International Comparative Legal Guide - Anti-Money Laundering: 2022

We are happy to provide the fifth annual edition of ICLG Anti-Money Laundering. As always, we think you will find the new edition useful and informative. We were expecting this year to be able to reach out to you on a hopeful and optimistic note as we were all on the verge of putting the pandemic behind us. Instead, at this writing, we are again facing a world in crisis with the events unfolding in Ukraine. This new crisis reminds us of the importance of this Guides topic. At the heart of much evil in the world, whether perpetrated by criminal state actors or individuals, is money, and where there are sanctions or AML criminal laws and administrative controls, that money must be laundered to avoid detection. AML efforts by governments, financial institutions, and other businesses are the best hope for identifying and tracing this financial activity to choke the flow of funds and punish the wrongdoers. The recent and evolving national and global sanctions are designed to stem the tide of further aggression and conflict. Our collective anti-money laundering skills and experience will be essential to identify and resolve red flags for sanctions evasion. In this environment, the ongoing initiatives by the United States and many governments across the globe to address cybercrime and apply AML controls to virtual currency transactions take on a new sense of importance and urgency. At the same time, the other financial crime challenges persist in all our countries. Governments are still dealing with a range of COVID-related fraud. Money laun- dering continues to sustain all types of crime from drug trafficking, public corruption, terrorism, human trafficking, illegal trafficking in wildlife, to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The resources of governments and the private sector are always limited. The creativity and resources of bad actors often seem limitless. Those of us on the other side of the equation have to be equally as resourceful, resolute, and collaborative in applying countermeasures. Failure to do so can have serious legal and reputational consequences for financial institutions and other businesses and their employees, and immeasurable costs for the safety and well-being of society. In the United States and elsewhere, the focus is on modernisation of the AML legal regulatory regimes, to apply the technology of today to AML compliance and to promote the public and private exchange of information. The private sector and governments must work not only harder, but smarter to make progress against the money laundering challenge and achieve a true risk-based approach to AML compliance and enforcement. The U.S. efforts are centered on the implementation of sweeping AML legislation enacted last year, known as the AML Act. In accordance with provisions in the AML Act, further steps have been taken towards the establishment of a national corporate registry with reliable beneficial ownership information consistent with the FATF recommendation that law enforcement have access to current beneficial ownership information for legal entities. While this project is complex and will take some time to be operational, this effort, along with similar efforts in many other countries, will mean that there should finally be progress against the use of anonymous legal structures to promote money laundering. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is honoured to join a group of distinguished colleagues to present several articles on AML topics that we hope you will find of interest. Global Legal Group also has included chapters written by select law firms in 26 jurisdictions discussing the local AML legal and regulatory/administrative requirements and enforcement requirements. Gibson Dunn is pleased to include an article on the implementation of the AML Act and an updated chapter on the United States AML regime. As with all ICLG guides, this Guide is organised to help the reader understand the AML landscape globally and in specific countries. Global Legal Group, the editors, and the contributors intend this guide to be a reliable first source when approaching AML requirements and considerations. We encourage you to reach out to the contributors if we can be of further assistance. See more