Monthly Archives: January 2018

AML 1, bitcoin 0

Posted on January 31, 2018 by

There have been acres of newsprint (and the digital equivalent) written in recent months about the long-term future of bitcoin in particular and cryptocurrencies in general.  The value of bitcoin, for instance, is going through the roof, and then back … Continue reading →

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Cleaning house for estate agents

Posted on January 26, 2018 by

Just to raise the tone of this blog a little, I’d like to start today with a quotation from Voltaire’s 1759 satirical novel “Candide”: “Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les … Continue reading →

Posted in AML, Money laundering, Supervision | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A laundering own goal

Posted on January 22, 2018 by

People sometimes ask me how I can bear to stick with just one subject for over twenty years – yes, that’s how long I have been AML-ing.  And I simply say that although the subject remains the same, and indeed … Continue reading →

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

Stubborn as a…

Posted on January 17, 2018 by

For those who roll their eyes when I explain my job, and say that it’s all a load of government-sanctioned nonsense to appease the do-gooders (yes, I’ve heard all of that), Santander has done some handy research.  Big Red (other … Continue reading →

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

Tax is a feminist issue

Posted on January 12, 2018 by

I have written before about the interesting differences between the genders when it comes to financial crime.  And now there is a new study, published in the December 2017 issue of the Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics (surely you … Continue reading →

Posted in Legislation, Money laundering, Tax | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A rap on the online knuckles

Posted on January 8, 2018 by

AML regulation of the gambling sector in the UK is complicated; even I (writing as an AML obsessive) am sometimes confused about who is in and who is out.  However, one sector that is most definitely in is online gambling, … Continue reading →

Posted in AML, Due diligence, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Christmas concord and concensus

Posted on January 3, 2018 by

Experienced MLROs and other professional AML-ers will be familiar with the pattern of EU AML Directives: in essence, you get a new one every decade.  But thanks to the attacks in Paris in November 2015, and the subsequent realisation that … Continue reading →

Posted in AML, Legislation, Money laundering | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments