AML Weekly Recap and Insights | Week 24th - 28th March 2025

Mar 28, 2025

Dear AML Professionals,

Another week has come to an end, bringing with it key developments and insights in the world of financial crime compliance.

If you want to learn what to expect this year in the area of anti-financial crime, download the Anti-Financial Crime 2025 Report! Packed with expert contributions and practical guidance, it’s a must-read for compliance professionals navigating today’s challenges.

Download the Report for free

Take care your well-being..

Compliance work is demanding, and the pressure to get everything right can be overwhelming.

But remember this: you cannot pour from an empty cup.

If you don’t take care of yourself, your judgement and effectiveness will suffer. You need to deliberately set aside time to disconnect and recharge.

Prioritizing your well-being isn’t a luxury - it’s essential to sustaining your performance.

Set boundaries, take breaks, and make time to recharge. It’s not about neglecting your responsibilities - it’s about maintaining the mental clarity needed to make sound decisions.

Protect your well-being. Because if you’re burned out, you can’t deliver your best work.

And let’s be honest – this is something we all need to work on. You’re not alone in this.

With this thought, I am wishing you a great weekend!

Best

Anna

A week full of interesting news:

Corbett Bookmakers Limited, a land-based gambling business in the UK, was fined £686,070 following an investigation by the Gambling Commission. The probe uncovered social responsibility and AML failings, including an inadequate risk assessment that failed to fully address customer, product, geographic, and payment risks. The company will also undergo a rigorous audit to ensure compliance with AML and safer gambling measures moving forward.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) was fined £465,000 by the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) for breaching Russia sanctions—the first such action against a law firm since Ukraine’s invasion in 2022. In May 2022, HSF’s Moscow office paid £3.9 million to sanctioned Russian banks (Sovcombank, Sberbank, Alfa-Bank) while closing operations. HSF self-reported the "human error," cooperated fully, and recovered most funds, but OFSI still imposed the fine, reduced from £930,000.
Rory Trainor, a 48-year-old from Newry, was jailed for drug dealing and money laundering after pleading guilty to 38 charges. Trainor was arrested following the European police infiltration of the EncroChat messaging service. He was accused of laundering or conspiring to launder more than £1.3m in cash.He received a five-and-a-half-year sentence, with half served in jail.
The U.S. Department of Justice disrupted a terrorist financing scheme by seizing approximately $201,400 in cryptocurrency intended to support Hamas. The funds were traced from encrypted fundraising addresses that laundered over $1.5 million since October 2024. The FBI led the investigation, identifying and confiscating the assets from various accounts and wallets. Authorities emphasized that disrupting financial networks remains a critical part of counterterrorism efforts.