Money laundering is the process of changing large amounts of money obtained from crimes, such as drug trafficking, into origination from a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is a key operation of the underground economy.
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering. Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports if the daily aggregate exceeds $10,000, and report suspicious activity that may signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities.
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company. It is the second largest bank in Europe, with total assets of US$2.984 trillion. HSBC traces its origin to a hong in British Hong Kong and its present form was established in London by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company in 1991; its name derives from that company's initials. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened branches in Shanghai in 1865 and was first formally incorporated in 1866.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and thrift institutions and the federally licensed branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. The acting Comptroller of the Currency is Michael J. Hsu, who took office on May 10, 2021.
The know your customer or know your client (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 procedures fit within the broader scope of a bank's anti-money laundering (AML) policy. KYC processes are also employed by companies of all sizes for the purpose of ensuring their proposed customers, agents, consultants, or distributors are anti-bribery compliant, and are actually who they claim to be. Banks, insurers, export creditors, and other financial institutions are increasingly demanding that customers provide detailed due diligence information. Initially, these regulations were imposed only on the financial institutions but now the non-financial industry, fintech, virtual assets dealers, and even non-profit organizations are liable to oblige.
Oracle Financial Services Software Limited (OFSS) is a subsidiary of Oracle Corporation. It is a retail banking, corporate banking, and insurance technology solutions provider for the banking industry. It also provides risk and compliance management, and performance measurement applications, as well as accounting, business process management, human resources and procurement tools.
Finastra is a conglomerate providing legacy financial technology and legacy enterprise software globally to banks, community banks, credit unions and financial services providers.
A vendor management system (VMS) is an Internet-enabled, often Web-based application that acts as a mechanism for business to manage and procure staffing services – temporary, and, in some cases, permanent placement services – as well as outside contract or contingent labor. Typical features of a VMS application include order distribution, consolidated billing and significant enhancements in reporting capability that outperforms manual systems and processes.
World-Check is a database of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and heightened risk individuals and organizations, used around the world to help to identify and manage financial, regulatory and reputational risk. World Check formed part of the Thomson Reuters Risk Management Solutions suite before being transferred to Refinitiv after a merger deal with The Blackstone Group in October 2018.
Anti-money laundering software is software used in the finance and legal industries to meet the legal requirements for financial institutions and other regulated entities to prevent or report money laundering activities. There are four basic types of software that address anti-money laundering: transaction monitoring systems, currency transaction reporting (CTR) systems, customer identity management systems and compliance management software.
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 terms "politically exposed person" and senior foreign political figure are often used interchangeably, particularly in international forums. Foreign official is a term for individuals deemed government persons under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and although definitions are similar to PEP, there are quite a few differences, and they should not be used interchangeably. The term "PEP" is typically used to refer to customers in the financial services industry, while "foreign official" refers to the risks of third-party relationships in all industries.
VERMEG is an international software group operating across several lines of B2B services: pensions & insurance, wealth & asset management, financial & security markets and Digital Financial Services. The company develops software used across the private banking sector, consumer finance, asset management companies, Central banks, insurance and other financial services providers covering insurance policy administration, asset portfolio management, regulatory reporting, collateral management, post-trade processing, low code application development, business process management and risk management.
TCS BaNCS is a core banking software suite developed by Tata Consultancy Services for use by retail banks.
ACAMS is the largest international membership organization dedicated to enhancing the knowledge and expertise of financial crime detection and prevention professionals, from a wide range of industries, in both the public and private sectors. ACAMS offers the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) credential that certifies the holder's expertise in anti-money laundering.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is the Swiss government body responsible for financial regulation. This includes the supervision of banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges and securities dealers, as well as other financial intermediaries in Switzerland.
Promontory Financial Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, is a global consulting firm that advises clients on a variety of financial services matters, including regulatory issues, compliance, risk management, liquidity, restructuring, acquisitions, due diligence, internal investigations and cyber security.
CustomerXPs is a Bengaluru-based software product company providing financial crime risk management and customer experience management solutions to banking institutions. Founded in 2006, the company sells its financial crime risk management software product under the brand name Clari5. CustomerXPs is identified as one of the top 100 global regtech companies.
The Wolfsberg Group is a non-governmental association of thirteen global banks. Its goal has been to develop financial industry standards for anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) policies. Its work is similar to what the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) does on a government level. In addition to its AML-activities, the Wolfsberg Group also serves as a collective action group in the field of anti-corruption. The Wolfsberg Group has criticized FATF's draft AML revision as "too prescriptive and too narrowly conceived". The group operates in relative obscurity without press coverage.
Synechron Inc. is a New York-based information technology and consulting company focused on the financial services industry including capital markets, insurance, banking and digital.
Refinitiv is an American-British global provider of financial market data and infrastructure. The company was founded in 2018. It is a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group after a US$27 billion dollar sale from previous owners Blackstone Group LP which held a 55% stake and Thomson Reuters which owned 45%. The company has an annual turnover of $6 billion with more than 40,000 client companies in 190 countries.
