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- UK Labour Party To Ramp Up Financial Crime Prevention
- Central Banks Of China, Thailand Sign MoU To Promote Local Currency Use
- Turkey To Escape FATF Greylist By End Of June, Says VP
- Lithuania Prepares Market For MiCA Regulation With Simulation Training
- EU Council Approves Landmark AI Regulation
- Iberpay, Banco Santander Begin Processing Instant International Transfers
- Mastercard, Salesforce Launch New Integration To Resolve Transaction Disputes
- Russia Issues Draft Directive To Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Measures
- China, Hong Kong To Test World's First CBDC, Faster Payments Linkage
- Latvijas Banka Issues Draft Regulation On Account Switching Service
UK Labour Party To Ramp Up Financial Crime Prevention
The UK Labour Party is set to introduce policies aimed at combating financial crime and corruption in the UK if it wins the general election due to take place in July this year.
Plans being pushed by David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, include punitive measures against white-collar enablers of kleptocracy and substantial rewards of up to £250,000 for whistleblowers exposing sanctions violations.
Key components of the plan include hosting a UK summit to address financial crime on a global scale, establishing an international anti-corruption court and enhancing transparency around UK trusts and property ownership.
The initiative also seeks to strengthen the UK's sanctions regime to target money laundering facilitators.
Labour has criticised the current Conservative government, accusing it of allowing London to become a hub for kleptocracy. Lammy, meanwhile, has emphasised the need for a "fresh approach based on action and enforcement".
Central Banks Of China, Thailand Sign MoU To Promote Local Currency Use
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote the use of the Thai baht and Chinese yuan in bilateral transactions.
Under the framework for cooperation, the MoU is aimed at enhancing accessibility and efficiency in local currency usage to promote its broader adoption for cross-border payments.
The BOT also noted that the agreement aligns with its ongoing efforts to create ecosystems that facilitate trade and investment within the region.
The MoU was signed by the two central bank governors following a meeting at the PBOC in Beijing on Tuesday (May 21).
Turkey To Escape FATF Greylist By End Of June, Says VP
Cevdet Yilmaz, Turkey’s vice president, has said he expects the country to be removed from the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) by the end of next month.
"I think we will be taken off the FATF grey list in June,” Yilmaz told Reuters in an interview last week. “If we are not, I believe this will be due to political reasons, not technical reasons.
"From a technical aspect, I believe there are no obstacles left. I think Turkey fully meets the technical criteria.”
Yilmaz also confirmed that a FATF team held an "on-site" visit with Turkish authorities this month ahead of a June 28 decision whether to upgrade the country.
Turkey was placed on the greylist in October 2021 due to supervision lapses in high-risk sectors such as banks, gold and precious stones.
Lithuania Prepares Market For MiCA Regulation With Simulation Training
The Bank of Lithuania is set to offer simulation training to help financial market participants prepare for the upcoming Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.
These sessions will incorporate innovation lab principles and expand the use of the country's regulatory sandbox.
The training focuses on creating white papers for the crypto-asset regulation. Interested participants are invited to notify the Bank of Lithuania via email by May 29, 2024.
The programme includes joint development of pilot white papers with technology providers, allowing participants to familiarise themselves with the process before MiCA's implementation.
The training schedule begins with a simulation of e-money and asset-linked token pilot white papers from June 10-14, 2024, followed by a discussion of the developed pilot white papers from June 17-21, 2024.
From August 26 to September 26, 2024, there will be a simulation of white papers for other crypto-assets, concluding with a discussion of these trial white papers on September 17, 2024.
EU Council Approves Landmark AI Regulation
The Council of the European Union has provided the final approval to the world's first comprehensive AI regulation, known as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.
The legislation adopts a “risk-based” approach, imposing stricter rules on AI systems that pose higher risks to society.
The AI Act aims to harmonise AI rules across the EU's single market, promoting the development and adoption of safe and trustworthy AI by both private and public sectors.
It also seeks to protect fundamental rights of EU citizens while encouraging investment and innovation in AI technologies.
To ensure proper enforcement, several governing bodies are established under the AI Act. An AI Office within the European Commission will enforce common rules across the EU, supported by a scientific panel of independent experts.
Additionally, an AI Board, comprising representatives from member states, will advise and assist the commission and member states on the consistent and effective application of the AI Act. Meanwhile, an advisory forum will be created to allow stakeholders to provide technical expertise to the AI Board and the commission.
Iberpay, Banco Santander Begin Processing Instant International Transfers
Two Spanish firms, Iberpay and Banco Santander, have announced that they have processed the first instant international transfers based on the European Payments Council’s One-Leg-Out (OCT Inst) scheme.
Santander is the first European bank to join OCT Inst and to offer the service to its customers through Iberpay.
OCT Inst allows payment service providers (PSPs) in the SEPA area to process instant international transfers to and from countries outside the euro area. Transactions are typically executed in seconds and are available 24/7/365.
Going forward, the Spanish banking community has agreed to the full adoption of OCT Inst starting in October this year.
Consequently, other Spanish banks are preparing to connect to Iberpay's service over the coming months.
Mastercard, Salesforce Launch New Integration To Resolve Transaction Disputes
Mastercard and Salesforce have partnered on a new integration that will help issuers speed up the resolution of transaction disputes and reduce the costs associated with them.
The partnership will integrate Salesforce’s Financial Services Cloud (FSC) with Mastercard's dispute resolution services, providing a single platform for dispute management and chargeback reporting and prevention.
Mastercard’s services include Ethoca Alerts, which provide near real-time notifications when a financial institution raises a chargeback, and Ethoca Consumer Clarity, enabling the provision of merchant and purchase insights to issuer back-office teams.
The data from these services is now being fed into FSC so that every bank agent and team member working on a dispute has more visibility from start to finish.
Mastercard projections suggest that by 2026 there could be 337m chargebacks annually, an increase of 42 percent from 2023 levels.
Russia Issues Draft Directive To Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Measures
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has introduced a draft directive designed to bolster the internal controls of credit institutions and non-credit financial organisations in their efforts to curb financial crime.
The primary objective of the draft directive is to offer clear guidance to financial institutions for assessing and mitigating the risks associated with money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).
It aims to achieve this by providing specific instructions for credit institutions on implementing measures to manage ML/TF risks.
Additionally, the directive clarifies the factors that influence the assessment of a client's risk level for engaging in suspicious transactions.
Firms have until May 31 to submit their feedback to the consultation.
China, Hong Kong To Test World's First CBDC, Faster Payments Linkage
The central banks of Hong Kong and mainland China have announced plans to expand the scope of their ongoing pilot of e-CNY, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Under the expansion, Hong Kong residents will be able to set up e-CNY wallets, and will also be able to top up e-CNY wallets through Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System (FPS).
This marks the first linkage of a faster payment system with a CBDC system in the world, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement.
“It provides an innovative use case which underscores interoperability, a key area set out in the G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments,” the HKMA added.
Hong Kong users can also set up e-CNY wallets using only a mobile phone number. However, these wallets can only be used for cross-border person-to-merchant (P2M) payments and not for person-to-person transfers.
Latvijas Banka Issues Draft Regulation On Account Switching Service
Latvijas Banka, the Central Bank of Latvia, has released a draft regulation on the “Procedure for Providing the Account Exchange Service”.
This regulation is a significant step towards streamlining account-switching services for consumers, ensuring transparency and fairness in fee comparability, account switching and access to basic payment accounts.
The new regulation is designed to offer clear guidelines to consumers and market participants, fostering a competitive environment.
It mandates that payment service providers in Latvia implement the necessary information to facilitate account switches between providers.
This draft will replace the existing Regulation No. 83 of the Financial and Capital Markets Commission. Stakeholders are invited to submit feedback by May 29, 2024, via email.
