The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has issued new guidance designed to help firms identify suspicious behavior related to forced sexual servitude. While sex work is largely legal or decriminalized across Australia and subject to regulation, forced sexual […]
Asia Pacific
This year is likely to be one of ‘adjustment’ as challenges outside of the pandemic emerge – including environmental crime, geopolitical standoffs, new regulatory frameworks for areas such as crypto-assets, and the implementation of new AML/CFT technologies. ComplyAdvantage’s The State […]
Defense think tank RUSI is warning that a lack of guidance around proliferation finance (PF) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) is increasing the risk of North Korea evading targeted sanctions. In a new report, it recommends organizations and […]
Banks in Australia have been praised by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) for improving their compliance programs to more effectively tackle money laundering, organized crime, tax evasion, and welfare fraud. AUSTRAC said that it is now better […]
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Dr. Marcus Pleyer has called for a global move against illicit profits generated from environmental crimes. Speaking at a high-level conference attended for the first time by heads of international organizations including the UN’s […]
A top executive at Malaysia’s central bank has warned that increasingly sophisticated financial tools and products are creating new and growing challenges for the country’s anti-money laundering, combatting the financing of terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/PF) measures. Bank Negara Malaysia […]
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has released a new guide aimed at tackling the increasing misuse of transaction payment text fields by criminals. The guide, Preventing misuse and criminal communication through payment text fields, aims to raise […]
White collar ‘gatekeepers’ such as accountants, real estate agents and lawyers are helping criminals launder billions of dollars, much of it through the housing market, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has warned. ACIC deputy chief executive Matthew Rippon told a Senate […]
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is urging the financial sector to take a risk-based, case by case approach to managing anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) concerns, as it issues new guidance around the “complex global problem” of de-banking. “Businesses vulnerable […]
Japan is an influential regional and global power and participates in a range of trading relationships with partners across the world. Japan uses that status to achieve political and economic goals, often issuing economic sanctions against other countries in response […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is taking a major step in its ongoing battle against money laundering and the financing of criminal activity with the launch of a groundbreaking digital platform that will enable banks to share information on […]
Australian banks and fintechs are backing the closure of major loopholes in the country’s anti-money laundering legislation and have warned that gaps in the current framework impact the country’s international reputation. The Australian Banking Association, the Reserve Bank of Australia, […]