Reports on suspicious currency transactions have become an increasingly important source of financial crime intelligence. But parties such as financial crime risk data and detection technology vendor ComplyAdvantage have in the past suggested that regulators in jurisdictions around the world have failed to keep pace with emerging threats from the industry and that money launderers can exploit differences in regulatory standards across borders.
Regulators seem to have taken heed of such warnings. The European Banking Authority (EBA) is holding a consultation until November 2 to gather industry views on its proposed guidance on the role of compliance officers responsible for countering money laundering or the financing of terrorism.
These guidelines specify the tasks and responsibilities of anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) compliance officers and their management bodies, and how they interact, including at group level. Once adopted, they will apply to all financial sector operators that are within the scope of the European Union’s AML Directive.
The guidelines will be welcomed by any FX compliance officer who has been asked whether a client should be allowed to make a trade that doesn’t strictly meet their employer’s internal policies.
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