Regulatory updates, compliance guidance, and typology analysis for financial crime professionals.
Suspicious Activity ReportingScope This guide helps you communicate with customers about account restrictions, transaction declines, and suspicious activity inquiries without violating SAR confidentiality requirements under 31 U.
Money Laundering TypologiesWhen fraud losses hit £1.28 billion in a single year, and criminals operate across interconnected networks, having separate fraud and AML teams can create exploitable gaps. This checklist guides you t
Sanctions Lists & ScreeningThe conventional wisdom Most compliance teams see sanctions screening as a basic gatekeeping task. You screen customers at onboarding, check counterparties before transactions, and run periodic name c
Money Laundering TypologiesYou re reviewing a wire transfer for $2.3 million. The beneficiary is a gallery. The originator is a shell company in a free trade zone. Your transaction monitoring system flagged it for structuring,
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Risk AssessmentUnderstanding the Questions Compliance officers at life insurers, P C carriers, and reinsurance brokers often face urgent questions about sanctions screening. These queries arise when a claim adjuster
Compliance Program GovernanceThe Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has released its AML/CFT Supervisory Plan for 2026-2027, and the message is clear: documented controls aren t enough. The plan emphasizes effective impl
Sanctions Lists & ScreeningThe question divides compliance teams in organizations with complex supply chains: Should your third-party vendors receive the same scrutiny as direct customers? Investigative journalist Zack Kopplin
Enforcement & PenaltiesThe Conventional Wisdom Your transaction monitoring system flags tens of thousands of alerts each month, most of which are false positives. Your team spends its days clearing low-value transactions th
Suspicious Activity ReportingYou re in a compliance meeting, staring at your monthly metrics, trying to explain what the numbers actually mean. Your CFO wants to know if the AML/CFT Framework is working. Your CEO asks whether the
Virtual Assets & RegTechThe Problem: Ensuring Operational Resilience Your stablecoin issuer s attestation shows full reserves at month-end. But can you process 10,000 redemption requests tomorrow morning? Can you identify th
Beneficial OwnershipThe Challenge On November 22, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated AMLD5 s requirement for public access to beneficial ownership registers, ruling it violated fundamental privacy rig
Compliance Program GovernanceYour compliance dashboard shows 100% AML training completion. Every employee passed the quiz. You ve got the certificates filed and the audit trail documented. But when a relationship manager receives
Terrorist & Proliferation FinancingThe European Banking Authority s (EBA) March 2023 Guidelines on de-risking require you to move beyond blanket-rejecting Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). You must document a risk-sensitive assessment f
Beneficial OwnershipThe EU AI Act s high-risk deadline has shifted from August 2, 2026, to December 2, 2027. This gives tier 1 banks 16 extra months to ensure their KYC risk scoring, beneficial ownership mapping, and AML
Sanctions Lists & ScreeningThe Issue at Hand In February 2022, a coalition of G7 economies froze about US$300 billion in Russian state assets, mainly foreign currency reserves held by the Central Bank of Russia. €200 billion of
Enforcement & PenaltiesWhat Happened On August 27, the Homeland Security Task Force Louisville announced arrests across multiple U.S. states targeting a transnational criminal enterprise. This investigation involved the FBI
Sanctions Lists & ScreeningThe Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered rulings in May that fundamentally change how you must assess trust structures under sanctions and AML frameworks. If you re still relying on
International Bodies & StandardsThe Problem: Why This Matters Now Your AML/CFT framework may look flawless on paper. You ve documented risk assessments, implemented transaction monitoring rules , and filed numerous Suspicious Activi
Money Laundering TypologiesIn 1996, the Solntsevskaya organized crime group infiltrated the Toronto Stock Exchange through YBM Magnex International Inc. For three years, this company traded publicly while its controller, Semion
International Bodies & StandardsThese questions started landing in my inbox about 20 minutes after FATF published its latest NRA guidance report. They came from compliance officers at regional banks, fintech BSA teams, and even a fe
