In this episode, panellists from accountancy sector supervisory bodies discuss Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance within the sector. This includes specific cases where a firm may have AML concerns during Know Your Customer (KYC) and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) practices. The panellists use their extensive knowledge to provide their perspectives on the sector as a whole and specifics relating to their areas of focus, from large accountancy firms to individual bookkeepers. There is also information on opportunities for firms to approach the UKFIU’s Reporter Engagement Team (RET) to impr ..read more

In this episode, panellists from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) discuss the issue of money mules, including key indicators of money muling, types of money mules and strategies used to recruit potential money mules. For the subtitled version of this episode go to: https://youtu.be/bTSKvCIYq90 Acronyms used in this podcast: SARs: Suspicious Activity Reports Time Stamps: 00:11 Introduction 01:09 Money muling explanation 02:27 Money mule account explanation 04:19 How big a problem is money muling and how much is laundered via this? 06:28 Types of money ..read more

In this episode, panellists from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (UAEFIU) discuss the nature of MSBs and exchange houses in the UK and UAE, the risks of money laundering associated with both sectors, patterns of criminality, how this type of financial service has changed and why there is still a need for them in an increasingly cashless world. For the subtitled version of this episode go to: https://youtu.be/zSHK63hIugU Acronyms used in this podcast: MSB: Money service bureau or money service business SME: Subject-matter expert SARs: Suspicious Activity Re ..read more

We continue our series of podcasts focused on fraud. In this podcast we will be looking at fraud intensification. In 2022 the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)  with assistance from the City of London Police, implemented a period of intensification of activity across law enforcement.  There were a number of objectives of this intensification: to increase public confidence that law enforcement is committed to tackling fraud offending in the UK; to act as a deterrent through the promoting of successful initiatives to arrest or interview under caution suspects of fraud; to seize the ..read more

Fraud Communications Fraud accounts for over 40% of all crime and recent statistics have shown that 1 in 15 people are a victim of fraud. To facilitate a coordinated response to tackling this, a framework has been developed by key partners, based on insight from across various sectors, to create a streamlined, comprehensive approach.  It is hoped that by having a consistent and comprehensive response to fraud, the public will be empowered to protect themselves and to act appropriately if they are targeted. To explain what this all means, we speak with Jessica Kenny, a Strategic Engag ..read more

As the number of choices available to banking customers in the UK has grown to include non-traditional platforms, the pool of institutions that regularly report SARs has expanded and diversified. Terms such as ‘challenger bank’, ‘digital bank’, ‘FinTech’, ‘e-wallet’, ‘e-money’ and ‘cryptocurrency exchange’ are now commonplace within the SARs regime and the terminology used to discuss these reporters can be crucial to understanding the different services that they offer. In this podcast, we chat with Mike Venn, the Group Head of Risk and Compliance with Modulr to try and get a better understand ..read more

Fraud Communications Fraud accounts for over 40% of all crime and recent statistics have shown that 1 in 15 people are a victim of fraud. To facilitate a coordinated response to tackling this, a framework has been developed by key partners, based on insight from across various sectors, to create a streamlined, comprehensive approach.  It is hoped that by having a consistent and comprehensive response to fraud, the public will be empowered to protect themselves and to act appropriately if they are targeted. To explain what this all means, we speak with Jessica Kenny, a Strategic Engag ..read more

As the number of choices available to banking customers in the UK has grown to include non-traditional platforms, the pool of institutions that regularly report SARs has expanded and diversified. Terms such as ‘challenger bank’, ‘digital bank’, ‘FinTech’, ‘e-wallet’, ‘e-money’ and ‘cryptocurrency exchange’ are now commonplace within the SARs regime and the terminology used to discuss these reporters can be crucial to understanding the different services that they offer. In this podcast, we chat with Mike Venn, the Group Head of Risk and Compliance with Modulr to try and get a better understand ..read more

In this edition we speak with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, examining the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and how red flags can be potentially identified through Suspicious Activity Reports. IWT is a significant business, long reported as being the fourth largest crime in the world, and believed to generate approximately GBP 15 billion a year ..read more

Episode 9 looks at how the UKFIU works with overseas partners, ensuring that intelligence on money laundering and financial crime is effectively shared with international partners and includes John O’Sullivan (UKFIU International manager) and USA ILO Mike Manley as panellists. Topics discussed are: ·  Demystifying some of the UKFIU international terms used in the SARs Annual Reports ·  Intelligence sharing with global partners ·  An explanation of the ILO network ·  Close working between the UK and US ·  How the ILO network works with the UKFIU ·  Why SARs are so ..read more