whose leverage ratios exceed EUR 200 billion. This in turn will be used to identify a smaller group of banks which are considered to be global systemically important institutions (G-SIIs). This is the first year that … Continue Reading
On 19 August 2020 the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its response to the European Commission’s consultation on its action plan for a comprehensive EU policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The European Commission’s action plan includes 6 “pillars” to strengthen the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) framework, and … Continue Reading
On 12 August 2020, the Wolfsberg Group published its statement on developing an effective anti-money laundering (AML) / counter-terrorism financing (CTF) programme. In December 2019, the Wolfsberg Group published a statement on effectiveness which encourages jurisdictions to adopt the Financial Action Task Force’s focus on effective outcomes. As part of that statement, the Wolfsberg Group … Continue Reading
On 7 August 2020, the Wolfsberg Group, published new guidance targeted at private banking and wealth management divisions within financial institutions (FIs) to support the undertaking of source of wealth (SoW) and source of funds (SoF) checks. Based on the principles of the application of a risk-based approach (RBA), different customers will require a different … Continue Reading
In July 2020, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published guidance for entities and individuals operating within the maritime shipping sector. The size and scale of the UK shipping sector is large and thus may be particularly susceptible to criminals seeking to deploy tactics to confuse or conceal the identities of vessels, cargo, … Continue Reading
Following a consultation which concluded on 18 May 2020 (blog here), on 28 July 2020 the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) published a new chapter to be added to Part II of its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) guidance for the financial services sector. The new chapter (referred to as Sector 22) … Continue Reading
At Budget 2020 the government announced its intention to introduce an economic crime levy. On 20 July 2020, HM Treasury issued a consultation inviting views on the design principles of the levy, and how the levy could operate in practice, to ensure that it is proportionate and effective. The consultation seeks views on what the … Continue Reading
On 10 July 2020, the European Parliament (Parliament) adopted a resolution on a comprehensive pan-EU strategy for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, following the publication of the European Commission’s Action Plan in May (resolution text, press release). Key provisions of the resolution The resolution supports a much stricter, “zero-tolerance” stance towards Member … Continue Reading
On 19 June 2020, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ) the Delegated Regulation that the European Commission adopted on 7 May 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 which supplements the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive by identifying those third countries that have strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering and countering the financing … Continue Reading
On 7 May 2020, the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 supplementing the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive as regards the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar/Burma, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe to the table in point I of the Annex and deleting Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Guyana, Lao People’s Democratic … Continue Reading
COVID 19 – Impact on financial crime compliance Over the coming weeks, partners and members of our financial services team will be sharing with clients and contacts a series of video diaries setting out their views on the latest developments in respect of COVID 19 impacts in the various areas of financial services. In video … Continue Reading
