Happy Friday!  It’s July 19, and we’re tracking top stories to take you into the weekend: Interagency statement on AML/CFT program overhaul, fired Citigroup banker says COO intended to deceive regulator on bank's metrics, Fed fines Green Dot $44M for compliance violations, inside the perilous DEA probe of Mexico's AMLO, five fresh podcasts, and much more...

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🎯 Interagency Statement on the Issuance of the AML/CFT Program Notices of Proposed Rulemaking: A coordinated effort to propose comprehensive amendments to AML/CFT program requirements to align with the AML Act of 2020. FinCEN 

Top Stories

🌎 Fired Citigroup banker says COO intended to deceive regulator on bank's metrics. Kathleen Martin said Anand Selva wanted to misreport Citi's metrics to deceive the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Reuters

🌎 U.S. Fines Green Dot $44M for Consumer Compliance Violations. The Federal Reserve Board has fined Green Dot for deceptive and unfair consumer practices and deficient compliance risk management. Dow Jones

🌎 Inside the Risky U.S. Probe of Allegations That Drug Mafias Financed a Campaign of Mexico’s President López Obrador. Documents show how the DEA risked a political furor to try to penetrate AMLO’s campaign. ProPublica

🌎 Euroclear to Send €1.6 Billion in Russia Assets Profits for Kyiv. The EU will receive the first tranche of profits generated by sanctioned Russian Central Bank assets that are destined to boost Ukraine. Bloomberg

🌎 U.S. Treasury warns that anti-woke banking laws like Florida's are a national security risk. Treasury says state laws that restrict banks from considering ESG factors could harm AML/CFT efforts. AP

🚩 UK banks told to treat politicians more fairly after Farage debanking row Guardian

🌎 U.S. sanctions Russian hackers who claimed attacks on water facilities. Pankratova and Degtyarenko are part of a politically motivated hacking group called Cyber Army of Russia Reborn. CNN

🌎 Biden Gives Iran Another Sanctions Break. The U.S. failure to pressure the Ayatollah makes a larger war more likely. WSJ

🌎 Tornado Cash sees $1.9B resurgence this year despite sanctions. The volume of new deposits into the OFAC-sanctioned crypto mixer has jumped significantly in the first half of 2024. Cointelegraph

🌎 Europe Agrees New Crackdown on Russian Oil Tanker Shadow Fleet. The joint call to action aims to disrupt the fleet of 600 vessels used by Moscow to transport 1.7M barrels of oil per day. Bloomberg

🌎 Most SEC charges dismissed in SolarWinds hack case. The decision is a major blow for the SEC, which has been pursuing aggressive new policies to hold companies accountable for their cybersecurity practices. Axios

🌎 FTX Claims Broker Thomas Braziel Stole $1.9M From a Receivership for Personal Gain. The Court of Chancery of Delaware said Braziel used money recovered while acting as the receiver for Fund.com. WSJ

IN THE NEWS

Russia & China

📌 The West’s Squeeze on Russian Tankers Gets Tighter Bloomberg

📌 Russian duo confess to cyber heist that forced $500M in ransom payments Fortune

📌 How American Pension Funds Help Putin’s Gas Gambit Bloomberg

📌 Trump sanctions prompted China Xiaomi’s EV entry Reuters

📌 Singapore’s Rich Chinese Cut Back on Ferraris and $75,000 Whisky Bloomberg

📌 CCP eyes cross-border bribery law to fill anti-corruption gaps SCMP

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 ECB Is Pushing UK Fintech Revolut to Bolster EU Bank Controls Bloomberg

💸 U.S. buyout firm loses bid to shield docs from Austrian fraud investigation Axios

💸 Entire anti-corruption board fired for Zambia corruption BBC

💸 Anti-graft Prosecutor Flees Guatemala After Criticized Conviction AFP

💸 Argentina looks to tame crypto market as money laundering fears draw scrutiny Reuters

📘 Sovereign Wealth Funds – Corruption and Other Governance Risks Carnegie

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Crypto experts, law enforcement shut down network stealing billions through ‘approval phishing’ Record

🔐 BitForex to Open for Withdrawals Following Chinese Police Investigation CoinDesk

🔐 Second Look at Third-Party Token Allegations in Case Against Binance CoinDesk

🔐 Bitzlato founder won’t get more jail over $700M dark web clearing house Cointelegraph

📘 Impact of Corruption on Cybersecurity – Rethinking National Strategies Across the Global South DFR Lab

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Weekend Listening

🎙️ The problem with the Nigerian economy has nothing to do with crypto Click Here

🎙️ Crypto ATMs, a Senator Convicted, AUSTRAC Report, Timeshare Fraud, etc. AML Conversations

🎙️ Sanctions and Russia's Nuclear Diplomacy RUSI

🎙️ Partnering with terrorists to fight terrorists Generation Jihad

🎙️ Allen Stanford: The Lord of the Lies Scamfluencers

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