ISSA sets out financial crime principles for securities
A working group led by SIX Securities’ Robert Almanas will define the securities equivalent of the Wolfsberg AML principles for correspondent banking
The International Securities Services Association adopted a set of compliance principles to address the “critical challenges” posed by financial crime.
ISSA said that financial crime compliance has become a priority for both regulators and banks but the focus has primarily been on cross-border payment processing and trade finance. The new principles aim to establish “a clear global standard for the opening and maintenance of cross-border securities accounts”.
The principles provide practical guidance on how to most effectively counter the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, market abuse, corruption, fraud and the evasion of sanctions to global custodians, sub-custodians, fund distributors, trustees/depositary banks, brokers, prime brokers and International Central Securities Depositories that intermediate cross-border securities
“As the only association representing firms active in all aspects of securities services, ISSA has been uniquely placed to translate the demand from senior executives from across the industry for an effective and practical response to the challenges posed by financial crime”, says Josef Landolt, chief of ISSA.
ISSA has also founded a working group to provide securities service providers with the tools and the practical guidance they will need to apply the standards in the coming years. Robert Almanas of SIX Securities Services will chair the group, which aims to:
- Develop principles that should govern the securities intermediation and the tools that are available to the industry.
- Define the securities equivalent of the Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles for Correspondent Banking.
- Evaluate the relevant costs and benefits of different account holding structures.
- Evaluate technical solutions/options.
ISSA’s board members are BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citigroup, Clearstream Banking, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Euroclear Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Nomura, SIX Securities Services, Standard Chartered, Swift, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and UBS.
