Sanctions and AML Insights

After months of long hours for our dev team, we are very happy and proud to announce our new API version 2.0🚀. This new API version is a big step forward and contains many new and very useful features. One of the biggest changes is our new Smart Screening Technology which will help reduce significantly false positives and negatives.

Trade compliance is one of the most complex aspects of corporate compliance. Companies that export/import across borders must comply with the regulatory framework of multiple governing bodies, often several within a single country, which can change rapidly and without warning and regulations across trading nations may differ dramatically.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA) forms part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and has greatly widened the scope of enforcement and reporting requirements. Some have called it the biggest overhaul of the bank’s secrecy and AML regime since the Patriot Act.

While President Putin boldly declared that sanctions against Russia have failed, the full impact of Western sanctions has been keenly felt. Severe sanctions cut off Russia’s access to foreign reserves, limited their ability to import key dual-use technology and froze the assets of major banks. The Kremlin responded by hiking interest rates to 20% and forcing Russian businesses to convert their profits to rubles in order to recover. However, this may not suffice in the long run.

In the most simple terms, reverse money laundering is the opposite of typical money laundering schemes where criminals spread illegal gains to lower the odds of being found. With reverse money laundering, legal funds are removed from circulation and used to fund criminal activity, terrorism and tax evasion or bribery. Legitimate funds are used, which means that monitoring, identifying and prohibiting reverse money laundering becomes extremely complex.

The terms smurfing and structuring both refer to money laundering techniques deployed by financial criminals. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but there are subtle differences. Smurfing is highly illegal, goes even further than structuring, and can be even harder to detect. Financial institutions have a duty to familiarize themselves with the inner workings of a smurf to protect their reputation and their clientele.

Discover 2025 trends in digital banking and money laundering. Learn how AI, crypto regulations, and compliance technology are reshaping AML risk management.

Money laundering conceals crimes that range from tax evasion to drug trafficking and even terrorist funding. According to a panel formed by the United Nations, money laundering schemes amount to flows of as much as $1.6 trillion (or 2.7% of the global GDP) every year. Anti-money laundering (often referred to as AML) is the nexus of laws, regulations and processes that aim to curb money laundering across the globe, including Know Your Customer checks and filing and reporting requirements. Financial institutions around the globe, including fintech organizations and crypto platforms, need to familiarize themselves with the regulations applicable to their businesses and regions in order to avoid harsh penalties and reputational damage.