ACAMS

Records reviewed by ACAMS moneylaundering.com show that Kyrrex, a VASP that launched in 2018, operates as a "nested" exchange on HTX, a second, much larger platform reportedly owned by Trump meme-coin investor Justin Sun. Kyrrex also runs a "no KYC" bot on Telegram, a social-media platform accused of facilitating fraud and other transnational crimes. Read in front of the paywall: https://shorturl.at/VYHA8 #cryptocurrency #AML #compliance #Malta #financialcrime #moneylaundering #fraud #investment #fintech #financial

Congrats to our Cyprus chapter on making it to 10 years 🎉

BREAKING NEWS: Ireland accuses Coinbase Europe of neglecting to screen tens of millions of transactions "fully and properly" from 2021 to 2025. Read more in front of the paywall, on ACAMS moneylaundering.com, here: https://lnkd.in/gU_u9_Gp #AML #compliance #Ireland #Coinbase #cryptocurrency #moneylaundering #terrorism #regulations #financialcrime

BREAKING NEWS: Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority fined the Frankfurt-based affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co a record €45 million Thursday for taking too long to flag suspicious transactions to the country’s financial intelligence unit. Read more for free, on ACAMS moneylaundering.com, here: https://lnkd.in/ehdksXDq #AML #financialcrime #compliance #BaFIn #Germany Pictured: Frankfurt by D Stanley on Flickr https://lnkd.in/dbAr6ZA

We built a toolkit for Strategic Trade and Export Controls 🔑 Learn how financial institutions can detect and prevent export control evasion through stronger compliance programs, risk assessments, and red flag identification. Here's a preview — ACAMS members get access to the full guide: https://lnkd.in/eUk-cQbj

The November Sanctions Watch is now live 📌 Join Justine Walker, Nathanael Kurcab, Sam Cousins, CGSS, and George Voloshin, CAMS CGSS for the latest key developments, including:    -New sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil -The changing dynamics of U.S.-China export controls -Further measures imposed against Iran -The U.S. designation of Colombia's President   Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eThbxGu4 

Record fines, landmark UK fraud laws, and cross-border coordination signal a sharper global enforcement landscape for 2026. Our latest Regulatory & Enforcement Bulletin for Q3 2025 is live. While it's exclusive to ACAMS Members, we created this quick overview to get you up to speed 📝 Members can view the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eDN2Eck8

Syria – What You Need to Know Ten months ago, Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Syria’s repressive regime, ushering in a new era. The geopolitical and risk landscape has shifted dramatically, and international businesses are asking: Is it time to re-engage? 🚀The answer: It’s complicated. The transitional government in Damascus faces: 🔷A battered social fabric 🔷Decayed institutions 🔷A hollowed-out economy 🔷One of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies Rebuilding after 14 years of civil war will be slow and difficult. Lingering sanctions, instability, and patchy rule of law remain major hurdles. Yet, investment interest is growing. Today at the Future Investment Initiative (FII), President al-Sharaa announced $28 billion in investments over the past 10 months. Headlines now ask: “Is Syria the next great global opportunity in the Middle East?” But tensions persist—armed groups, terrorist threats, and minority protections remain key concerns. The UN, US, UK, and EU continue to stress that Syria’s success depends on inclusive governance. 📊 Syria remains on #FATF’s list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. While a technical action plan was completed in 2014, no FATF on-site visit has occurred due to security concerns. That may change in 2026. Recent developments: #IMF visited Syria for the first time since 2009; technical assistance discussions are underway. #World Bank published an assessment: 🔷$108.2 billion in direct physical damage 🔷$215.6 billion estimated reconstruction cost Aleppo, Rural Damascus, and Homs account for 59% of total damage 🔍 For compliance teams, Syria presents a complex (and dare I say scary) challenge: balancing opportunity with risk. Ignoring Syria is not an option—but neither is blind engagement. 📅 To help you navigate all of this join ACAMS next week for a masterclass with Rachel Alpert, Riad N Sabbagh, Luma Zitani, FICA, MCSI and myself. 🔎We’ll explore: ✔️Syria’s evolving risk environment ✔️On-the-ground realities ✔️Threat landscape ✔️Due diligence and risk assessment strategies 🎓 Free for Enterprise and PWS members. 🔗 Register here https://lnkd.in/eDq2AQym Photo credit to Zuhir Al Fourati

I wrote a paper last year on moving from a "coverage approach" to an "intelligence-led approach." A friend of mine, who is much more creative than me but asked to remain nameless, sent me this gem for Halloween on Coverage and the Boogeyman of Illicit Finance. It's brilliant... 🎃 "The Ghost of Coverage" 👻 A Halloween Tale from the Dark Corners of Compliance In the shadowy halls of the Compliance Crypt, the team huddled around dashboards and decks, whispering about the ghost that haunted them all: Coverage. No one had ever seen it. No one could define it. But everyone feared it. “Do we have enough coverage?” someone would ask, eyes darting nervously to the corners of the room. “What if we don’t?” And so, the team summoned more metrics. More heat maps. More control attestations. They built elaborate rituals — quarterly reviews, control libraries, and RAG statuses — all in the name of appeasing the ghost. They called it “slaying the specter of insufficient coverage.” But the ghost never left. Because it was never really there. Meanwhile, deep in the vaults of the institution, something far more sinister stirred. It didn’t care about dashboards or attestations. It didn’t show up in coverage metrics. It wore the mask of a legitimate client — but behind it lurked the Boogeyman of Illicit Finance. He moved through shell companies and nested accounts. He whispered through trade-based laundering and complex correspondent networks. He didn’t haunt the dashboards — he haunted the blind spots. But the Compliance Crypt was too busy ghost-hunting. They chased phantom gaps in theoretical coverage while the Boogeyman crept closer, feeding on complacency and false assurance. He knew that as long as the team was busy chasing shadows, no one would notice the real threat slipping through the cracks. Then one night, a brave analyst — let’s call her Sam — stood up and said: “Coverage isn’t a ghost. It’s a distraction. The real monster is risk — and it’s not hiding in our metrics. It’s hiding in our clients.” The room fell silent. The ghost flickered and vanished. And for the first time, the team turned their eyes away from the illusion and toward the real darkness. They began asking different questions: “Where are we most vulnerable?” “Which clients don’t make sense?” “What patterns are we missing?” And slowly, the Boogeyman began to retreat — not because he was gone, but because someone had finally turned on the light. Moral of the Story: Coverage is not the monster under the bed — it’s the sheet we throw over the real threat to make ourselves feel safe. But the Boogeyman of illicit finance is real, and he thrives in the shadows of false assurance. Happy Halloween Financial Crime Fighters!