Money Laundering Bulletin

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.

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.

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.