Incoming AMLA chair sets out Top 5 priorities, Ladbrokes owner took $152M in suspicious bets, Avalon Ingram confirmed for EAFCS2025

Incoming AMLA chair sets out Top 5 priorities, Ladbrokes owner took $152M in suspicious bets, Avalon Ingram confirmed for EAFCS2025


From Paul O'Donoghue at AMLi

IT’S (ALMOST) OFFICIAL - Bruna Szego is set to be the chair of AMLA. Later today, Szego’s appointment will be voted on by MEPs in the European Parliament.

All going as expected, she will be confirmed as the head of the EU’s newest, and most powerful, AML watchdog.

Here at AML Intelligence, we got the inside line on Szego’s Top 5 priorities for AMLA when she appeared before MEPs at a committee in Strasbourg.

The first was that AMLA should be ambitious, use best practice and pay attention to compliance costs.

The rest of her priorities are available to read HERE on AML Intelligence.

MEPs were said to be impressed - one remarked that Szego is aware of the challenges in achieving AML uniformity across the EU, but was ‘confident’ that a pan-EU framework can be delivered.

ENTAIN: Australia’s financial watchdog, #AUSTRAC, has recently initiated a major AML clampdown on the gaming sector. Entain is the latest to feel the heat.

AUSTRAC has launched civil proceedings against the company, which owns prominent gambling businesses such as Ladbrokes,

It claims Entain failed to conduct proper due diligence on 17 high-risk customers.

Newly-published court documents reveal more details - AUSTRAC said that Entain submitted reports indicating it was suspicious about the source of wealth of these customers.

Despite that, #Entain accepted $152 million in bets from these customers.

The company has said it is treating AUSTRAC’s allegations ‘extremely seriously’ and is implementing ‘further enhancements to Entain Australia’s AML and CTF compliance’.



ADDRESS: Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe TD officially opening 'European Anti-Financial Crime Summit 2024' in Dublin on Thursday. PHOTO: Mark Condren

SUMMIT

EAFCS2025: With 2024 almost wrapped up, anticipation is steadily building for what promises to be the biggest AML event of 2025.

Avalon Ingram, Avalon Ingram , head of fincrime at SWIFT, is the latest high-profile speaker to be confirmed for the 'European Anti-Financial Crime Summit 2025'.

Ms Ingram, who leads the APAC and MENA Financial Crime Compliance Initiatives team at SWIFT bank payments network, joins a stellar list of influential industry figures speaking at EAFCS2025 in Dublin on May 7 next.

More high profile speakers will be announced in the New Year at Europe's leading AFC event, attended by some 700 C-suite and decision-maker delegates. Early-bird tickets and further details on the Summit are available HERE.


GUIDELINES: Always required reading or financial institutions, the Wolfsberg Group of 12 global banks has released new guidance.

Its 'Payment Transparency Roles & Responsibilities' document outlines the roles and responsibilities of key actors in payment chains and highlights measures to ensure transparency.

The guidance calls on banks to monitor debtor PSPs—companies that process payments on behalf of debtors—for inadequate information in payment messages.

The Wolfsberg paper, which is available to read in full here, also offers broader recommendations on how financial institutions should oversee and execute payment transfers to uphold AML standards.

AML AT CHRISTMAS

CRACKDOWN: The UK's Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is in full Christmas grinch mode, handing out coal to naughty law firms left and right.

The company issued six fines in three days as part of an intensified year-end enforcement effort targeting AML breaches.

Most of the problems identified related to not having documented risk assessments or AML policies in place, as well as issues with maintaining documentation.

These latest sanctions bring the total AML-related penalties for the year to over £600,000, affecting nearly 50 firms.

ROMANCE: Finally, Christmas is unfortunately one of the times of year when scammers are most active in targeting the vulnerable.

A reminder of this was delivered in the form of a raid on a building by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, which resulted in almost 800 arrests.

It’s believed the site was a hub for fraudsters who lured victims with offers of romance, then pressed them to hand over cash for phoney cryptocurrency investments.

The suspects, including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals, were detained at the seven-storey Big Leaf Building in Lagos. The luxury building housed a call centre mostly targeting victims from the Americas and Europe.


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Have a great Wednesday 👋

Stephen and the team at AMlintelligence.

Lulama Prudence Mavuso

Human rights activist at Parliament of the Republic of South Africa

2mo

Congratulations Szego

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