All Things Investigations: Episode 30 - The Convergence of ABC, AML and Export Controls with Mike Huneke and Jan Dunin-Wasowicz
BSA, OFAC, KYC, and CIP – What do they mean to me? [More with McGlinchey, Ep. 29]
The concept of the shadow financial system rose to international prominence in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In an interview with a Pakistani newspaper a month later, Osama bin Laden stated that Al Qaeda were...more
On January 4, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced that Coinbase, Inc., a major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, will pay a $50 million penalty and invest an additional $50 million in its...more
The Canadian federal government has fulfilled its promise to expand Canada’s anti-money laundering (AML) regime to cover crowdfunding platforms and certain payment service providers (PSPs) that previously operated outside the...more
On April 28, 2022, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued guidance on the use of blockchain analytics for virtual currency businesses licensed under 23 NYCRR part 200 (also known as a BitLicense) or...more
The past year has seen a flurry of crypto-related activities by the federal financial regulators, including the issuance of reports, guidance, joint statements, and interpretive letters....more
Back in July, we took a look at the enforcement actions for the first half of 2021 issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Today’s post – the second half of our OFAC 2021 Year...more
For the first time, companies providing virtual currency services will be required to comply with Israeli anti-money laundering provisions. This follows an amendment to the Prohibition of Money Laundering Order that recently...more
During the first half of 2021, 68 different ransomware attacks extracted approximately $600 million from victims across the United States. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) says that the...more
On Oct. 15, 2021, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published sanctions compliance guidance for the virtual currency industry. OFAC acknowledged that virtual currencies are playing an...more
Recently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department, released a report on ransomware trends stating that during the first half of 2021, 68 different ransomware variants...more
On September 21, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) levied its first sanctions against a Russian-operated virtual currency exchange involved in ransomware payments and published an...more
I recently came across a paper prepared by students from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs that delves into the benefits that cryptocurrency and the blockchain can provide to the world’s unbanked....more
On Friday March 12, Bloomberg News reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has opened an inquiry into Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”) to investigate allegations that the exchange allowed US citizens...more
Just before the Christmas holidays, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued proposed rulemaking entitled “Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual...more
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve, together with FinCEN, “the Agencies”)...more
DOJ’s Cyber Digital Task Force’s report, “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework,” provides a comprehensive on the growing partnerships between DOJ and other offices within the executive branch....more
Financial institutions with anti-money laundering responsibilities under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) take note: there’s a new sheriff in town. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently finished its fiscal year with...more
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recently published a report titled Virtual Assets: Red Flag Indicators of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. The report discusses a number of red flag indicators of suspicious...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has become the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervisor for some types of cryptoasset businesses. These will need to meet certain...more
Federal regulators start to address some of the recent questions about digital assets such as tokens and virtual currencies, though many questions remain. U.S. Regulators and Congress are grappling with how to manage the...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is the U.S. Treasury Department bureau charged with monitoring financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing and...more
Virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have spawned many types of businesses that need banking services. Many banks "de-risk" -- do not provide banking services -- to these businesses. Many virtual currency...more
The European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive recently became binding upon EU Member States. This latest directive must be enacted by member states by January 10, 2020. ...more
What has happened? G20 member countries are looking at an October deadline for reviewing a global anti-money laundering (AML) standard on cryptocurrency....more
Virtual currency businesses are under scrutiny by U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regulators. Earlier this year, U.S Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin emphasized that virtual currencies are subject to AML regulations. He...more