Network Announces Launch of the Society of Anti Money Laundering Professionals

The Anti Money Laundering Network is a leading international group of companies that formulates strategies to deter and detect money laundering. The Network announced yesterday that it was launching the Society of Anti Money Laundering Professionals. The goal of the Society will be to bring about new levels of professionalism and expertise amongst those engaged in combating money laundering within the financial sector, governments and commerce by providing a unique mix of professional development, mentoring and thought leadership.

Initially, admission to the Society is based on experience but after the launch phase, the Society will implement an examination-based structure for elevation to higher membership levels.

Members of the Society have access to a wide range of proprietary information services and learning and research materials and special interest groups as well as a developing branch network.

You can visit the Society's new website at http://www.socamlpro.org, which includes an application form to join the Society.

Read the full press release announcing the launch here.

Anti Money Laundering Resources for Jewelers

The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has opened up its “Ask the AML (anti-money laundering) Expert” service to the jewelry industry at large. Jewelers who use the organization's e-mail function receive confidential responses to their anti-money laundering questions from Cecilia Gardner, JVC’s president, CEO and general counsel, or Rebecca Halperin, JVC’s associate general counsel.

Interest in compliance with money laundering statutes and regulations has grown among jewelers after news broke of Yakov Arabov's arrest on money-laundering charges in New York. Arabov is a prominent jeweler known in the trade as Jacob the Jeweler.

See the full press release concerning JVC's new service here.

The "Ask the AML Expert" function can be accessed here.

Top Money Laundering Resource Site

For those looking for money laundering resources, visit www.moneylaundering.com, which describes itself as the most comprehensive source of money laundering information on the Internet. The company behind the site also conducts three major money laundering conferences, including the largest in the world each spring in South Florida. Annually, it also conducts regional money laundering conferences in Latin America and Europe. Additionally, the company publishes Money Laundering Alert, which covers legislative, regulatory and enforcement developments in the United States and the world regarding money laundering, and provides practical compliance guidance and analysis of laws and regulations. It is also used as a training tool by many financial institutions, including banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and government agencies.

Click here to learn more.

Definition of Money Laundering

The Wikipedia defines "money laundering" as "the practice of engaging in specific financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and/or destination of money." The Wikipedia entry further notes that, in the past, the term "money laundering" was applied only to financial transactions related to organized crime, but today its definition is often expanded by government regulators to encompass any financial transaction which generates an asset or a value as the result of an illegal act.

Read the full Wikipedia entry here. 

IBA Anti-Money Laundering Forum

In view of recent and proposed legislative changes, together with practical difficulties that money laundering is causing to the legal profession, the International Bar Association's Legal Practice Division has created the Anti-Money Laundering Forum: The Lawyer’s Guide to Legislation and Compliance. This website provides a forum for the exchange of practical information between legal professionals through the creation of an electronic meeting place to discuss the impact of anti-money laundering laws and policy in the legal profession.  Visit the website here.