Arctic Intelligence | July News
Arctic Intelligence
Compliance. The smart way. Transform your financial crime risk assessment and protect your business.
CEO Message
This month’s been interesting on a number of fronts,?Australia has finally been called out?by the Financial Action Task Force, along with China and the US as having the least progress in the world on regulating DNFBPs.
In Australia, despite completing two consultation rounds most practitioners remain in the dark as to when the Attorney General’s Department intends to issue draft regulations to modernise Australia’s AML/CTF regime.?These regulations aim to address DNFBPs and tighten requirements related to enterprise-wide ML/TF risk assessments and other significant changes.
Further afield in the US, FinCEN announced a?proposed rule?at the end of last month to strengthen and modernise financial institutions’ AML/CTF programs. This proposed rule will explicitly require AML/CTF programs to be “effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed, enabling financial institutions to focus their resources and attention in a manner consistent with their risk profiles."
What will they need to demonstrate the design effectiveness of the risk-based AML/CTF program - an effective enterprise-wide ML/TF risk assessment of course!
Industry Updates
> United States of America
This month we’re going to focus on what’s happening in the United States, where we’ll dig a bit deeper into various regulators' increasing focus on risk management capabilities at major financial institutions.
According to an unofficial source close to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,?an internal report leaked to Bloomberg?alleges that 11 of the 22 large banks it supervises have "insufficient" or "weak" operational risk controls. If this is true, it means that at least half of the largest banks in the US need to improve their risk management practices.
Also, FinCENs notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) had a whole section dedicated to ML/TF risk assessments which will affect regulated businesses in the sectors they regulate including; financial institutions, casinos, depository institutions, insurance, MSBs, mortgage brokers, securities and futures dealers and precious metal / jewellery businesses.
The full NPRM is here?and a shorter fact sheet is here?(Program NPRM FactSheet), with a summary of the key points in relation to the risk assessment process below;
Risk Assessment Process
FinCEN is proposing a risk assessment process requirement that would facilitate a financial institution's understanding of its specific illicit finance activity risks and enable more dynamic identification, prioritisation, and management of those ML/TF risks.
In summary, adopting a comprehensive risk assessment process allows regulated businesses to better tailor their AML/CFT programs. This improves their ability to address current and emerging risks, respond to changes in risk profiles, and maximise the benefits of their compliance efforts for both the public and private sectors.
Read our article?Increasing Focus on Risk Management at Major Financial Institutions in the US?we outline the key takeaways from the notice of proposed rule-making impacting ML/TF risk assessments.
Company Announcements
> New Content
In August, we’re releasing a new version of our?Risk Assessment Platform, this will provide a number of new features and improvements:
Our clients should keep an eye out for the full release notes and if you’d like a walkthrough of these please let us know.
> New Clients
Building on our relationship with Entain Australia, we extended our relationship with the Entain Group’s UK and European Operations and are working with their teams to prepare for a multi-country rollout.
We’d also like to thank Brunei based bank, BIBD for renewing with Arctic for a further 3 years and look forward to supporting you.
New Resources
> Guide
领英推荐
A 6-step guide to assess and manage financial crime compliance.
This comprehensive guide can assist regulated businesses - regardless of their size, industry sector or geography - in navigating the challenges of conducting money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessments and building effective AML/CTF Programs.
> Blog
Arctic Intelligence Forges Alliance with Jade ThirdEye
Arctic Intelligence, a leading provider of innovative solutions for enterprise-wide financial crime risk assessment, proudly announces its referral partnership with?Jade ThirdEye. This collaboration enables customers to benefit from Arctic Intelligence’s?AML Accelerate Platform?and?Risk Assessment Platform?solutions, which complement Jade ThirdEye’s software, creating a comprehensive solution for financial crime risk management.
Independent Reviews: Avoiding Traps and Achieving Value?
Our partners at?MSB Compliance, write that independent reviews are a Pillar of a strong, risk-based BSA/AML and OFAC compliance program. They offer an impartial evaluation, pinpointing areas for improvement and ensuring a financial institution’s program effectively mitigates risks. However, if these reviews become checklist exercises focused on appearances rather than true effectiveness, they can create a dangerous illusion. This "form over substance" trap leaves financial institutions vulnerable by overlooking critical weaknesses.
Events
> Upcoming Webinars
Enterprise-wide money laundering risk assessment tailored to 30 industry sectors and 60+ countries.
Designed for smaller and medium-sized businesses who want to be guided through a comprehensive ML/TF risk assessment process, and document their AML/CTF Program and keep track of action plans easily!
Fully configurable financial crime risk assessment platform designed for complex enterprises.
Designed for larger businesses that want to fully configure the risk assessment - build risk methodologies, bespoke risk modules, import control libraries, apply weightings, real-time dashboard reports and much more!
Have a great day. If you have any queries regarding any of?Arctic Intelligence's award-winning products and how they can help your business,?please get in touch.?We look forward to discussing your financial crime risk assessment soon.
Regards,?
Anthony Quinn and the team at Arctic Intelligence
Founder / CEO