Current AT Europe Articles

ACAMS Today Europe Digital is an online magazine with insightful and timely anti-money laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism-related content.

A subset of this publication is our Europe Express column, which covers anti-financial crime-related content with a regional focus in Europe from subject-matter experts.

Recently Featured

Birth of a Global Watchdog: The Egmont Group

In stark contrast to the cold day of June 9, 1995, the atmosphere at the Egmont-Arenberg Palace in Brussels was ablaze with tension and anticipation. As members of the Belgian financial intelligence unit (FIU), the Cellule de Traitement des Informations Financières (CTIF-CFI) patiently awaited the arrival of the train that held 100 representatives from 24 nations and eight international bodies from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) plenary meeting in The Hague; they felt that they were venturing into uncharted territory.

EU’s Approach to Sanctions

Companies involved in transnational business are concerned about sanctions primarily because of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is highly active in terms of enforcement and imposes large penalties on sanctions violators. Conversely, while the European Union (EU) has also been active in imposing sanctions, it has not been as effective regarding sanctions enforcement.

Stopping Cross-Border Illicit Financial Flows

ACAMS Today Europe Digital spoke to Grace Jackson and Maksym Markevych, who work for the Financial Integrity Group in the Legal Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), about their partnership with Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden in a first-of-its-kind technical assistance project to strengthen the effectiveness of anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) frameworks.

Money Launderers for Hire: Antwerp’s Cocaine Dilemma

In 2021, Belgian authorities intercepted a colossal 89 metric tons of illicit drugs valued at 4.5 billion euros (approximately $4.8 billion) within the confines of Antwerp’s bustling port in what was known as Operation Sky ECC. Despite the successful achievement and the apprehension of 888 suspects, the stakeout only scratched the surface of an expansive drug trafficking web that has taken a grip on Belgium.

Captagon: A Dangerous Pill to Swallow

In early September 2022, Syria’s Ministry of Interior released a video showing dozens of seized hummus bowls. A bowl is subsequently picked up and peeled with a knife, revealing that the bowls were concealing an illicit drug called Captagon. According to the Ministry, pills had been crushed and the resulting paste had been used to mold pottery-like dishes in an attempt to sneak the drug past authorities.

Previously Featured

Captagon: A Dangerous Pill to Swallow

Cleaning Up Dirty Money in the Art Trade

The art market’s vulnerabilities to financial crime have recently become a growing concern in the U.S., Europe and the U.K. Increasingly, authorities have turned their attention to art market transactions, acknowledging that—like other high-end assets—the art trade is ripe for money laundering. Scrutiny has been expedited and heightened by the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Germany’s New AML Authority and Its Uphill Battle

When Lisa Paus, a financial expert in Germany’s Green Party, tried to identify the owners of the Kundamm-Karee ‘Fürst’ project, she hit a wall. The approximately 635,071-square-foot urban area that would house office spaces, retail stores and art galleries at Kurfürstendamm, one of Berlin’s most well-known avenues, had switched proprietors seven times in 2021, costing €1.02 billion euros ($1.32 billion).

Human Trafficking in Times of Conflict

The trafficking of human beings increases dramatically in times of conflict, and the combination of conflict and migration leaves a significant number of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children at high risk of institution-related trafficking, as well as various forms of abuse and exploitation.

The Importance of Collaboration in CSE Investigation

Child sexual exploitation (CSE), child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and child sex trafficking (CST) are serious crimes that adversely impact children being coerced or manipulated into engaging in sexual activity for financial gain. The ACAMS Today Back-to-the-Basics article, “Beyond The Headlines—A Real Look at Trends in CSAM and CST,” introduces and delves deeper into this topic and provides a classification for these heinous crimes.

Dissecting the Mafia: Apulia’s Sacra Corona Unita

The Italian criminal underworld is infamous for its Sicilian mobsters and Calabrian drug traffickers, but little is known of the “Fourth Mafia,” or the Sacra Corona Unita (SCU). Sprung from the depths of Apulia’s prison system, it makes up one of the major mafia groups in the country, along with Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta and Campania’s Camorra.

Dissecting the Mafia: Campania’s Camorra

Campania’s Camorra, one of the four major Mafia groups in Italy, along with Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta and Puglia’s Sacra Corona Unita, is one of the most insidious and dangerous criminal organisations in the world.

Dissecting the Mafia: Sicily’s Cosa Nostra

For the past 100 years, the mafia’s brutal and lawless presence has influenced everything from pop culture to history, extending beyond Italy’s borders to impact crime around the world.

Dissecting the Mafia: Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta

C alabria, the southern region of Italy referred to as the “toe” of the “boot,” is home to one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in the world—the ‘Ndrangheta. Its ruthlessness has made it one of the major players in the international drug market, allowing the expansion of its criminal enterprise to encompass all of Italy and beyond.

The Emotional Consequences of Fraud

Beyond the financial cost, emotional harm is the most common impact of fraud, and it can exert a heavy emotional toll on its victims. The European Commission reported that 79% of fraud victims suffered emotionally, 24% suffered financially and 6% suffered physically.

Qatargate: Uncovering Corruption

Qatargate refers to European Parliament officials, lobbyists and their families who were allegedly involved in corruption, money laundering and organised crime, influenced by the governments of Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania. In December 2022, there were several arrests and searches affecting former and current members of the European Parliament, parliamentary assistants, nongovernmental organisation (NGO) representatives and even a trade union leader.

Have Sanctions Against Russia Prompted Commodity Laundering?

Sanctions can be effective if they are proportional to the strength of their enforcement and the unity of global efforts. EU sanctions against Russia, its oil and natural gas industry, are not an exception to this rule. Whilst many suggest that sanctions have worked as planned, the surfacing data reveals that much more collective work is needed.