Global REG-CAP February 2023

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

February 2023
This month’s highlights include:

  • In light of the recent humanitarian crisis in Syria, the US’s OFAC issued a Syria General License and released guidance for authorised transactions related to earthquake relief efforts, and supplemental guidance for the provision of humanitarian assistance. The UK’s OFSI adopted the Sanctions (Humanitarian Exception) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, and the European Council made a humanitarian exemption to its Syria sanctions regime.

  • The Wolfsberg Group and the Institute of International Finance published a comment letter to the European Banking Authority (EBA) on de-risking. The letter outlines a set of recommendations, including for the EBA to adopt the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) definition of de-risking to align with international standards.

  • FATF published the outcomes of its plenary, including its decision to suspend Russia from membership. South Africa and Nigeria have been added to the list of countries under increased monitoring, or the ‘grey list’, meaning these countries have committed to resolving identified strategic deficiencies. Meanwhile Morocco and Cambodia have been removed from the grey list and are no longer under increased monitoring.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in February? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP January 2023

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

January 2023
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Financial Action Task Force has released its annual report for 2021-2022. The report highlights the global watchdog’s critical work, including its standard on beneficial ownership transparency, and strategic priorities for the next two years, including increasing capabilities to effectively recover criminal assets, overall strengthening of the global network, and leveraging
    digital transformation to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.

  • Transparency International has released its 2022 Corruptions Perception Index, showcasing that corruption levels, with an unchanged global average score, are at a worldwide standstill. According to the report, 26 countries have fallen to their lowest scores yet, and 155 countries have made no significant progress against corruption or have declined since 2012.

  • The National Crime Agency (NCA) has published its 2022 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) Annual Report. The report notes a 21% increase in total SARs received, 120% increase in funds denied from Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests, and 21% decrease in total DAMLs received over 2021 and 2022.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in January? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP December 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

December 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Wolfsberg Group has published principles for using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in financial crime compliance and risk management programmes, ultimately supporting their use and ability to detect, investigate, and manage financial crime risk.

  • The Egmont Group, an international organisation of financial intelligence units (FIUs), has released its strategic plan for 2022-2027. The plan identifies four thematic areas of action including enhancing the framework for effective information exchange between FIUs and strengthening cooperation with international partner organisations.

  • The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched new guidelines to tackle de-risking, ensuring vulnerable customers are not denied access to financial services without a valid reason. The first set of guidelines helps financial institutions understand how NPOs are organised and what they can do to manage ML/TF risks rather than denying access to services.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in December? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP November 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

November 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a report on money laundering from fentanyl and synthetic opioids. The report notes that traffickers sometimes take payment through virtual assets and that sophisticated multinational criminal networks rely on professional money laundering networks.

  • As the war in Ukraine continues, more Russia-related sanctions have been imposed by the UK, US, EU, and others. The EU Commission has updated its FAQs on state-owned enterprises and FAQs on asset freezes and the prohibition to provide funds or economic resources. The UK’s Office of Financial Service Implementation (OFSI) also updated its sanctions guidance.

  • The Wolfsberg Group has published principles on using artificial intelligence and machine learning in financial crime compliance. While supportive of these technologies, the Group notes it is crucial to consider data ethics principles and to understand the potential effects to ensure fair, effective, and explainable outcomes.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in November? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP October 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

October 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary session was held in Paris this month. Myanmar was added to the FATF black list alongside Iran and North Korea. Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Mozambique were added to the grey list, while Pakistan and Nicaragua were removed.

  • As the war in Ukraine continues, more Russia-related sanctions have been imposed by the UK, US, EU, and others. The EU Commission has issued guidance on Russia service bans in updated FAQs on business services, and updated FAQs on asset freezes.

  • Transparency International has published a report entitled “Exporting Corruption 2022: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention”.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in October? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP September 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This document covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

September 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Basel Institute on Governance has issued the Basel AML Index 2022, an independent ranking that assesses countries’ ML/TF risks and capacity to counter them. The Index shows no real progress is being made in countering ML/TF risks.

  • More Russia-related sanctions have been imposed by the UK, US, EU, and others. Notably, the UK implemented further services sanctions and export bans on IT consultancy services, architectural services, engineering services and more.

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and INTERPOL have launched the FATF-INTERPOL Roundtable Engagement event.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in September? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP August 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

August 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Wolfsberg Group has published a paper on Requests For Information (RFIs) in the anti-money laundering transaction monitoring process, outlining the responsibilities of both the correspondent bank and respondent bank.

  • INTERPOL has launched a global awareness campaign on money mules through its Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC).

  • As the war in Ukraine continues, more Russia-related sanctions have been imposed by the UK, US, EU, and others.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in August? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch: contact@fintrail.com

Crypto REG-CAP: Summer 2022

The FINTRAIL team have compiled a round-up of the latest crypto regulatory developments across several jurisdictions to keep you in step with recent developments.

Summer 2022
Highlights from this summary include:

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a targeted update on the implementation of its standards for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers - the third targeted review focusing on Recommendation 16, the so-called “Travel Rule”, which requires regulated institutions to obtain and exchange information on the beneficiaries and originators of virtual asset transfers over USD/EUR 1,000.

  • The EU has announced an agreement on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law, a comprehensive new framework for crypto-assets. The framework requires crypto firms to take action related to consumer protection, the environment, anti-money laundering, and other areas.

  • In June 2022, the US Department of Justice released a report on strengthening international law enforcement cooperation for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting criminal activity related to digital assets.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in July? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP July 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

July 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • EUROPOL published its annual Terrorism Situation and Trend report for 2022, noting that the primary perpetrators remain lone actors.

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a paper on ‘Data Protection, Technology and Private Sector Information Sharing’, a product of consultation with data protection authorities, academics, technology providers, and the private sector.

  • The UK’s Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) has issued a red alert on financial sanctions evasion typologies concerning Russian elites and enablers.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in July? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP June 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

June 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The EU has announced an agreement on the Markets in Crypto Assets (miCA) law, a comprehensive new framework for crypto assets covering unbacked crypto-assets, stablecoins, exchanges and other crypto asset service providers, and wallets.

  • The European Banking Authority published guidelines on the role and responsibilities of the AML/CFT compliance officer.

  • The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an advisory on elder financial exploitation in light of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in June? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP May 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

May 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • The Wolfsberg Group published FAQs on Negative News Screening, examining considerations for financial institutions as part of a documented risk-based approach to AML/CTF.

  • The Tax Justice Network released the 2022 Financial Secrecy Index, looking at twenty key financial secrecy indicators.

  • The US Treasury issues its first-ever sanctions on a virtual currency mixer.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in May? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP April 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

April 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • FinCEN issued an advisory on kleptocracy and foreign public corruption. Given Russia’s increased threat, the advisory examined several typologies concerning foreign public corruption.

  • The Financial Action Task Force published a report on the state of effectiveness and compliance with the FATF standards.

  • The World Bank released a report examining how nominee services for shell companies are abused to conceal beneficial owners.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in April? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP March 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one-pager covers:

  • Key updates from global and local regulators

  • Key updates from industry guidelines

  • Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

March 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • More global sanctions against Russia following the continued Ukraine invasion, including designations of Russian oligarchs and business elites and trade restrictions targeting strategic sectors.

  • INTERPOL launched a Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, aiming to address growing transnational financial crime.

  • The Financial Conduct Authority posted a notice reminding all regulated firms of their obligations when interacting with or exposed to crypto assets.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in March? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion, or want to discuss any other financial crime topic, please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP February 2022

FINTRAIL produces a monthly summary of FinCrime regulatory changes and publications. This one pager covers:

  1. Key updates from global and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

February 2022
This month’s highlights include:

  • Global sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, imposed against senior Russian officials and oligarchs, the central bank and sovereign wealth fund, state-owned companies, and certain financial institutions, and a ban on some banks from using SWIFT.

  • The Suisse Secrets: leaked banking data from Credit Suisse, one of the world’s biggest private banks, and published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)

  • The UK Government released the draft Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill, which aims to identify and prevent foreign owners from laundering illicit funds through UK assets.

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in January? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Global REG-CAP January 2022

FINTRAIL is producing a monthly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring in Europe and beyond.

This one pager will cover:

  1. Key updates from global and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

January 2022

This month’s highlights include:

  • The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched the central database, the European Report System for material CFT/AML weaknesses (EuReCa)

  • Europol published a report on the criminal use of cryptocurrencies, dispelling certain prevailing myths and misunderstandings through case studies and analysis

  • The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) introduce a set of additional measures to bolster the security of digital banking

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in January? If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Europe Monthly REG-CAP December 2021

FINTRAIL is producing a monthly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring in Europe and beyond.

This one pager will cover:

  1. Key updates from global and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

December 2021

This month’s highlights include:

  • A new action plan on organised immigration crime by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in conjunction with major social media platforms

  • A set of recommendations on the abuse of cryptocurrencies by the Basel Institute on Governance, INTERPOL and EUROPOL

  • Guidelines from the European Bank Authority (EBA) on cooperation and information exchange between prudential and AML/CFT supervisors and financial intelligence units

What other publications and regulatory changes caught your eye in December?If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Middle East Quarterly REG-CAP Q4 2021

FINTRAIL is producing a quarterly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring across the Middle East.

This issue will cover:

  1. Key updates from regional and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

December 2021

The continuing build-out of the regulatory landscape in the Middle East has seen significant new legislation issued in Egypt and the UAE. Q4 has also witnessed several collaborative measures designed to strengthen the growth of the FinTech sector in the UAE, as well as consultations on future regulatory enhancements.

What other developments have caught your eye in the region?

If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.co.uk

Europe Monthly REG-CAP November 2021

FINTRAIL is producing a monthly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring in Europe and beyond.

This one pager will cover:

  1. Key updates from global and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

November 2021

This months highlights include a new advanced search tool introduced on the UK Companies House register and a notice published by FinCEN drawing attention to an upward trend in environmental crime.

Europol also released their Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment highlighting the evolving threat of cybercrime and key developments in this area.

What other regulations changes caught your eye in November?

If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

APAC Monthly REG-CAP November 2021

FINTRAIL is producing a monthly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring across APAC.

This issue will cover:

  1. Key updates from regional and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

November 2021

This month there has been lots of updates in Australia with AUSTRAC issuing a financial crime guide to raise awareness of the increasing misuse of payment text fields from a financial and organised crime perspective, the Australian Business Registry Services has now gone live with its Director Identification regime and Australian parliament has introduced a new thematic sanctions regime to enable Australia to respond more flexibly to a range of situations of international concern.

FINTRAIL has also seen the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand seeking public comments on the draft regulations for digital asset business operators and Hong Kong's HKMA launching its AML Regtech Lab to further encourage the use and adoption of Regtech providers across the banking sector.

This month there has been lots of updates in Australia with AUSTRAC issuing a financial crime guide to raise awareness of the increasing misuse of payment text fields from a financial and organised crime perspective, the Australian Business Registry Services has now gone live with its Director Identification regime and Australian parliament has introduced a new thematic sanctions regime to enable Australia to respond more flexibly to a range of situations of international concern.

FINTRAIL has also seen the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand seeking public comments on the draft regulations for digital asset business operators and Hong Kong's HKMA launching its AML Regtech Lab to further encourage the use and adoption of Regtech providers across the banking sector.

If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

Europe Monthly REG-CAP October 2021

FINTRAIL is producing a monthly regulatory summary of any FinCrime changes that may be occurring in Europe and beyond.

This one pager will cover:

  1. Key updates from global and local regulators

  2. Key updates from industry guidelines

  3. Additional insights identified from financial intelligence units

October 2021

This months highlights include the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its updated Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) updated its Charity Sector Guidance, following Afghanistan's Taliban takeover.

The FATF published a joint report with the Egmont Group focussing on how financial intelligence units can leverage technology to strengthen their operations.

What other regulations changes caught your eye in October?

If you are interested in speaking to the FINTRAIL team about any of the items in the REG-CAP, have any ideas for inclusion or want to discuss any other financial crime topic please get in touch at: contact@fintrail.com

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