Crypto ATMs: Fraud mitigation approaches to protect a nascent industry

Background In Q4 2021, the value of all crypto-assets in circulation stood close to $3Tn. At the start of 2021, that number stood at $1Tn, and nearly a decade ago did not exist. The rapid rise of interest in crypto has stunned many skeptics. The increase of crypto-assets and associated wallets has been accompanied by […]

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Spotlight: AML Training is a Pillar of Compliance – How are you meeting this requirement?

Introduction As outlined in Section 352 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001.”, an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Program shall establish “an ongoing employee training program…”.[1] Collectively speaking, regulatory bodies have not explicitly defined what this […]

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What Do I Need to Know About Proliferation Financing?

When FinCEN issued their AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism) Priorities on June 30, 2021 1, one of those priorities was proliferation financing. But what exactly is “Proliferation Financing” and how should financial institutions manage this risk? FinCEN did not really give much insight into any of the priorities or indicate what they expect […]

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Financial Elder Abuse: The Never-Ending Struggle to Stop It

To begin, let’s define our topic. Financial Elder Abuse is “when someone takes or misuses another person’s money or property for the benefit of someone other than that person. For example, neighbors, caregivers, professionals, and even family or friends may take money without permission, fail to repay money they owe, charge too much for services, or not do […]

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Spotlight: How Your Peers are Addressing MRBs, If They are Actually Banking Them, and How They are Mitigating the Risks Associated with Them

Every year we conduct surveys on important anti-money laundering (AML) topics.  A recent survey focused on the topic of Marijuana Related Businesses (MRBs). While marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, more states have begun legalizing both adult and recreational marijuana on a state level. Although the political landscape has changed, with the Democrats controlling […]

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Current Trends in Cannabis Banking and Merchant Payment Solutions

There has been a problematic lack of merchant payment solutions and access to banking services for the cannabis industry in the United States since its inception. There are many prevalent misconceptions and myths about why this gap in banking services persists, despite the growing success of the cannabis industry in the United States. While it […]

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Human Trafficking, Human Slavery, Trafficking in Persons, Human Smuggling – Part 1: A global problem. What can we do as US financial institutions to help bring it to an end?

Consider the following: On October 23, 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people—29 men, 2 boys, and 8 women — including 10 teenagers; the youngest were two 15-year-old boys—were found in the trailer of a refrigerated trailer in Essex, United Kingdom. The trailer had been shipped from Belgium, to UK.  Although it was a refrigerated […]

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