Financial Intelligence Centre’s Post

The EBA launched a public consultation on new Guidelines on preventing the abuse of funds and certain crypto-assets transfers for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. These ‘travel rule’ Guidelines specify the steps that Payment Service Providers (PSPs), Intermediary PSPs (IPSPs), crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and Intermediary CASPs (ICASPs) should take to detect missing or incomplete information that accompanies a transfer of funds or crypto-assets. They also detail the procedures all these providers should put in place to manage a transfer of funds or a transfer of crypto-assets that lacks the required information. The consultation runs until 26 February 2024. https://lnkd.in/eCSMBRii.

**Improving results for Luxembourg in the FATF plenary of June 2023** FATF, or the Financial Action Task Force, is an intergovernmental organization located in Paris, France, that is made up of 39 member countries and two regional organizations. It was created in 1989 and aims to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Their recommendations are not legally binding but are widely accepted and implemented by countries around the world. FATF recently updated their guidance to include virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) which means that countries will need to regulate and supervise virtual asset service providers to prevent them from being used for illegal activities. From June 21st to June 23rd 2023, FATF organized a plenary in Paris under the presidency of T. Raja Kumar of Singapore. They discussed several projects, for example, the potential improvement of some of its recommendations, which will be completed in October 2023. While Croatia, Vietnam and Cameroon were added to the « list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring », also known as « the grey list », Luxembourg has received very positive feedback this year, which was not always the case in the past. This time, FATF praises Luxembourg for their effective measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, which are important due to their status as an international financial hub. Also, Luxembourg shows good results for their technical compliance with the recommendations given by FATF. However, the detection, investigation, and prosecution of more complex money laundering cases in accordance with the country's risk as well as risk-based supervision of its non-financial sector are some areas where Luxembourg still needs to improve. The internal quality control procedure will be finished and the final Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) for Luxembourg will be released by September 2023, followed by the next FATF plenary in October 2023. Please visit our website and social media accounts for further information on the scope of services offered by our law firm or reach out to our team members directly to discuss your potential projects. #luxembourg #fatf

As an active member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Singapore supports global efforts to combat money laundering/ terrorism financing ("ML/TF") and proliferation financing. Financial Institutions ("FIs") are expected to have strong governance and sound anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism risk management and controls in place to mitigate ML/TF risks.   FIs must constantly stay vigilant to ML/TF risks and ensure that fund flows into Singapore remain legitimate. Consequently, FIs offering wealth management services face ongoing inspections to ensure robust controls are in place to detect and deal with such ML/TF risks.   Maintaining a clean and trusted financial centre is vital as an international business hub; hence, FIs in Singapore are required to have unstinting vigilance to guard against the abuse of our financial system for illicit activities and strengthen defences against ML/TF risks.   Click here to find out more: https://lnkd.in/gcqdfASf

The U.K. Joint Money Laundering Steering Group opened a consultation on July 28, 2023 on guidance on the U.K. travel rule for cryptoasset transfers. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 introduced the cryptoasset travel rule by amending the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, and firms will need to comply with the requirements from September 1, 2023.

As part of our ongoing assistance to the law enforcement, compliance and regulatory agencies in Seychelles, we’re delighted to be supporting the next chapter for the country as it implements its VASP framework. An important part of this process is the public consultation which is now live. If you’re interested, we’d love for you to participate. Details are below ⬇️ In addition to developing software to effectively manage seized assets, we’re also tasked with assisting in the development of a robust enforcement program to deal with bad actors who seek to exploit countries. Kudos to the agencies for their efforts to date on this important program which will undoubtedly enhance the global response to money laundering and tackle the growing threat of crime involving digital assets & terrorist financing. (Hope to see you online or in person in Seychelles in a few weeks 🇸🇨) #seychelles #VASP #crypto #cybercrime #pigbutchering

The FATF discussed and adopted the mutual evaluation report of Luxembourg which assessed the effectiveness of that country’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and their compliance with the FATF Recommendations. The Plenary concluded that: 🔹Luxembourg has reached a high level of technical compliance with the FATF’s requirements and its AML/CFT regime is delivering good results. 🔹Luxembourg has achieved a good understanding of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks it faces, particularly important given its status as a regional and international financial centre. 🔹Luxembourg achieved robust domestic co-operation and co-ordination at both policy and operational levels, including in the use of financial intelligence and access to beneficial ownership information, and constructive cooperation with its international counterparts. #AMLCFT #FATF #GAFI