ReleaseWire Connect

A report released in June this year revealed that Nordic bank Nordea and Norway's DNB banks have been the conduit for billions of euros of suspicious origin - at least €3.9bn -, creating yet another new money laundering scandal for the region. Information obtained by a Finnish broadcasting company showed that at least a part of the money that has been funneled through these banks is related to money laundering. The information comes from internal investigation reports at the banks - which have been leaked - and which show a number of problematic money transfers connected to branches in locations such as Latvia and Lithuania. The internal reports also indicate that bank employees may also have been involved in money laundering.

William Hill's online gambling subsidiary Mr Green fell foul of Sweden's Money Laundering Act in 2021, as well as certain sections of the Gambling Act. As a result, it was issued with two separate warnings, as well as penalties of $3.1 million. The company sought to appeal the penalties but, earlier this year, the appeal was dismissed by Sweden's Administrative Court in Linköping. A statement was made by the Swedish Gambling Authority in which it made clear that Mr Green's appeal was to be dismissed "in its entirety." The Authority went on to highlight the issues that existed in terms of William Hill's AML protection and the problematic level of compliance risk at the business.

There is clear evidence that money laundering issues are a big issue in the legal profession in the UK today. The most recent figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the UK show that, in the 18 months to April 2022, suspect transactions amounting to a total value of more than £161 million were reported to the National Crime Agency. Given that all but two of these investigations involved money laundering, the need for AML transaction monitoring continues to grow, in the legal profession and beyond. The SRA made a total of 39 suspicious activity reports during the period, while 51 reports had been drawn to the regulator's attention internally and ongoing monitoring was in place for a further 178 investigations.