Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
DEVELOPING DEFI SHOULD BE ASSESSED FOR AML POTENTIAL, SAY EXPERTS
As decentralised finance (DeFI), non-fungible tokens (NFT) and associated crypto-currency based technologies expand in scope, regulators are playing whack-a-mole to try and ensure services are covered by AML/CFT legislation. It is sometimes not fit-for-purpose, with a US Treasury risk assessment (1) released in April (2023) stressing that some DeFI services could legitimately be exempt from Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) AML/CFT rules.…
COVID-19 INSPIRED MOVE TO REMOTE AML WORKING HAS BOOSTED CYBER SECURITY IN PROFESSION
Remote working boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic and seems set to stay. For AMLOs working outside of the office, multiple security risks abound but can be mitigated if the right procedures are in place and precautions taken.
The pandemic’s initial and fast push of AMLOs and other compliance professionals out of the office forced financial institutions to scramble to get in-house cyber security measures in place to ensure there were no network breaches.…
CHAT AI POSES A FUTURE RISK AND REWARD TO AML – BUT IT NEEDS TO GET SMARTER
Every new information technology is a potential double-edged sword for committing and detecting financial crime, including money laundering and terror finance, and the development of large language model (LLM) processing AI systems, such as ChatGPT, is no exception.
Experts have already raised concerns about how these systems could be abused by money launderers, as well as how they may help obliged entities, FIUs and related law enforcement agencies fight dirty money flows.…
KNITTING SECTOR MAY FIND OPPORTUNITIES IN EU’S BAN ON THE DESTRUCTION OF UNSOLD FABRIC
Knitting companies based in the European Union (EU) may be told they cannot destroy unsold or returned textiles in future, pushing them to consider design, manufacturing and sourcing changes that will reduce their exposure to a new law.
According to the European Commission, about 5.8 million tonnes of yarn and fabric of all kinds are discarded every year in the EU, approximately 11 kilos per person (1), and their destruction “by economic operators is becoming a widespread environmental problem across the Union, in particular due to the rapid growth of online sales” (2). …
USB’S USD1.435 BILLION FINE SHOULD END US MORTGAGE SECURITY SAGA
Swiss bank UBS and its US subsidiaries have paid USD1.435 billion to settle the last of the civil cases stemming from the sub-prime mortgage scandal that spawned the 2008 financial crisis.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said on 14 August that the penalties settled a civil action filed in November 2018 for misconduct related to the bank’s underwriting and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in 2006 and 2007.…
EU COUNCIL HITS BELARUS WITH NEW SANCTIONS, AS WAGNER GROUP SETTLES IN
The European Union (EU) has ramped up its sanctions on Belarus, as Russia’s ally has increased its role in its invasion of Ukraine, hosting members of the Wagner Group, the mercenary company that recently rebelled against the Russian government. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker an end to the mutiny by allowing Wagner Group leaders and fighters to move to Belarus and avoid prosecution in Russia.…
UK ACCOUNTING WATCHDOG SAW RECORD NUMBER OF AUDIT CASES IN 2022
British accountancy regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) resolved a record 19 investigations in the financial year 2022/23, imposing fines worth GBP40.5 million (USD51.5 million) for audit failings mainly on audit firms, with GBP1 million (USD1.27 million) of these penalties levied on their senior partners.…
BANGLADESH EXPLORES WINDPOWER AS KEY ENERGY DIVERSIFICATION SOURCE
Bangladesh is exploring offshore wind power as a key solution for a country seeking energy diversification, but whose dense population restricts land availability for renewable power. In July (2023), a USD1.3 billion investment offer in Bangladesh’s wind power energy from Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a leading green infrastructure fund manager, working with offshore wind developer Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) has boosted this south Asian country’s renewable energy ambitions (1).…
NORTH SEA SHIFTS FROM WELL OF OIL AND GAS TO HOME OF DIVERSE GREEN ENERGY PROJECTS
The North Sea, tapped for oil and natural gas I earnest since the 1960s by Britain, Norway, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium – is increasingly being utilised as a site for renewable energy projects, as well as carbon capture and storage.…
UKRAINIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION A BULWARK AGAINST RUSSIAN ATTACK
Russia military attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure may be paving the way for the victim country to build a sustainable decentralised renewable energy-based electricity system.
By striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Russia hopes to destroy the will of the Ukrainian population, who have remained resilient against Russian occupation and attacks against civilian infrastructure.…