On May 30, 2024, following passage by the European Parliament in late April, the European Council officially adopted a set of rules that modernizes and harmonizes money laundering and terrorist financing (“AML/CFT”)...more
On January 17, 2024, the Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament) announced that a political agreement had been reached on (i) a new Regulation setting forth a single anti-money...more
The Cayman Islands recently received an early Holiday gift when the EU Commission published a regulation in mid-December paving the way to remove Cayman from its list of ‘high-risk’ countries for AML/CFT purposes. The...more
The October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas have re-focused U.S. government efforts to identify and counter funding streams for Hamas and terrorist activity in general – including, in particular, through the use of...more
The Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") is the global standard-setter on anti-money laundering ("AML"), countering terrorist financing ("CFT") and counter proliferation financing. FATF's standards, also referred to as...more
The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), which is focused on leading global initiatives to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, issued a report regarding the implementation of its recommended standards addressing...more
The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) recently released its Report on the State of Effectiveness and Compliance with the FATF Standards (“Report”). The Report contains the results of its 4th Round of Mutual Evaluations...more
On June 30, 2021, FinCEN announced the first set of government-wide AML/CFT Priorities, as required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 ("AML Act"). Consistent with the National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other...more
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act) serves as the starting point for financial institutions and companies looking to understand what to expect from the Biden administration with respect to anti-money...more
Section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Sec 314) was drafted by Congress in 2001 to allow financial institutions to work with law enforcement agencies and with each other to support the common goal of deterring money laundering...more
GAFILAT (Grupo de Acción Financiera de América Latina) publicó una Segunda Actualización del Informe Regional de Amenazas de Lavado de Dinero (2017-2018) que incluye: ANEXO VI: AMENAZAS RELACIONADAS CON LA PANDEMIA COVID-19....more
GAFILAT (Financial Action Task Force of Latin America) published a Second Update to the Money Laundering Regional Threat Report (2017-2018) that includes: ANNEX VI: THREATS RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. ...more
Second Post in a Two-Post Series on Recent FATF Activity - As we just blogged, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a statement from its President on COVID-19 and measures to combat illicit financing during the...more
First Post in a Two-Post Series on Recent FATF Activity - Members presumably working from home, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) was active last week, first issuing its 3rd Enhanced Follow-up Report & Technical...more
On March 31st the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)—the global AML/CFT standard-setting body and watchdog—announced that it has upgraded the United States for technical compliance with FATF Recommendation 10 following...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury 2020 Strategy (National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing released on February 6, 2020) describes ongoing significant AML/CFT threats. ...more
First in a Two-Post Series - The U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has issued its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”)....more
On 2/6/2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued the 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (2020 Strategy). The purpose of the 2020 Strategy is to...more
The President on September 10, 2019, authorized the Treasury Secretary to impose sanctions on non-U.S. financial institutions that have knowingly conducted or facilitated a “significant” transaction with anyone sanctioned by...more
The European Supervisory Authorities have published a joint opinion on the current anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing risks posed to the EU financial sector. The opinion is published in accordance with the...more
On September 25, 2019, the Southern District of New York dismissed a complaint brought by victims of rocket attacks in Israel perpetrated in 2006 by Hizbollah, operating in Lebanon. Kaplan v. Lebanese Canadian Bank, SAL, Civ....more
As it targets terrorist groups and their finances, the U.S. Government announces potent secondary sanctions that can impede correspondent banking relationships of non-U.S. banks. A new U.S. Executive Order updates the...more
Established in 2003, the Basel Institute is a not-for-profit Swiss foundation dedicated to working with public and private partners around the world to prevent and combat corruption, and is an Associated Institute of the...more
Second Post in a Two-Post Series on the ILLICIT CASH Act - A discussion draft of legislation recently introduced in the Senate, the Improving Laundering Laws and Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking of Criminal...more
On June 12, 2019, Kenneth A. Blanco, Director of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), provided remarks at the NYU Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement that underscored the agency’s...more