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EBA warns on VASP evasion of EU AML controls
The European Banking Authority (EBA) says anti-money laundering regulators in the European Union (EU) will have to work hard to ensure devious virtual asset service providers (VASPs) do not breach their rules.
Online Published Date:
15 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Halting progress - Lebanon
All but collapse of the country's formal banking system in 2019 and the resort to cash, a precarious politics, with Hizbullah, internationally designated a terrorist organisation, still in parliament, make Lebanon fertile ground for illicit financial operations. Paul Cochrane looks at the reforms needed, obstacles in the way and the risks of failure.
Online Published Date:
15 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Between rocks and hard places - FIUs
No public agency is ever likely to claim it has sufficient resource to do its job properly but financial intelligence units, handling seemingly relentless growth in suspicious activity report volumes while battling for resources, just as focus on AML effectiveness is sharpening, are in an especially tight spot. Keith Nuthall, Paul Cochrane, Gemma Handy, in St John's, Antigua, and Wachira Kigotho, in Nairobi find the same concerns repeated in jurisdictions across the globe.
Online Published Date:
16 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
EFG Capital fined US$650,000 by FINRA for monitoring and account review failures
Florida, USA-based EFG Capital International, a securities brokerage, has agreed to a censure and will pay US$650,000 as part of an acceptance, waiver and consent (AWC) settlement with the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for anti-money laundering control failings between May 2018 and August 2022.
Online Published Date:
21 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
UK to create single professional services AML supervisor
Lawyers, accountants and trust and company service providers in the UK will, in future, be supervised by one public body, the Financial Conduct Authority, for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, the Government announced on 21 October.
Online Published Date:
21 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Canada confirms new Financial Crimes Agency to boost complex ML investigations
The Canadian government has promised to create a new Financial Crimes Agency, charged with bringing money laundering cases to court, in a country with a woeful record of convicting launderers.
Online Published Date:
23 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Two-thirds of UK corporate finance firms in survey must work on AML
Of 270 corporate finance firms that responded to a UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) survey, around two in three were found to be in potential breach of the Money Laundering Regulations, falling short on at least one aspect of AML.
Online Published Date:
24 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
FATF removes four African states from grey list, adopts asset recovery guidance
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed four African jurisdictions from its grey list, with its president Elisa de Anda Madrazo claiming their governments - of Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa - have made tangible progress on their anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) action plans.
Online Published Date:
27 October 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Accentuate the positive - toward better SARs and beyond
The goal of identifying alerts in transaction monitoring output that will translate into suspicious activity reports, long a labour-intensive triage process, may, Keith Nuthall finds, be set for full and effective automation through AI, but the benefits will only be realised if law enforcement is geared to manage and integrate more, higher quality filings with other criminal intelligence.
Online Published Date:
04 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
FATF directs focus to asset recovery with detailed guidance
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released comprehensive 340-page guidance designed to boost the seizure of criminal assets by governments, law enforcement, prosecutors, courts and asset managers.
Online Published Date:
04 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
JPMorgan fined €45m in Germany for late STRs
BaFin, the Germany financial services regulator has ordered Frankfurt-based JPMorgan SE to pay €45 million (US$59 million) after it failed to submit timely suspicious transaction reports.
Online Published Date:
06 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Coinbase fined €21.4m in Ireland for transaction monitoring faults and late SARs
Coinbase Europe, wholly owned by Coinbase Global, Inc, the world's third largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has been censured and ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of €21,464,734 (US$24,830,190) by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBOI) for flaws in transaction monitoring and delayed filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) dealing with trading on the darknet, in illegal narcotics, malware, ransomware, child sexual abuse material, money laundering, scams and potential breaches of US sanctions. The misconduct occurred between 23 April 2021 and 19 March 2025.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Better together - AML communities
We are social beings (generally) so it can feel lonely and hard to stay positive, to do your best in a line of work still too often cast as business obstruction. The best answer to any sense of isolation is to seek out others who can empathise, recognise the pressures and demands, who may, indeed, have confronted the exact same issue you currently face. The AML profession, although relatively new, already has deep collective experience of combating crime and meeting regulatory standards. Keith Nuthall looks at where to go for guidance, support, and, chances are, to make new friends.
Online Published Date:
10 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Laundering on the high street, it's only possible with bank accounts
On 10 November it was widely reported that police forces in the UK had conducted a four-week campaign of raids on high-street shops and businesses engaged in illegal activity. In collaboration with partners including trading standards, HM Revenue & Customs and the Immigration Service, police moved against barbershops, mini markets, nail salons and car wash operators.
Online Published Date:
13 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Way ahead - ideas for global AML reform
AML architecture is a story of rapid development and the cracks are everywhere apparent. Even if possible, would it be wise to level the ground and start afresh, learning from past experience, and how, realistically, should the existing edifice be altered, adapted and so made more fit for purpose? Paul Cochrane and Keith Nuthall gauge informed opinion.
Online Published Date:
17 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Quicksilver through the cracks - crypto
Criminals, always seeking new ways to shift and infiltrate their funds into the legitimate financial sector, have seized on cryptocurrencies as global alternatives to fiat money - enabling fast, cost-effective, efficient transfers. Keith Nuthall finds that gaps in legislation, controls and constant innovation mean law enforcement, firms and regulators are in continual catch-up.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Nearly one in three law firms inspected in England & Wales not AML-compliant
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), in its last report on anti-money laundering supervision of law firms in England and Wales before the role passes to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), says that almost a third of firms it inspected in 2024/25 were non-compliant.
Online Published Date:
20 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Risk registered - near and present threats
AML strategy heatmaps and dashboards flicker red on a broad and consistent basis. Keith Nuthall and Brenda Dionisi prioritise and interrogate some of the thematic alerts glowing brightest.
Online Published Date:
21 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Caesars Palace fined US$7.8m for failed checks on illegal bookmaker
Caesars Entertainment, Inc and its Nevada-licensed casino Caesars Palace must pay a US$7.8 million fine for deficient customer due diligence (CDD) on client Mathew Bowyer over seven years, from 2017 to 2014, the Nevada Gaming Commission confirmed on 20 November.
Online Published Date:
21 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Charles Douglas Solicitors fined £23,588 in UK for inadequate PEP due diligence
Mayfair, London, UK-based law firm Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP has been ordered to pay UK£23,588 (US$31,023) and UK£1,350 (US$1,776) costs by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for failings in customer due diligence on a non-domestic politically exposed person (PEP) it acted for in residential property matters.
Online Published Date:
25 November 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Operation Destabilise further disrupts Russian laundering networks
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) is pursuing disruption of Russian money laundering networks in Britain and overseas, whose funds might help Moscow finance its invasion of Ukraine.
Online Published Date:
04 December 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Russia added to EU AML/CFT blacklist
The European Commission, on 3 December, listed Russia as a high-risk third country over deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism regime.
Online Published Date:
04 December 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025
Betfred fined UK£825,000 for gambling AML breaches
Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited, which operates on UK high streets as Betfred, has been ordered to pay UK£825,000 (US$1,100,000) after the UK Gambling Commission found failings in its anti-money laundering controls and approach to social responsibility.
Online Published Date:
04 December 2025
Appeared in issue:
329 - 01 December 2025