We have just published our 28th Working Paper on a topic that is concerning AML, FinTech and RegTech professionals, finance professionals and law enforcement agencies worldwide - as well as ordinary citizens who wish to take advantage of new payment methods.
The topic? Regulating cryptocurrencies: challenges and considerations.
Cryptocurrency regulations are developing fast. Across the world, authorities are reacting to the emerging threat posed by criminals using new payment methods to conceal and launder the proceeds of their crimes.
However, as the application of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) due diligence requirements becomes stricter and more entities implement preventative measures, criminals are constantly looking elsewhere for potential havens for their illicit activities.
The third meeting of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators in Basel this March brought together some of the world’s top academic and litigation professionals in the field of financial crime.
The Public Ministry of the Peruvian region of La Libertad organised a seminar on “seeking effective mechanisms in the fight against corruption and money laundering” last week. Supported by the Subnational PFM Programme of the Swiss SECO Cooperation and the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery, the event was attended by more than 300 participants.
Experts from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) have conducted an intensive five-day training workshop in Kyiv, Ukraine for Ukrainian prosecutors, investigators and other anti-corruption practitioners. The participants learned to:
For those who are not at the 3rd Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies today and tomorrow, here is a taster – opening remarks by Federico Paesano, Senior Financial Investigation Specialist at the Basel Institute on Governance, which is co-organising the event.
You can also read:
The Basel Institute's cryptocurrency expert, Federico Paesano, delivered a successful open training course on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and AML/CFT this week in collaboration with Zurich-based MME and its Senior Compliance Advisor, Chris Gschwend.
The two-day course, FinTech AML Compliance Training, covered the essentials of blockchain and how to adapt AML/CFT processes to the FinTech industry.
This article illustrates an early example of corporate Collective Action, the Wolfsberg Group, and charts its development from its inception, in 1999, up to 2012. The Wolfsberg Group is an association of eleven banks that took its name from the Château Wolfsberg where the banks held their first meetings and where they continue to hold their annual forum.
The European Commission has released a new list of 23 “high-risk third countries” with weak anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) frameworks.
This means that banks and other entities subject to the EU’s AML rules will have to apply increased due diligence in relation to customers and financial institutions from these countries.
The traditional criminal response has been insufficient in the combat against corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes. Billions of dollars continue to be laundered by individuals and criminal organisations through and ever-growing myriad of complex financial schemes. Official Development Assistance (ODA), a fundamental tool of development policy, is equally prone to corruption, embezzlement and abuse — to the extent that up to 30% of disbursements may be siphoned off by corrupt actors and criminal organisations.