AML Conversations

This week, John and Elliot discuss the arrest of a senior aide to several NY governors for violations of the Foreign Agents Registrations Act and money laundering, COVID fraud charges in NJ, the seizure of an airplane owned by Venezuelan president Maduro, the uncovering of corruption in Malta by a US healthcare company, and several other items impacting the financial crime prevention community.

This week, John and Elliot discuss FinCEN’s new final rules for reporting on residential real estate transactions and the program requirement for investment advisors. They also look at HSI’s Project Red Hook, its efforts to stem gift card fraud schemes, and a report from the University of Sussex, which rates the US as the preferred hub for corrupt financial transactions.

Industry experts Christopher Sindik, Director of Third-Party Risk and Due Diligence at Blue Umbrella, and Patrick Bowe, Senior Director of Product Solutions at AML RightSource join our host, Rachel Dettmer, to discuss the importance of adverse media in financial crime compliance. Previously considered a 'nice-to-have' in the compliance toolkit, they explore why adverse media has increasingly become a 'must-have' for dynamic risk management, how AI is part of the problem and solution, and how we are leveraging technology in our Status and Surveillance platforms to enhance risk detection capabilities with always-on monitoring.

This week, John and Elliot discuss the National Strategic Assessment for 2024 for the UK, George Santos's plea, the latest edition of the Cornerstone from Homeland Security, the policy brief on environmental crime from the FACT Coalition, and several other items. They explore their impact on the financial crime prevention community.

In this week's episode, the discussion centers on cybersecurity risks linked to foreign interference in U.S. elections, the impact of Russian money transfers to the UK, and the latest SEC actions against financial institutions. John and Joe also cover the Federal Reserve's stance on decentralized systems, and important regulatory updates for the AML community.

This week, the US State Department issued a report on wildlife trafficking, The European Central Bank published a report on payment fraud, and Health Canada discussed the dangers of the increase in domestic fentanyl production. John and Elliot discuss these items and others, including a fraud warning from the FBI, the AML law passed in Singapore, and more.

This week, the GAO issued a report on payment scams, the OCC responded to a letter from members of Congress about the actions of some state legislatures to limit the authority of national banks, FinCEN issued clarification about the data being captured in the beneficial ownership information registry and more. John and Elliot discuss these items and their meaning for the financial crime compliance community.

John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community this week. These include a report on foreign investment in the US, the interagency statement on the AML/CFT program proposal, and the regulatory agenda for the Treasury Department. They also talk about the report from the House Financial Services Committee working group on AI, new sanctions on fentanyl producers, and a Europol report on migrant smuggling.

We spoke to Les Joseph, the recently retired head of the Global Financial Crime Intelligence Group at Wells Fargo, about his storied career in the private and public sector, during which he tackled corruption, money laundering, and many aspects of financial crime.

John and Elliot discuss several developments impacting the financial crime community this week. These include an OCCRP article on crypto ATMs, FinCEN’s Alert on red flags related to the financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and a joint notice on timeshare fraud, Senator Robert Menendez's corruption conviction, an AUSTRAC report on the current state of money laundering enforcement in Australia, and other items.