Accuity Insights Blog

By Carolina Lessa, Director, Government Affairs – Latin America, RELX Successive corruption scandals coupled with a debilitating economic crisis have crippled and discredited Brazil. Every single day, there is news of yet another conviction, like the recent sentencing of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva[1]. However, there is a positive story to be told that […]

Odebrecht probably sounds familiar to the majority of us, either as a great example of internationalization or for its infamous financial crime allegations. This colossal bribery scandal has been running in the headlines of major newspapers in Latin America for years, bringing to light several related corruption cases. But, let’s take a step back and […]

As we approach the first anniversary of the Panama Papers scandal that broke around the world on 3rd April 2016[1], it is useful to reflect on the impact this scandal has had in improving transparency and reducing corruption.  The scale of the leaked data was massive, including 11.5 million records with details on more than […]

With increasing regulatory pressure to perform greater amounts of due diligence on counterparties, it becomes even more important for KYC, or Know-Your-Customer, professionals to understand and address the day-to-day challenges within the industry. Industry reports are a great way for consumers to educate themselves on such matters. Industry reports offer an array of benefits for […]

The Future of Compliance in Africa was the theme of a roundtable discussion jointly convened by Ernest Honya, President of the Association of Certified Compliance Professionals in Africa (ACCPA), and Hugh Jones, President and CEO of Accuity. 19 people attended from organisations which included commercial banks, GIABA, central banks, FIUs and universities to discuss four […]

Round Table Discussion on the Future of Compliance in Africa Part 2 of 4 – How the notion of ‘PEP’ in Africa differs from that in the West The Future of Compliance in Africa was the theme of a roundtable discussion jointly convened by Ernest Honya, President of the Association of Certified Compliance Professionals in […]

The MAS recently issued guidance for Singapore-based financial institutions relating to countering terrorism financing within the trade finance and correspondent banking businesses. The MAS joins the UK FCA in highlighting the risks associated with money laundering specifically in trade. Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) is becoming an increasingly great concern for countries that are heavily […]

In recent years we have seen a significant increase in anti-money laundering control failures. Various institutions have been subject to regulatory reviews resulting in fines, due to the lack of controls and appropriate Risk-Based Approach in place. As the fines are increasing year on year, banks are looking into ways to put a stop to these […]

In May 2015, fourteen people from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) were indicted following a wire fraud, racketeering and money-laundering investigation led by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Internal Revenue Services, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI). On Monday, September 14, 2015, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her Swiss […]

In the 20 years that electronic identity matching has been in existence, there has been a massive increase in demand and a massive amount of change. And that’s by no means the end of it. Demand will continue to grow and changes will keep happening. Financial institutions need to be ready for any changes and […]

Not only has the sanctions landscape become much more volatile, it has also increased in complexity. This has necessitated financial institutions to implement more sophisticated screening solutions to handle the complexities. When sanctions were first enacted in the nineties, they were applied to whole countries, such as Cuba. However, the situation moved from whole country […]

Global politics have had a big impact on name screening. So much has changed politically in the past few years –the geography of Central Europe, the situation in the Middle East and changes in Africa for starters – and this has a big effect on financial institutions and the screening solutions they use. Why? Because […]