Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

China regulator says fintech must serve real economy

One of China's senior financial regulators has stated that the government will only support fintechs that serve the real economy, casting further doubt on the future of virtual currencies and related technologies within China.

16 January 2018

News/Money Laundering

Australian Government amends AML rules to cover digital currencies

The Australian Senate has passed legislation extending anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulation to digital currency exchanges.

08 December 2017

News/Money Laundering

Big data and software robots crunch compliance costs for Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse says that a new big data platform and the intelligent deployment of software robots is reversing years of rising compliance costs.

01 December 2017

News/Money Laundering

SEC and exchanges in spat over surveillance system

A row has broken out between the US capital markets watchdog and a number of exchanges over the plan to impose a new market surveillance system on the US equities and options market.

15 November 2017

News/Money Laundering

Can regtech and CLM save the customer experience? - new Finextra report

Increased regulatory burden is hampering smooth and timely onboarding of customers, as banks struggle with technology implementation and budget parameters, according to financial industry professionals surveyed in a new paper by Finextra Research.

12 October 2017

News/Money Laundering

Accuity partners R3 for financial crime screening on DLT

Compliance and KYC specialist Accuity has integrated its financial crime screening suite with R3's distributed ledger technology platform, Corda.

12 October 2017

News/Money Laundering

Asean banks complete trial of KYC blockchain

OCBC Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), together with Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), have completed a proof-of-concept for a Know Your Customer (KYC) blockchain.

03 October 2017

News/Money Laundering

Overstock unit preps ATS for trading digital coins issued in ICOs

The blockchain subsidiary of online retailer Overstock is teaming up with RenGen and Argon Group to launch an SEC-compliant Alternative Trading System (ATS) for trading digital coins issued in initial coin offerings (ICOs).

28 September 2017

News/Money Laundering

Australia blames bitcoin for rise in organised crime

The growth of online banking and digital currencies haver been cited as the main causes of a massive rise in organised crime in Australia's financial sector according to the country's criminal intelligence agency.

24 August 2017

News/Money Laundering

Australia regulates digital currencies

The Australian government has announced plans to strengthen its anti-money laundering rules with new reforms that will include digital currencies for the first time.

18 August 2017

News/Money Laundering

CBA blames money laundering reporting failures on ATM coding error

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has blamed a three-year coding error in its intelligent deposit machines (IDM) for breaches of anti-money regulations.

07 August 2017

News/Money Laundering

Cryptocurrency exchange operator indicted over massive bitcoin laundering scam

A US jury has indicted a Russian man arrested earlier this week in Greece accused of helping to launder more than $4 billion in bitcoin, including some obtained from the infamous Mt. Gox hack. In a coordinated move, the bitcoin exchange he operated has been slapped with a $110 million fine by American authorities for AML law violations.

27 July 2017

News/Money Laundering

4th EU AML Directive will make curbing crime easier, but cost banks millions

As the 4th EU AML Directive comes into force today, a pair of studies suggests that while most UK FS industry financial crime professionals think the new rules will make it easier to prevent money laundering, they are likely to cost banks millions in inefficient KYC checks.

26 June 2017

News/Money Laundering

Monzo may have to freeze some accounts under new money laundering rules

Digital challenger bank Monzo is warning 20,000 customers that it may have to temporarily freeze their accounts if they fail to provide additional verification information under new money laundering regulations.

13 June 2017

News/Money Laundering

Cecabank sets up Spanish blockchain consortium

A new Spanish blockchain consortium spearheaded by Cecabank and professional services firm Grant Thornton is building tools designed to combat money laundering and boost KYC efforts.

26 May 2017

News/Money Laundering

Nets partners Chainalysis to help banks meet AML rules on virtual currencies

Nordic payments processor Nets is enlisting the help of distributed ledger technology specialist Chainalysis to help it ensure virtual currency transactions comply with anti-money laundering rules.

24 March 2017

News/Money Laundering

Swift outlines ‘compliance utility’ ambitions; plans for next stage of gpi project

Banking cooperative Swift has unveiled a number of initiatives designed to address the compliance challenges facing banks and corporates.

16 March 2017

News/Money Laundering

The Clearing House calls for overhaul of AML practices

US bank lobby group The Clearing House has called for an overhaul of how its members deal with AML requirements, arguing that they should spend less time and money on submitting suspicious activity reports and instead concentrate on using more innovative methods to thwart money laundering and terrorist financing.

17 February 2017

News/Money Laundering

Thomson Reuters to buy Clarient and Avox

Thomson Reuters has moved to strengthen its KYC management services and legal entity data by buying Clarient and Avox from the DTCC and its bank partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

06 February 2017

News/Money Laundering

Western Union to pay $586m to settle AML charges

Western Union has agreed to pay $586 million to settle US criminal and civil charges that it wilfully failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme and aided and abetted wire fraud.

19 January 2017