Anti-money laundering (AML) has been an important aspect of compliance activities and processes in the financial services industry for over a century. As the global financial system has grown more sophisticated and complex, AML has become significantly more important. This increased importance has made complying with AML regulations a critical element of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management for financial institutions. AML enforcement and fines for failing to apply and/or maintain proper controls have…
There are many factors to consider in cultivating a risk culture within your organization. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the critical nature of getting people involved and engaged in risk management processes. In Part 2, we looked at other internal factors and how to take a systematic approach to reviewing them. In the prior installment, we explored how external factors can have profound impacts on the risk culture. In this fourth…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its annual Consumer Response Report to Congress on March 24. The Bureau has analyzed the responses and found that there was a 54% increase in complaints in 2020 from the previous year. The total number of complaints rose from 352,400 in 2019 to 542,300 in 2020. The CFPB believes that the pandemic played a significant role in the increase of complaints. The CFPB stated that while only…
Regulators across the globe have been putting a greater emphasis on operational resiliency. Operational disruptions and emerging risks pose a significant challenge to organizations, and as a result, many are starting to realize that risk and compliance functions need to be embedded into their controls, policies, and procedures enterprise-wide. This level of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) integration provides coordinated and consistent management efforts, better visibility, and improved efficiency in identifying and managing risk…
The U.S. Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering unit is changing leadership, as Kenneth Blanco stepped down on April 9 after being the director of the department since late 2017. Michael Mosier, a counselor to the Treasury’s deputy secretary, stepped in as director on April 11 and faces the challenge of implementing regulations associated with an anti-money laundering law that was passed in January of this year. This law was designed to create a registry of…