Happy New Year to all our readers! The past year saw a marked shift in regulatory expectations for the anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) regime in Canada. In this blog post, we provide a quick recap of the key regulatory developments in the Canadian AML/ATF regime over the past year. We also look … Continue Reading
Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) regulator, AUSTRAC, has released its guidance with respect to new laws that require digital currency exchange (DCE) providers to register and comply with AML/CTF obligations. AUSTRAC takes a broad approach in interpreting what is covered within the legal definition of a DCE. Essentially, any operation that converts fiat … Continue Reading
In light of today’s geo-political climate and public concerns over the threat of terrorist attacks, we see a trend of governments placing greater focus on countering the funding of terrorist groups. Indeed, the United Nation’s International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which Australia has ratified, has been in force since 2002 … Continue Reading
Ever since the infamous Silk Road website was investigated and shut down by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013, and again in 2014, for facilitating the trafficking of illegal narcotics on the “darknet” using Bitcoin, the world of digital currencies has never been the same. Once upon a time Bitcoin was often used … Continue Reading
Recent instances of cyber-attacks targeting third party service providers of government agencies and private sector organisations have coincided with the latest release of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)’s 2017 Threat Report. This report comes as a timely reminder of the ongoing digital threats to organisations, such as those in the financial services sector, especially … Continue Reading
On June 29, 2016, the federal Government published the final version of the long-awaited regulations (Amending Regulations) to amend various regulations (Regulations) under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). The Amending Regulations came into force on June 30, 2016, however, there is an almost one year delay for the provisions … Continue Reading
