Connecting’s the dots in RegTech | 2023 #10
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 12th of September, 2023
Welcome to the latest edition of "Connecting the Dots in RegTech," your weekly source for the most significant developments in the world of regulatory technology. 🙌
✴ In this edition, we'll take a closer look at the United Arab Emirates' relentless efforts to shed its status on the global financial watchdog's grey list.
✴ We'll also dive into the intense developments in the Swiss banking industry, where changes are afoot that could reshape the landscape.
✴ Additionally, we'll uncover a rather unconventional money laundering scheme involving Spotify streams, highlighting the ever-evolving nature of financial crime.
So, let's connect the dots and explore these intriguing stories shaping the world of RegTech and financial regulation. 👈
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Airsoft named in Israeli Forex fraud investigation.
The "complex" investigation "has just begun," an Israeli judge said. The fraudsters operated fraudulent call centers in Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Israel, and Kosovo.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
📰 ARTICLE
Criminal gangs behind a rise in bombings and shootings in Sweden in recent years are using fake Spotify streams to launder money.
Criminal networks have for several years been using money from drug deals, robberies, fraud, and contract killings to pay for false Spotify streams of songs published by artists with ties to the gangs, an investigative report in Svenska Dagbladet claimed.
“I can say with 100% certainty that this goes on. I have been involved in it myself,” SvD quoted one anonymous gang member as saying.
💡INSIGHTS
Money laundering as a three-step process and how Zotapay can combat it.
Money laundering (ML) is a serious concern that affects not only the financial industry but the global economy too.
The three stages of money laundering
The placement process
The layering process
The integration process
Read the full article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 REGTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ GCash took down over 4 million accounts linked to fraudulent activities.
⭐️ FutureBank implements IDVerse to speed customer onboarding.
⭐️ Caio Marchesani is alleged to have managed crypto accounts for a criminal gang.
⭐️ 3S Money, the pioneering cross-border payments platform, has joined forces with award-winning RegTech provider Know Your Customer.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Monzo has rolled out an in-app 'status call' feature that helps customers discern whether they're being called by a genuine bank staffer or a fraudster running an impersonation scam.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Germany’s banking regulator BaFin reportedly closed off parts of its website following a cyberattack.
Signicat achieved another European milestone by integrating the Italian e-identity system, SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale), into its electronic identity portfolio. Being the first international aggregator to offer SPID.
Strise announced that it has secured $10.8M in a Series A round of funding. The investment was led by Atomico, a London-based VC firm.
Deutsche Bank reportedly faced customer issues at a Postbank unit, prompting the German watchdog BaFin to consider investigating the problem further.
ASIA
Hong Kong police have arrested 29 suspects in a 20-day crackdown targeting individuals who sell their bank accounts to crime syndicates that use them to collect and launder the proceeds of fraud.
MIDDLE EAST
ThetaRay has completed a $57 million fundraising round. The latest round brings total investment in the fintech to $160 million and follows 10x customer growth over the last two years.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Provenir appoints Andres Elizondo as new chief financial officer.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.