Anti-Money Laundering/AML


Nordea and Danske Bank being investigated for money laundering

Nordea is now keeping people informed about an ongoing investigation by the Danish Prosecution Service into its alleged anti-money laundering (AML) violations. By way of recap, it follows criticism by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) in June 2016 regarding AML transgressions by Nordea Bank Danmark. According to Danish newspaper Berlingske, the money laundering involves […]

“Jihadi capital” Belgium most lenient country on money laundering

Belgium – the “Jihadi capital of Europe” – is the European Union’s (EU) most lenient country on money laundering despite its role in terrorist financing, according to anti-money laundering (AML) firm Fortytwo Data. With refreshing frankness in the usually jargon-soaked and platitude-drenched world of fintech, Fortytwo Data says the EU’s disjointed approach to the fight […]

Regtech Supplier Performance Report: ignorance is no longer bliss, it’s now criminal offence

The second edition of Regtech Supplier Performance Report, featuring some 50 regtech suppliers, published by Market Fintech Limited and supported by Banking Technology, says that with over 50,000 regulatory documents published across the G20 since 2009, and an average of 45 new documents every week, we must assume that the future of banking will be driven by technological developments.

Socure raises $14m in new funding

In a Series B round led by Commerce Ventures, digital identity verification specialist Socure raised $13.9 million in new funding. The investment, which also featured the participation of Flint Capital, Santander InnoVentures, Synchrony Financial, Two Sigma Ventures, and Workbench, takes Socure’s total funding to $27.5 million.

Time to act: EU Funds Transfer Regulation 2015

The EU Funds Transfer Regulation 2015 (FTR 2015), which has been in effect since 26 June 2017, aims to deliver full traceability of payments. A lack of regulatory clarity is, however, leading to significant implementation hurdles that require urgent action from all stakeholders.

Hello Soda’s new platform has a pop at dark web fraud

Big data and text analytics firm Hello Soda has launched Fraud Web, a new software solution built to combat identity fraud committed through the untraceable internet. The company says Fraud Web identifies the risk of consumer data being available for sale on the dark web and issues high, medium and low risk alerts so that […]

Belize’s central bank selects Swift to combat financial crime

The Central Bank of Belize has chosen Swift’s Sanctions Screening solution to combat financial crime and put in compliance controls. The bank says: “Implementing the right compliance controls within an organisation is not only a regulatory responsibility, but also a priority for global security.” Juan Martínez, managing director Latin America and the Caribbean, Swift, says […]

Australia calls for risk-loving fintech firms

The Risk Management Association of Australia (RMA) has partnered with KPMG and match-making firm Matchi to offer three fintech companies the opportunity to pitch their solutions to forty chief risk officers (CROs) from various Australian banks. KPMG is arranging this year’s CRO roundtable event for the RMA members with the theme “Generation Next”. Matchi says […]

UK regulator balances the looks for current accounts

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched proposals to help people compare the service levels for personal and business current accounts. The FCA proposes that firms offer information on how long it takes to open an account; how long it takes to replace a lost, stolen or stopped debit card; and the number and […]

OCBC Bank fights money laundering with AI double act

Singapore’s OCBC Bank has piloted two fintech solutions from a pair of start-ups as it looks to combat money laundering and terrorism financing via artificial intelligence (AI). The two firms involved – BlackSwan Technologies and Silent Eight – were part of OCBC’s second fintech accelerator programme, Open Vault, which was launched last year. Both companies […]

Meta taps Melissa for KYC and AML initiatives

Melissa Global Intelligence, a provider of global contact data quality and identity-verification solutions, announced that its technology is fueling know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) initiatives for Meta Payment Systems, one of the largest prepaid card issuers in the US. Meta relies on Melissa to provide “a 360-degree view” of the customer, including […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 10 July 2017

Reading doesn’t have to be a trial. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up keeps it ultra-brief. Featuring Mt. Gox, less than smooth criminals, the Council of the European Union and Coinsource. Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, will go on trial in Tokyo next week on charges stemming from the […]

People on the Move: W2 Global Data

U.K.-based W2 Global Data, a provider of regulatory, KYC/AML and fraud prevention solutions, has welcomed three new hires, including Alex Lafferty, Richard Evans and Kerry Cleary.

Compliance Titans: Jeff Ross, Green Dot Corp.

Nearly a decade after jumping from the public to the private sector, Green Dot’s Jeff Ross remains as enthused as ever by the new challenges and complexities he faces every day as compliance head for one of the biggest players in an industry with a constantly shifting regulatory landscape and technology that’s advancing at a breakneck pace.

Sterling Bank and Trust signs for iFinancial BankWare core system

Sterling Bank and Trust, a new bank in the Bahamas, has selected the BankWare core system from UK-based International Financial Systems’ (iFinancial). The bank will be using the multi-currency accounting, exposure management, current accounts, deposits, loans, payments, and Swift modules from the BankWare portfolio of retail and wholesale banking solutions. The bank is part of […]

People on the Move: A.J. Koehn, Urban FT

A.J. Koehn has joined Urban FT Inc., a digital payments platform provider and 2017 Pay Awards winner for Startup of the Year, as its new senior vice president of compliance and program management.

Compliance Titans: Jani Gode, Payoneer

Jani Gode’s knowledge of payments compliance reaches to parts of the globe that are about as far away from the small Minnesota farm where she grew up as you can get. Gode leads the global compliance program as chief compliance officer at Payoneer, an online payments company founded in 2005 that enables businesses to send and receive cross-border payments.

Former MoneyGram Compliance Chief to Pay $250,000 Fine

A former MoneyGram compliance head will pay a $250,000 fine and be barred from performing a compliance function for a money transmitter for the next three years after agreeing to a settlement over alleged AML and fraud prevention failures that took place at the company under his watch.

Allied Irish Banks hit with €2.3m fine for AML fails

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has been fined €2.3 million by Ireland’s central bank for compliance failures over anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing laws. AIB was reprimanded for six breaches of the law – which occurred between July 2010 and July 2014. It has admitted to these breaches. The central bank says AIB failed to […]

A vaccination for financial crime

ransaction monitoring is emerging as one of the top priorities for banks and other financial institutions. Some now employ up to three per cent of their workforce to track financial crime. But, as leadership teams look to increase the effectiveness of their processes in the face of regulatory scrutiny and reduce costs, are there lessons to be learnt from health industry and its battle against infectious diseases?

Proposed M-Wallet Rules Don’t Hinder Samsung Pay Launch

While the Indian government works toward a digital economy, the Reserve Bank of India is soliciting feedback through March 31 on guidelines for prepaid payment instruments that could adversely affect issuers of prepaid products, including mobile wallets.

Deutsche Bank fined record £163m for AML control fails

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Deutsche Bank £163 million for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) control framework during the period between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015. This is the largest financial penalty for AML controls failings ever imposed by the FCA, or its predecessor the Financial Services […]

BNP Paribas Securities Services invests in fintech start-up Fortia

BNP Paribas Securities Services has acquired a minority stake in an Fortia Financial Solutions. This deal helps Fortia, a start-up that provides compliance software to the financial services industry, cement the relationship it formed with the bank during the inaugural session of the fintech accelerator by L’Atelier BNP Paribas.

Money rolls

Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

RBI investigates blockchain for financial applications in India

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has recently issued a whitepaper, “Applications of Blockchain Technology to Banking and Financial Sector in India”. We summarise the report and highlight the key findings.

Deutsche Bank bans texting and messaging apps on work phones

No more texting or using messaging apps such as WhatsApp on company issued phones, Deutsche Bank tells its employees. According to a memo issued by COO Kim Hammonds and chief regulatory officer Sylvie Matherat, the functionality will be switched off this quarter.

E-book: Regulatory compliance for banks – using data to unblock the road ahead

Your bank faces more competitive pressures than ever before. Regulations nowadays regularly cost financial institutions billions. You know this. What may be unclear is how IT can help, not hinder, your competitive position. As data becomes the roadblock for compliance, so too it can become your competitive advantage. The latest techniques for handling compliance processes […]

Dassault Systemes unveils seven finalists for KYC/AML start-up challenge

French software firm Dassault Systemes has named the seven finalists for its “3D FinTech Challenge” 2016 to address anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) issues. This is its fourth annual accelerator programme in collaboration with senior finance executives, regulators and “influencers”. As Banking Technology reported in August, Dassault Systemes invited start-ups to apply. […]

Top fintech stories this week – 14 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! MasterCard to buy French payment firm Stet? EXCLUSIVE. Payments processor could be a target. Brooks Macdonald puts IT revamp with Third Financial on hold EXCLUSIVE. All freeze for wealth management firm. Banks behaving badly in Singapore Monetary Authority […]

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority fines Sonali Bank for AML fails

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Sonali Bank UK £3.25 million for “serious” anti-money laundering (AML) systems failings. It has imposed a restriction, preventing it from accepting deposits from new customers for 168 days, and fined the bank’s former money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), Steven Smith, £17,900 and prohibited him from performing the […]

Banks behaving badly in Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is withdrawing the merchant bank status of Falcon Private Bank’s Singapore branch for “serious failures” in anti-money laundering (AML) controls and “improper conduct” by senior management at the head office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore branch. MAS is also imposing financial penalties on DBS Bank and UBS’s […]

IBM Watson learns compliance in Promontory purchase

IBM plans to acquire Promontory Financial Group, a risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm, to boost IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. Upon close of the deal, Promontory’s employees will train Watson, which will learn by “continuously ingesting regulatory information as it is created and through interaction in real-world applications”. Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice-president, IBM […]