What is whistleblowing and who is a whistleblower? Although there is no uniform definition of these terms, whistleblowing has been used since the 1970’s to describe activities of people who wish to draw attention to unfair practices, primarily in sports. The term is derived from an English phrase “to blow the whistle” evoking the warning […]
Editorial note: The AML Academy strives to disseminate information on AML/CFT measures in the EU member states and countries seeking accession to the EU. Our aim is to share and exchange information pertaining to counter money laundering and terrorist financing processes. Edin Jahić, head of the Unit for The Detection of Organized Crime and Corruption […]
There are several new norms entering into force on 1st January 2021, namely Act No. 49/2020 Coll., amending Act No. 21/1992 Coll., on banks, as amended, Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on selected measures against legitimisation of proceeds of crime and terrorist financing, as amended, and several other laws (hereinafter referred to as the “Bank Identity […]
Since the beginning of their virtual existence, decentralized virtual currencies – especially Bitcoin – have been receiving considerable attention. While some welcome them as the future of payment systems or as an investment opportunity, criminal and terrorist groups see cryptocurrencies as yet another incentive to commit crime. The advantage of virtual currencies as a tool […]
Crypto assets: AML/CFT risks Although there is currently no common and established EU classification of crypto assets, I dare to say that the taxonomy used by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority is the best and probably the most widely used one (FINMA)[1]. FINMA defines the following three types of tokens: payment, utility, and asset: 1) Payment […]
I am moved by the stories of people who, in the coronavirus times, show solidarity with others and invest their time and money to help others. These people show that humanity is their moral value. The line between good and bad is very thin and omnipresent. Virtually anyone crosses it now and then, but […]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the counter money laundering and terrorist financing measures (hereinafter only the „AML/CFT“) got as much tested as never before. The same is true for the automated AML/CFT monitoring systems (hereinafter only the „AML systems“). How did the unusual situation impact functionality of these systems? Martin Mužný, one of the AML Academy […]
Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (hereinafter only the “MiFID II“) requires security traders to introduce and implement numerous systems and controls [1] to secure robust management structure having a transparent organisational structure, a clear division […]
Tax crime and money laundering, commonly referred to as “money laundering”, are relatively intricately linked, at least in some of their aspects. Without a predicate crime, law enforcement bodies cannot initiate prosecution of money laundering. In short, the authorities must first document the crime which generated the alleged proceeds. Should the investigators suspect that perpetrators […]
Any global shock to mankind and economy such as Covid 19 restricts free movement of people, goods, and services. Moreover, it could completely change social interaction. Among others, customer due diligence, especially compliance with principles of the “know your client” (hereinafter only the KYC) policy changed. The “know your client” policy is to be [1] […]
How come that one of the German technology superstars, a leader in electronic payment services and financial risk management, which was, in August 2018, worth 24.6 billion euros at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange [1], is now short of 1.9 billion euros and pending insolvency? A bunch of crooks Money is the root of all evil […]
A couple of days ago, the Academy organised a seminar “Measures to detect sanctioned entities”. Since the seminar was met with great success, I decided to sum it up for those of you who were unable to participate. At the beginning of the presentation, we could hardly avoid the current hot case of the leak […]
On Monday, June 1st, 2020, the Czech Government passed a draft bill on Registration of Beneficial Owners (Zákon o evidenci skutečných majitelů, hereinafter only the „ZESM“). Provisions related to the beneficial owners of legal entities are therefore removed, contrary to the current legislation, from Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on Selected Measures Against Money Laundering and […]