Mar ’14 – May ’14 Issue

Issue 13.2

Issue: Vol. 13 No. 2

Featured

Women in AML Showcase

Women in AML Showcase

The spotlight collage is dedicated to showcasing influential women who have been in the AML and financial crime prevention field for many years and also to highlight the newcomers into the field who are making...

Requesting Backup

Requesting Backup

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu writes about the importance of knowing your enemy. Unfortunately, we in anti-money laundering (AML) have too often not even taken time to know our friends and allies. Tzu could very well predict...

From the Executive Vice President
Crossroads

Crossroads

The AML community in 2014 faces a very real crossroads. Can those in the private sector succeed in their roles without appropriate resources and consistent "tone at the top?" Will the government...

From the Editor
From the Editor

From the Editor—Celebrating Women

On March 8, 2014 we will celebrate International Women's Day. There have been various women that have impacted me in a positive way, in both my...

Inside this Edition
Singapore—Picks up the Pace in Combating Economic Crime

Singapore—Picks up the Pace in Combating Economic Crime

Like the other three Asian Tigers — Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea — Singapore has developed into one of the most advanced and high-income economies in Asia. Singapore has become one...

Intermediary Funds Transfers: The Eye of the AML Storm

Intermediary Funds Transfers: The Eye of the AML Storm

What exactly is the role of a bank that provides intermediary funds transfer services when it comes to investigating and reporting suspicious activity? The short answer is it is the same as any...


From Smurfs to Mules: 21st Century Money Laundering

From Smurfs to Mules: 21st Century Money Laundering

Remember those lovable blue cartoon characters, the Smurfs? First created and introduced as a comic strip series of characters by the Belgian artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958...


Assessing the Convergence Between Terrorist Groups and Transnational Criminal Organizations

Assessing the Convergence Between Terrorist Groups and Transnational Criminal Organizations

Looking back, the prevailing thought was that terrorists posed a threat to national security while criminal organizations primarily posed a threat to the economy. Looking forward, the landscape...

Goldilocks and the Three Sanctions

Goldilocks and the Three Sanctions

In the fairytale, the little girl named Goldilocks had a choice of three beds in which to take a nap. The father's bed was too hard, the mother's was too soft, and only the baby bear's bed...

Interview with Chief Commissioner of MACC

Interview with Chief Commissioner of MACC

ACAMS Today had the opportunity to speak with Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Tan Sri Abu Kassim...

A Modern Day Heroine and Her Fight Against Human Trafficking

A Modern Day Heroine and Her Fight Against Human Trafficking

The Road to Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam with a foreword by Nicholas D. Kristoff and an introduction by Ayaan Hirsi Ali If there was ever a question as to what human trafficking (HT) is, Somaly...

Regulators 'Doubling Down' on their Scrutiny of Casinos

Regulators 'Doubling Down' on their Scrutiny of Casinos

Imagine a financial institution with a floor plan spanning many acres. It hosts thousands of patrons from all over the world, with points-of-transaction scattered every few feet and cash...


FATF Takes Aim at 7 'Hawala Myths'

FATF Takes Aim at 7 'Hawala Myths'

Common perceptions about hawala "do not necessarily match the reality" of how the informal value-transfer system operates in North America and Western Europe, according to a recent...


A C Change for Virtual Currency

A "C" Change for Virtual Currency

In the world of virtual currencies, 2013 became the year that saw the introduction of typical financial institution lexicon into the virtual world. Terms like "FinCEN," "MSB," "KYC," "AML,"...

Suzanne Williams: Never Stop Learning

Suzanne Williams: Never Stop Learning

Suzanne Williams is the assistant director for Corporate Governance in the Bank Supervision and Regulation Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She is...


Nancy Saur, CAMS: The Energizing Field of AML

Nancy Saur, CAMS: The Energizing Field of AML

Nancy Saur's career reads like a road map to success—compliance and risk manager for a multi-national company, entrepreneur who co-founded a successful compliance consulting firm, and...


Leaving a Legacy with CAMS-Audit

Leaving a Legacy with CAMS-Audit

In the spring of 2013, ACAMS introduced the Advanced AML Audit (CAMS-Audit) Certification program. The first of its kind in the financial crime industry, CAMS-Audit is designed to build...


HE Ying: The Importance of Knowledge and Practice

HE Ying: The Importance of Knowledge and Practice

Ms. HE Ying, Ph.D., is a professor and vice president of Shanghai Finance University, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Finance Society, and vice chairman of Shanghai Pudong...


Barbara Keller, CAMS: AML—The Mansion Industry

Barbara Keller, CAMS: AML—The Mansion Industry

ACAMS Today had the opportunity to speak with Barbara Keller, CAMS who recently retired from Federal service, where she worked at the GAO and ended her Federal career at FinCEN...

Cathy Murray, Sales Department

Cathy Murray, Sales Department

Cathy Murray serves as the account manager for Canada and the Mid-Atlantic region for ACAMS. She has been with the organization for three years and looks forward to many more...

Eylon Zemer, CAMS, Toronto, Canada

Eylon Zemer, CAMS, Toronto, Canada

Eylon Zemer is currently the compliance manager at Caledonian Global Financial Services in Toronto where he also serves as a director. Caledonian has a global presence with offices in New...


James Vaughn, CAMS, CFE, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

James Vaughn, CAMS, CFE, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

James Vaughn, CAMS, CFE, is currently a senior internal auditor with MGM Resorts International, a Fortune 300 company, since 2007. Starting as a staff Internal Auditor in 2005, his time...


Ulrich de la Paz, CAMS, Willemstad, Curacao

Ulrich de la Paz, CAMS, Willemstad, Curacao

Ulrich de la Paz, CAMS, has been working in the banking sector for 10 years, of which seven years have been spent in the compliance area. He is currently, the assistant compliance office manager...

The Why and How of Writing a No-SAR Justification

The Why and How of Writing a No-SAR Justification

Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are the most valuable external tools that a compliance program provides to law enforcement and regulators in support of the detection and prevention of money...


Requesting Backup

Requesting Backup

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu writes about the importance of knowing your enemy. Unfortunately, we in anti-money laundering (AML) have too often not even taken time to know our friends and...


AML Systems: Planning for Successful Implementation

AML Systems: Planning for Successful Implementation

Those charged with upgrading or replacing a financial institution's anti-money laundering (AML) systems face a complex series of highly interrelated challenges, which will have implications...


A New Approach to Adverse Media for EDD

A New Approach to Adverse Media for EDD

According to Psychology Today, "media studies show that bad news far outweighs good news by as much as seventeen negative news reports for every one good news report." Several studies also...

Connecting the Dots

"Connecting the Dots"

Connecting the dots were the opening comments and theme for the presentation given by Joy Smith, MP, Government of Canada at the Together Let's Stop Traffick Summit last October in Ottawa...


You Can Play a Critical Role in Our Nation's National Security

You Can Play a Critical Role in Our Nation's National Security

As a professional in the financial industry, you have the ability to play a key role in our nation's national security. The movies show terrorists, criminals and spies in high-speed chases in dark...


Women in AML: A Beacon to the Community

Women in AML: A Beacon to the Community

Since the United Nations first celebrated International Women's Day on March 8, 1975, countries and organizations around the globe have joined together to commemorate "the acts of...


Women in AML Showcase

Women in AML Showcase

The spotlight collage is dedicated to showcasing influential women who have been in the AML and financial crime prevention field for many years and also to highlight the newcomers into the field...


Suzanne Williams: Never Stop Learning

Suzanne Williams: Never Stop Learning

Suzanne Williams is the assistant director for Corporate Governance in the Bank Supervision and Regulation Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She is an...


Nancy Saur, CAMS: The Energizing Field of AML

Nancy Saur, CAMS: The Energizing Field of AML

Nancy Saur's career reads like a road map to success—compliance and risk manager for a multi-national company, entrepreneur who co-founded a successful compliance consulting firm, and founder...


How Can You Not?

How Can You Not?

Supervising a Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for all the banks in our holding company is a full-time job that I love. I have always had a strong...


HE Ying: The Importance of Knowledge and Practice

HE Ying: The Importance of Knowledge and Practice

Ms. HE Ying, Ph.D., is a professor and vice president of Shanghai Finance University, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Finance Society, and vice chairman of Shanghai Pudong...


Barbara Keller, CAMS: AML—The Mansion Industry

Barbara Keller, CAMS: AML—The Mansion Industry

ACAMS Today had the opportunity to speak with Barbara Keller, CAMS who recently retired from Federal service, where she worked at the GAO and ended her Federal career at...


A Modern Day Heroine and Her Fight Against Human Trafficking

A Modern Day Heroine and Her Fight Against Human Trafficking

The Road to Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam with a foreword by Nicholas D. Kristoff and an introduction by Ayaan Hirsi Ali If there was ever a question as to what human trafficking (HT) is...