Dear Delegate,

VAT carousel fraud. Abuse of money remittance. Trade-based money laundering. Misuse of corporate vehicles.

These are just some of a raft of new or growing concerns for policymakers. All have been highlighted recently by the Financial Action Task Force. All require urgent attention by those engaged in the fight against money laundering and financial crime.

Laws and regulations that conform to international standards are in place. Yet central banks and regulators still face many practical challenges implementing these in practice, in their home jurisdiction.

How should the regulator balance the need for robust anti-terrorism frameworks with increasing demands for consumer privacy protection? What are the best ways to deal with extra-territorial issues? How can regulators work with the banking industry to tackle financial crime?

And of course, how should central banks and regulators prepare for an external evaluation?

The examiners are indeed a formidable group.

The FATF, the US Treasury, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union are all calling on national regulators to upgrade their anti-money-laundering regimes. New requirements are continually added.

This training seminar pinpoints not only what financial policymakers must do to prevent the misuse of their banking/financial/payments system for money laundering or other criminal purposes, but also how they can address the international pressure to demonstrate compliance with standards. It is a pragmatic course, intended to provide practical solutions for financial supervisors.

Speakers and discussion leaders include leading regulators, academics and practitioners. The chairman is Richard Pratt, formerly director-general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Richard is now a regulatory consultant to the IMF and others, writing and lecturing on anti-money-laundering issues.

Delegates meet in roundtable format to allow maximum opportunities to learn from each others’ experience, and all discussions are held in small groups to encourage lively and informal debate. The discussions are completely private, and only public policy officials are able to attend.

Key sessions examine:
•           changing international standards for best practice in this area;
•           how to tackle new threats such as VAT carousel fraud, misuse of corporate vehicles, and abuse of money remittance;
•           key steps involved in upgrading and reforming national anti-money-laundering systems; and
•           meeting the expectations of international evaluators.

Each topic allows participating supervisors and central bankers an opportunity to benchmark their work against leading thinking and practice internationally, and to exchange views in an informal setting.

For more information about the programme, please take a few moments to look at the detailed course contents presented in this brochure.

I look forward to welcoming you to Windsor.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Pringle
Managing Director, Central Banking Publications

Sunday, 6th April

Registration
Welcoming Dinner

Monday 7th April

New Threats and Evolving Standards
Chairman: Richard Pratt

Introduction: towards a risk-based approach
Richard Pratt
Former Director General, Jersey Financial Services Commission
In this session, delegates compare notes on the main challenges their organisations face, drawing on the wide range of expertise and experiences present. Participants will also be offered the opportunity to indicate their main areas of interest for discussion during the course.

Key elements of an AML/CFT framework
Michael Foot
Consultant and former Inspector of Banks and Trust Companies, Central Bank of The Bahamas and Managing Director of the FSA

Regulation varies from country to country due to differences in the national legal framework, in the regulator’s scope, powers and duties, and in the regulator’s policies and style. But all regulators have to commit to a professional approach – to transparency, objectivity, a methodical approach, strong technical knowledge, continuous learning and high standards. In this session, discussion will focus on the common elements in AML/CFT regulation and latest thinking on their implementation.

How regulators can engage the private sector
Sally Scutt
Deputy Chief Executive, British Bankers Association

What is the role of the private sector in developing rules? This session will focus on examples of where the private sector can provide added value in devising workable proportionate rules, commenting on new initiatives and working in partnership with regulatory and supervisory authorities. The speaker, from the British Bankers Association, will discuss the work of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group, trade-associations-based group, in providing practical assistance in interpreting regulations and spreading good practice in countering money laundering.

Identifying and tackling new threats in: VAT carousel fraud, money remitters, trade-based ML and misuse of corporate vehicles
Panel discussion featuring
Bill Cleghorn, Kinetic Partners LLP
John Mair, Senior Vice President, International, Global AML Compliance, Western Union
Colin Powell, Chairman, Jersey Financial Services Commission

Recent FATF have identified new areas of concern for policymakers. Studies of these have highlighted where vulnerabilities and threats lie, and this session, in the form of panel discussion, draws on industry and regulatory experience to address how authorities can put in place frameworks to tackle these. In particular, the panel will address how regulators can look to obtain more information about the new channels being used to launder funds, drawing on examples from a variety of jurisdictions. How can regulators ensure that the approach does not adversely impact on legitimate business?

FATF priorities for 2008
Speaker to be confirmed

Financial market authorities must be aware of all the challenges and responsibilities imposed on them by the revised FATF standards and international expectations of anti-money-laundering regimes. In its most recent annual report the FATF set out its priorities for 2008:
Enhancing capability to undertake strategic surveillance of emerging trends and threats.
Examining how to reinforce the effective implementation of the recommendations in low-capacity countries.
Building on the progress made to enhance work with the private sector.
Examining the scope of the FATF mandate
Enhancing the accountability of the FATF in all member jurisdictions.
This session will consider the key areas in detail, and chart progress to date.

Tuesday, 8th April

Priorities and Challenges in Implementing The AML Framework
Chairman: Richard Pratt

US extraterritorial requirements and the EU’s 3rd money laundering directive
Dr Kern Alexander
Judge Institute, Cambridge University

Following the terrorist attacks in America, the US administration has placed efforts to deny funds to terrorists, and prevent money laundering, at the top of its agenda. The PATRIOT Act provides US authorities with substantial new powers to regulate the global activities of multinational banks. Last year saw Europe begin implementation of the 3rd money laundering directive, the aim of which was to update European legislation in line with the Financial Action Task Force recommendations. The speaker will lead a discussion on the consequences for regulators worldwide of these two significant pieces of legislation.

The issues facing banks in a risk-based regulatory environment
Hans-Peter Bauer
Former Head of Regulatory Relations for UBS and Chairman, Wolfsberg Group

Modern, global banks face immense regulatory and reputational risk in connection with money laundering. In response, they have allocated substantial resources to anti-money-laundering controls, and have also developed risk-based approaches to deploying these resources. This session will explore how international banks in practice defend against money laundering, the implications of regulatory requirements and how the actions of regulators can help or hinder these efforts.

Managing intelligence on individuals and firms
David Leppan
CEO, Global Objectives Ltd (invited)

Combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism requires above all that regulatory authorities compile and keep up-to-date lists of suspicious persons and organisations. FATF recommendations require supervisors to pay particular attention to “politically exposed persons” (ie, high-risk individuals who may be conduits for looted funds). Each of these responsibilities requires new skills and intelligence handling capabilities by banks and their supervisors. The speaker will draw on the experience of World-Check, a private-sector provider of intelligence to the financial industry, to examine how these new duties can be discharged.

A regulator’s priorities for reducing financial crime
Matthew Porter
International Liaison Financial Crime and Intelligence Division, Financial Services Authority (invited)

While financial crime often targets individuals, it is firms who are most likely to be left bearing the financial and reputational costs. The rise in phishing is just the latest example of this and this session will focus on the role of public authorities in getting financial market players to address these issues. How can today’s regulators, in a world of increasingly sophisticated financial criminals, make best use of their scarce resources to reduce financial crime?

Wednesday, 9th April

Risks and Responses
Chairman: Richard Pratt

What risks do regulators face?
Discussion led by Richard Pratt

Financial centres have different characteristics which give rise to different money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks. Any AML/CFT framework has to be targeted at those vulnerabilities. In this workshop, participants will use a case-study approach to focus on risks in a particular jurisdiction.

AML & CFT in cash-based economies
Speaker to be confirmed

Cash-based economies differ from developed economies in many ways, including the use of cash, the size of the informal sector, money remitters and the extent of record keeping. The FATF recommendations apply, but have to be implemented to take account of the absence of many of the factors relied upon by institution in G7 economies. This session will focus on the particular challenges where much of the economy is cash-based.

Demonstrating success
John Aspden
CEO, Financial Supervision Commission in the Isle of Man

Increasingly, financial supervisors themselves are expected to submit to evaluation by international examiners. Such evaluations now focus not only on the financial regulatory regime in general, but also on how well the regime works to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. How are these evaluations conducted and what do supervisors need to understand about the evaluation process? How can financial market authorities best cooperate with this scrutiny to achieve the most positive outcome?

Thursday, 10th April

Preparing for Evaluation
Chairman: Richard Pratt

Effective evaluation preparation
Workshop led by Richard Pratt and John Aspden

This session builds on the previous day’s discussions to look at how regulators can take to prepare for, undertake and respond to an evaluation. A series of case-study scenarios will draw out concrete steps authorities can take. The workshop draws on the presenters’ experience as acting as evaluators as well as being evaluated.

Priorities and action plans
Led by Richard Pratt

In the final session, delegates will reflect on lessons learnt and identify priorities for action at national and international levels. This provides a chance for delegates to share views and experiences gained during the four days of the course and draw conclusions and action plans which they can take back to their home institution.