Monthly Archives: June 2012

That blind eye had better be really blind

Posted on June 29, 2012 by

For various reasons (obesession, mainly) I’ve just been reading the FSA’s Notices on Habib Bank and its MLRO Syed Itrat Hussain.  In case you missed it, on 4 May 2012 the FSA fined the bank £525,000 and the MLRO £17,500 … Continue reading →

Posted in AML, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sticking my oar in

Posted on June 27, 2012 by

We all have our dreams, don’t we?  Perhaps some of you long to sail around the world, or play golf at Augusta, or win “Strictly Come Dancing”.  If so, you’re all much more interesting and rounded than I am – … Continue reading →

Posted in AML, Legislation, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Running away to join the circus

Posted on June 25, 2012 by

Well, it happened again.  You remember that I once said that when I go out to dinner and say what I do for a living, I often find myself held responsible for the due diligence woes of the whole table, … Continue reading →

Posted in General thoughts, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The unambition of adequacy

Posted on June 22, 2012 by

That post title sounds a bit like a philosophical treatise by John Milton, doesn’t it?  But actually I am referring to the rather less abstract Bribery Act 2010.  I’ve been talking about this legislation a lot this week, mostly in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bribery and corruption, Legislation | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

I’m game if you are

Posted on June 20, 2012 by

No, this isn’t about football – although I believe that there is a tournament going on somewhere that people are quite excited about.  And this isn’t even about FIFA – although there is certainly plenty of material there for many, … Continue reading →

Posted in Money laundering, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

School for schemers

Posted on June 18, 2012 by

A little story made me laugh this morning – apparently when police in Calgary in Canada raided the premises of a drug gang, they found an autographed copy of “Crime School Money Laundering” by ex-Mountie Chris Mather.  Mr Mather was … Continue reading →

Posted in Money laundering, Organised crime, Publications | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Well, he had a good innings

Posted on June 15, 2012 by

Yesterday a court in America sentenced Texan financier Allen Stanford to 110 years in prison for running, over two decades, a Ponzi fraud that netted him more than US$7 billion.  His lawyers had suggested that a suitable sentence might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Fraud, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dancing in the thought showers

Posted on June 13, 2012 by

Like all right-thinking people, I abhor jargon.  We’ve all snickered at the low-hanging fruit and tried not to look under the bonnet, and many of us have whiled away dull meetings in a secret game of Jargon Bingo.  But in … Continue reading →

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Thinking the unthinkable

Posted on June 11, 2012 by

I stayed with a friend this weekend, and her new chap asked me what I do for a living.  I gave the usual potted explanation: I provide anti-money laundering training and advice, so I help institutions to guard against criminal … Continue reading →

Posted in Legislation, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Anti-cyclical money laundering

Posted on June 8, 2012 by

MLROs and their staff love feedback, and so it has become the norm for most FIUs (Financial Intelligence Units – responsible for receiving and processing suspicious activity reports, or SARs) to issue statistics.  The headline figure is always the total … Continue reading →

Posted in Money laundering, Organised crime, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments