I am very pleased to co-chair again the Practicing Law Institute’s 2023 Anti-Money Laundering Conference on May 16, 2023, starting at 9 a.m. in New York City.  I am also really fortunate to be working with co-chair Elizabeth (Liz) Boison, a partner at Hogan Lovells, and a founding member of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and a former prosecutor in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section.

This year’s conference will be as informative, interesting and timely as always. 

We have another fantastic line-up of experienced and knowledgeable panelists:

• Whitney Case, Associate Director, Enforcement and Compliance Division (Acting), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
• Matthew S. Haslinger, Chief BSA/AML/OFAC Officer, M&T Bank
• Kathy Kraninger, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Solidus Labs
• Tara La Morte, Co-Chief, Money Laundering, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
• Constantine P. Lizas, Partner, Harris Beach PLLC
• Leo Tsao, Partner, Paul Hastings LLP

The conference will tackle critical issues in BSA/AML/OFAC compliance and money laundering enforcement.  The three panels will be:

1.         Recent Trends in Money Laundering and Enforcement

The Department of Justice continues to bring major money laundering indictments and civil forfeiture actions.  The panel will discuss:

• Enforcement actions against individuals: key cases and emerging trends.
• Enforcement actions against organizations: key cases and emerging trends.
• The implications for U.S. financial institutions and their AML programs, including risks and the red flags for potentially problematic customers and business lines.

2.         Digital Assets and AML: Evolving Regulations and Enforcement

One of blockchain’s most compelling and adopted use cases is to make the cross-border movement of money faster, cheaper, and decentralized. The panel will discuss:

• The (near) future of crypto: what is the likely regulatory landscape going forward?
• What do regulators expect a recipient to know about the source of digital asset funds (the Travel Rule, mixers/tumblers, hosted vs. unhosted wallets)?
• Transaction tracing and investigations of illicit crypto schemes: illicit funds, hacking, ransomware, and more. How can crypto transactions be traced, and “bad guys” be identified – from the perspective of scheme victims, government investigators, and financial institutions?

3.         Regulatory Priorities: Beneficial Ownership, Effective AML Programs, National Priorities, and More

The historic AML Act and Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) expand the goals of the Bank Secrecy Act and continue to generate new regulations, government reports and implementation issues.   Topics discussed by the panel will include:

• FinCEN has announced its national AML priorities. How can they be acted upon in a meaningful way?
• The BSA now requires by statute “effective” AML programs to be “risk based.” What does that mean, in practice?
• The AML Act seeks to maximize effective BSA reporting, such as SARs and CTRs, in part through enhanced information sharing between government and industry. Is progress occurring, and how might that goal be best realized?
• The CTA requires beneficial ownership reporting by businesses upon incorporation. Do the implementing regulations appear to be effective? What is the impact of the CTA on existing customer due diligence requirements for financial institutions?

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