In this episode Rachel Wolcott and Lindsey Rogerson discuss how the US is diverging from the Rest of the World when it comes to expectation on financial crime expectation and the checks it requires financial institutions to make.
They begin talking about US Treasury plans to reduce Bank Secrecy Act anti-money laundering obligations for smaller banks. Rachel raises the case of Summit National Bank in Hulett, Wyoming (pop. <400) which had plans to go big in fintech with a Bulgarian crypto company. It did not have ambitious ML/CFT compliance plans, however, and US regulators pulled the plug.
Lindsey and Rachel then switch to discussing the recent fines from the UK Financial Conduct Authority on the so-called challenge banks – Metro, Monzo and Starling bank as well as early action against CB Payments. Most of which can be attributed to prioritising growth in customer number of AML and KYC checks. And Lindsey asks what has happened to an essential annual data publication from the Payments Systems Regulator.
Finally, they discuss the European Banking Authority’s recent opinion on the state of AML control at European institutions and the UK’s nine System Priorities for tackling financial crime.