Analysis of FSA AML FINE Habib Bank & MLRO – FSA fines bank and its former MLRO for failure to comply with anti-money laundering requirements – In May 2012 the FSA issued Final Notices fining Habib Bank AG Zurich (“Habib”) £525,000 for failure to take reasonable care to establish and maintain adequate anti-money laundering (“AML”) […]

Banks’ obligations to customers are subject to money laundering reporting requirements – A recent case has established that banks will not be liable to customers for delays in processing transactions while waiting for clearance under UK anti-money laundering legislation. While the bank’s terms and conditions did not expressly permit such delays, the court implied such […]

Shah v HSBC: High Court clarifies bank’s duties to customers when making SARs – .The High Court has clarified the extent to which banks are required to disclose information to their customers about whom they have made money laundering disclosures or have obligations to such customers which could expose them to liability in the event […]

SOE AND PEP CLASSIFICATION – Managing and avoiding regulatory, reputational and financial risk is a significant challenge for institutions around the world. Best practice compliance requires close scrutiny of customers, counterparties and partners, especially where these have a connection to some kind of political office. Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) need to be subjected to a […]

Self-administered pension schemes and money laundering – Richard Mattison, director of professional trustee and administrator Whitehall Group and former director at James Hay, has written to HM Revenue and Customs warning that self-administered pension schemes lacking professional administrators are open to abuse by tax cheats and frauds. Mr Mattison wrote to HMRC after initially taking […]

Money Laundering Awareness Handbook for Tax Examiners and Tax Auditors – Money laundering is a serious threat to the legal economy and affects the integrity of financial institutions. Tax crime is one of the top three sources of dirty money. Tax administrations can play an important role in detecting and deterring money laundering. This handbook […]

Swiss SARs jump by 40 percent following Arab Spring fallout – The number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed by Swiss banks and other financial institutions jumped by 40 percent last year, largely prompted by the fallout from the Arab Spring. The total sums included in the reports reached a record high of CHF3 billion, […]

Status of EU Sanctions against Iran, Libya and Syria – The past year has seen the continued importance and effect of arms embargoes and economic sanctions imposed by the EU, the US and the UN against a number of States. Tensions between Western powers, and in certain instances the League of Arab States, on the […]