TOP STORY

Apr

Chinese Banks, Government Officials Failing to Prevent Money Laundering: FATF

The People’s Bank of China in Beijing as photographed on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. On Wednesday, April 17, 2019, an international group reported that China’s efforts against illicit finance fall short of global standards. (iStock)

MORE NEWS

April 18 2019

Weekly Roundup: US Officials Target Central Bank of Venezuela, Deutsche Bank Anticipates Money-Laundering Fines and Prosecutions, and More

Unicredit fined $1.3 billion for violating U.S. sanctions, U.K. officials freeze account linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and more, in this week’s roundup.

April 18 2019

FinCEN Tags Peer-to-Peer Cryptocurrency Exchanger with Unprecedented Penalty

By : Daniel Bethencourt

The U.S. Treasury Department disclosed its first enforcement action against a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanger Thursday, fining a California man $35,000 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and barring him from transmitting funds.

April 15 2019

OCC Chief Gives Large Banks ‘B’ Grade for CDD Rule Compliance

By : Daniel Bethencourt

National banks have generally succeeded in their efforts to comply with the Treasury Department’s customer due-diligence rule in the first year since the measure took effect, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency said Monday.

April 12 2019

Legal Brief: Brexit Creates Potential Criminal Opportunities

By : Silas Bartels, ACAMS moneylaundering.com legal writer

The United Kingdom’s planned exit from the EU, or Brexit, is still clouded in uncertainty, prompting officials to extend a deadline for withdrawal that was set to expire Thursday to Oct. 31 of this year.

From the Editor: Lack of Corporate Transparency in the United States is Criminal

March 28 2019

Fighting sex trafficking by treating it as a financial crime may be one of the best ways to free its victims and punish those who profit from enslaving others. Prosecutions for money laundering built on financial data can spare the already traumatized victims of trafficking from needing to testify.

According to the Basel Committee, financial institutions that deal with virtual currencies should:

A. Employ a comprehensive risk analysis before acquiring exposure to cryptoassets, including assessing its credit, market and money laundering risks.
B. Implement a robust risk management program that is fully integrated into the financial institution's overall risk management processes.
C. Inform supervisory authorities of exposure to cryptocurrencies and provide assurance that risk management processes are being implemented.
D. All of the above.

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Legs & Regs

US Secretary of State Announces Decision to End Additional Waivers for Iranian Oil Imports

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. administration's decision to no longer issue any additional Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil.

April 22 2019

Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Laundering Millions for Sinaloa Cartel

The U.S. Justice Department announced that Gibran Rodriguez-Mejia pleaded guilty to international money laundering in connection with his operation of a currency exchange house that received the proceeds from the sale of illicit drugs in the United States by members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

April 19 2019

Former Executive Pleads Guilty to Investment Fraud Scheme, Money Laundering Conspiracy

April 19 2019

Australian Regulator Publishes Latest Edition of Consolidated Sanctions List

April 18 2019

RBI Publishes Draft Enabling Framework for Regulatory Sandbox

April 18 2019

Enforcement Actions

FinCEN Fines Peer-to-Peer Virtual Currency Exchanger $35,350 for AML Failures

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a civil monetary penalty against Kern County, CA-based peer-to-peer virtual currency exchanger Eric Powers for his will violation of the Bank Secrecy Act's registration, program and reporting requirements, and lack of anti-money laundering procedures.

April 18 2019

Fed: UniCredit S.p.A. to Pay $157,770,000 for Sanctions, Supervision Failures

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a civil monetary penalty against the Milan, Italy-based institution and subsidiaries UniCredit Bank AG, based in Munich, Germany and UniCredit Bank Austria AG, based in Vienna, Austria for inadequate sanctions control and supervision.

April 15 2019

OFAC: UniCredit Bank AG Agrees to Pay $553,380,759 to Settle Widespread Sanctions Violations

April 15 2019

NYSDFS Fines UniCredit, S.p.A., Subsidiaries $405 Million for Sanctions Failures

April 15 2019

OFAC: UniCredit Bank Austria AG to Pay $20,326,340 to Resolve Sanctions Violations

April 15 2019