Money Laundering Seminar 2019
We have gathered all the slides from the seminar in one document.
On 18 November 2019, the Danish FSA held the first annual money laundering seminar. We thank you for the great interest, including the great attendance from authorities and the industry.
To those interested, we have published all the slides from the individual posts.
Download all slides here .
Links:
22 Nov 2019
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) fosters a diversified ecosystem for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regulatory Technology (RegTech)
The HKMA hosted the first AML/CFT RegTech Forum on 22 November 2019.
The event gathered various stakeholders in Hong Kong’s AML/CFT regime and was attended by around 400 representatives of banks as well as government agencies, financial regulators and law enforcement agencies, together with global experts and firms in the application of technology, including artificial intelligence and data analytics. Participants shared insights in grasping opportunities for the use of innovative technology to enhance the efficiency of both banks and the wider AML/CFT ecosystem.
Welcoming the group, Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, “The Forum, building on the positive results of the recent Financial Action Task Force evaluation of Hong Kong’s AML/CFT regime, brings together the banking and technology sectors and stakeholders to further enhance effectiveness, which requires vision and aspiration because there are always new and emerging risks; criminals will exploit new technology to create terrible harm.” “The HKMA and the banking sector will continue to contribute to AML/CFT efforts in Hong Kong, and through our supervisory processes, regulations and guidance, we support banks’ efforts to innovate and fully grasp the benefits of RegTech.” Mr Yuen added.
In a series of panels and break-out sessions, participants shared experience and expertise in the application of Regtech to AML/CFT work in the banking sector and explored further collaboration among banks and various stakeholders. Three break-out groups, namely “Accelerators”, “Enablers”and “Collaborators”, will keep up the momentum collectively by focusing on the following efforts in the next six to twelve months:
“Accelerators” : Applying an appropriate assessment framework that assists banks to review AML/CFT processes end-to-end for RegTech adoption and drive changes in the industry;
“Enablers” : Experimenting in “Lab sessions” for software innovations in areas including transaction monitoring and screening; and
“Collaborators” : Working to fulfill requirements, namely data, analytics, information delivery, collaboration as well as skills and expertise, to further enhance effectiveness of the AML/CFT ecosystem and the positive impacts of information and intelligence sharing.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
22 November 2019
Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA makes welcoming remarks at the first HKMA AML/CFT RegTech Forum.
(From left to right – Panel 1) Mr Stewart McGlynn, Head (AML and Financial Crime Risk) of the HKMA; Mr Paul Jevtovic, Head of Financial Crime Threat Mitigation, Asia Pacific of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited; Mr Zane Moi, Deputy General Manager of Amazon Web Services Hong Kong & Taiwan; Mr Malcolm Wright, Chief Compliance Officer of Diginex and Mr Chris Bostock, Director of Deloitte share insights about innovation and the future of money laundering and terrorist financing risk management.
(From left to right – Panel 2) Mr Anir Bhattacharyya, Director of Deloitte; Ms Wendy Ennis, Head, Financial Crime Compliance of SC Digital Solutions Limited; Mr John Collins, Partner of JohnsonLeonard Data & Analytics; Mr Edward Chiu, Chief Operating Officer of Chong Hing Bank Limited and Mr Brian W Tang, Co-Chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong’s Regtech Committee discuss challenges and opportunities in adopting RegTech in AML/CFT.
Participants have break-out group discussion on “pain points” in AML/CFT work and possible application of RegTech across various use cases and deploying technology to advance more proactive data and knowledge sharing.
Ms Carmen Chu, Executive Director (Enforcement and AML) of the HKMA gives concluding remarks highlighting the follow-up actions to keep up the momentum and effectiveness of the AML/CFT efforts.
Link:
Editors always make your titles too long so that everyone knows what it’s about.
Original title: Hold on a Second(ary)
Final title: Hold on a Second(ary): Rethinking OFAC”s Expanded Sanctions Powers
You can find it here… hope you like it.
Due to popular demand, we will run an extra Making Better Licence Applications Course on 5 November in London
Making Better Licence Applications (MBLA)
Date: 5 November 2019
Time: 9am to 1:30pm (lunch will be provided)
Cost: £108
Venue: Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire, 31-36 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LH
The aim of this course is to reduce the number of Requests for Further Information (RFIs) and withdrawn/stopped cases returned to licence applicants.
Attendees will be taken step-by-step through the licence application process on SPIRE for strategically controlled military and dual use items. The type of information required, and the reasons for requiring that information, will be explained at each stage, identifying common pitfalls and mistakes.
There will also be an opportunity to share best practice with other attendees.
Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) End Use Undertaking requirements will also be covered and the End-User Advice service will be explained
Please contact Denise Carter (denise.carter@trade.gov.uk) on 020 7215 4459 for more information or fill out the application form at the back of the current Training Bulletin.
For general export control queries please contact our Helpline on 020 7215 4594 or email: exportcontrol.help@trade.gov.uk
Business Awareness Unit Export Control Joint Unit
Final reminder: frozen assets reporting 2019
OFSI is conducting its annual frozen assets review. If you hold or control funds or economic resources belonging to, owned, held, or controlled by a designated person you are required to submit a report to the Treasury’s OFSI by Friday 11 October 2019.
Your report should include details of all funds or economic resources frozen in the UK as well as those overseas where these funds or economic resources are subject to UK financial sanctions legislation. Your report to OFSI should include the value of all such assets as of close of business on Monday 30 September 2019.
All completed reports should be emailed to ofsi@hmtreasury.gov.uk using the template on the GOV.UK website.
Please ensure that any changes to previous frozen asset reporting submissions are clearly identified and explained.
If you have already submitted your return, or have no information to report, please ignore this email.
Link:
Earlier this month, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report entitled “Economic Sanctions: Agencies Assess Impacts on Targets, and Studies Suggest Several Factors Contribute to Sanctions’ Effectiveness.” (Whew!)
Here’s the lead “What GAO Found” section”:
The Departments of the Treasury (Treasury), State (State), and Commerce (Commerce) each undertake efforts to assess the impacts of specific sanctions on the targets of those sanctions. For example, Treasury and State both analyze or compile information on sanctions programs’ impacts, such as on a target country’s economy. In addition, Commerce assesses prospective impacts of some sanctions on targeted countries and others. According to Treasury and State officials, the agencies also use Intelligence Community assessments to gauge sanctions’ impacts. However, agency officials cited several difficulties in assessing sanctions’ effectiveness in meeting broader U.S. policy goals, including challenges in isolating the effect of sanctions from other factors as well as evolving foreign policy goals. According to Treasury, State, and Commerce officials, their agencies have not conducted such assessments on their own. However, they stated that agency assessments of sanctions’ impacts often contribute to broader interagency discussions that examine the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving policy goals.
The academic studies GAO reviewed suggest that several factors have contributed to more-effective sanctions. Studies examining factors that contribute to the effectiveness of sanctions in changing targeted countries’ behavior provided evidence that sanctions have been more effective when (1) they were implemented through an international organization (e.g., the United Nations) or (2) the targeted countries had some existing dependency on, or relationship with, the United States, such as a trade or military relationship. In addition, studies examining factors that increased sanctions’ economic impact provided evidence that the impact has generally been higher when the sanctions were more comprehensive in scope or severity, or—similar to the findings on effectiveness in changing behavior—were imposed through an international organization. Sanctions may also have unintended consequences for targeted countries, such as negative impacts on human rights or public health. In some studies, larger economic impacts were associated with more unintended consequences.
It’s not a bad read – confirms a lot of common wisdom, But, it does make you think – then why do we have all these programs that are unlikely to bear fruit?
Link:
The next Export Control Symposium will take place in Birmingham on Tuesday 26 November 2019.
This event is for companies with fewer than 250 employees. Cost per delegate is £150.
Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Read more agenda details and complete the online application form:
For general export control queries please contact our Helpline on 020 7215 4594or exportcontrol.help@trade.gov.uk
Business Awareness Unit Export Control Joint Unit
