KEYNOTE: INSIDE A LAUNDERER'S MIND

On November 10, I will present keynotes to attendees of both the Europe and North America ComplyAdvantage virtual annual conferences, followed by a separate Q & A for both venues. I'll share insights about the minds of launderers who service clients with all types of money seeking secrecy from governments. We'll explore the role of those that participate in black money markets around the world, and explain why certain geographic areas and businesses carry the greatest money laundering risk today. I look forward to sharing ideas and answering tough questions.

https://complyadvantage.com/ca-conference

TIME TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

There's no denying that at least 98% of the annual illicit funds generated on this planet go unseen by law enforcement, regulators and private sector compliance professionals. I'm grateful for Thomson Reuters' invitation to share my perspective on November 17 as a speaker on their webinar, Beyond the FinCEN Files. I hope you'll join this think-tank experience and share your thoughts about how we can all seek to improve our contribution to the fight against money laundering, financial crime, and corruption.

https://connect.aem.thomsonreuters.com/Beyond-the-FinCEN-Files?utm_campaign=webinar-FinCEN2020&utm_medium=post-org&utm_source=LinkedIn-hk

WHY ORGANIZED CRIME GROWS EXPONENTIALLY

With the permission of the journalists with whom I collaborated on the FinCEN Files, I'd like to share my take on a small window of SARs within the thousands provided to them. In my view, our collective challenge to identify and attack the movement of illicit funds requires the remedy of a mosaic of problems. What I address in this article is just one small piece of that mosaic. There is a long list of "outside the box" approaches that can be initiated to enhance the opportunity for the law enforcement, financial institutions and compliance professionals to more efficiently attack the roughly $2 trillion a year in illicit funds generated on this planet every year.

The good news is that the overwhelming majority of compliance professionals around the world are amazingly inspired to make a difference. I hope the reporting on the FinCEN Files contributes to positive change for everyone involved in this war against money laundering. Access my article through the link below.

https://www.riskscreen.com/kyc360/news/fincen-files-confirm-the-elephant-in-the-room/

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE TRUTH

I’ve had the privilege of working with journalists from the ICIJ, BuzzFeed and many other media outlets during the past decade. When approached a few months ago to analyze leaked SARs and offer my perspectives about the significance of the documents, I paused and consulted to ensure that I would not likely be opining about transactions that had occurred so recently that I might be undermining efforts within FinCEN or law enforcement to pursue ongoing crimes. Satisfied that wasn’t the case, I analyzed hundreds of pages for many days.

As time drew near publication, FinCEN suggested that sharing this information with the public could undermine national security, harm ongoing investigations, endanger the safety of witnesses, and chill the efforts of an otherwise spirited participation of institutions in the SAR process. In my view, the opposite is much more likely.

It is my hope that the facts publicized in many articles related to the FinCEN Files get a very thorough review by the Inspector General’s Office and Congress, so the public can be assured that the financial community, FinCEN, and law enforcement are all doing the maximum that can be done to most effectively serve the public through the SAR program.

In the days to come, with the permission of BuzzFeed, I will explain in greater detail the tragedy I witnessed in the FinCEN Files. In the meantime, here's a link to the Buzzfeed article published today that addresses the issues I helped to analyze:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johntemplon/singapore-shell-company-funneled-millions-banks