Ehi Esoimeme’s Post

Kenya’s #banking industry has in recent years been in the crosshairs of national, regional and international #watchdogs, given the country’s role as a #financial hub in eastern #Africa. In 2023 #Kenya enacted #laws to curb #money laundering and combat terrorism financing. While the laws have led to tougher sanctions on some #banks, the risk of money laundering remains, and the country was recently greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). A grey list contains countries that are actively working with the #FATF to address loopholes in countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and #proliferation financing. #antimoneylaundering #AML #moneylaundering #dirtymoney #CFT #counterterrorismfinancing #financialcrime #financialcrimes #compliance #complianceofficer #duediligence #terroristfinancing #pep #sanctions #audit #FinancialIntelligenceUnits #FIU #SuspiciousActivityReport #cdd #kyc #regulations #CFP #risk #riskmanagement #investigation #monitoring

FATF Lauds India’s Efforts in Combating Illicit Financial Activities The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has commended India for its strong actions against money laundering and terror financing. In its Mutual Evaluation Report, FATF recognized India’s progress and high compliance with global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) standards. These efforts reflect the government’s commitment to financial transparency, fighting financial crimes, and supporting economic growth. Key Highlights: 1. Strong Compliance with Global Standards: FATF, alongside the Asia/Pacific Group (APG) and Eurasian Group (EAG), praised India's effective use of financial intelligence to combat illicit finance. 2. Top FATF Rating: India’s inclusion in FATF’s highest “regular follow-up” category affirms its leadership in AML/CFT, alongside G-20 peers like the UK and France. 3. Financial Inclusion and Digital Growth: FATF lauded India’s strides in doubling bank account access and expanding digital payments, which bolster transparency and support AML/CFT goals. 4. Effective Use of Financial Intelligence: India’s success in asset recovery and sanctions enforcement reflects its growing role in global efforts against financial crime. 5. Risk Management in Banks: Indian banks have shown strong risk management, but further sharing of best practices across sectors is needed. Addressing Terrorist Financing: While India faces threats from groups like ISIL and Al Qaeda, FATF urges greater efforts to prosecute terrorist financiers. 6. Challenges with NPOs and PEPs: FATF calls for better engagement with non-profit organizations (NPOs) to prevent misuse for terror financing and improved monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs). 7. Vulnerable Sectors: India needs tighter controls on industries like precious metals and stricter enforcement of cash restrictions to reduce risks. Implications for India: 8. Global Cooperation and Asset Recovery: FATF’s endorsement enhances India’s global collaboration to recover illicit assets, helping in cases like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. 9. Access to Global Markets: India’s strong FATF rating boosts its reputation, drawing foreign investment and promoting international digital payments through UPI. 10. Increased Investor Confidence: FATF’s positive evaluation strengthens investor confidence, making India more attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI). Conclusion: FATF’s Mutual Evaluation is a key milestone in India’s battle against illicit finance. While India is leading in AML/CFT compliance, further work is needed with NPOs, PEPs, and vulnerable sectors. This recognition sets India on a path toward stronger economic growth, enhanced global cooperation, and a secure, transparent financial system. https://lnkd.in/gX5nmbM9

"9th Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Trends Report 2023," with the top 5 highlighted: ### Top 5 Most Important Items: 1. **Increase in Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs)** - In 2023, the FIC analyzed 15,696 STRs, a significant increase from 10,293 in 2022. This increase is attributed to heightened supervision activities, awareness training, inspections, and enforcement actions. 2. **Significant Rise in Intelligence Reports Disseminated** - The FIC disseminated 923 intelligence reports in 2023, up from 129 in 2022. The value of these reports increased to ZMW 13.58 billion from ZMW 5.83 billion in 2022. These reports were primarily related to suspected money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion. 3. **Impact on Tax Evasion and Revenue Recovery** - The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) assessed ZMW 1.2 billion in taxes based on FIC disseminations and recovered over ZMW 3.5 million. This highlights the significant role of FIC in combating tax evasion and supporting revenue recovery efforts. 4. **Prevalence of Public Sector Corruption** - Common red flags for public sector corruption included overpricing, non-delivery of contracts, and awarding contracts to newly incorporated entities. The use of shell companies and masking of beneficial ownership were frequent tactics. 5. **Vulnerability of Casinos to Money Laundering** - Casinos exhibited high vulnerability to money laundering due to their reliance on cash transactions, which facilitate the avoidance of audit trails. Some casinos also engaged in illegal cross-border cash courier services and commingling of illicit funds with legitimate earnings. ### Additional Important Items: - **Use of Cash in Illicit Transactions**: Cash transactions remain prevalent for illicit activities due to the anonymity they provide, despite the availability of electronic payment channels. - **Cyber-Enabled Financial Crimes**: There was an increase in cyber-enabled financial crimes, particularly targeting the financial services sector, often involving foreign perpetrators working with local nationals. - **Compliance and Awareness**: The banking sector showed the highest levels of technical compliance with AML/CFT requirements. The FIC conducted awareness sessions for 1,574 participants across various sectors. - **Introduction of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) Regulation**: VASPs are now regulated under the FIC Act, with three VASPs registered in Zambia by December 2023. - **Increase in Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs)**: In 2023, there was an 18.8% increase in CTRs received, totaling 285,004, with a value increase to ZMW 501.66 billion. The high usage of cash continues due to the anonymity it offers.

Last week, HM Treasury (HMT) published their 11th Annual Report of the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) supervisory regime in 2022-2023. Gain valuable insights from K2 Integrity's Joanne M. on key findings and what's next 👇 #AML #CTF #FinancialCrime

Last week, HM Treasury (HMT) published their 11th Annual Report of the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) supervisory regime in 2022-2023. Key statistics include: 🔸 5k+ remote reviews/onsite visits were held (5% of AML/CTF regulated firms) 🔸 10% of firms were identified as high risk (versus 11% in 2021-2022) The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) 🔹 Conducted 231 remote reviews and 7 on-site visits 🔹 Retail banking (including payments), wholesale banking, wealth management and crypto-asset firms remain highly vulnerable to Financial Crime (FC) 🔹 4% of firms reviewed remotely, and 14% reviewed on-site, were rated as “non-compliant” (full MI is unavailable as many reviews were on-going) 🔹 The FCA also opened 375 cases for FC/Sanctions concerns + 95 for crypto-assets. Key findings: 🔴 Inadequate client and/or firm-wide risk assessments and poor enhanced due diligence (EDD) processes 🔴 Insufficient compliance monitoring/testing programmes 🔴 Inadequate resources/training UK Gambling Commission 🔸 Assessed 25 firms remotely, rating 48% of firms as non-compliant 🔸 8 out of 9 firms (89%) visited were rated as non-compliant Key findings: 🔴 AML risks are sometimes outweighed by commercial and/or reputational concerns 🔴 Firms rely on monetary thresholds, instead of a risk-based approach HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) 🔹 Conducted 1741 remote/onsite reviews 🔹 28% of firms were found as non-compliant overall Key findings: 🔴 Money Service Businesses (MSBs), Art Market Participants and the Trust and Company Service Provider sectors remain as high risk for AML 🔴 MSBs also have the highest inherent risk of CTF 🔴 HMRC noted a trend of supervised activity occurring before registration Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) 🔸 3,220 remote and onsite visits took place across the 22 legal and accountancy supervisory bodies within OPBAS 🔸 17% of accountancy firms assessed remotely were non-compliant, versus 20% of those reviewed onsite 🔸 16% of legal firms assessed remotely were non-compliant, versus 25% of those reviewed onsite Key findings: 🔴 OPBAS identified a limited awareness of the AML/CTF regime and a strong industry view that the regime is “disproportionate”. What’s Next? 🔹 The UK supervisory ecosystem remains somewhat fragmented and its restructure has been deemed a priority by HMT (2022 annual review) and was highlighted by the Financial Action Task Force (in their 2018 Mutual Evaluation of the UK), thereby forming part of the UK’s second Economic Crime Plan for 2023-2026. 🔸 In the meantime, firms should be mindful of their supervisors increasing outreach, ahead of FATF’s 5th round of Mutual Evaluation Reports in 2027. K2 Integrity can support firms subject to regulatory scrutiny, please reach out for a confidential discussion.

🚨 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗠𝗟/𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 🚨 📰🕵♀️ On November 30, the Canadian government issued proposed regulations that would amend regulations made under Canada's main anti-money laundering (AML) / anti-terrorist financing (ATF) legislation, the PCMLTFA. The proposed amendments would bring significant changes to address the evolving AML/ATF environment. Here are the 6️⃣ key measures: ❇️ 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Traders will now be required to report the importation and exportation of goods to the Canada Border Services Agency | Agence des services frontaliers du Canada to detect, deter, and disrupt trade-based financial crime. ❇️ 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: Measures will be implemented to enhance the ability of reporting entities to share information with each other to detect and deter money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, while maintaining privacy protections for personal information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada/Commissariat à la protection de la vie privée du Canada will oversee this process. ❇️ 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Reporting entities will be required to report material discrepancies between their records and a company’s registry filings to the federal beneficial ownership registry in high-risk situations. ❇️ 𝗔𝗠𝗟/𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀: Factoring companies will become reporting entities under the PCMLTFA. ❇️ 𝗔𝗠𝗟/𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲-𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀: Cheque-cashing businesses will also be subject to new AML/ATF regulatory requirements and will be required to register as money services businesses with FINTRAC Canada | CANAFE Canada. ❇️ 𝗔𝗠𝗟/𝗔𝗧𝗙 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Financing or leasing entities will be brought under the AML/ATF regulatory framework. These changes aim to create a more level regulatory playing field across businesses in Canada that provide financial services and align Canada with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 🗓️ Don't forget to participate in the consultation process and share your feedback before December 30, 2024. Gowling WLG | Alana Scotchmer | Wendy Wagner | Robin McKechney | Kavi Sivasothy | Hunter Fox | #AML #trade

1/2   Mid January MEPs reached a political agreement on a single rulebook against money laundering and terrorist financing. this rulebook consists a.o. out of:   - a Regulation on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering or terrorist financing (the "Regulation"); - a Regulation establishing the authority for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism ("AMLA"); and - a Directive on the mechanisms to be put in place by the Member states on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (repealing the fifth AML Directive 2015/849).   My latest posts gave some insights into the upcoming changes the Regulation will make to the current Belgian AML law. More updates will follow.   That said, we must stress that the Regulation leaves a lot of room for the AMLA to implement guidelines in the upcoming years. AMLA is a new European authority that will also have direct and indirect supervisory powers over obliged entities and will have the power to impose sanctions and measures.   As of 26 January 2024 it has been decided that AMLA will be located in Frankfurt and will have over 400 staff members.   In the upcoming years we can expect a never-seen-before increase in AML changes and guidelines from AMLA. Obligations will probably only aggravate, sanctions (not to mention the reputational damage) will keep increasing in quantity and size along with inspections done by the authorities.   To give some perspective: in Belgium alone, last year BNP Paribas was issued a 15 mio euro fine, Bank De Groof a 1,56 mio euro fine and 15.776 fines for a total of 4 mio euro were issued to legal entities for being negligent in regard to the Belgian UBO-register.   Finally, society expects us as gatekeepers to contribute to the fight against money laundering, although we can sometimes debate on the way it has to be done. It is for that reason that in most cases the reputational damage in case of non compliance is considered much higher than imposed fines. But we are at a point that more than ever the cost of compliance should be considered lower than the risk of non-compliance and penalties. If you want to know more, do not hesitate to reach out to me or my colleague, Christophe Verhelst. #aml #amlcompliance #amla #amlcft #witwas

2/2   As a side note, all obliged entities are best to consider the following:   If the Regulation is approved, it is expected to be published in the European gazette in July or September 2024 (Source CCBE). The draft Regulation states that it will enter into force three years after publication.   The Regulation will further expand the list of obliged entities.   At this moment (current) obliged entities already experience great difficulty to recruit qualified people to fulfill all necessary compliance obligations like AML.   In the upcoming years AMLA will recruit over 400 employees and it is expected that national supervisory authorities will also require additional employees to be able to support and monitor the expanding group of obliged entities.     Obliged entities (present and future) are wise to start preparing on time.   If you want to know more, do not hesitate to reach out to me or my colleague Christophe Verhelst #aml #amlcompliance #amla #amlcft #witwas #blanchiment

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The KYC360 AML Roundup for 25 October 2024👇 Some key articles from this week's Roundup: 👉FATF Sets Out New Criteria for ‘Grey Listing’ 👉FCA Takes Action Against “Finfluencers” 👉UK Banks Call for Social Media Companies to Do More in Fight Against Fraud 👉FinCEN Issues Alert on Countering Hezbollah Financing 👉UAE and Ireland Sign Bilateral Extradition Agreements 👉FATF Expected to Add Lebanon to ‘Grey List’ 👉Turkish Bank Faces Prosecution over Iran Sanctions Charges 👉Ex-President of Peru Jailed for over Twenty Years for Corruption 👉Annual KYC360 Forum: Key Takeaways 👇📃 Read the AML Roundup: https://lnkd.in/eB2JnXQK 📩 Sign up for weekly updates here: https://lnkd.in/ezmeBUsz