Progress in addressing money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks remains paralysed in many countries, according to the latest release of the Basel AML Index.
The Basel AML Index is an independent ranking that assesses countries’ ML/TF risks and capacity to counter them. It draws on 18 indicators in five domains measuring different factors that contribute to high ML/TF risks.
The Basel AML Index – the Basel Institute’s global money laundering index and risk assessment tool – is adding environmental crime data to its set of indicators of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk. The data will come from the Global Organized Crime Index.
In February 2020, Uganda made a high-level political commitment to work with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to strengthen the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering (AML) regime. Among other commitments, Uganda undertook to demonstrate that law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities apply the money laundering offence consistent with the identified risks.
This quick guide explains the role of national risk assessments in addressing money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks.
It explains how national risk assessments are conducted, challenges in terms of methodology and data availability, and how well countries are doing at performing them.
NRAs are a critical element of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards on ML/TF. They also provide data in special reports of the Basel AML Index.
A newly amended law in the Seychelles will enable our partners at the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS) to more effectively prosecute corruption and associated money laundering cases, as well as to seize and confiscate proceeds of crime.
The Wolfsberg Group – an association of 13 global banks that develops frameworks and guidance to manage financial crime risks – became an independent legal entity in October 2021. Its new home is at the Basel Institute on Governance headquarters in Switzerland.
These seven Recommendations emerge from the 5th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, held virtually on 7-8 December 2021.
The annual conference is organised by the Working Group on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, a tripartite initiative of the Basel Institute on Governance, INTERPOL and Europol that dates back to 2014 and was formally established in 2016.
This summary report emerges from the 11th edition of the Lausanne Seminar, held on 2–3 September 2021.
The 11th Lausanne Seminar raised awareness of recent innovations with regard to the use of public-private collaboration to achieve asset recovery outcomes, providing participants with insights and tools for the development of public-private financial information-sharing partnerships in their respective jurisdictions.
This summary also compiles insights identified during the Seminar on:
The 5th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies on 7-8 December 2021, co-organised by the Basel Institute on Governance, INTERPOL and Europol, saw several thousand participants from the public and private sectors gathering to exchange knowledge on virtual assets-based money laundering and related risks in the crypto sphere.
The so-called “tuna bond” corruption scandal in Mozambique has drawn international attention. Twenty people are facing corruption and money laundering charges in the country. Swiss bank Credit Suisse has agreed to pay USD 475 million in fines and write off USD 200 million in debt owed by Mozambique as part of a series of settlements with regulators in the US, UK and Switzerland for its role in the affair.