The Wolfsberg Group

The Wolfsberg Group has just published the German translation of its Statement on Monitoring for Suspicious Activity. You can read it below and on our website (see link in the comments). 🇩🇪 Die Wolfsberg-Gruppe hat soeben die deutsche Übersetzung ihrer Erklärung zur wirksamen Überwachung verdächtiger Aktivitäten veröffentlicht. Sie können sie unten und auf unserer Website lesen (siehe Link in den Kommentaren).

The Wolfsberg Group has just published its "Payment Transparency Roles & Responsibilities" guidance. Payments can flow in a variety of ways and involve many types of payment service providers, messaging systems and payment market infrastructures. This document provides an overview of the roles played by key actors in a payment chain. It also sets out their respective responsibilities to adhere to payment transparency standards across a sample of commonly observed payment flows and serves as a reference guide that can be used by all payment service providers, regulators, and standard setters. This guidance supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the Wolfsberg Group Payment Transparency Standards published in October 2023. The guidance is available below and on our website (link in the comments).

Response of The Wolfsberg Group to FATF consultation on AML/CFT and Financial Inclusion - R1,10 and 15 The Wolfsberg Group agrees with the FATF’s goal to create an anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) regulatory environment that reinforces the risk-based approach while also supporting financial inclusion. Requiring excessive AML/CFT measures that do not respond to the identified risks is inefficient and ineffective, while the unintended consequences of restricting under-served communities’ access to financial services decreases the reach and effectiveness of AML/CFT regimes. As noted in the Group’s original Statement on Effectiveness, an effective AML/CFT programme will “have the benefit of reducing friction on customers and helping governments with their objective of financial inclusion". You can find the text of our response below and on our website (link in the comments).

The Wolfsberg Group is looking for a policy advisor to join its team. If you're interested in the fight against financial crime, this position offers great exposure and opportunity for candidates with the right experience.

Agreeing on a common lexicon in the digital assets space continues to be a challenge. Today The Wolfsberg Group Group shares a collection of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Defining Digital Assets in an Emerging Financial Crime Compliance Risk Environment, which captures how the Group's members conceive of and conceptualise key terms associated with digital assets - in their engagement with policymakers, supervisors, regulators, and other FIs, and in developing their own policies and designing appropriate controls. These terms will serve as a reference going forward for subsequent work by the Group on the risks and associated controls for digital assets. The document is accessible below and on our website (link in the comments).

Publication de la version française des Normes de Transparence des Paiements du Groupe Wolfsberg (2023)     The Wolfsberg Group is pleased to announce the publication of the French version of its Payment Transparency Standards. Payment transparency can seem a very dry subject, but it is essential to the smooth functioning of the commercial world. Transparency is particularly important to managing financial crime risk, as it allows the screening of payments against sanctions lists and makes possible the process of transaction monitoring to identify unusual or suspicious activity, as required by law. You can consult the French version of the Standards below and on our website (see links in the comments). 🇫🇷 The Wolfsberg Group est heureux d'annoncer la publication de la version française de ses Normes de transparence des paiements. La transparence des paiements peut sembler un sujet très aride, mais elle est essentielle au bon fonctionnement du monde commercial. La transparence est notamment importante pour la gestion du risque de criminalité financière, car elle permet de vérifier les paiements au regard des listes de sanctions et rend possible le processus de surveillance des transactions afin d'identifier les activités inhabituelles ou suspectes, comme l'exige la loi. Vous pouvez consulter les Normes ci-dessous et sur notre site web (voir liens dans les commentaires).

The Wolfsberg Group Group announces today the appointment of its next Executive Secretary, J. Edward 'Ned' Conway, effective November 1st. Ned was most recently the Group Head of Financial Crime Compliance Framework and Policies at Banco Santander. Alan Ketley will retire from his role as Executive Secretary since assuming the position in 2021. The members of the Wolfsberg Group are grateful for Alan’s leadership over an important period of transition for the Group and during a critical moment of regulatory reform across the US, UK and the EU. The full release and details are available on our website (link in the comments).

The Wolfsberg Group Group just completed its annual Academy in Wolfsberg/ Ermatingen (CH). 27 representatives from the 12 Group member banks and from 4 non-member banks, coming from Asia, UAE, the US and Europe, gathered to network and learn from each other and from experienced peers about key current and upcoming challenges faced by financial institutions in their fight against financial crime. Throughout a series of interactive sessions and case studies, participants discussed the risks linked to sanctions and sanctions circumvention, exchanged views on strategies for more effective payment transparency, and on new areas of interest such as digital assets and artificial intelligence and its long-term impact on the compliance officers and their business. 👉 The Wolfsberg Academy was launched in 2005 as an annual 3-day event at the Chateau Wolfsberg where promising candidates from the Group and also external banks share experiences and discuss FCC topics of current concern with senior experts from the member banks. Since inception, more than 400 aspiring young officers have attended these courses at the Academy which have since also been held outside Switzerland to widen the audience of future FCC officers and to share the spirit of the Wolfsberg Group. 

A Associação Brasileira de Câmbio - ABRACAM - Associação Brasileira de Câmbio, promove o uso do Questionário de Due Diligence Bancária de Correspondentes Wolfsberg no Brasil, traduzindo materiais para o português.   O Grupo Wolfsberg (o Grupo) tem o prazer de anunciar que as orientações de apoio ao Questionário de Due Diligence Bancária Correspondente (CBDDQ) foram traduzidas para o português e podem ser consultadas no sítio Web (ver ligação nos comentários). A tradução dos materiais foi liderada pela ABRACAM (Associação Brasileira de Câmbio), entidade sem fins lucrativos no Brasil que representa instituições financeiras autorizadas a operar no mercado de câmbio brasileiro, seus correspondentes e empresas que apoiam atividades cambiais. A tradução da orientação CBDDQ para português complementa traduções anteriores da orientação para francês, japonês e espanhol e representa os esforços do Grupo no apoio à adoção da CBDDQ em todo o mundo. O Wolfsberg CBDDQ foi reconhecido pelo Comité de Supervisão Bancária de Basileia (BCBS), pelo Comité de Pagamentos e Infraestruturas de Mercado (CPMI), pelo Grupo de Ação Financeira (GAFI) e pelo Conselho de Estabilidade Financeira (FSB) como uma iniciativa da indústria que pode ajudar na redução de riscos através da aplicação padronizada dos requisitos KYC. Para a ABRACAM, a tradução dos materiais de apoio do CBDDQ para o português ajudará na sua iniciativa conjunta com outras associações da indústria local, em colaboração com o Banco Central do Brasil, na promoção de padrões mais elevados no mercado de câmbio brasileiro, usando o CBQQD como estrutura de avaliação subjacente. A Declaração sobre Eficácia do Grupo deixa claro que “um programa de PLD/FTP eficaz também terá o benefício de reduzir a fricção sobre os clientes e ajudar os governos no seu objectivo de inclusão financeira”. As iniciativas do Banco Central do Brasil, trabalhando através de parceiros da indústria local como a ABRACAM para apoiar o uso do CBDDQ como uma estrutura comum de conformidade contra crimes financeiros, demonstram esse benefício na prática. O Grupo agradece a liderança da ABRACAM na realização da tradução para o português. O Grupo Wolfsberg é uma associação de 12 bancos globais empenhados em desenvolver estruturas e orientações para a gestão de riscos de crimes financeiros. As origens do CBDDQ do Grupo remontam a 2002, quando o Grupo publicou os seus primeiros “Princípios de Correspondentes Bancários”, nos quais o Grupo articulou a sua visão e incentivo e desenvolvimento de um registo internacional de due diligence para instituições financeiras. Desde então, o que hoje é conhecido como CBDDQ tornou-se o padrão do setor em due diligence de correspondentes bancários.

Local industry association, Abracam, promotes use of the Wolfsberg Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire in Brazil by translating materials into Portuguese The Wolfsberg Group (the Group) is pleased to announce that the supporting guidance for the Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (CBDDQ) has been translated into Portuguese: see links in the comments. The translation of the materials has been led by Abracam (The Brazilian Exchange Association), a non-profit entity in Brazil which represents financial institutions authorised to operate in the Brazilian foreign exchange market, their correspondents, and companies supporting foreign exchange activities. The translation of the CBDDQ guidance into Portuguese complements previous translations of the guidance into French, Japanese and Spanish and represents the Group’s efforts in supporting the adoption of the CBDDQ across the world. The Wolfsberg CBDDQ has been recognised by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) as an industry initiative that can help address de-risking through the standardised application of KYC requirements. For Abracam, the translation of the CBDDQ supporting materials into Portuguese will help their joint initiative with other local industry associations, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Brazil in promoting higher standards in the Brazilian foreign exchange market by using the CBQQD as the underlying assessment framework. The Group’s Statement on Effectiveness makes clear that “an effective AML/CTF programme will also have the benefit of reducing friction on customers and helping governments with their objective of financial inclusion”. The initiatives from the Central Bank of Brazil, working through local industry partners like Abracam to support the use of CBDDQ as a common financial crime compliance framework, demonstrate this benefit in practice. The Group appreciates the leadership from Abracam in performing the Portuguese translation. The Wolfsberg Group is an association of 12 global banks committed to developing frameworks and guidance for the management of financial crime risks. The origins of the Group's CBDDQ date back to 2002, when the Group published its first Correspondent Banking Principles, in which the Group articulated its vision for, and encouragement and development of, an international due diligence registry for financial institutions. Since that time, what is now known as the CBDDQ has become the industry standard in correspondent banking due diligence.