International Comparative Legal Guide - Anti-Money Laundering 2021

It is hard to believe that this is already the fourth annual edition of ICLG - Anti-Money Laundering. As always, we hope that you will find the new edition useful and informative.
We hope that you and your family, friends, and colleagues have weathered the storm of the last year. When we wrote to you at this time last year, we never would have imagined that we would all still be dealing with the impact of the pandemic a year later. With COVID vaccines growing in supply in all our countries, the future is looking much brighter.
As predicted last year, the pandemic has brought out the best in many people and the worst in others. COVID-related fraud and cybercrime have skyrocketed, while other types of financial crime persist and sustain a wide range of criminal activity from drug trafficking, terrorism, fraud and human trafficking to illegal trafficking in antiquities and wildlife, and nuclear proliferation. The creativity of bad actors seems often limitless. At the same time, the financial crime functions of financial institutions by and large have shown impressive resilience in rising to the challenge, all while working remotely.
We have seen the importance of the AML, anti-fraud, and computer security functions at financial institutions working seamlessly together. Going forward, as many financial institutions face cost cutting, this coordination, efficiency in AML compliance, and proactive communication with government authorities has never been more important. Failure to sustain effective and efficient risk-based programs can have serious legal and reputational consequences for financial institutions and other businesses and their employees and immeasurable costs for the safety and well-being of society.
This was another active year for AML enforcement, legislation, and compliance efforts. There have been a number of high-profile money laundering prosecutions, investigations, and administrative enforcement actions. The FATF and governments around the world continue to deal with how best to apply AML controls to the digital currency industry and how best to apply the risk-based approach throughout the financial industry.
In the United States, the focus has been on the modernization of the AML regulatory regime, including how to apply the technology of today to AML compliance and how better to promote the public and private exchange of information. There is a growing consensus among financial institutions, law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and the U.S. Congress that the old approaches fall short in addressing today's money laundering methods. There also is common resolve that we can do better in preventing and detecting financial crime.
On January 1, 2021, comprehensive AML legislation known as the AML Act of 2020 became law. The AML Act of 2020 supports AML modernization efforts and increases AML enforcement authority. In addition, it calls for a national corporate registry with beneficial ownership information consistent with FATF's recommendation that law enforcement have access to current beneficial ownership information for legal entities. There is optimism that, as other countries take comparable measures, there finally will be progress against money laundering through anonymous shell corporations and similar legal structures.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is honored to join a group of distinguished colleagues to present several chapters on AML topics that we hope you will find of interest. Global Legal Group also has included chapters written by select law firms in 29 countries discussing local AML legal, regulatory, and enforcement requirements. Gibson Dunn is pleased to present the chapter on the United States AML regime and a chapter on the AML Act of 2020's national corporate registry requirement.
As with all ICLG guides, this guide is organized to help the reader understand the AML landscape globally and in specific countries. Global Legal Group, the editors, and the contributors intend this guide to be a reliable first source when approaching AML requirements and considerations. We encourage you to reach out to the contributors if we can be of further assistance.