The AML/CFT world in this day and age is much more complicated then ever before. Criminals are getting ever smarter at laundering ill gotten gains and terrorist groups are finding more varieties of ways to obtain financing. This causes bigger challenges to the parties trying to manage these risks. Additionally, governments worldwide are enhancing the relevant regulations and guidelines in their jurisdictions like never before. Financial institutions, for example banks, find i

Money laundering and terrorism financing can only be illegal in jurisdictions where there are laws criminalising the acts of money laundering and terorism financing. While many may assume that all countries should already have these laws, that assumption is wrong. Not all countries have these legislations / regulations. In today's post, I'll just highlight 2 examples, the law in the United States of America (called the Bank Secrecy Act, BSA) and the law in Malaysia (called th

Today we will take a quick global glance at the organisations that are actively involved in the AML/CFT world, organisations that help the world better understand the risks involved, the scope to cover and also provide guidance on what can and must be done in order to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. We will look at the following non exhaustive list: 1. Financial Action Task Force (FATF); 2. The Asia/Pacific Group (APG); 3. The Egmont Group; 4. Bank Negara Mal

Let us start with the basics. In any AML/CFT explanation, there is always a tendency to start with AML. The conventional beginning is to attempt to answer the main questions, the What, Why, Who and How. To answer these few basic questions, I have prepared short clips to illustrate for you. Anti-Money Laundering: The Basics (click the questions to see the answers) Disclaimer: These are generic answers, which certain definitions/regulations may differ according to jurisdiction