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RESULTS FOR: AML

Enhanced Due Diligence on Potential Clients is Increasing in Importance for Law Firms

September 29, 2022 | Due Diligence Financial Crime Consulting

Regulatory trends and high-profile investigations suggest that law firms should conduct enhanced due diligence background checks on all potential clients as part of standard risk management and compliance protocols.  

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed anti-money laundering legislation that would require law firms (in addition to accountancies, payment service providers, and trust companies) to report suspicious transactions by clients, as banks already must do. 

Despite industry push back and arguments by some that the affirmative reporting obligations would negatively Read More

With Enforcement Actions Likely to Increase in 2022, Companies Should Ask Where the Bodies are Buried

February 14, 2022 | Compliance Financial Crime Consulting

In 2022, companies are likely to see an increase in white collar and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. Here are just a few reasons why this is likely to happen. First, in the late fall, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco indicated that the Justice Department would bring a renewed focus on corporate crime and that the Department was “going to find ways to surge resources” to its prosecutors. In January, another senior Justice Department official, Nicholas McQuaid, said at a … Read More

FinCEN’s Assessment on the Use of No-Action Letters—What Happens Next?

July 26, 2021 | Financial Crime Consulting

On June 30, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) finished an assessment of whether it should create a process for issuing no-action letters in connection with the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and other anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) laws and regulations. The short answer is Yes—FinCEN has concluded that a no-action letter process would be valuable, and the agency will be taking steps towards a rulemaking.

A no-action letter is a letter from an agency … Read More

Bank Secrecy Act Modernization Likely to Increase BSA/AML Enforcement, Including From Larger Whistleblowing Awards

January 13, 2021 | Financial Crime Consulting

2020 saw a substantial amount of enforcement activity in the BSA/AML/OFAC area.   Even prior to last month’s enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “2020 AMLA”), conventional wisdom favored an increase in enforcement activity by regulators and prosecutors for violations of laws in these areas under the incoming Biden Administration. [See Division F]

The 2020 AMLA just gave this area of enforcement a significant shot in the arm.  In an era where federal legislation has become … Read More

Deutsche Bank Sanctioned in Connection with Jeffrey Epstein Banking Relationship

July 9, 2020 | Compliance Financial Crime Consulting

The New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) recently sanctioned Deutsche Bank (“DB”) $150 million for BSA/AML deficiencies.  According to the regulator’s factual findings, the compliance failures arose in connection with the bank’s private wealth relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and correspondent banking relationships with Danske Bank Estonia (“Danske Estonia”) and FBME Bank (“FBME”), both located in Eastern Europe.

This latest enforcement action against DB follows several others issued against the bank by NYDFS since 2015, including for improper conduct arising … Read More

Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the Art Community

April 7, 2020 | Compliance Financial Crime Consulting

Although perhaps not as brazen as the recent theft of a Van Gogh from a museum in the Netherlands, fine art can be an attractive target for accused money launderers like Nazem Said Ahmad. Mr. Ahmad was recently named a “designated person” by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFAC pointed to the use of a Beirut art gallery by Ahmad to launder money in support of Hizballah (a/k/a Hezbollah) just as it issued … Read More

The New Mandate of the Financial Action Task Force and Private Sector Engagement

May 6, 2019 | Compliance Financial Crime Consulting

On April 12, 2019, the government ministers and representatives of the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) agreed upon and issued a new mandate for the organization, the first revision since 2012. The new mandate represents a functional impact on the mission of the organization, as FATF ministers will soon commence meeting every two years, a FATF Presidency term will last for two years rather than one year, and the term of the FATF’s mandate is open-ended rather than requiring periodic
Read More

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