Europol’s 2023 report
Europol has issued its 2023 assessment of the risks of financial and economic crime.
It features Virtual Accounts and the unique identifier for them: Virtual IBANs or International Bank Account Numbers.
We have raised this issue to the trade body for the sector most actively using Virtual IBANs – Project Financial Crime of The Payments […]
The AML gospel according to St JMLSG
Things have moved quickly since the breaking of the scandal over the de-banking of Nigel Farage. Dame Alison Rose, CEO of Natwest, has resigned along with the CEO of […]
I spoke briefly on Liam Halligan’s show on GBNews about their ‘Don’t kill cash’ campaign:
https://x.com/gbnews/status/1690990780767166465?s=46&t=UN7HZkpr9JYSbWdGfk-dXA
I appeared on Nigel Farage’s show on GBNews on Wednesday 9th August 2023 on the subject of de-banking and the FCA’s letter to 30 or so institutions asking them to lay out who they had de-banked and why. The interview begins at Minute 9:
This is my response to the Future of Payments’ call for input.
You can download it here.
The call for input used that terrible cliché ‘payment journeys’, and I re-interpreted that as meaning journeys to a utility room to rinse out and eradicate Retained EU Law and the wider market practices, ways-of-thinking, detriments and trends that constitute […]
Cover of JMLSG guidance
Introduction
The UK’s financial services industry has invented for itself the right to use data providers to identify Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). The de-banking of Nigel Farage by Coutts/Natwest has shone a light on this regime which the industry claims is an implementation of […]
Payment Systems Regulator strategy to introduce ‘Trusted KYC Data Sharing’
Whatever one’s opinion of Nigel Farage, the concept that he can be de-banked should be troubling to everyone. It should be even more troubling to those familiar with the financial industry’s measures to counter financial crime, as remedies being applied by banks are more extreme than […]
Letter to Lord Johnson
The Payments Association has sent a letter to Lord Johnson about the proposed widening of the coverage for victims of Authorised Push Payment Fraud (APPF):
The letter raises three areas of concern, which could have unintended consequences:
1. Almost all consumers experiencing APP fraud will get their money back (unless they are ‘grossly negligent’);
2. The cost […]
‘Digital pound’ consultation
We have sent an addendum to our previous response to this consultation on the ‘digital pound’.
Its message is that the ‘digital pound’ will not be a form of ‘central bank money’ if its so-called Distribution Model replicates what happens in the Visa and Mastercard ecosystems on three points.
The consultation papers were vague on […]
Introduction
Central banks have undertaken many investigations, pilots and proofs-of-concept into Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), proving little beyond the lack of a convincing case in their favour, but unearthing many risks, drawbacks and unanswered questions.
Recent material from Sweden, Japan, the European Parliament, the UK’s House of Lords […]