According to Kroll’s annual Global Enforcement Review, enforcement activity of anti-money laundering (AML) is slowing. Now, regulators are beginning to shift their attention away from banks and have started to focus on cryptocurrency firms and exchanges. The latest review found that the value of fines issued to financial services firms for AML failings globally fell from
On 1 March 2022, the UK government brought forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill. The legislation intends to clamp down on dirty money and was described by the government as a ‘landmark step’ towards doing so. The Economic Crime Bill has been delayed for years (it was originally promised in 2016). However, since Vladimir
Due to fresh concerns over money laundering in the space, the European Union (EU) is aiming to bolster its oversight of the cryptocurrency industry by providing its new anti-money laundering watchdog with greater powers. New regulator will oversee AML efforts The 27-country organization is aiming to include cryptocurrency firms within the purview of its anti-money laundering watchdog.
According to a recent study from Chainalysis, scammers have now made more than $8.8 million in illicit profits from non-fungible tokens (NFT). The company analyzed NFT sales to self-financed addresses and found that several NFT sellers have conducted hundreds of ‘wash trades’. These trades involve the seller being on both sides of the transaction, and they’re used
On the Ethereum blockchain, there’s a 42-character address that’s home to around $600 million of cryptocurrency. It’s unknown who owns the address, but we do know that the money was stolen from players of the online game Axie Infinity. Hackers stole the money on March 23. However, despite moving millions of dollars since, the hackers
The Department of Justice has hit a pair of 20-year-olds with fraud and money laundering charges. These charges relate to their role in a $1.3 million scheme involving NFTs. The ice-cream-themed NFTs involved in the scheme were known as ‘Frosties’. Early investors were promised future giveaways, access to future releases, and a metaverse game built
At the end of January 2022, China launched a three-year anti-money laundering (AML) campaign. According to a government statement, the campaign intends to safeguard national security and social stability. The campaign, which is already underway, will last until the end of 2024. It’s led by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Ministry of
Studies have shown that fines for AML failings by regulated institutions were five times higher in 2020 than they were in 2019. In total, AML penalties for 2020 reached $2.2 billion. The findings were uncovered in Kroll’s annual Global Enforcement Review (2021). The study found that, globally, 45 fines for AML failures were issued in
At the close of 2021, the Biden administration announced its comprehensive U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption. This strategy emphasized two key enforcement priorities: anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. In an effort to root out corruption, the Biden administration plans to issue regulations that will improve transparency in regard to beneficial ownership and real estate transactions. In
A report by blockchain data company Chainalysis has discovered that criminals laundered $8.6bn of cryptocurrency in 2021. This was a 30% increase in the amount laundered in 2020. However, the total remains slightly below the five-year peak of $10.9bn in 2019. In the report, Chainalysis said that police could strike a ‘huge blow’ to these criminals by
Login
