June 2021

International

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

Updated the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring on 25 June 2021. Haiti, Malta, Philippines, and South Sudan have been added to the list and Ghana is no longer subject to increased monitoring. We will incorporate this into our country risk rating update in the coming weeks.
Published the high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action on 25 June 2021. Since Feb 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF has paused the review process for countries in this list, given that they are already subject to the FATF’s call for countermeasures. Therefore, the FATF’s call for action on Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains in effect.
Published follow-up report to Bhutan and Pakistan's assessment of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures.
Published Mexico's progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.
Published Money Laundering from Environmental Crime report which identifies methods that criminals use to launder proceeds from environmental crime, but also tools that governments and private sector can apply to disrupt this activity.
Published Guidance on Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment and Mitigation, which will help countries, financial institutions, DNFBPs and VASPs effectively implement the new FATF requirements introduced in October 2020.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Rules Amendment Instrument 2021 (No. 1) was in effect from 17 June 2021. The reforms clarify obligations regarding customer due diligence before providing a designated service, involve changes to strengthen the protections for correspondent banking relationships, expand the circumstances in which reporting entities can rely on a third party for customer identification and verification, and expand the exceptions to the prohibition of tipping off. We have updated the AML Accelerate platform by incorporating the reforms into the Australian AML Program/Policy template:

Published new guidance to help you implement the above AML/CTF reforms.
Released non-bank lending and financing sector risk assessment, which shows a medium level of ML/TF risk to Australia’s non-bank lending and financing sector. The main threat facing the sector is fraud, particularly loan application fraud, identity fraud and welfare fraud. Non-bank lenders and financiers are also a target for money laundering, relating predominantly to unexpected early loan payouts.
Emphasised that KYC procedures, including where appropriate, taking reasonable measures to identify the source of a customer’s wealth and the source of a customer’s funds are an important part of your AML/CTF program.
Released a financial crime guide to help remittance service providers, banking and financial services businesses detect and report cuckoo smurfing.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)

Published a summary of the changes and the impact on reporting entities relating to the amended AML/CFT Regulations (in force on 9 July 2021). Some minor changes will be implemented in the AML Accelerate platform.
Published two updated Annual Reporting guidance documents – one for Financial Institutions and Casinos (published in conjunction with the Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank of New Zealand), and one for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions.

The major changes to the Financial Institutions and Casinos Annual Report User Guide are:

The 2021 Version reflects the 2018 amendments to Schedule 2 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Requirements and Compliance) Regulations 2011;
Additional guidance texts/definitions have been added to a few questions to improve clarity;
Minor formatting changes including the orientation of the document layout and the table formatting;
New definitions/wording has been incorporated into the guidance for products and services 32, 36 and 37 under question 6.2 according to the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

The major changes to the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions Annual Report User Guide are:

Addition of a 'before you begin' section that contains a list of information that is required to complete the annual report;
Additional guidance text has been added to improve clarity/definition of certain terms and questions.

Published a new factsheet relating to the class exemption approved for barristers sole on 15 March 2021. This factsheet is designed to explain the background to the exemption, reasons behind its approval and the circumstances in which the exemption applies to barristers sole.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)

Imposed an administrative monetary penalty on HomeLife Glenayre Realty Chilliwack Ltd. This real estate broker in Chilliwack, British Columbia, was imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $59,235 on February 8, 2021, for non-compliance with Part 1 of the PCMLTFA and its associated Regulations.
Imposed an administrative monetary penalty on Les Immeubles Diamant Diamant Inc., also operating as Diamond Diamond Real Estate Inc. This real estate broker in Montréal, Quebec, was imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $123,915 on March 29, 2021, for non-compliance with Part 1 of the PCMLTFA and its associated Regulations.

GOV.UK

Released an online guide for estate agency businesses and an online course for money service businesses.

No major updates this month.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

Issued the first national AML/CFT priorities and accompanying statement. The Priorities identify and describe the most significant AML/CFT threats currently facing the United States. In no particular order, these include: corruption, cybercrime, domestic and international terrorist financing, fraud, transnational criminal organizations, drug trafficking organizations, human trafficking and human smuggling, and proliferation financing.

Customs and Excise Department

Arrested two persons suspected of dealing with proceeds generated from the sale of counterfeit goods and engaging in money laundering activities. The amount involved in the case was about $5.6 million.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

No major updates this month.