Articles

‘Think Like a Bad Guy’: Ex-Undercover Agent Robert Mazur on How to Fight Money Laundering

During his time as an undercover agent investigating Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel, Robert Mazur kept two lessons from his training in mind: think like a bad guy, and remember, the bad guys are always smarter than the good guys. Mazur, who recently spoke to RiskScreen CEO Stephen Platt… Read More

Trade Misinvoicing: A Common TBML Typology

Trade is the backbone of the global economy and all of us benefit from the trading of products and services across the continents. Global Trade Atlas (GTA) expected an increase in the real value of global trade in both 2020 and 2021 to respectively 188,70.58 and 197,94.77 USD billion. While… Read More

Another Kind of Outbreak: COVID-19 as Financial Crime Threat

When the World Health Organization (WHO) designated COVID-19 a ‘pandemic’ earlier this month, it understandably left out another concern linked to the outbreak: how financial crooks might exploit it. Whether it is this virus or another in the future, the significant attention and panic that comes with such outbreaks can… Read More

“People are Yearning for Real Accountability,” Says Global Witness’ Mark Hays

The financial sector may yet see its own movement to hold institutions and individuals accountable for facilitating corruption, according to Mark Hays, anti-money laundering campaign leader at the advocacy group Global Witness. In a recent interview with AML Talk Show host Martin Woods, Hays said there is an… Read More

What EU Nations Got Wrong in AML Oversight

In a report published last month, the European Banking Authority (EBA) outlined its recent assessments of how EU nations are supervising and enforcing their anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) rules. Unsurprisingly, the results weren’t pretty. The authority slammed seven AML regulators from five, unnamed EU member-states for… Read More

Interested Parties: Understanding ‘Property’ in OFAC Compliance

Economic sanctions regulations generally are written to be applicable to “property or interests in property.” These terms are very broad ones; for example, the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Venezuela Sanctions Regulations defines them in the following way: The terms property and property interest include, but are not limited… Read More

The Financial Crime Compliance Pathway is Clear in 2020

2019 was the year of clarifying guidance from law enforcement, regulators, and anti-financial crime organizations, even if the effects of new expectations haven’t quite appeared in the form of increased enforcement actions. Nonetheless, it is quite likely that the punitive tail of non-compliance may start to manifest in 2020 and… Read More

Illicit finance hidden in trade numbers fed $9tn loss for developing nations: GFI

Trade-based money laundering (TBML) and tax evasion contributed to a nearly $9-trillion loss for developing countries between 2008 and 2017, according to a report published on Tuesday. Washington, DC-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI) analysed inconsistencies in import and export values between a developing economy and its developed economic partner. Adding… Read More

Tricks of the trade

There are three main methods by which criminal organisations and terrorist financiers move money for the purpose of disguising its origins and integrating it into the formal economy. The first is using the financial system; the second involves the physical movement of money (e.g. using cash couriers); and the third is through the physical movement of… Read More

How Quincecare Lapses Can Cost Banks Millions

Late last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that a London investment bank was liable for the loss of $204 million from a corporate account after the institution complied with authorised payment instructions from the company’s director. The ruling, which imposed a $153 million penalty against the bank, is… Read More