CONTENTS

• What are the challenges faced by crypto exchanges without KYC?
• The KYC Landscape in Crypto Exchanges
• KYC Builds Trust and Lowers the Risk of Transparency
• Benefits of KYC in Crypto Exchanges
• Overview of Crypto Exchanges in 2023
• The Role of KYC Solution Providers in Securing Crypto Exchanges
• Unlocking Efficiency with IDMERIT

What are the Challenges Faced by Crypto Exchanges Without KYC?

Before the widespread adoption of KYC in the cryptocurrency industry, there were several challenges:

1. Possibility of increasing Fraud: Cryptocurrencies, in their early days, offered a high degree of anonymity. While this was seen as a benefit by many, it also attracted individuals involved in illegal activities such as money laundering and fraud.
2. Reputation Risks: The association of cryptocurrencies with illegal activities tarnished their reputation. Trust and acceptance in the broader financial ecosystem were hindered, slowing down mainstream adoption.
3. Financial Risks: Without robust KYC solutions, financial risks and scams increase. Financial criminals who wanted to commit fraud were often attracted to crypto exchanges with no transparency or accountability. This led to financial losses.
4. Security Threats: The absence of KYC measures has made cryptocurrency exchanges more susceptible to hacking and cyber threats. These vulnerabilities resulted in significant losses for both users and platforms.

The KYC Landscape in Crypto Exchanges

KYC in crypto exchanges refers to the process of verifying the identity of users. It’s a robust mechanism that helps crypto platforms establish the real-world identities of their customers. The primary goal is to prevent fraudulent activities and to create a secure environment for trading digital assets.

To implement KYC effectively, crypto exchanges often turn to KYC solution providers. These solution providers offer a suite of services tailored to the unique needs of the cryptocurrency industry. By collaborating with these experts, crypto exchanges can streamline the onboarding process, enhance security, and reduce the risk with financial regulations. Below is how KYC solutions unlock the power in crypto exchanges:

1. User Verification: KYC solution providers use a variety of methods, including document verification and facial recognition, to ensure users are who they claim to be.
2. Risk Mitigation: By assessing user-profiles and tracking their activities, KYC solutions help exchanges identify high-risk individuals or entities. This proactive approach reduces the potential for financial crimes.
3. Enhanced Security: By implementing robust identity verification, crypto exchanges protect themselves and their users from security breaches and unauthorised access.

KYC Builds Trust and Lowers the Risk of Transparency

Financial misconduct, spanning a spectrum of illicit activities such as tax evasion, bribery, graft, financing of terrorism, and cyber intrusions into online banking systems, imposes an annual financial burden of approximately $1.4 to $3.5 trillion globally, with an estimated $2 trillion channelled through the laundering process.

Notably, crypto exchanges stand as susceptible targets, experiencing losses amounting to $4.26 billion in 2019 alone. The integration of Know Your Customer protocols within the realm of cryptocurrency and crypto exchange platforms can play a pivotal role in the identification and authentication of users, thereby diminishing the risk of financial crime and unauthorised operations.

Benefits of KYC in Crypto Exchanges

Implementing KYC solutions in crypto exchanges brings a multitude of benefits. These include:

1. Enhanced Trust: Users are more likely to trust and engage with exchanges that prioritise security and trust. KYC solutions make the decision-making process easy on the basis of identity verification.
2. Reduced Fraud: KYC solutions act as a deterrent to fraudsters and significantly reduce the incidence of fraudulent activities.
3. Combating Money Laundering: KYC & AML solutions help crypto exchanges avoid hefty fines and reputational damage. These solutions help in recognizing people involved in money laundering and terrorism financing.
4. Reduced Operational Costs: Automated KYC processes streamline user onboarding and reduce the need for manual verifications, cutting operational costs.
5. Global Expansion: Crypto Exchanges that prioritise KYC can expand to more countries by demonstrating a commitment to international regulations.

Overview of Crypto Exchanges in 2023

In 2023, cryptocurrency prices demonstrated remarkable resilience, especially considering that both Bitcoin and Ethereum had their worst annual performances in 2018. Despite a relatively unexciting performance in September, Bitcoin prices have surged by 63.3% year-to-date, while Ethereum prices have increased by 40.2%.

According to the most recent research conducted by Coinfirm, it has come to light that 69% of the 216 crypto-related businesses under scrutiny do not possess “comprehensive and transparent” KYC solutions, a critical component of their AML initiatives.

A separate report from CipherTrace further underscores this concern, indicating that among the top 120 crypto exchanges, one-third exhibit subpar KYC processes, and two-thirds are deficient in maintaining robust KYC policies.

The Role of KYC Solution Providers in Securing Crypto Exchanges

KYC solution providers help to authenticate business identities for crypto industries. They offer a range of services that encompass identity verification. The following identity verification methods are essential for crypto exchanges to stay secure and stable:

1. Document Verification: KYC solution providers enable exchanges to verify the authenticity of identity documents, such as passports and driver’s licences.
2. Biometric Authentication: Facial recognition technology ensures that the person submitting the documents is the same as the one in the ID.
3. Watchlist Screening: KYC solution providers allow exchanges to check users against global watchlists, identifying politically exposed persons (PEPs) and other high-risk individuals.
4. Ongoing Monitoring: Regularly updated profiles and transaction monitoring help exchanges identify changes in user behaviour that may indicate illicit activities.

Unlocking Efficiency with IDMERIT

There are several key strategies through which a crypto management platform can enhance security:

• Advanced identity verification
• Efficient onboarding process
• Ongoing monitoring
• Risk assessment tools

IDMERIT provides robust identity verification and Know Your Customer solutions. After harnessing these identity verification solutions, you’ll be able to manage custom workflows tailored to different usage scenarios and incorporate a range of verification methods to align with KYC methods. As a result, we not only guide in maximising conversion rate but also significantly enhance the efficiency of the verification pipeline.

If you’re interested in discovering how IDMERIT can assist you in achieving identity trust and security for your cryptocurrency exchange, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us or join our community for a direct conversation with our product team. We’re here to engage in a discussion with you!

The post A Comprehensive Guide of KYC in Crypto Exchanges in 2023 appeared first on IDMERIT.

Contents:

• What is Money Laundering
• What are the 3 Stages of Money Laundering
• Placement
• Layering
• Integration
• Examples of Money Laundering
• IDMERIT AML Solutions for Businesses

What is Money Laundering

Money laundering is a complex method of converting a large amount of illegally gained profit into lawfully acceptable form. The term ‘money laundering’ is derived from the idea of cleaning, i.e., laundering ‘dirty money’ into white money, for its integration into the financial system.

Money Laundering is considered a serious punishable offense involving all sorts of people, from corporate to street offenders. The proceeds of crime sources include felonious activities like narcotics trafficking, bribery, corruption, terrorist financing, human trafficking, etc.

What are the 3 Stages of Money Laundering

Let us discuss what are the 3 stages of money laundering. Since money laundering is a premeditated crime, it comprises i. placement, ii. layering, and iii. integration steps to make dirty money seem legitimate and bring it to the economy.

Placement

For money launderers, placement is the most vulnerable stage wherein the dirty money is surreptitiously introduced into the economy as monetary instruments or as direct deposits into the bank accounts. In the case of bank account deposits, smaller deposits below threshold levels are made to subvert reporting.

Since the money origin is illegitimate, placement involves the maximum risk. All jurisdictions worldwide have instituted stringent cash deposit measures to conform to Cash/Currency Transaction Reporting (CTR) filing obligations.

There are several ways of placing illicit money into the financial system, like loan repayment, gambling, fake invoicing, foreign exchange, and blending funds. Concurrently, money launderers exploit cash-intensive businesses that promote easy money movement, for instance, car washing, check cashing services, gaming, etc.

Opening foreign shell organizations or trusts and transferring cash below custom thresholds overseas to conceal the beneficial ownership is an intricate placement scheme that is difficult for the AML authorities to get hold of.

Layering

Once the money is placed into the bank in the first stage, the layering process disguises the illegitimate money source by maneuvering transactions and accounts. The purpose is to make it cumbersome for the authorities to follow the audit trail involving a series of domestic and off-shore transactions made using the different channels of payments.

Purchasing and selling expensive, luxurious goods – like land, jewelry, painting, etc. – is an example of layering in money laundering and is, in fact, the most favorable method for financial criminals to make use of their illicit funds.

One of the complex layering methods implies a series of irrational international transactions especially covering the jurisdictions that allow shell organizations and private banking. Abrupt holding company takeovers and real estate investments could also be set as pertinent examples here.

To move large amounts of proceeds of crime, money launderers hire professional bookkeepers to assist in fund transfers across international jurisdictions. Online remittance and crypto payments have aggravated the situation, especially with the ease of buying and selling cryptocurrency criminals misuse the exchanges to layer the ill-gotten funds and cover up their source.

Integration

Integration defines the final money laundering stage, wherein the illegally obtained money is returned to the legal financial system after completing the placement and layering stages. The criminal proceeds get washed off and integrated into banks and financial institutions as clean money.

Common integration tactics take in selling off expensive and luxurious items bought during the layering stage. Other instances are cash outflows from shell organizations, including fake payroll pay-outs, loan disbursement to shell company directors, shareholder dividends, etc.

Examples of Money Laundering

Drug trafficking is one of the most serious money laundering threats worldwide today. The narcotics industry is completely illegitimate and cash-intensive. Other examples of money laundering are human trafficking, arms trafficking, smuggling, bribery, corruption, etc.

Terrorist financing is a widely prevalent nuisance, and online payments and cryptocurrencies have intensified the situation. Many terrorist organizations today misuse digital finance to transfer terrorist funds across borders.

Other examples of money laundering comprise white-collar crimes such as corporate embezzlement and investment rip-offs, including insurance and mutual fund scams.

It must be noted that Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) is one of the most excruciating crimes, which is extremely difficult to trace and establish in front of the law. Today, Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) covers almost $2 trillion worth of global trade. Common TBML methods that money launderers exploit are over-under and multiple invoicing, over-under and inferior shipment, fake or phantom shipment, and shell company trading.

IDMERIT AML Solutions for Businesses

It is a general notion that anti-money laundering policies are meant for the banking and financial sector. But, in fact, all regulated non-financial industries like remittance, accounts, legal, insurance, investment, fintech, etc., now fall under the scope of AML-CFT obligations.

At the same time, regulations in high-risk sectors like cryptocurrencies, third-party payment processing, forex, casinos, gambling, etc., call for enhanced diligence methods to combat money laundering and terrorist financing threats arising from the ease of international transfers offered to individuals and merchants.

Combatting money laundering is a global effort; IDMERIT extends tailormade AML Solutions that operate in tandem with national and international AML-CFT guidelines. Contact IDMERIT IDMaml consultant and book a demo to understand more about AML requirements for your business.

The post Money Laundering Explained: What are the 3 Stages of Money Laundering appeared first on IDMERIT.

• Fintech and Money Laundering Pain Points
• Why Fintech AML Compliance is Important
• AML in Fintech-Associated Risk and Challenges
• How to Select an Effective Fintech AML Solution

Anti-money laundering, AML in fintech has several risk mitigation requirements, and fintech AML compliance holds equal gravity as compliance in conventional financial institutions. Fintech is one of the fastest-growing industries that has been rising at a meteoric rate in terms of technology, usability, and revenues.

The word ‘fintech’ is extremely broad, and its scope is still unknown to many. Fintech chiefly includes mobile banking, digital banking, crypto trading platform, decentralized finance (DeFi), payment apps, mobile wallets, lending apps, crowdfunding, insurance, and trading apps.

Be it e-wallet, lending, trading, etc., all have one common feature, i.e., they deal with user onboarding and transaction processing in volumes. Hence, financial technology or fintech businesses have absolutely no escape from anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations.

AML in fintech is also essential as financial technology faces huge competition from traditional financial services, and there is constant pressure on fintech businesses to follow AML-CFT guidelines, overcoming all the challenges and frictions coming in the way of achieving optimum fintech AML compliance.

AML in fintech

Fintech and Money Laundering Pain Points

Modern-day financial miscreants always look for platforms with high transaction volumes and mass payment processing options. Hence, fintech is the most convenient platform for criminals, and more and more money launderers today prefer laundering illicitly gained money via transaction aggregation, also known as transaction laundering.

Fintech money laundering also involves channelizing money by misusing e-commerce platforms for fake payments. For instance, many fintech and money laundering methods are carried out by camouflaging banned products or services beneath a front site or a legitimate-looking site. Fintech and money laundering nuisances thus go hand in hand. At times, the process is extremely difficult for the authorities to capture to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

Why Fintech AML Compliance is Important

Financial technology has achieved its new zenith with advancement and sophistication in technology, user experience, and global internet capacity. However, this comes alongside an ongoing risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and terrorism threat. The fact is that innumerable financial technologies are sprouting at unprecedented levels, and since fintech is mainly technology-based, they face much pressure to remain fraud-proof. AML in fintech is an emerging regulation, and regtech firms are offering special fintech AML solutions for those startups that find it challenging to cope with fintech money laundering.

AML in Fintech-Associated Risk and Challenges

The financial technology methods are extremely fast and huge in capacity, making money launderers exploit the fintech platforms while keeping pace with its technological advancement. For instance, fintech payments are fully remote over the internet. The financial miscreants leverage the virtual nature of the payments, take advantage of its anonymity, and conceal their identities to perform high-level frauds linked to identity thefts.

Secondly, speed has been directly linked to user experience in fintech. However, fraudsters often take advantage of this feature by exchanging large transactions across domestic and international accounts, even before the authorities can respond to the alerts and initiate an investigation. Experienced and sophisticated fraudsters get away with huge illicit money transfers in a jiffy, even before the risk team can determine whether they should file a suspicious report to the concerned state authority.

Third-party payment systems have spread sporadically in the form of apps across phones, tablets, and computers, paving the way to money muling, smurfing, and structuring illicit money to the point that it is untraceable. It is extremely important for the fintech AML compliance team to monitor and understand the crime pattern constantly and scrutinize the payment vulnerabilities to outpace the AML fintech financial crimes.

How to Select an Effective Fintech AML Solution

Fintech is fast growing and equally competitive; fintech payments are preferable to those users and merchants looking for speedy transactions and faster receivables. Fintech payment platforms, be it digital banking, crypto trading, payment app, or e-wallets – mainly all process user payments in batches to speed up the account settlements. Money launderers take advantage of this process and exploit the blindspots in fintech AML compliance, making the industry extremely vulnerable to aggregating batch transactions.

AML fintech noncompliance could cost businesses huge financial penalties or even bring them to the brink of permanent closure. IDMERIT offers IDMaml, a world-class fintech AML solution with end-to-end fintech AML compliance functionality. IDMaml extends individual and business identity verifications; sanctions, PEP, adverse media screening; and transaction monitoring all on one platform.

IDMERIT’s custom-made fintech and AML solution is an all-in-one payment risk mitigation platform for companies requiring bulk payment batch processing daily. For companies seeking an optimum fintech AML solution, contact IDMERIT AML fintech connoisseur and understand the complete nitty-gritty of fintech and money laundering risk mitigation procedures today.

The post AML in Fintech: A Guide to Fintech AML Compliance, Challenges, and Solutions appeared first on IDMERIT.

• Banks and Money Laundering
• Steps to Achieve AML in Financial Services
• Banking AML Compliance and SAR, STR filings
• How to Ensure Optimal AML in Finance Procedures

Anti-Money Laundering, AML in banking and finance, is a legal obligation that the industry must oblige to ascertain they do not knowingly or unknowingly support money laundering and terrorism financing activities. Banking is a major financial service, and AML in banking is almost synonymous with AML in finance.

Banks are obligated to perform all anti-money laundering checks on their customers, as the launderers most exploit the banks for placement, layering, and integration – the three stages of converting the illicitly gained money into financially acceptable form.

Unlike earlier methods of form filling for filing suspicious transaction reports (STRs) for cash deposits beyond the threshold levels, modern anti-money laundering or AML in finance follows advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies. Simultaneously, many banks are adopting Blockchain technologies to fulfill their AML-KYC compliance needs.

Banks and Money Laundering

With increasing volumes of online payments and virtual banking operations in practice, new forms of money laundering in banking have become all the more sophisticated and not as easy to capture.

For instance, a rise in the number of card fraud, friendly fraud in payments, and a new form of e-commerce money laundering, called transaction laundering, all have come into play.

It makes the current situation challenging for banks and money laundering detecting authorities, adding complexity to the daunting task of bringing perpetrators of financial crimes to justice.

Steps to Achieve AML in Financial Services

To remain AML-CFT compliant, anti-money laundering or AML in banking has certain procedures. The first always remains to Know Your Customer (KYC) or Know Your Business (KYB) for identity verification of the customer and to ensure the person is the person they claim to be. However, AML in financial services is also about continuous due diligence and ongoing monitoring. Frequent ID document checks and upgrades also form an important part of the AML measures and are often linked to enhanced due diligence.

The next in the AML in financial service fraud mitigation measure is client screening against individual, organizational or national sanctions. Client screening against politically exposed persons (PEPs) and adverse media lists is next on the list, and also equally important to check if the customer holds any influential position or has gained negative publicity in the past.

Banking AML compliance procedures have one final important measure, i.e., transaction monitoring. Positive KYC identity verification and screening checks don’t mean the customer is risk-free. Hence, AML in banking calls for continuous monitoring of customer behaviors and activities. To abide by this important AML in banking obligation, the financial institution must use an effective AI-ML base transaction monitoring solution.

Banking AML Compliance and SAR, STR filings

Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international AML-CFT policy-making body for financial and regulated institutions, ascertains the prominent role of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in combatting money laundering and terrorism financing nuisances. Each FATF member nation has one national FATF FIU body setup.

The banking risk team is subject to filing all Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the state FIU within the stipulated time for prompt investigations.

How to Ensure Optimal AML in Finance Procedures

Employee training and effective in-house risk mitigation technology are the two main factors that define the quality of AML in banking efficiently. Practical AML staff training, with regular tests and revisions, determines the proficiency levels of the staff. Alongside this, the banking AML compliance engine must be such that it can be easily integrated into the existing operating system without creating much friction.

State-of-the-art automation tools for anti-money laundering in banking can save the organization from financial penalties and help build a strong reputation that helps in customer retention and new client acquisitions.

If you are a financial service looking for AML-CFT implementation in your organization, IDMERIT offers hassle-free integration with single API AML automation. You may further read pertinent information on our website or book a free consultation and get in touch with our AML financial crime manager for your business.

The post Anti-Money Laundering (AML) in Banking and Finance: Best Practices appeared first on IDMERIT.

• Why is AML in the Payment Sector required?
• AML Transaction Screening
• AML Transaction Monitoring
• Challenges in AML Transaction Monitoring
• Selecting the Best AML Solution for Payments

Why is AML in the Payment Sector required?

AML in the Payment Sector has an inevitable role in mitigating the risk of transaction laundering, the online form of money laundering currently posing the most imminent cyber threat. Payment processors must exert due diligence during merchant onboarding and transaction processing and remain vigilant during the complete payment processing cycle. Payment gateways and payment processing businesses owe enhanced anti-money laundering measures to the banks and financial institutions they are linked to, as any negligence on the security part while aggregating the payments might lead to a financial and reputational loss of the payment entity as well as the financial institution.

Anti-money laundering, or AML, in the payment sector has a broad scope, and there are two core technological components for risk mitigation in this field. The first is AML Transaction Screening for verifying merchants against the global sanctions listing to determine the risk levels they brought to the payment business. The next is AML Transaction Monitoring, an AI-ML-based engine to monitor merchant behavior and activities and their transaction risk levels.

As payment aggregators process mass transactions, a due merchant onboarding process to ascertain the risk levels of the merchants is an important degree of AML-CFT execution. Drafting terms agreement with the merchant, a thorough examination of the business by the designated compliance officer, AML training for the onboarding division staff, and continuous merchant review as part of the due diligence are all important steps to achieve compliance for AML in the payment sector.

AML Transaction Screening

Screening merchants against the global sanctions database eliminate the risks of doing business with individual and entities detrimental to the AML-CFT standards. High-volume transaction merchants bring the maximum revenues to the payment gateways and processors, but this should not come at the cost of illicit money laundering activities many high-risk businesses might be involved in. Politically exposed persons (PEPs) and adverse media screening are the next two important screening phases to accomplish the requirement of AML in the payment sector.

A more advanced and comprehensive AML Transaction Screening has multiple security features for pre-screening, merchant KYC and identity verifications, background checks, and past transactional record proofs. Website content analysis and compliance security checks are the screening tools for underwriting the merchant credit risk.

AML Transaction Monitoring

Recently, the significance of live transaction vigilance has grown manifold, and even the international AML-CFT regulators, like the FATF and EU AMLD, have emphasized AML Transaction Monitoring. The regulators maintain that filing Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) is the most substantial part of AML risk mitigation obligations.

The AI Machine Learning algorithms build a logic to relate the live data from transactions with the static customer data from CRM. In keeping with the pre-defined logic, the business transactions must match the thresholds set at the time of merchant onboarding. Different merchants have different payment thresholds depending on the transaction volumes, nature of the business, and country of operation.

This whole AML Transaction Monitoring automation is hence operated via a detection engine. The engine is built on a rule-based scenario model. It senses whether any merchant transaction or activity poses a risk to the AML-CFT security standards of the payment provider. The system sends an alarm as soon as a threat is determined, and the compliance team must review the alert. Any suspicious or threatening behavior or activity must be filed with the concerned authorities in the form of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR).

Challenges in AML Transaction Monitoring

False positives have been considered the biggest challenge. It is equally time-consuming and affects the business bottom line as genuine merchants often feel harassed and choose a different payment vendor instead because of excessive friction. However, the primary challenge that the payment providers find is to accomplish a frictionless integration of the AML Transaction Monitoring solutions in the existing organizational infrastructure. A comprehensive AML solution for payments with an easy cloud-based API solution doesn’t require additional hardware. It is much more scalable for integrating into the payment gateway and processing systems.

Thirdly, transaction laundering is a growing form of online money laundering and currently stands as the most significant challenge or threat to the payment industry. In transaction laundering, legitimate-looking merchants sell illegal goods or services via genuine-looking sites; the technique is highly sophisticated, and capturing it requires an advanced AML solution for payments.

Selecting the Best AML Solution for Payments

A cutting-edge solution for AML Transaction Monitoring comes with dual Know Your Merchant (KYM) and Know Your Payment (KYP) features. IDMERIT offers global payment providers its flagship IDMkyX AML-KYC and Identity Verification products.

IDMkyX is a complete one-stop solution to the requirement for AML in the payment sector. To learn more about AML Transaction Screening and AML Transaction Monitoring, please schedule an IDMkyX demo with our AML professional to learn more about our AML solutions for payments.

The post The Inevitable Role of AML in the Payment Sector and AML Transaction Monitoring Best Practices appeared first on IDMERIT.

• International AML-CFT Standards
• The U.S. Bank Secrecy and PATRIOT Acts
• The U.K. POCA Act and FCA Compliance
• The EU AMLDs and eIDAS Guidelines
• COAF and BCB Identity Verification Compliance in Brazil

In the past two decades, the concepts like global AML regulations and identity verification compliance have begun to gain much attention, mostly in the wake of the 2001 United States terror attacks that brought in laws such as the US PATRIOT Act, making the identity verification of individuals and businesses compulsory as part of AML-CFT measures.

This article spotlights how international organizations like FATF, EU AMLD, and sanctions bodies like OFAC eventually became prominent with important overhauls in identity verification requirements for banks and regulated sectors to combat the growing nuisance of money laundering and terrorism financing.

International AML-CFT Standards

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international AML-CFT policy-making body that sets global AML regulations. The 40 FATF AML and 9 CFT Recommendations are the pillars of international AML CFT standards. The 40 FATF AML Recommendations comprise guidelines on customer identity verification, risk-based KYC, Sanctions, PEP, and confiscating of assets.

Alongside verification of individuals and entities, FATF underscores the gravity of transaction monitoring and setting up Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) by each FATF member nation. The financial and obligated institutions must monitor their customer transactions in real-time and submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to the state FIU for advanced scrutiny.

To combat the growing money laundering threats at the onset of virtual assets/cryptocurrencies, FATF has set forth Crypto Travel Rule to ensure the origins and movements of virtual currencies/tokens are monitored to combat money laundering predicate crimes linked to anonymous crypto transactions.

In addition to FATF, other international identity verification compliance-setting bodies observe identity verification requirements in banking and financial institutions. These institutions are the Wolfsberg Principles, Egmont Group of Financial Intelligent Units, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and FATF local chapters known as FATF Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs).

The U.S. Bank Secrecy and PATRIOT Acts

In the United States, the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) forms the core of AML-KYC compliance; over the years, the BSA Act has evolved from time to time. The two most important thresholds for AML reporting under the BSA mandate are the Currency Transaction Report (CTR) and Suspicious Transaction Report (STR).

In the United States, the US PATRIOT Act 2001 mentions the state’s identity verification requirements, such as the Customer Identification Program (CIP), Customer Due Diligence (CDD), and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for individuals and organizations.

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) authorities work with the Office of Foreign Assets and Control (OFAC) to impose various domestic and international sanctions on individuals, trade, and organizations. On the other hand, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) acts strategically with the U.S. AML authorities to disseminate BSA regulations.

The U.K. POCA Act and FCA Compliance

In the United Kingdom, KYC, CDD, and Transaction Monitoring measures are the three-core AML compliance that regulated businesses must follow. Proceeds of Crime Act, POCA 2002 defines all money laundering predicate crimes in the country. Additionally, the Sanctions and Anti Money Laundering Act, SAMLA 2018, gives the U.K. AML authorities the right to impose prompt sanctions against non-abiding entities and potential high-risk individuals.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an important regulatory body that sets and examines the banking and financial sector’s AML compliance program in the U.K. The FCA works with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to set AML-CFT standards for all the non-financial regulated sectors in the U.K.

The EU AMLDs and eIDAS Guidelines

Within Europe, the European Union (EU) Anti-Money Laundering Directives (AMLDs) are followed by the member states. The EU AMLD sets shared AML regulations based on regional typologies, and these guidelines are mandatory for the member nations to comply. The EU AMLDs recommend important AML-CFT guidelines, including risk-based intelligence, virtual assets rules, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), bribery, and corruption measures.

The EU adopted eIDAS guidelines in 2014 to homogenize digital identification and electronic signature and to ease inter-European business processes. The electronic IDentification, Authentication and Trust Services (eIDAS) brings remote video identification compliance for digital reforms in the EU and establish the region as a ‘Digital Single Market’.

COAF and BCB Identity Verification Compliance in Brazil

Money Laundering crimes linked to narcotics trafficking have been extensively prevalent in Latin American nations. The Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) works with the Conselho de Controle de Actividades Financieras (COAF) in Brazil, the largest South American economy, to bring AML reforms. The COAF is the main AML-CFT authority in Brazil that guides identity verification requirements, sanctions, PEP, adverse media, and transaction monitoring compliances to the financial and obligated sectors.

To learn more about international AML-CFT standards and your industry identity verification compliance, you may contact our IDMerit AML-KYC compliance officer. Thousands of businesses worldwide use IDMerit products and services; we ensure our clients always keep up with the global AML regulations and remain AML regulatory compliant with national and international standards.

The post Major Global AML Regulations and Identity Verification Compliance appeared first on IDMERIT.

Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) exploits international trade and trade finance systems for laundering illicit proceeds. It involves a series of schemes for TBML, including falsifying invoices, commodity misclassification, forming shell companies, forging trade documents, etc., for illegally moving funds across the continents.

Currently, international financial institutions estimate $2 trillion worth of trade, out of around $20 trillion, to get laundered annually in the form of Trade-Based Money Laundering. Customs fraud is mainly synonymous with Trade-Based Money Laundering. Customs manipulations like price, quantity, and quality alterations in the import/export of the goods are involved in the TBML of illicit bulk cash across nations. This blog sheds light on the TBML methodologies, TBML red-flag indicators, and its regulatory compliance policies.

Widespread TBML Methodologies Exploited by Money Launderers

Over Invoicing, Under Invoicing – When an exporter receives more money than the value of goods sold to an importer, it’s over-invoicing. On the other side, when an importer receives more money while selling the goods in the local market after buying them at an unvalued price from an exporter, it’s under-invoicing. Both the instances trigger an extra value transferred via trade between the parties as money laundering.

Multiple Invoicing or Carousel Transactions – A money launderer misuses the legal system to produce multiple invoices for the same shipment by complicating the payments with more than one financial institution. It’s a typical multiple-invoicing method for legitimizing one payment more than once and integrating illicit money into the financial system.

Over Shipment, Under Shipment – The trade involves misrepresenting the number of goods; the over and understatement of items give the money launderers a scope to process excessive payments of illicit money.

Inferior Shipment – It involves exporting cheaper quality goods with falsified invoices and submitting bills for relatively costly goods to customs.

Front Fake Commodities – The shipment of commodities does not match with the business classification, and the trade is made to transfer the illicit money value rather than the actual goods.

Shell Companies – Offshore companies, acting as front or shell companies for organizations involved in sending excessive funds across the continents. For years, law-breakers have preferred shell companies as camouflage to facilitate TBML activities. At times, it may so happen that established companies make their foray into an entirely distinct market segment to divert their income via shell operations.

Phantom Shipment – There may be no shipment at times, and the invoices are still generated and bills passed in the customs.

Major TBML Red-Flag Checks for Customs and Financial Institutions

A joint effort of Egmont Group and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat the worldwide TBML activities has set-forth imperative red-flag checks on this trade-based financial crime.

Common Anomalies – International trade-related activities involve a lot of paperwork. All the more challenging is that the financial institutions are only exposed to the official documents and not the commodities in trade. So, on the face of it, common TBML red flags involve finding anomalies in product pricing, irregular product description, and price matching with the product quantity and quality standards.

Unnatural Transactions – Financial institutions must keep a regular Transaction Monitoring on the trade activities of the parties involved; the monitoring includes the nature of transactions, business locations, background checks, the characteristics of the traded goods, etc. Unusual transactions also consist of substantial below-threshold cash payments and inexplicable third-party payments.

High-Risk Jurisdictions – Businesses set up in jurisdictions with weak AML-CFT regulations, suspicious addresses, with an indistinct online presence. All the mentioned red flags give a clear indication of out-of-sync business activity. Such entities generally have unstructured business operations with no proper payroll, marketing, advertisement, or accounting reports.

Free-Trade-Zones (FTZs) – The customs-free nature for bringing liberalization in global economic activities has paved the way for acceleration in the TBML activities as criminals are continually exploiting the eased-up trade barriers in around 3500 ports worldwide. Trade activities at the FTZs are more vulnerable to being misused for laundering money.

How Regulated Institutions Must Remain AML-CFT Complaint

Risk-Based Model – Financial Institutions (FI) must follow regulatory Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and keep their Know-Your-Customer (KYC) records updated. It is on the part of the FI to conduct proactive Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) on the potential high-risk clients with stringent identity checks and transaction monitoring. In addition, the records must be kept updated and presented to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) authorities on suspecting unusual trade activities.

Transaction Monitoring – The financial institutions that handle large trade-related activities must monitor their clients in real-time. All Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) must put the financial authorities to alarm. A series of SARs and STRs trade datasets also help establish emerging TBML typologies for predictive analysis.

AI-Based Machine Learning Algorithms – All leading financial institutions utilize the best-in-class data analytics technology to monitor transactions. The Artificial Intelligence-based rule engine algorithms instantly trigger unusual events to discover trade-related suspicious activities occurring across the businesses in real-time.

Know-Your-Business (KYB) – The financial and other regulated institutions must regularly check on the businesses they are doing business with. Know-Your-Business (KYB) involves business identity verifications for genuine business onboarding. At the same time, the regulated financial institutions must authenticate the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) for both individuals and businesses involved in trade transactions.

Sanctions, PEPs and Adverse Media – The compliance officers must screen businesses and individuals against Sanctions and PEP lists. In addition, adverse news about the owners and entities across the press and online media indicates brewing illicit activities somewhere down the line.

Conclusion 

Given the scope plus volume of today’s trade, masking illicit gains with trade-based activities has become easier for the launderers. Furthermore, there are fewer initiatives taken in the TBML AML-CFT methods than in other money laundering methods. It has been believed that the global trade system is so complex – involving many deterrents and regulatory sluggishness – that it has made laundering money for criminals and terrorists more convenient via global merchandising activities.

The unrestrained threat of Trade-Based Money Laundering has given this financial crime an Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) risk status, which is otherwise mostly used for cybercrimes. If you are a financial or regulated institution seeking AI-Based client behavior tracking, document verification, and suspicious transaction reporting solutions to fulfil your business compliance, schedule a call with the IDMerit AML solution advisor. We offer best-in-class Fraud Protection and KYC-KYB Compliance solutions to businesses worldwide.

The post Important AML-CFT Procedures to Combat the Unrelenting Threat of Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) appeared first on IDMERIT.

Money laundering is known for making financial organizations fight tooth and nail for its permanent destruction. It has become a universal concern for administrative organizations and associations like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

Financial organizations have succeeded in their fight against money laundering by creating more stringent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws and regulations to prevent theft. AML laws introduced a variety of regulations like identity verification and background checks, which have proven to be a viable solution against fraud prevention. AML guidelines progressively advance while money laundering rates continue to decrease globally.

However, there is no denying the fact that money laundering persists and those associated with it are active. While AML guidelines persist in their fight against this international issue, money laundering cases continuously appear around the world. Below we have listed fifty shocking statistics showing the impact money laundering has had on a global scale.

1. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the assessed measure of laundered cash in one year is around $800 billion, which is 5% of worldwide GDP.
2. Switzerland published 160 money laundering reports in 1989, with a monetary worth of 330 million Swiss francs- approximating $210 million.
3. Authorities found Ferdinand Marcos hid almost $500 million in Swiss bank accounts.
4. The GDP of Switzerland is $191,000,000,000 – about one-eighth of money laundered annually.
5. Dow Jones published that 1989 GDP had a score of 5% for money laundering, ranging between $1 and 3 trillion.
6. In Belgium, between December 1993 and June 1998, 1416 cases of money laundering were reported with a worth of $3.92 billion. Similarly, in 1997, there were 476 reports recorded with a worth of $1.1 billion.
7. A 1996 report published by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok stated that a figure equivalent to 15% of the nation’s GDP, which is $28.5 billion, was illicitly laundered as cash.
8. The assessed GDP of the United States in 1998 was $8.511 trillion, which is triple the rate of multiple national economies.
9. The Canadian Solicitor General remarked that in 1998 the illegal assets created and washed in Canada annually were somewhere between $5 and $17 billion. This provides a stark contrast as Canada is one of the largest countries to follow and implant AML regulations against monetary fraud.
10. In 1998, the Swiss Finance Ministry affirmed that the nation was involved in $500 billion of money laundering every year.
11. The Republic of Ireland assesses that in 1998, $126 million were laundered throughout the country.
12. In 1999, a congressional hearing was informed that almost $48 billion were produced by illegal pharmaceutical deals.
13. It is assessed that two-hundred million pharmaceutical clients intake almost $400 billion in laundered cash.
14. In February 2000 General Motors turned over $161,315,000,000, which is roughly a tenth of money laundered every year.
15. For a frame of reference, and to understand the gravity of this situation, the annual GDP of $1.5 trillion laundered money is $1,500,000,000,000.
16. In 2003, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS) expressed that criminal activity will continue and the sum that is illegally laundered is obscure. Customs specialists reported that the yearly scale of financial crime in the UK was between £19 billion and £48 billion, with £25 billion being the gross sum of money laundered every year.
17. In 2008, banks reportedly paid up to $321 billion in fines for not agreeing with the administrative norms of money laundering regulations, cyber financial fraud prevention and market control.
18. In 2009, worldwide AML guidelines were only 0.2%, indicated by the UN and US State Department.
19. As reported by authorities, in 2009 money laundering accounted for 3.6% of worldwide GDP with $1.6 trillion washed, as indicated by the UNODC.
20. FATF reportedly blocked $3.1 billion worth of laundered cash in 2009- of which more than 80% was seized in North America.
21. In 2014, reported worldwide spend on AML regulation-related fines was $10 billion.
22. From 2016-17, one hundred sixty-one cases were documented for money laundering and illegal financial resources under PMLA.
23. The value estimated for the Fraud Detection and Prevention (FDP) market was assessed to be worth $19.5 billion in 2017.
24. In the UK, from 2017 to 2019, the legal fine for involvement in money laundering and financial fraud was £241,233,671.
25. Starting in 2018 India had around 884 organizations reportedly on high alert for money laundering and illegal financial resources worth INR 50 billion. They are currently being tested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA 2002).
26. In 2018, India was considered compliant for only four out of forty FATF suggestions.
27. As indicated by the Public Authority of India, around $18 billion is lost through illegal money laundering every year, which makes India a big target for international money laundering.
28. The number of illegal money laundering cases brought under the steady gaze of Romanian courts has remained moderately stable, ever since the years 2015 and 2019. The latest cases were reported in 2018 when the quantity of money laundering cases expanded by about 14.9 percent contrasted with 2017.
29. In 2018, the reported count of global laundered cash washed every year was two to five percent of worldwide GDP, meaning $800 billion – $2 trillion.
30. Florida International University was positioned in 9,500 Non-Banking Financial Companies out of an expected 11,500 enrolled, as a potential money laundering association in 2018.
31. In 2019, banks paid more than $6.2 billion in AML fines around the world.
32. In 2019, Bolivia became the tenth country with the highest potential for money laundering in Latin America with a money laundering index score of 6.01.
33. Brazil became the nineteenth country with the least money laundering cases in 2019.
34. For the last 2 years, Chile has had a laundering index of 4.16, making it one of the countries with the lowest laundering indexes.
35. In 2019, Colombia was positioned 10th place for illegally money laundering in Latin America with a criminal index of 5.83.
36. Starting in 2020, the US was compliant for only twenty-two out of forty FATF suggestions.
37. Haiti became the largest Caribbean country in 2020 for money laundering instances in Latin America, with a money laundering score of 8.15 according to FATF.
38. About half of cases reporting money laundering in Latin America show that banks were involved.
39. In 2020, the Cayman Islands had an index score of 7.46 for money laundering. In the same year, Chile became the lowest ranking country with a score of 3.82.
40. According to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), there were more than 200,000 cases of money laundering reported in the UK annually.
41. Iran remains at the highest point of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) hazard file with a money laundering index score of 8.6. Afghanistan comes next with a score of 8.38, while Guinea-Bissau is third with a score of 8.35.
42. Money laundering takes up about 1.2% of the European Union’s (EU) entire GDP.
43. Executing KYC compliance generally costs banks around $62 million, though it assures low money laundering and financial fraud potential.
44. The underground market for Peso trade in Colombia is assessed to legally launder $6 billion for every year in pharmaceutical cartels.
45. The previous government official of the Congo, Joseph Mobutu, has confessed to financial fraud by having moved up to $5,000 million from his country.
46. Russia has illegally laundered almost $15 billion through fake or paper bank accounts
47. It has been reported by legal financial authorities that every year $15 billion streams out of Russia through money laundering, adding it to the list of countries with a high money laundering rate.
48. The growth and success of anti-money laundering is proven by the growth of its program market. It is estimated that in 2023, the income of international anti-money laundering software programming will add up to about $1.77 billion.
49. Mexican pharmaceutical cartels, presently more impressive than their counterparts in Colombia, are reported by authorities to produce illegal financial resources of more than $9 billion every year, which puts up roughly 5% of Mexico’s GDP.
50. In Indonesia, one authority expressed that $500,000 is being money laundered consistently between West Africans and Southeast Asians utilizing West African Couriers.

Key Takeaway

For decades now, money laundering has been a major worldwide issue and will continue to rise if laws and regulations are not in place to combat it. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the assessed measure of laundered cash in one year is around $800 billion, which takes up 5% of worldwide GDP.

It has become an obligation for all renowned banks and financial institutions to follow AML regulations set by international financial associations. While organizations and governments are continually searching for better approaches to battle tax crimes and money laundering, anti-money laundering regulations are proving to be the most successful solution.

In order to combat money laundering companies have adopted ever increasingly sophisticated tools similar to IDMERIT’s IDMaml solution.

The post 50 Statistics on Money Laundering Around the World appeared first on IDMERIT.

Anti-money laundering regulations become more stringent every year as do the associated fines. On January 1, 2021, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (the NDAA), which includes the most substantial and sweeping improvements surrounding AML legislation. This omnibus bill includes amendments to the USA Patriot Act which address a wide range of gaps in previous legislation.  The US’ AML Act 2020 (AMLA) was designed to address changes in the technological landscape and the lack of motivation (monetary or otherwise) for whistleblowers to share AML information with authorities.

Key Provisions of the AMLA 2020

The AMLA 2020 brought forth major changes and amendments which strengthened the penalties for non-compliant banks and financial service organizations. Major changes include:

• Stringent AML Enforcement Through Improved Compensation For Whistleblowers
•  AMLA 2020 Expands Existing BSA/AML Violation Penalties
• AMLA 2020 Legislation Allocates More Government Resources Committed to Address Money Laundering 
• AMLA Provides Additional Statutory Authority for DOJ to Seek Documents from Foreign Banks & Financial Institutions
• The AMLA References a Pilot Program To Share SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) Data Across International Borders
• The AMLA Extends the BSA’s Reach To Cryptocurrency (Nontraditional Value Transfers)

7 Anti-money laundering Compliance Fines You May Have Missed

“Financial institutions have been hit with $10.4 billion in global fines and penalties related to Anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), data privacy, and MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) regulations in 2020, bringing the total to $46.4 billion for those types of breaches since 2008,” ComplianceWeek reports. Failure to comply with Anti-money laundering laws and regulations brought heavy fines in 2020 and continues to increase. Below are seven of the largest fines levied on banking & financial institutions:  

1. 2019 Data Breach leads to Capital One fine of $80 Million 

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) levied an $80 million civil fine against Capital One in August for its mismanagement and inadequate security systems. According to Fortune Magazine, “the bank’s own internal audit failed to identify “numerous weaknesses” in its management of the cloud environment and ‘engaged in unsafe or unsound practices that were part of a pattern of misconduct.’”  The breach compromised over 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers. Paige Thompson, a former Amazon Software Engineer, stands accused of stealing personal identifiable information (PII). Charges include computer fraud and “abuse for an intrusion on the stored data.”

Large gaps in information security and Anti-money laundering regulations influenced the adoption of the most recent AML legislation which helps support previous computer security and fraud legislation. While Thompson’s motives may still be under investigation, proper employee vetting through background checks and PII security policies are paramount to ensuring these types of breaches do not occur. Banks and corporations are required to follow stringent information security guidelines to avoid large fines and public scrutiny. 

2. OCC Issues $85 Million Penalty To Usaa Federal Savings Bank

The OCC slapped USAA Federal Savings Bank with an $85 million fine for risk management inadequacies in October. This is the second fine this San Antonio bank has been levied with. According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), “bank’s failure to implement and maintain an effective compliance risk management program and an effective information technology risk governance program.”

Risk management and compliance programs including Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) are mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act and recently passed Anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. Large fines and penalties are being levied around the globe as banks and covered financial institutions (and cryptocurrency exchanges) fail to build proper compliance programs.  

3. Swedish Bank SEB Fined $107 Million by Regulator For Baltic AML Failures

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) received a $107 million fine in June for Anti-money laundering (AML) failures. SEB, the second largest bank in Sweden, has been fined for failing to  , Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), the regulatory authority, charged the bank in early June of 2020 and levied the fine which highlights the global issues revolving around Anti-money laundering compliance in the financial services industry, “Despite the elevated risk of money laundering in the Baltics, the bank has done too little, too late,” says FSA director general Erik Thedéen.

Basic AML due diligence includes identity verification, validation, and age verification (to name a few). Not only are AML violations on the rise, victims of complex schemes and fraud are rampant within money service provider industries. 

4. Western Union Refunds $153 Million For Scam Victims

“Western Union turned a blind eye to the fraudulent payments made through its money transfer system,” says Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Western Union began refunding defrauded customers in March after they were ordered to by theFederal Trade Commission (FTC). The lack of Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance can severely damage an organization and harm millions of account holders. 

According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations, “The FTC’s complaint against Western Union alleged that for many years, Western Union was aware that fraudsters around the world used the company’s money transfer system to bilk consumers, and that some Western Union agents were complicit in the frauds. The FTC’s complaint alleged that Western Union failed to put in place effective anti-fraud policies and procedures and to act promptly against problem agents.” While in this case, Western Union is said by Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, to have “turned a blind eye,” more banks and Money Service Providers (MSP’s) are unaware of the mandatory KYC/AML regulations that can protect them from these types of horrible situations.  

5. Citi To Pay $400 Million Occ Fine For Risk Management Failures

One of the world’s largest financial institutions, Citi Bank, has been ordered to pay $400M in a case that brings to light severe risk management issues. The South Dakota bank was found to have been lacking internal controls and financial safeguards including those relating to AML and data governance. According to the consent order, Citibank needs to complete a “thorough redesign of data architecture, re-engineering of processes, and modernisation of system applications and information technology infrastructure.” This is the second fine in which Citi has been hit with in recent years showing its glaring need to update and comply with regulatory mandates and internal financial controls. 

6. Westpac Agrees To Record Aud 1.3 Billion Fine For Aml Failures

Westpac, one of Australia’s largest banks, agreed to pay a record AUD 1.3 billion ($959m) fine for money laundering breaches in September. According to court filings and Fintech Futures, the financial institution, “failed to keep records related to the origin of the transactions, or carry out “appropriate customer due diligence.” These are major lapses in AML compliance procedures and this underscores the need for both proper, and timely, Know Your Customer compliance as well as ongoing transaction monitoring. 

Westpac admitted to 76,000 additional violations including, “failures to reasonably monitor customers for transactions related to possible child exploitation”, and “further failures to assess money laundering and terrorism financing risks.” Compliance officers should take note of the challenges that exist for large banks and reevaluate their preparedness in order to avoid fines and penalties such as those seen in the above cases. 

7. Compliance Lapses & Fraudulent Accounts Generate Billions In FInes For Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo bank, the fourth-largest in the US, will pay a hefty fine of $3 billion for its failure in security procedures. The Security and Exchange Commission will receive $500 million of the total and plans to use the funds to offer restitution to those customers who were defrauded by Wells Fargo. According to Fintech Futures, the bank “pressured employees to cross-sell products and services, leading them to create millions of fake accounts using forged and fraudulent customer signatures.” Proper Know Your Customer compliance procedures and fraud weren’t incorporated into the account opening process as internal documents showed that, “[e]mployees of the bank were found to be using their own contact details on application forms, so as to ensure that the real customer was never informed about the accounts opened in their name.” 

Follow our LinkedIn and Facebook pages for Anti-money laundering news and significant regulatory changes. 

About IDMERIT: Headquartered in San Diego, California, IDMERIT provides an ecosystem of identity verification solutions designed to help its customers prevent fraud, meet regulatory compliance and deliver frictionless user experiences. The company is committed to the on-going development and delivery of offerings that are more cost-effective and comprehensive than other solution providers. IDMERIT was funded by experts who have been sourcing data on personal and business identities across the globe for over a decade. This access to official and trusted data throughout the world has become increasingly important as companies find themselves completing transactions across borders as a standard course of business. www.idmerit.com

The post 7 Anti-Money Laundering Fines You May Have Missed: Multinational Banks Held Accountable By Regulators For Compliance Missteps appeared first on IDMERIT.