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In opening remarks at SIFMA’s Anti-Money Laundering & Financial Crimes Conference, Saima Ahmed, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the industry group, framed the event in terms of what has and hasn’t changed in the past year.
Rulemakings under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 are new, and more will be finalized or proposed this year, Ahmed said May 22 at the New York conference. Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the associated sanctions that the financial industry must monitor compliance for, is not new, she added.
“Bad actors finding new ways to commit financial crimes also has not changed, which might be why you are here today to share information with your peers,” Ahmed continued. “And you all continue to devote time, diligence, and resources to protecting our financial system.”
A focus on digital assets is another recurring theme. “Luckily, the firms in this room have built and honed their AML/CFT programs and KYC practices since the enactment of the BSA [Bank Secrecy Act] over 50 years ago,” Ahmed said. “You have substantial experience implementing risk-based controls adapted to your business models and client base, expertise incorporating new technologies, and resources and talent to implement robust compliance programs.”
The #AML2023 event covered topics such as transaction monitoring, artificial intelligence and innovation in AML, and generating data-driven insights. Conference speakers included senior AML executives from Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, Fidelity, Citi, Charles Schwab, and other financial institutions.
“It’s great when stakeholders from the public and private sectors and across the financial industry come together to discuss the critical topics of AML and AFC, and work together towards actionable solutions,” Brendan Brothers, interim EVP of Nasdaq’s Anti-Financial Crime division told Traders Magazine. “As financial crime threats continue to evolve, the role of infrastructure and technology providers in helping financial firms and market participants monitor for bad actors has never been more important.”
Matthew Taylor, Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI who handles money laundering investigations, delivered an AML2023 keynote that covered the FBI’s focus on money laundering and financial crimes.
Taylor said the FBI’s emphasis is on large financial crimes of more than $1 million. “We are focused on the facilitators, the professional money launderers who are moving money for criminals,” he said on May 23, adding that the Bureau looks at attorneys, accountants, corporate service providers, financial and real estate professionals, and banks and other financial firms.
Suspicious activity reports (SARs) from the industry are critical. “The FBI has an important job, but on the financial crimes side of house, we don’t know a lot about it but for you,” Taylor said. “You’re the ones who are feeding us this information that makes the cases.”
SIFMA highlighted some themes of AML2023 in a preview article published May 17.
“Broker-dealers conduct substantial surveillance of fund movements in addition to transaction monitoring; they use Know Your Customer (KYC) processes to look critically at sources of funds for their customers to identify suspicious account openings or account fundings; and they regularly analyze activity to identify illicit schemes that may be new to their firms,” the article stated. “They file a significant number of suspicious activity reports (SARs), aiding law enforcement’s investigative efforts.”
Added SIFMA: “Never has it been a more dynamic and hopeful time for the dedicated and hardworking compliance and legal professionals on the front lines of broker-dealers’ efforts to combat illicit financial activity and do their part to protect and ensure the preeminence of the U.S. capital markets.”
You can learn more about Nasdaq Anti-Financial Crime Solutions here.
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