American University Washington College of Law - AML/CTF-Related Developments, February 26, 2024

Here's the latest biweekly roundup of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF)-related developments, as compiled by the American University Washington College of Law's Anti-Corruption Law Program.

United States and International Anti-Corruption Law Program:

Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing-Related Reports, Releases, and Analyses (as of February 26, 2024)

Notable developments include the FinCEN proposed rule on establishing AML program and Suspicious Activity Report requirements for investment advisers.

Note: Inclusion of any links herein does not guarantee that the reader will be able to get past a particular publication’s paywall without a subscription to that publication. Readers may be able to obtain copies of such materials through their institution’s library.

Government Documents, Reports, and Speeches

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco Delivers Remarks on Signing of International Sharing Agreement with Estonia for Benefit of Ukraine, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 17, 2024), link here.

FACT SHEET: Disruptive Technology Strike Force Efforts in First Year to Prevent Sensitive Technology from Being Acquired by Authoritarian Regimes and Hostile Nation-States, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 16, 2024), link here.

Remarks by Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson on Treasury’s Efforts to Safeguard the U.S. Financial System from Illicit Finance, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Feb. 15, 2024), link here.

Fact Sheet: Treasury Actions to Enhance Financial Transparency and Combat Illicit Finance, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Feb. 14, 2024), link here.

Testimony of Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Feb. 14, 2024), link here.

Testimony of Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Andrea Gacki Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Feb. 14, 2024), link here.

Treasury Publishes 2024 National Risk Assessments for Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Feb. 7, 2024), link here.

Investigations and Prosecutions

Justice Department Announces Nuclear Materials Trafficking Charges Against Japanese Yakuza Leader, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 21, 2024), link here.

Justice Department Transfers Approximately $500,000 in Forfeited Russian Funds to Estonia for Benefit of Ukraine, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 17, 2024), link here.

Two Individuals Convicted for $11M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 16, 2024), link here.

Canadian National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Launder Money from Scheme to Send UAV and Missile Components to Russia in Violation of U.S. Sanctions, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 12, 2024), link here.

Man Pleads Guilty to Opioid Distribution and Money Laundering Conspiracy, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 7, 2024), link here.

Justice Department Announces Terrorism and Sanctions-Evasion Charges and Seizures Linked to Illicit, Billion-Dollar Global Oil Trafficking Network That Finances Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Its Malign Activities, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 2, 2024), link here.

‘King’ of Violent Haitian Gang Pleads Guilty to Gun Smuggling and Money Laundering After Government’s Case, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 1, 2024), link here.

Foreign National Charged for International Money Laundering Conspiracy and Role in Operation of Unlicensed Digital Currency Exchange BTC-e, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 1, 2024), link here.

Money-Laundering Measures and Policies

Fact Sheet: Anti-Money Laundering Program and Suspicious Activity Report Filing Requirements for Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), U.S. FINCEN (Feb. 13, 2024), link here.

·??????? Chris Cumming, New Rules Will Force Buyout Firms to Flag Suspicious Investments, The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 20, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

·??????? Rebecca Picciotto, Treasury proposes rule to extend anti-money laundering regs to investment advisers, CNBC (Feb. 13, 2024), link here.

·??????? Fatima Hussain, Treasury rolls out residential real estate transparency rules to combat money laundering, Associated Press (Feb. 7, 2024), link here.

General Money-Laundering-Related Developments

Chris Prentice, US Justice Dept corporate penalties plunge in 2023 as trial backlog bites, data shows, AML Intelligence (Feb. 22, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Eddie Beaver, Gang Jailed For 'Industrial Scale' Money Laundering Operation, Law360 (Feb. 22, 2024), link here.

Iain Withers & Lawrence White, Lloyds says it faces money laundering controls investigation, Reuters (Feb. 22, 2024), link here.

John O’ Donnell & Tom Sims, Regulator probes money laundering controls at Austria's Raiffeisen, Reuters (Feb. 22, 2024), link here.

Stephen Rae, Germany wins race for AMLA, powerful new EU agency will be located in Frankfurt, AML Intelligence (Feb. 22, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Emily Sanderson, Feds: Cincinnati woman pleads guilty to laundering more than $8M for online romance scammers, WLWT (Feb. 21, 2024), link here.

Gordon Hoekstra, Demand to explain source of millions in Vancouver lawyer’s account is ‘abuse of process,’ says accused fraudster, Vancouver Sun (Feb. 21, 2024), link here.

Jeff Dale, Barclays says FCA probe into AML controls closed, Compliance Weekly (Feb. 21, 2024), link here.

Ronan Barnard, Money Laundering Checks No Evidence Of Crime, Court Hears, Law360 (Feb. 21, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Sam Tabahriti, EU Enforcers Detain 4 In €4.5M Money Laundering Swoop, Law360 (Feb. 21, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

BREAKING: Maltese financial institution suspected of laundering tens of millions for Russian criminals, AML Intelligence (Feb. 21, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Russo-Eurasian money laundering network exposed in Germany, Ukrainska Pravda (Feb. 21, 2024), link here.

Tyler Pathe, Germany’s BaFin warns Deutsche Bank of potential fines if it doesn’t improve money laundering controls, FinTech Futures (Feb. 20, 2024), link here.

PTI, PayPal registers with FIU under anti-money laundering law, The Economic Times (Feb. 20, 2024), link here.

Eri Sugiuara, Defendant had ‘no idea’ bitcoin funds were proceeds of alleged ￡5bn fraud, UK court told, Financial Times (Feb. 19, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Lo De Wei, Singapore’s Biggest Money Laundering Case Tests City's Weak Shophouse Market, Bloomberg (Feb. 19, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Riah Pryor, UK art market feeling the heat as anti-money laundering legislation ramped up, The Art Newspaper (Feb. 19, 2024), link here.

Bank fined ￡1m by Isle of Man regulator, BBC News (Feb. 19, 2024), link here.

Gretchen Morgenson, Federal regulators are probing whether Cash App leaves door open to money launderers, terrorists, CNBC (Feb. 16, 2024), link here.

Kanis Leung, Hong Kong customs arrests 7 in a $1.8 billion money laundering case linked to transnational crime, Associated Press (Feb. 16, 2024), link here.

John O’ Connor, Ex-Illinois lawmaker abruptly pleads guilty to fraud and money laundering, halting federal trial, Associated Press (Feb. 15, 2024), link here.

Patricia Kowsmann, Deutsche Bank Faces New Threat of Fines Over Money-Laundering Controls, The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 15, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Serbian Appeals Court Orders Retrial In Money Laundering Case Against Ukrainian Ex-Spy, RadioFree Europe (Feb. 14, 2024), link here.

Alexandra Reidel, Montreal woman admits to laundering money in scheme to ship US tech to Russia for war, Stars and Stripes (Feb. 13, 2024), link here.

Sabrina Willmer & David Voreacos, Crypto Launderer Kept Identity ‘Hidden in the Fog,’ US Alleges, Bloomberg (Feb. 13, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Steven Porter, Ian Freeman agrees to $3.5m restitution order in bitcoin money laundering case, Boston Globe (Feb. 13, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Swati Deshpande, Supreme Court grants bail to Sadanand Kadam in money laundering case, The Times of India (Feb. 13, 2024), link here.

George Greenwood, Iran ‘used Santander and Lloyds to move money around globe’, The Times (Feb. 5, 2024), link here [Subscription Required].

Kevin Breuninger, Man pleads guilty in $1 billion scheme to dodge money laundering rules in New York, CNBC (Jan. 31, 2024), link here.

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