In the not-too-distant past, a large international financial institution (FI) was weighing a golden opportunity. It was asked to provide funding for a sizeable manufacturing project in Central Asia. The project appeared sustainable and well-placed to offer a solid return on investment. However, the venture...

The legal and regulatory landscape of the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) sector is in constant flux and necessitates a dedicated function to assess the level of compliance and the effectiveness of obliged entities’ policies, procedures, measures and controls regularly. External independent AML audits are key...
Effective Compliance Programs Have One Thing in Common

According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), financial institutions (FIs) should be required to implement programs against money laundering and terrorist financing. The program According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), financial institutions (FIs) should be required to implement programs against money laundering...
Human Trafficking: Persona-based Typologies and Methodology

Editor’s note: This article is the first of a two-part series on human trafficking typologies and methodology. Human trafficking (HT) has been widely researched and discussed in different forums and from different perspectives. Most recently, ACAMS Today’s brilliant three-part series, “Understanding Human Trafficking,”1 clarified key...

Since the initial legalization of medical/recreational marijuana in California in 1996, the conversation has been open about how the legislation would affect financial institutions (FIs). Since then, many unique business lines have been developed as part of the expansion of the legal cannabis industry. Now,...