Business Better Podcast Episode: FinCEN’s Notice of Proposed Regulations to Strengthen and Modernize AML/CFT Compliance Programs
Crypto Year in Review 2022: Crypto Enforcement and the U.S. Treasury - The Crypto Exchange Podcast
Securities and Exchange Commission. Customer ID requirements. On May 13, 2024, SEC and FinCEN proposed a rule designed to make it more difficult for criminal actors to establish customer relationships with investment...more
April 4, 2024- Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen held a roundtable discussion with representatives from the American, European, and Japanese business communities and other experts to discuss business conditions in...more
Hosted by the Canadian Institute, the 23rd Annual Canadian Forum on Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime returns for another exciting year. The event features carefully curated programming providing practical guidance...more
Congress continues to plug along on crypto policy. The Senate’s attention – on a bipartisan basis – has been focused on extending Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory authority to the digital assets space. This continues to...more
The United States manages more than three dozen separate economic and trade sanctions programs. Those programs target specified foreign governments along with thousands of named individuals, groups and entities in accordance...more
Today we are very pleased to welcome, once again, guest blogger Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska of the Basel Institute on Governance (“Basel Institute”), who will discuss the Basel Institute’s release of the 12th annual Public...more
On 27 December 2023, the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly issued a consultation paper (the Consultation) proposing regulatory regime for...more
Cryptocurrency, with its anonymity and decentralization, has revolutionized financial transactions. However, it has also opened doors for illicit activities, such as terrorist financing. Below we explore the role of...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
Editor's Note - The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency,...more
Each year the amount of money laundered in the United States adds up to $300 billion, enough to build 158 Empire State Buildings. Criminals often use the washed cash to fund crypto hacking, terrorism – also known as...more
Hong Kong regulators recently brought criminal enforcement actions against virtual asset trading platform JPEX and individuals associated with the platform. This case has become the first opportunity for local authorities to...more
On October 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed Assembly Bill 39 (Digital Financial Assets Law). This new law broadly empowers the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to govern...more
Partners Niall Esler and Shane Martin, along with senior associate Conor Daly and trainee solicitor Coleen Wegmann, have authored the Ireland chapter for Global Legal Insights Fintech 2023. They provide an up-to-date summary...more
Approaches and developments - The government of the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) and the BVI Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) – the principal financial services regulator – have progressed important initiatives in...more
SWIFT Publishes Blockchain Pilot Findings; Firms Announce USDC Integrations - According to a recent press release, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) recently published a report with...more
Legislation Targets Unhosted Wallets, Validators and Digital Asset ATMs - On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the...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
In Short - The Situation: Terrorists may be increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions and finance terrorist acts, as recent prosecutions and reports suggest. Under the Antiterrorism Act ("ATA"), as...more
AML compliance for reporting entities has never been of greater critical importance than it is today. With the growing sophistication of criminals and the methods and technologies that they employed, combined with the...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the UK FCA’s publication of a portfolio letter to payments and e-money firms; the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing the July 2023 launch of its FedNow Service; and...more
Background and Scope - The Assessment was drafted by Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (“TFFC”), in consultation with multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security,...more
Montenegro Announces CBDC Pilot, BIS Compares CBDCs to Stablecoins - According to a recent press release, “The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has agreed to collaborate with the enterprise crypto and blockchain solutions...more
On April 6, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report examining vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (“DeFi”), including potential gaps in the United States’ anti-money laundering (“AML”) and countering...more
On April 6, the U.S. Treasury Department published a report on illicit finance risks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, building upon Treasury’s other risk assessments, and continuing the work outlined in Executive...more