Tweet Bitcoin’s disruptive technology will force banks to change and adapt but some issues identified including regulatory arbitrage and consumer protection The Board of Governors for the US Federal Reserve published minutes of their recent meeting on a wide-range of economic issues, including Bitcoin. Positive Aspects The Board noted several important and positive aspects of Bitcoin, namely: Bitcoin will […]
Tweet UAE debates tougher AML laws The United Arab Emirates is proposing amendments to its anti-money laundering legislation that, if approved, may be one of the most stringent anywhere. That’ s because it will allow the incarceration of officers for failures to report transactions suspected of involving money laundering or terrorist financing without a due […]
Tweet US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism on Bitcoin, Banks, AML and Regulation The US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David S. Cohen, discussed the risks of digital currencies and Bitcoin in a Bloomberg talk in New York City today. Mr. Cohen said the regulation of Bitcoin coming down the pipe may require financial […]
Tweet Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership in EU In a sweeping set of proposals, today the European Union Parliament voted to approve, at first reading, amendments to the proposed 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive to require the disclosure of beneficial ownership. Beneficial ownership refers to the owners or beneficiaries, or both, of private companies and/or trusts as […]
Tweet Money laundering is more prevalent than elsewhere According to a recent survey of business people who operate and do business in Hong Kong and Macau, money laundering is a huge problem and in fact, is more prevalent there than anywhere else in the world. The results of the survey which were reported in South China […]
Tweet Update: The MintChip was cancelled on the day in which its AML consultant and I were scheduled to talk about it at a Bitcoin Conference in New York City and on the local news in New York. My speech was as below, that it was inconsistent for Canada to launch a MintChip when the […]
Tweet Private jets of cash According to an article in La Presse, Martin Grenier, a Canadian from Repentigny, Quebec, was arrested in Detroit and charged on February 13, 2014, with money laundering along with two Americans, including a lawyer. Grenier is alleged to have facilitated the laundering of so much cash, that private jets were used to […]
Tweet After more than a year, the Securities and Exchange Commission has released draft crowdfunding equity rules (the “Rules“) for comment under the U.S. Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act“). The JOBS Act was brought into force in 2012 in an effort to facilitate the injection of capital in growing companies and start-ups. With respect to crowdfunding, its […]
Tweet Largest insider trading settlement ever SAC Capital Advisors has reached a global settlement (the “Settlement“) with the U.S. Department of Justice to plead guilty to insider trading, pay a record US$1.8 billion penalty, and agree to a term of probation of five years. The Settlement is the largest financial penalty in history for insider […]
Tweet Organized Crime & Private ATMs According to a report by the RCMP reported by Radio-Canada, organized crime in Canada is using private ATMs to launder proceeds of crime. The RCMP estimates that at least $315 million is laundered each year by private ATMs and some of those are connected to the Hells Angels in […]