An agreement by one the nation's largest money transmitters to better share transactional data with investigators has resulted in greater scrutiny, both for the business and its chief competitor.
JPMorgan Chase drops a Milan account for the Holy See, Beijing police freeze nearly $800 million tied to at least six "underground" banks, and more.
Growing U.S. financial ties to the Chinese market will likely bring anti-money laundering compliance troubles along with profits, according to consultants and former government officials.
A Swiss official warns that the United States plans legal action if a deal to hand over UBS account data is blocked, China announces that it has tweaked its counterterrorism laws and Ecuador says it will be off of FATF's blacklist by June, in this week's news roundup.
A U.S. federal district judge Wednesday sentenced two former Bank of China managers and their wives to prison for stealing and laundering more than $485 million.
New York state prosecutors charged a blacklisted Chinese metals dealer Tuesday with illegally circumventing U.S. economic sanctions through shell companies to utilize Manhattan banks.
Taiwanese police detained the country's former president Tuesday as part of an investigation into an alleged money laundering scheme, according to media reports.
China's central bank fined 12 Chinese financial institutions in the first six months of 2008 for involvement with money laundering, according to a news report.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board has cleared the opening of a New York branch of China's largest bank, a sign that U.S. regulators approve of the country's recent efforts to quash money laundering.
Macau is today not only one of the most active gambling centers in the world, but also one of the most vulnerable to money laundering, say compliance experts.
China's central bank reported that suspected cases of money laundering rose to 387 billion yuan, or $52 billion, last year from 32.8 billion yuan in 2005, according to a Bloomberg News report.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will give assistance to the Asian nation in developing a deposit insurance system and other safeguards.
In a FATF evaluation, China was deemed fully compliant with eight of FATFs 49 recommendations on money laundering and terrorist financing and noncompliant with eight others. In separate reports, FATF called the U.K.s AML program comprehensive and said Greeces has fallen behind.
Despite Chinas acceptance into FATF, money laundering and corruption in the country may get worse before they get better as root problems remain unaddressed, AML professionals say.
FATF approved Chinas membership during its plenary meeting in Paris this week. China passed comprehensive AML laws in October 2006 to bring its system in line with international standards.
The new rules, which extend a law enacted last year, are part of China's bid to join the international Financial Action Task Force.