Insight : Simone Jones

Simone Jones

Effective AML training: four questions to answer


Ensuring your employees are adequately trained in anti money laundering (AML) is a crucial component of managing financial crime risk. Not only is it vital to protect your firm, but its often required by regulations.....More

Why curiosity is important for compliance professionals


Curiosity is not often seen as an attractive trait: as the saying goes ‘curiosity killed the cat’. But for compliance professionals, I would argue that it is a key skill we need to improve both personally and professionally, and in order to protect our firms from risk.

[E-book] Training with impact – using immersive scenarios in your financial crime training


This e-book considers 5 questions that can help when designing immersive scenarios for your team, from understanding the audience to creating scenarios that full realistic and resonate with learners.....More

3 tips on how to design financial crime training with impact


To change perceptions on training, a culture shift is needed to demonstrate to employees that training can not only be engaging but actually useful, enhancing their ability to carry out their role. How do you get employees to embrace training and, more importantly, use the knowledge and skills from this training in their daily roles?

Do you know where your corruption risks lie?


One of the tools used to understand corruption risk is the Corruptions Perceptions Index (CPI), published on an annual basis by Transparency International, who work globally in leading the fight against corruption. The 2018 CPI, published in early 2019, ranked 180 countries in terms of how corrupt their public services are perceived to be, on a scale of 1 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).....More

This the season of giving and receiving of gifts


Offers of gifts or hospitality can be legitimate business practices, allowing relationships to be enhanced and built; but a line exists between appropriate business practice and illegal activity.

Future proofing the compliance professional


Technology is set to have an impact on the way in which compliance professionals work. In a future defined by VUCA, what can compliance professionals do to ensure that they have the skills to prepare for the changes?....More

Will AI replace compliance professionals?


Artificial intelligence (AI) is today being adopted across all sectors which will require us to adapt and obtain new skills. People will continue to be needed, but the types of jobs that they do will change.

Virtual Currencies – four key updates in 2019


Move over Bitcoin and Blockchain – there’s a new raft of terminology to come to terms with in the form of virtual assets, crypto-derivatives and Libra. Adding to the mix the recent announcement on virtual assets from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), it’s been a busy few weeks for anyone keeping an eye on the virtual world. In this Insight piece we will be looking at four key updates from recent weeks.....More

Understanding complex company structures – solving the puzzle


When it comes to customer due diligence (CDD) - what challenges do AML professionals in financial institutions face?

The UK’s anti money laundering regime – A time for celebration?


Mutual evaluations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are big news within the anti money laundering (AML) community; its peer reviews provide insight into the AML framework of a country, the key risks that it faces and how those risks are managed.....More

Skills and Attributes of an AML Professional - Infographic


Have you ever wondered which skills and attributes are useful when working in anti money laundering (AML)? If you currently work in AML, have you considered how your own skills measure up? Here’s a quick look at some of the skills and attributes that an AML professional may need

Top 5 fines of 2018: Lessons Learned from Enforcement Action


As Father Christmas prepares his list of who has been naughty or nice, I thought it would be interesting to take look at enforcement action in 2018 from around the world and consider some New Year’s resolutions that compliance professionals may want to make in 2019.....More

How to use a football club to launder money


Identify a football club in distress

International news and developments - July 2018


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How high risk is trade finance?


What is trade finance and is it really as high-risk as it is often perceived?

Why is it important to know your customer?


Do you ever truly know your customer? And, if you don't does it really matter?....More

Five things you need to know about Bitcoin


Bitcoin has taken the world by storm; Simone Jones shares what she has learnt about cryptocurrency over the course of the last year.

International news and developments - December 2017


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Top five blogs on anti money laundering of 2017


As the year draws to a close, it’s always a good opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months. With this in mind, I took a look back at the blogs International Compliance Training has published on anti money laundering in 2017 and chose my five favourites.

The importance of knowing your customer


Through the advent period, International Compliance Association will be publishing an insight on each Advent Sunday to focus on the topic of KYC – Know Your Customer. You have a copy of their passport, you have verified where they live and have checked their birthday against their driving licence (questionable photo and all), but do you really know your customer?....More

A closer look at Denmark’s anti money laundering efforts


Denmark sits at the enviable position as the ‘cleanest’ country in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). As previously discussed in ICA Insights, although deemed to be the cleanest, Denmark isn’t free from all financial crime woes.

New York: Leading the fight against crime


New York has been capturing the imagination and the attention of the world for well over 100 years. It’s a city like no other; its intoxicating pull is felt by both residents and non-residents alike. It has also long been a source of inspiration for those looking to fight crime: in the Superhero world, Marvel’s Spiderman, The Avengers and The Defenders all call New York home. Some people believe that Metropolis and Gotham, home to Superman and Batman, are also based on New York.....More

Biometrics, cash and the end of money laundering as we know it?


As the technology to facilitate cashless transactions becomes more widespread, it can play an important role in know-your-customer and anti-money laundering efforts.

International news & developments - June 2017


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Understanding complex company structures – solving the puzzle


Verifying the identity of a customer can be as gloriously simple as meeting a customer face-to-face and taking a copy of their original passport and a utility bill. On the other side of the client due diligence (CDD) spectrum is trying to unravel a complex corporate structure and understanding the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner.

Is your client a money launderer?


Googled it? We offer insight to firms who vet their customers for ‘negative news’ or ‘adverse information’ through various methods of screening.....More

Skills and Attributes of an Anti Money Laundering Professional


Have you ever wondered which skills and attributes are useful when working in anti money laundering? If you currently work in AML, have you considered how your own skills measure up?

Financial inclusion, integrity and technology – a match made in heaven?


Where would we be without technology? It has become a fundamental part of many of our daily lives.....More

Beneficial ownership: A new era of openness? (Sweden)


Beneficial ownership is a phrase likely to leave the average person baffled and probably not very bothered. But it’s a concept that seems guaranteed to attract a great deal of international interest over the coming months and years, not least because of the European Union’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD) and the central registers of beneficial owners that it will introduce.

All change on cash? Tackling money laundering through cash transaction limits in Switzerland


A good way to get an eye-catching headline these days is to carry out some research predicting the death of cash, now that we are all abandoning notes and coins in favour of smartphone apps, contactless cards and mobile payments.....More

Corruption – is perception reality? (Switzerland)


‘All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ – Lord Acton

Beneficial ownership: A new era of openness? (Switzerland)


Beneficial ownership is a phrase likely to leave the average person baffled and probably not very bothered. But it’s a concept set to attract much more interest over the coming months and years, thanks to the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4MLD), and the central registers of beneficial owners that it will introduce.....More

Reporting Suspicions of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – A Closer Look at Switzerland


At the International Compliance Association we find ourselves discussing money laundering issues almost constantly. One of the reasons that I love my job is that I get to discuss the finer points of anti money laundering regulations with other like-minded people.

International Women’s Day 2016: What’s it got to do with governance, risk and compliance?


How equal are women? According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), not very. It released the startling estimate that we will have to wait until 2095 to close the gender gap. The UN has pledged to tackle this and want to achieve gender equality by 2030.....More

Corruption in Sport – Lessons Learnt


2015 proved a busy year for corruption scandals in sport, arrests and resignations of FIFA officials and allegations of cover ups of doping in athletics have shocked many. So maybe 2016 will offer some respite to weary folks? Not so far.

International Anti-Corruption Day – What can we do?


Today feels quite significant to me. Not only has it been a week since I took up my role within the Research and Development team at International Compliance Training, but also very importantly, it’s International Anti-Corruption Day.....More

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