On 20 September 2023, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) received HM Treasury ministerial approval of revisions to Part II Sector 22 (Cryptoasset providers and custodian wallet providers) of its Guidance. This also includes the new Sector 22 Annex 1 relating to cryptoasset transfers (Travel Rule) and related updates to Sector 22.… Continue Reading
On 7 September 2023, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a joint synthesis paper on policies for crypto-assets. The report synthesises the IMF’s and FSB’s policy recommendations and standards. The report illustrates macroeconomic and financial stability implications of crypto-asset activities, how they may interact, and how the IMF and … Continue Reading
Background On 4 September 2023, the UK House of Commons debated the House of Lords’ amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill). The House of Commons voted to include an exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and remove the extension of the proposed offence to failure to prevent money laundering. … Continue Reading
On 5 September 2023, the FCA published the terms of reference (ToRs) for its review of the treatment of domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs) by financial services firms. The review is being conducted in compliance with Section 78 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 and follows a letter that the FCA sent to … Continue Reading
On 31 August 2023, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) published final revisions to Sector 22 (crypto asset providers and custodian wallet providers) in Part II of its Guidance. This includes a new Annex I to Sector 22 relating to cryptoasset transfers. The new guidance relates to the provisions of the Money Laundering, Terrorist … Continue Reading
Summary There has been a recent trend of greater regulatory enforcement for international companies that “carry on a business (or part of a business) in the UK”. We have set out in this article the relevant UK legislation and authorities that can enforce against international companies, with a particular focus on how these may apply … Continue Reading
On 15 August 2023, the FCA published a letter requesting information on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). The letter sets forth that, following Royal Assent of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (the Act) on 29 June 2023, the FCA will be undertaking a review, which will assess how FCA regulated firms are complying with … Continue Reading
On 10 August 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report on the functioning of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) colleges in 2022. The EBA has been monitoring AML/CFT colleges since their inception and has published previous AML/CFT colleges monitoring reports in 2021 and 2022. Through 2022, EBA staff actively … Continue Reading
On 9 August 2023, UK Finance published an updated version of its ‘How to’ interpretative guidance on the Funds Transfer Regulation (FTR, also known as the Wire Transfer Regulation). The updated FTR was published in 2015 and in 2017, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published their guidance for the FTR, with an implementation date of … Continue Reading
On 1 August 2023, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) announced a revision to Part 1 Paragraph 5.3.89 of its guidance. The revision has been submitted to HM Treasury for Ministerial approval. Part 1 Paragraphs 5.3.85 to 5.3.91 cover customer due diligence – private individuals – mitigation of impersonation risk.… Continue Reading
On 28 July 2023, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group published proposed amendments to Sector 22 (Cryptoasset providers and custodian wallet providers) in Part II of its Guidance. The proposed addition of Annex I to Sector 22 takes account of amendments relating to cryptoasset transfers, as introduced by The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) … Continue Reading
On 26 July 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that it has withdrawn, as required by the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), the recognition decisions of the following three central counterparties (CCPs) established in the United Arab Emirates (including the Dubai International Financial Centre): The withdrawal follows the addition of the United … Continue Reading
On 13 July 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its fourth opinion on money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks across the EU. The opinion is addressed to the European co-legislators and Member State competent authorities (NCAs) responsible for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). It is based on data from … Continue Reading
On 11 July 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report which summarises the findings from the third round of anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) implementation reviews. In 2018, the EBA decided to review the effectiveness of Member State competent authorities’ (NCAs) approaches to the AML/CFT supervision of banks, and … Continue Reading
The UK Parliament is in the process of debating the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill), which is expected to be finalised by the end of the year and come into force during 2024. There has been much discussion of the new failure to prevent fraud offence (for more detail see our article … Continue Reading
On 30 June 2023, HM Treasury published a consultation paper on the reform of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) supervisory regime. Introduction In 2018 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a mutual evaluation report on the UK’s AML/CTF regime. The assessment was positive overall regarding the UK’s implementation of the FATF standards … Continue Reading
On 30 June 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) launched a public consultation on the revision of Recommendation 8 and its interpretive note. The FATF is considering proposals for draft amendment text to Recommendation 8 of the FATF Standards and its interpretive note (R.8/INR.8), which aims to protect non-profit organisations (NPOs) from potential terrorist … Continue Reading
On 27 June 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report, Targeted update on implementation of the FATF standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. In October 2018, the FATF updated Recommendation 15 (R.15) to extend anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements to virtual assets (VAs) and … Continue Reading
On 27 June 2023, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) announced that it has received Treasury Ministerial approval of its guidance material published in March 2023, November 2022 and August 2022. The guidance includes various revisions to Part I and Part II.… Continue Reading
On 27 June 2023, HM Treasury published the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, a statutory instrument (SI) amending the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (MLRs). The SI substitutes the list of high-risk third countries (in respect of which extra customer due diligence measures must be … Continue Reading
On 26 June 2023, there was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1219 of 17 May 2023 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as regards adding Nigeria and South Africa to the table in point I of the Annex and deleting Cambodia and Morocco from that table. The … Continue Reading
On 26 June 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published the outcomes from the FATF Plenary, which took place on 21-23 June 2023. Delegates from over 200 jurisdictions of the Global Network and observers from international organisations participated in these discussions at the FATF headquarters in Paris. The outcomes of the discussions included the … Continue Reading
On 26 June 2023, HM Treasury published an updated advisory notice on money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) controls in high-risk third countries. The updated advisory notice explains that the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 come into force on 27 June 2023 and substitute the list of high-risk third countries … Continue Reading
As anticipated in our previous blog post on predictions for 2023, this year has brought about significant developments in investigations and a real focus on fraud. Looking ahead to the second half of 2023, we predict that developments affecting UK business or those doing business in the UK will include: 1. Fraud Economic Crime and … Continue Reading
