In this podcast, I am sharing some insights into some of the job interview outcomes I have had the last few weeks. The exciting crossover opportunity with a fellow Compliance Podcaster and being a guest in their Podcast Show. And also sharing a flavor of how do I want my podcast to serve my listeners and the rest of the world by extension. And where my podcast is heading in terms of content creation, and what am I gonna be sharing on my channel over the next few weeks and months. And if you are a seasoned compliance professional and you’d like to be a guest on my show, please find me on LinkedIn and send me a DM and let’s connect. My name is Lahcen Benkerkiche. Thank you for listening. 🙏

Welcome to another episode of the Compliance Careerist Podcast! I'm your host Lahcen, and today, we're taking a special trip down memory lane as we celebrate the anniversary of this podcast. It's hard to believe it's been a year since I started this journey.

Last Christmas, the Compliance Careerist Podcast was born, and little did I know what an incredible ride it would be!

So, why did we start the Compliance Careerist Podcast? Well, it all began with a simple yet profound idea - the desire to give back to the community and share knowledge and wisdom.

Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lahcenbenkerkiche/

A 38 year old Albanian Woman is the brain behind famous AI technology ChatGPT. With such AI, Banks and Financial Institutions can use ChatGPT to transform their customer service, improve fraud detection, spot suspicious behaviors and even perform sanctions screening and negative news checks. However Cybersecurity experts warn against Compliance caveats.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a new “Dear CEO” letter to payment firms in the UK. The FCA “remain[s] concerned” that many payment firms do not have sufficiently robust controls and therefore “present an unacceptable risk of harm to their customers and to financial system integrity”. Key actions for payment firms In the letter, the FCA highlighted the three key outcomes they have set for payments firms, which are: Firms should ensure that their customers’ money is safe through safeguarding controls, prudential risk management and wind-down planning. Firms need to ensure they are not compromising financial system integrity, covering areas such as money laundering and sanctions as well as fraud. Ensuring customers’ needs are met through high quality products and services, in accordance with the requirements under the Consumer Duty.

The Dutch Foreign Minister Proposed in his Speech titled « Building a Secure European Future » to establish an OFAC equivalent agency that will Name, Shame, Sanction and Prosecute any Russian Sanctions evader.

You might want to consider changing career after hearing this Podcast. FinCEN’s AML program allows whistleblowers who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act to receive up to 30% of any resulting monetary sanctions in excess of $1 million. The BSA requires financial institutions to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and report different types of transactions, including those suspected of relating to criminal activity.

The US and EU have imposed new and unprecedented sanctions against Russia in response to the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine on War anniversary.

In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence that they may hold. The HIO is the primary person who leads the organization. For example, the HIO could be a president or CEO. By Compliance Careerist

The OFAC sanctions can be either comprehensive or selective, using the blocking of assets and trade restrictions to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals. OFAC manages the United States government's sanctions and embargo programs, as well as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) and Blocked Persons Lists. Compliance Careerist.

Snow washing refers to hiding illegitimate financial transactions often for purposes of tax evasion in Canada. Canada may have a reputation as a law-abiding and democratic nation, but it is also notorious as a place where it is easy to engage in money laundering. This has become so egregious that a special term has been coined to describe it: “snow-washing” – and Transparency International has issued numerous statements about the problem.

So sad to see the horrible earthquake destruction that has befallen Turkey and Syria. The regions were already full of refugees and now there are more and more victims. May God bestow them with Mercy. I know you are all generous but please be careful of disaster relief scammers. Be careful of who you donate to and dont become a victim of fraud.

(FinCEN) took a historic step in support of U.S. government efforts to crack down on illicit finance and enhance transparency by issuing a final rule establishing a beneficial ownership information reporting requirement, pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The rule will require most corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities created in or registered to do business in the United States to report information about their beneficial owners—the persons who ultimately own or control the company, to FinCEN

The CDD Rule has four core requirements. It requires covered financial institutions to establish and maintain written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to: identify and verify the identity of customers. identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owners of companies opening accounts.

Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines in financial services require that professionals make an effort to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship.

The impact of The Vancouver Model has been staggering; an unquantifiable amount of lives have been rendered unable to buy or even rent in Vancouver. Despite the impact of the past on the present, we are looking towards a better, fairer and more successful society, through a comprehensive tackling of the issues that has come from not only financial institutions, but from the casinos themselves, leading to a monumental decrease in this crime.

The Vancouver Model is a tactic developed by money launderers to avoid suspicion of drug trafficking and organized crime. Money launderers need to hide the illegal source of funds in order to carry out their activities, so they always need to turn those funds into a less suspicious asset.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. The FATF researches how money is laundered and terrorism is funded, promotes global standards to mitigate the risks, and assesses whether countries are taking effective action.

Terrorist Financing may involve funds raised from legitimate sources such as personal donations and profits from businesses and charitable organisations, as well as from from criminal sources such as drug trafficking, fraud, smuggling… etc.

An anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program helps businesses, including traditional financial institutions—as well as those entities identified in government regulations, such as money-service businesses and insurance companies—uncover suspicious activity associated with criminal acts, including money laundering and terrorism financing.

Using advanced technology and a variety of data sources, FinCEN links together various financial elements of the crime, helping federal, state and local law enforcement find the missing pieces to the criminal puzzle. Addressing money laundering is a nationwide problem and FinCEN treats it that way.