January 2020

International

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

• Held FATF Supervisors’ Forum on supervising virtual assets in Paris, France on 9 January 2020. This meeting was the first opportunity for supervisors to discuss how to implement the new measures since the FATF finalised them in June 2019.
• Updated its consolidated assessment ratings which provides an up-to-date overview of the ratings that assessed countries obtained for effectiveness and technical compliance.

Australia

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

• Reminded the reporting entities to start the 2019 compliance report which is due 31 March 2020.
• Updated the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No. 1) to include the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Amendment Instrument 2019 (No. 3) - please see our last regulatory update for details of the amendment.
• Wrapped up the community campaign targeting illegal money transfer dealers, or unregistered remittance dealers. The campaign ran from August to November 2019 and focused on raising public awareness and educating communities about the risks they pose.
• AUSTRAC and Great Britain Gambling Commission have strengthened their cooperation in the fight against serious financial crime and terrorism financing through the signing of a regulatory Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in London.
• Several people have been charged by WA Police Force as part of an investigation into a suspected Vietnamese Established Criminal Network involved in money laundering activity.

New Zealand

No major updates this month.

Hong Kong

The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED)

• Took disciplinary actions, including issuing public reprimands and ordering remedial actions, against 10 licensed money service operators (MSOs) for breaching the licensing requirements as stipulated in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance.

Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

• Published response to consultation paper on the Proposed AML/CFT Notice for Variable Capital Companies.
• Published AML/CFT Notice for Variable Capital Companies with requirements for Variable Capital Companies on AML/CFT, which include having internal policies and implementation of controls relating to:
• Conducting risk assessment and risk mitigation
• Customer due diligence, including maintaining a register of beneficial owners
•  Reliance on third parties by the VCC’s EFI
• Record keeping 
• Suspicious transaction reporting

United States/Canada

No major updates this month.

United Kingdom

The Gambling Commission

• Published published the 5th edition of its guidance for remote and non-remote casinos on the prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism on 10th January when EU’s 5th Money Laundering Directive came into force.

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

• The fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive means law firms have to make changes to the way they work to help keep the proceeds of crime out of legal services. The Legal Sector Affinity Group has published a summary of changes to the regulations to help firms comply with the new requirements. This includes:
• a duty to collect proof of registration for entities (eg trusts and companies)
• a duty to inform the registry of any discrepancies in their information
• changes to client due diligence and enhanced due diligence

European Union

The European Commission

• EU’s 5th Money Laundering Directive came into force on 10 January 2020 which 
• extends the scope to virtual currency platforms and wallet providers, tax related services and traders of art
• grants access to the general public to beneficial ownership information of EU based companies
• makes it an obligation to consult the beneficial ownership register when performing AML due diligence
• obliges member states to create a list of national public offices and functions that qualify as politically exposed (PEP)
• introduces strict enhanced due diligence measures for financial flows from high-risk third countries
• ends the anonymity of bank and savings accounts, as well as safe deposit boxes and creates central access mechanisms to bank account and safe deposit boxes holder information throughout the EU 
• makes information on real estate holders centrally available to public authorities
• lowers thresholds for identifying purchasers of prepaid cards and for the use of e-money
• further enhances the powers of the FIUs and facilitates cooperation and information exchange among authorities

 

Other Jurisdictions

No major updates this month.