Author Archives: Brian Monroe
ACFCS offers more tips, tactics, resources to support Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month
The Skinny: January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month with Tuesday, January 11, being designated as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, a move done in an effort to focus more attention on a growing problem with tethers to financial crime compliance teams and law enforcement agencies at every level. Despite increasing understanding of geographic trafficking routes, […]
ACFCS Member Spotlight: For Thomson Reuters’ Amanda DuPont, children’s ability to be ‘curious, fearless’ in face of challenges inspires, guides fincrime fight
The Skinny: When it comes to finding a source of inspiration, for Amanda DuPont, a public records product expert at Thomson Reuters, she doesn’t have to look far for an infinite wellspring to draw from: children. The Minneapolis, MN.-resident has found that over her 23 years in the legal and financial services fields, passion, tenacity, […]
Special contributor report: Top 5 Emerging Trends for AML Compliance: Dawn of a New Decade 2021!
The Skinny: In this special contributor report, a tech-savvy thought leader takes a look ahead at what will be key financial crime program fulcrum points, regulatory focal points and how best to use technology and partnerships to achieve effectiveness. Sujata Dasgupta is making these predictions informed by the last decade and her more than 20 […]
Most Read ACFCS Articles of the Year: From the FinCEN Files to the Nordic and Baltic AML scandals, pandemic-fueled fraudsters and more
The Skinny: As ACFCS has highlighted in multiple webinars and virtual events – the association’s first ever fully online conferences – illicit threat actors haven’t come up with new fraudulent and hack schemes, just new themes, wrapped in a way to ruin the present, just in time for the holidays. Government agencies, regulators and law […]
After overwhelmingly hurdling Congress, ‘biggest AML reform in a generation,’ breaker of beneficial ownership chains now in hands of President
The Skinny: What is being called the “biggest AML reform in a generation” has passed Congress and is on its way to the president. The United States is now on the cusp of realizing an expansive package of updates to break open beneficial ownership bastions, bolster public-private information sharing, usher in a new era of […]
Special ATII Report: Crypto transactions and human trafficking – A non-traditional investigation perspective for traditional financial institutions
The Skinny: Since cryptocurrency started showing up on the radars of traditional financial institutions, for many banks, they may view every transaction with the same risk lens – high, and report the incident with a weighting more focused on virtual value alone. But that may be a mistake, as a transaction between a brick-and-mortar bank […]
Special ACFCS Contributor Report: Sovereign Wealth Funds and Compliance Risk – The Libyan Investment Authority story
The Skinny: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), pools of assets owned by governments typically top-heavy in one area – like exports such as oil and gas – are meant to help governments diversify economic weightings and achieve other national objectives. Broadly, these SWFs hold massive financial sway, estimated at some $8 trillion, and can be plagued […]
Special ACFCS Contributor Report: Banks Have a Moral Obligation to Fight Human Trafficking
The Skinny: A recent advisory by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network tied to the red flags of human trafficking puts more pressure on fincrime compliance professionals to help fight a global crime garnering hundreds of billions of dollars in illicit revenues. Faced with this unfathomable evil and new FinCEN guidelines, investigators have turned […]
To rise in fincrime compliance career, conquer tech fears, get ‘uncomfortable’ to grow: Canada Summit Snapshot
The Skinny: To break into and rise in a field as complex and ever-changing as financial crime compliance, get ready to confront tech trepidation, jump into subjects you are “uncomfortable” and even move laterally – to eventually soar even higher in the end. Those are just some of the tips and tactics around how to […]
EU council formally agrees to create new bloc-wide AML regulator with direct authority to review, penalize institutions
The Skinny: After an agreement with finance ministers, the European Union will move forward in creating a bloc-wide financial crime compliance sentinel to directly oversee country regulators and financial institutions – with power to engage in direct reviews, request information and levy monetary penalties. The agreement will form the foundation for more formal legal edicts […]
For Abrigo’s Andres Tapia, flair for floral design, composition translates easily to skills needed to craft AML programs, balance risks, resources, results
The Skinny: While colleagues might know Andres Tapia as being an artist when it comes to designing fincrime compliance programs, a challenge that requires balancing a cornucopia of precarious variables, in college he was known for his penchnat for agricultrual aesthetics. But that duality – the ability to combine various seemingly disparate elements together and […]
U.S. government agencies warn of impending coordinated ransomware attack against already pandemic-pummeled U.S. healthcare system
The Skinny: A trio of U.S. government agencies have issued fresh warnings about the rising cyber-scourge of ransomware, stating they have intelligence that digital attackers are targeting the U.S. healthcare system, a callous and ill-timed attack that could cost lives during an uptick of coronavirus cases. In a hefty and detailed alert, the FBI and […]