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Industry | Regulatory compliance |
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Founded | 2004 |
Headquarters | , |
Website | http://www.onlinecompliance.org |
The Online Compliance Consortium (OCC) is a group of top global law firms who work together to establish global best practice for compliance. [1]
The OCC collaboratively develops compliance and risk management training, tools and technology to the specifications of its member companies. [2]
The group was founded in 2004, facilitated by e-learning developer Vinciworks, under the principle that there is no competitive advantage in compliance. [3] [4] Due to potential criminal liability, [4] representatives of 14 firms, led by Hogan Lovells COO Nick Cray, met to define global compliance standards. Their initial task was to build money laundering training modules for law firms. [5]
Today the OCC represents over 150 leading law firms, including 60 of the top 100 UK firms, eight of the top 10 US firms and the leading firms in both Hong Kong and Sweden. By collaborating with other firms, OCC members benefit from the expertise of the group, the assurance of accuracy and tremendous cost savings. [6] The current list of OCC law firms includes: [7] Allen & Overy, Bevan Brittan, Blake Morgan, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, CMS, Debevoise and Plimpton, DLA Piper, DWF, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hogan Lovells, Holman Fenwick & Willan, Macfarlanes, Mills & Reeve, Shearman & Sterling, and Weil Gotshal & Manges.
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is usually a key operation of organized crime.
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA), respectively. 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.
An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license, which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to less regulation and transparency, accounts with offshore banks were often used to hide undeclared income. Since the 1980s, jurisdictions that provide financial services to nonresidents on a big scale can be referred to as offshore financial centres. OFCs often also levy little or no corporation tax and/or personal income and high direct taxes such as duty, making the cost of living high.
RELX is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; decision-making tools; and organise exhibitions. It operates in 40 countries and serves customers in over 180 nations. It was previously known as Reed Elsevier, and came into being in 1992 as a result of the merger of Reed International, a British trade book and magazine publisher, and Elsevier, a Netherlands-based scientific publisher.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.
The Magic Circle is an informal term describing the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms, which generally outperform the rest of the London law firms on profitability. The term has also been used to describe the most prestigious barristers' chambers in London. All of the 'Magic Circle' law firms and barristers' chambers specialise primarily in corporate law.
A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that typically takes the bid–ask spreads as a transaction commission for is service or, as a matching platform, simply charges fees.
In domestic and international commercial law, a beneficial owner is a natural person or persons who ultimately owns or controls an interest in a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, a trust, or a foundation. Legal owners, commonly described as the "registered owners", may hold those interests as beneficial owners or for the benefit of someone else, in which case they may be described as a "nominee".
The Silver Circle is a group of elite corporate law firms headquartered in London that has evolved significantly as the UK legal market has been affected by globalisation and mergers. The law firms generally described by The Lawyer magazine as comprising the Silver Circle were historically Ashurst, Herbert Smith, Macfarlanes, SJ Berwin and Travers Smith, but are currently limited to Macfarlanes, Travers Smith and Mishcon de Reya. Slaughter and May is also sometimes considered to be a member.
Anti-money laundering software is software used in the finance and legal industries to help companies comply with the legal requirements for financial institutions and other regulated entities to prevent or report money laundering activities. The digital design facilitates faster and more accurate compliance and investigations.
OnRamp Systems is a legal technology company that specializes in applying people, process, and technology in support of corporate legal departments. OnRamp System’s collaborative platform, Legal OnRamp, has been cited by Harvard Law School as one of the first to combine law and technology.
The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) is an organization that provides training and certification, runs conferences and disseminates information on detection and prevention of money laundering.
Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, D.C. Hogan Lovells was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers across 40 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Mossack Fonseca & Co. was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider. At one time it was the world's fourth-largest provider of offshore financial services. From its 1977 foundation until the April 2016 publication of the Panama Papers, it remained mostly obscure, even though it sat at the heart of the global offshore industry and acted for about 300,000 companies. More than half were registered in British tax havens, as well as in the United Kingdom.
The legal services sector of the United Kingdom is a significant part of the national economy; it had a total output of £22.6 billion in 2013, up from 10.6 billion in 2001, and is equivalent to 1.6% of the country's gross domestic product for that year. The sector has a trade surplus is £3.1 billion in 2013 and directly employees 316,000 people, two-thirds of whom are located outside London. The UK is the world's most international market for legal services. It allows virtually unrestricted access for foreign firms, resulting in over 200 foreign law firms with offices in London and other cities in the UK. Around half of these are US firms, with the remainder mainly from Europe, Australia and Canada. The UK legal market has a strong global position due to the popularity of English law. Some 27% of the world's 320 legal jurisdictions use English Common law.
Corruption in Switzerland describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Switzerland.
The Republic of Panama is one of the oldest and best-known tax havens in the Caribbean, as well as one of the most established in the region. Panama has had a reputation for tax avoidance since the early 20th century, and Panama has been cited repeatedly in recent years as a jurisdiction which does not cooperate with international tax transparency initiatives.
The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent, international non-profit organisation dedicated to preventing and combating corruption and other financial crimes and to strengthening governance around the world. The organisation was established in Basel, Switzerland in 2003 by Professor Mark Pieth.
ComplyAdvantage, founded in 2014, is a RegTech company that provides anti-money laundering technology. The company uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing to help regulated organisations manage risk obligations and counteract financial crime.
Brian P. Brooks is an American lawyer, banker, entrepreneur, technologist, and former government official. He served as Acting Comptroller of the Currency from May 29, 2020, succeeding the 31st Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, until January 14, 2021. Brooks was nominated twice by President Donald Trump for a five-year term as Comptroller of the Currency, once during the 116th Congress, and once in the 117th Congress.