AI heralds the next generation of financial scams

Reported by Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan Increasing sophistication Identifying the scale of AI use by scammers is a difficult task, says Alex West, banking and payments fraud specialist at consultant PwC. He was one of the authors of a report into the impact of AI on fraud and scams last December in collaboration with cross-industry coalition Stop Scams UK. […]

Removal of the Cayman Islands from the EU AML List and UK AML List

Reported by Jack Boldarin, James Burch, Lucy Frew, Steven Manning, Nicholas Quin, Andy Randall, John Rogers, Nicholas Swartz, and Daniel Wood Following the removal of the Cayman Islands from the Financial Action Task Force’s list of “jurisdictions under increased monitoring” in October 2023, on 12 December 2023, the European Commission adopted the Commission Delegated Regulation […]

Jamie Dimon tells Davos that Bitcoin is a ‘pet rock’ that does nothing—except help with fraud and money laundering

Reported by PAOLO CONFINO JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is done talking about Bitcoin—again.  In a CNBC interview from Davos, a visibly amused Dimon declared he was swearing off opining about the crypto currency. When asked about the new Bitcoin ETF the Securities and Exchange Commission approved last week, Dimon interrupted CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, also of The […]

Tether responds to UN report about ‘illicit activity’ of USDT

Reported by HELEN PARTZ Major stablecoin firm Tether has responded to a United Nations (UN) report highlighting the alleged involvement of its Tether USDT $1.00 stablecoin in illicit activity. On Jan. 15, the Southeast Asia and the Pacific division of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issued a report on the use of cryptocurrencies in […]

Morgan Stanley Agrees to Pay $249 Million to Settle Block-Trading Probes

Reported by Dave Michaels, AnnaMaria Andriotis, and Corrie Driebusch Morgan Stanley agreed Friday to pay $249 million to settle criminal and regulatory investigations into allegations that some employees improperly shared information about clients’ stock sales, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said. The resolution ends a long-running probe into how the bank sold large blocks of stock for […]

US SEC begrudgingly approves Bitcoin trades but warns investors it’s a ‘speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing’

Reported by Rich Stanton The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) following years of opposition—though not without stern warnings about the “myriad risks” of investing in cryptocurrency. The news was greeted with enthusiasm by crypto-lovers and has led to a minor spike in Bitcoin’s value, with one Bitcoin being worth around $44,000 […]