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Tom Vartanian, the Executive Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center discussed the ongoing problems with cybersecurity, cryptocurrency and current regulations and recommendations regarding how to address ransomware.

John interviewed Michael Lee, IRSCI Supervisory Special Agent, Western Cyber Crime Unit, on crypto, NFTs and Decentralized Finance.

FinCEN has issued a Statement on Bank Secrecy Act Due Diligence for Independent ATM Owners or Operators, focusing on the analysis that financial service providers should use to make a risk based determination about offering services. John and Elliot discuss the statement and their views of why this topic received the attention of FinCEN given all of the initiatives it is working on at this time.

FinCEN has issued updated guidance on Elder Financial Exploitation (EFE). The new Advisory looks at the increasing volume of thefts and scams targeted at the elderly and includes both behavioral and financial red flags. John and Elliot discuss the growing problem of EFE, some of the key messages in the Advisory, and efforts by financial service providers to detect and deter these frauds and thefts.

This week the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin, updating its assessment of the terrorism threat to the US. In the bulletin DHS reaffirms that the country remains in a heightened threat environment. John and Elliot discuss the concerns raised by DHS following the recent mass shooting events, that some of the attackers have been motivated by violent extremist ideologies that are racially or ethnically motivated, and the international implications noted by DHS.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu recently spoke at the DC Blockchain Summit 2022 about the state of the virtual currency space. In his remarks he highlighted several areas of concern, in particular – the vulnerability of crypto hacks, the risk of loss contagion, and the need for clarity about the ownership of crypto assets. John and Elliot discuss each of these topics, and why members of the financial crime prevention community need to continue to grow their understanding of virtual currencies and assets and the risks they present.

This week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to President Biden about financial access for Caribbean nations and particularly the harmful phenomenon of bank de-risking. The letter recognizes that access to financial services is a key building block for creating and sustaining an effective economy. The letter references a recent report by the Atlantic Council. John and Elliot discuss the focus of the letter, how de-risking and financial access is a serious concern, not just for charities and non-profits, but for entire nations, and some of the solutions that can be instituted to reduce the impact of the problem.

John Byrne sits down with former FinCEN Deputy Director, Jamal El-Hindi and now Counsel with Clifford Chance. The two discuss AML challenges with new technology, the use of data, sanctions issues and his 20 year career at the US Treasury Department.

The Tax Justice Network has released its Financial Secrecy Index 2022. The Index “identifies the world’s biggest suppliers of financial secrecy” with the US being number 1. John and Elliot discuss the findings in this year’s Index, the overall progress noted by the TJN, and the need for continued progress in reducing the availability of tax and secrecy havens around the world.

The UK has become a haven for rich Russians. The lax approach to regulation has allowed money laundering to flourish. Recent government action in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is making a difference, but won’t erase the longstanding relationships that foster financial crime. John and Elliot discuss the challenges presented by the facilitating behavior of gatekeeper professionals and the global nature of the issues in the UK.

Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Outreach Initiative – Cornerstone recently shared information about the rising level of organized retail crime (ORC) being perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations. This activity involves planned theft of retail goods for later sale through gray market channels. John and Elliot discuss the value of HSI outreach to the financial crime prevention community and some of the red flags for identifying ORC.

The International Consortium of Investigation Journalists (ICIJ) recently shared documents with The Irish Times about the Kinahan organized crime cartel. The Irish Times published an extended article about the actions of the cartel in moving to the UAE and taking advantage of its secrecy laws to avoid prosecution. John and Elliot discuss the recent US sanctions issued against Daniel Kinahan, FATF’s gray listing of the UAE, and the importance of financial transparency.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued guidance about kleptocracies and foreign corruption. The guidance includes insights into typologies and includes red flags. John and Elliot discuss the guidance, the global focus and nature of the problems identified in the guidance, and the value of the red flags as a training tool.

For this episode of our AML Conversations podcast, we sit down with Sara Crowe, the strategic initiatives director at Polaris, a non-profit working to end human trafficking. We discuss how human trafficking has evolved in recent years and concerns following refugees fleeing Ukraine, as well as actionable insights for financial institutions as to how they can help prevent human trafficking. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke recently at American University about digital assets. The speech look at the intersection of innovation, policy and regulation. John and Elliot discuss key points in the speech including how innovation in the financial sector often out strips policy and regulation and how the Yellen’s remarks create a good framework for the discussions and activities in the digital asset space.

John Byrne chats with Brian Szady, Founder of a threat mitigation firm Threatminder, on the various cybersecurity issues challenging the AML world, including ransomware, training staff and defining human as well as artificial intelligence.

This week The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published another segment of the Pandora Papers. This latest release focuses on registered agents and their role in representing companies In the United States. John and Elliot discuss the total lack of transparency of corporate ownership in many of states, weakness this creates in the financial crime prevention regime In the US, and ENABLERS Act which was introduced In Congress In October 2021.

In June 2021, FinCEN issued the first National AML/CFT Policy Priorities for the US. John Byrne sat down with Dan Stipano of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP to record this at the ACAMS Hollywood conference. John and Dan discuss the breadth and importance of the priorities, how to use them in future planning for your financial crime prevention program, and how the priorities may change the overall financial crime response regime.

FinCEN has released new Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) data. The data set covers the full years 2014 through 2021. The information looks at SARs filed by all of the required filers and breaks down the information in a number of ways. John and Elliot discuss some interesting nuggets from the release, speculate on how the data may be analyzed, and talk about finding ways to use the information to improve financial crime prevention programs.

This week the US Department of Justice indicated that it will begin directing prosecutors to “consider requiring” certification at the end of an enforcement action settlement that the “the company’s compliance program is reasonably designed and implemented to detect and prevent violations of the law and is functioning effectively.” Also this week, Chairwoman Maxine Waters of the US House Financial Services Committee issued a letter to trade associations representing numerous US businesses requesting detailed information on the actions that America’s financial institutions and businesses have taken to end their relationships and engagements in Russia and with businesses that support the Russian government. John and Elliot discuss the implications for CEOs and CCOs of the certification idea and how the trade associations may respond to Chairwoman Water’s request from information.