The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (“INCSR“) published this month by the U.S. Department of State, particularly volume I on the drug trafficking trade, is more favourable of Canada than the last two years, primarily as a result of the enactment in Canada of the Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, know as the Safe Streets and [...]
Today, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its long anticipated revised set of standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) which replace the 40 Recommendations + 9 Special Recommendations compiled in 2003. The revised FATF Recommendations integrate AML and CTF controls into one document and are quite expansive in that they [...]
The Canadian government announced that it is undertaking a potentially significant revision to its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) regime. The proposed changes are in addition to those proposed by the government in November 2011. In its Consultation Paper entitled “Strengthening Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime”, the government is proposing [...]
On November 7, 2011, the Department of Finance released a consultation paper on proposed amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations (the “Regulations”). The proposed amendments are significant because they expand the circumstances in which client identification is required and expand the reporting requirements for reporting entities. Most reporting entities in [...]
Several of the people named in today’s nationwide crackdown in the U.S. known as “Operation Broken Trust” have been charged, and in some cases already convicted, of money laundering. Operation Broken Trust is the first national effort in the U.S. aimed at cracking down on investment fraud schemes. It involved enforcement actions against 343 criminal defendants [...]
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has published a new anti-money laundering guidance brochure that provides some background information on the Canadian anti-money laundering and terrorist financing requirements under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act applicable to dealers in Canada. The new brochure replaces the IDA's 2002 "Deterring Money [...]
FINRA, the independent regulator for securities firms in the U.S., has fined Penson Financial Services, Inc. a Dallas-based securities clearing firm, US$450,000 for failing to establish and implement an adequate anti-money laundering compliance program from 2003 to 2008 as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, and Pinnacle Capital Markets, a Raleigh-based company, US$300,000 for failing to [...]