Latest news with #jurisdictions
Finextra
22-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
TMF Group to broaden access to cross-border payments via Ibos network
TMF Group, a leading global provider of administrative and corporate services, and IBOS Association (IBOS), an international banking network, today announced a strategic partnership to enhance cross-border services and broaden international market access for clients. 0 The agreement, formalised through a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties, will bring the following benefits: • Clients' expanded global access to banking and corporate services across 87 jurisdictions, thanks to a structured process for collaboration between TMF Group and IBOS member banks. • Joint market intelligence initiatives to support informed decision-making, including assets like TMF Group's Global Business Complexity Index and country profiles. • TMF Group's anticipated entry into IBOS as a Strategic Affiliate is currently subject to legal and governance review. This move aims to unlock joint operational efficiencies and strengthen mutual cross-referral channels. • Establishment of a formal governance structure and dedicated working groups to oversee the partnership, enhance compliance and track performance. Mark Weil, TMF Group's CEO, commented: 'This partnership builds on our strong track record of regional collaboration, including our long-standing relationship with Banco Santander. This deal is the natural evolution of TMF Group's and IBOS' shared commitment to simplifying global business. By combining our global infrastructure and compliance expertise with IBOS' trusted banking network, we'll be able to deliver a more seamless service for clients navigating complex international markets.' Mario Recchia Domenico, Chairman at IBOS Association, said:'TMF Group brings a level of global coverage and service integration that complements our member banks perfectly. Together, we'll offer clients a more connected and efficient way to expand internationally. We're delighted to welcome them into the IBOS ecosystem!' Manoj Mistry, Managing Director of IBOS Association Ltd, added: 'This partnership with TMF Group marks a pivotal step in our mission to provide clients with seamless access to global banking and corporate services. TMF Group's extensive jurisdictional reach and operational expertise align perfectly with IBOS' commitment to delivering trusted, cross-border solutions. Together, we are creating a more connected ecosystem that empowers businesses to expand with confidence and clarity in an increasingly complex world.'
Entrepreneur
18-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
BYJU's Founders to Pursue USD 2.5 Bn Legal Claims Against Glas Trust and Others
The claims, which are currently being prepared for filing in various jurisdictions, are expected to seek monetary damages of no less than USD 2.5 billion. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. In a significant legal escalation, the founders of BYJU's are preparing to initiate legal proceedings against multiple parties whom they allege have caused substantial personal and business-related harm. The claims, which are currently being prepared for filing in various jurisdictions, are expected to seek monetary damages of no less than USD 2.5 billion. J Michael McNutt, Senior Litigation Advisor at Lazareff Le Bars Eurl, confirmed the plans in a formal statement. "BYJU's Founders reserve all rights to bring actions against those parties that have caused damage to them personally and their businesses, including Think & Learn," McNutt said. "The conduct before the Courts by Alpha, Glas Trust and its counsel has been reprehensible and improper in our view. We reserve the right to use all legal means to obtain justice for BYJU's Founders." Legal actions are already underway in Indian courts against Glas Trust, which now claims control over Think & Learn's former subsidiary. Additional claims are reportedly being developed against other parties in different jurisdictions. The founders of BYJU's also firmly deny all allegations made against them by the Resolution Professional involved in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Think & Learn Private Limited. They contest the validity of the CIRP itself and have raised objections to Glas Trust's participation and the appointment of the Resolution Professional, citing conflicts of interest. "There is no court order in any jurisdiction, including in India or the United States, that requires Byju or Mrs. Divya Gokulnath to make any payment to Think & Learn or its related entities," McNutt emphasized. These include the bankrupt Delaware-based former subsidiary, Alpha Inc., now under Glas Trust's control. The founders are also challenging what they describe as the abusive liquidation of multiple subsidiaries of Think & Learn. Alpha Inc. was placed into liquidation in February 2024 after Glas Trust, acting on behalf of lenders who took control of the company's shares, initiated the process. The founders dispute Glas Trust's authority in these matters. Meanwhile, proceedings are ongoing in Delaware, where Byju and Mrs. Gokulnath are contesting the jurisdiction of the court and denying all allegations against them. A civil contempt order issued on July 7, 2025, is being reviewed, with the founders asserting that the issues raised are already under consideration in Indian courts. The legal battle reflects the ongoing and complex disputes between the founders and entities linked to the former Think & Learn group.
Finextra
14-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
The Compliance Burden of the Great Wealth Transfer: Why Financial Institutions Must Prepare Now: By Srbuhi Avetisyan
The financial industry is bracing for the 'Great Wealth Transfer'—an unprecedented $84 trillion in assets expected to pass from Baby Boomers to their Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z heirs over the next two decades. But this transfer isn't just bigger, it's fundamentally different. According to Penguin Analytics, a global study of 13,500 capital owners and heirs, this generation of inheritance is more fragmented, less documented, and globally entangled than anything the financial sector has faced before. Unlike prior transitions where legal preparation and institutional trust were the norm, today's wealth is scattered across jurisdictions, stored in spreadsheets, and tied to asset classes that demand structured data, not paper-based will This shift demands a fundamentally new approach from institutions and professionals, particularly wealth managers, compliance officers, and fintech architects. The regulatory burden no longer begins when the assets arrive—it starts with how families document, disclose, and digitize their wealth long before a transfer occurs. Encouragingly, many institutions have begun modernizing their frameworks, recognizing the need for structured digital asset records, cross-border KYC compliance, and event-triggered inheritance logic. Yet the core challenge persists: most families remain underprepared. According to the same analytics: Only 6% of families have a formal inheritance strategy 92% of founders undervalue the importance of Source of Wealth documentation (SoWE) 97.3% still use non-secure or manual record-keeping methods, leaving their estates fragmented and difficult to verify As a result, institutions are inheriting not just assets, but also the compliance and operational chaos that comes with them. Notably, families with a net worth between $3 million and $99 million account for 74.6% of all capital-loss incidents, making them the most exposed demographic in this transition. From Relationship Management to Record Accountability Today, intergenerational wealth transfer is more than just the identification of the heir and their relationship with the owner. The regulators' narrative and goal is not only to confirm the client identity but also to trace asset origin. For instance, in global fixed-income markets, FINRA's TRACE framework now mandates near real-time reporting, not just of transactions, but of underlying asset origin and context to enhance market transparency. Institutions are now being asked, 'Do you know where this came from, and can you prove it?' and SoWE (Source of Wealth Essay), structured asset logs, and multijurisdictional record-keeping are becoming compliance essentials, not luxuries. In anti-money laundering (AML) and customer due diligence regimes, Source-of-Wealth (SoW) traceability is now a discrete requirement. Banks and asset managers are expected not only to know who the client is, but also where their capital actually came from, and to provide auditable proof. Beyond Wills: The Infrastructure Gap The information asymmetry is at the heart of the wealth transfer. It's important to note that the information asymmetry between the heirs and founders isn't a legal challenge, but rather an infrastructure and coordination failure. Despite new regulations confirming that spreadsheets, dusty paper documents in drawers, and local wills are way too outdated, the traditional method of information transfer still remains as the leading one. Without structured digital histories, wealth transfer becomes a liability (for banks, wealth platforms, and insurers). The legal mechanisms are powerless if the wealth transfer plan is crippled by fragmented, unstructured, and non-tracable data. Case studies support the critical failure of information transfer between high-net-worth individuals and their family members as well. In a recent real-world review from the Penguin Analytics case data, a UHNW family held over 40% of their assets across four jurisdictions. The family maintained records across multiple mediums—some in PDF form, others in lawyer's notes, some never digitized at all. When the primary founder became incapacitated unexpectedly, neither the bank nor the family office could retrieve more than 60% of the asset documentation in a verifiable form within the first 3 months. The issue wasn't access. It was invisibility: siloed records, undocumented ownership structures, uncoordinated custody channels. What Financial Institutions Should Monitor Next The intergenerational wealth shift is not only a behavioral phenomenon—it is a compliance and infrastructure tipping point. Financial institutions must prepare for four key developments: Rising Demand for Digital-Native Estate Planning Integrations Trend: Wealth platforms and private banks are increasingly expected to integrate estate-planning functions—digitally, securely, and cross-jurisdictionally. Example: In late 2023, several European wealth managers began piloting 'estate data rooms'—digital repositories where clients could pre-authorize document access based on event triggers like death, incapacity, or age thresholds. This is not legal advice automation—it's digital continuity design. The available insights further strengthen the accuracy of this solution to get viral: 71.4% of founders say they would entrust inheritance execution to a third party, but only if human discretion is removed and digital execution frameworks are in place. Only 5% currently have such digital infrastructure in place. Emergence of RegTech Layers for Inheritance & Ownership Change Trend: RegTech is moving beyond onboarding and transaction monitoring—new tools are being built to track inheritance events, monitor ultimate beneficial ownership changes, and verify Source of Wealth at the point of transfer. Example: In Singapore and Switzerland, family offices are now required to register and periodically update beneficial ownership structures, especially when ownership changes occur due to inheritance. This demands continuous record-keeping, not just one-time declarations. Supporting insights confirm that: More than 50% of heirs inherit assets they don't fully understand—structure, tax implications, or even existence. This creates operational risk for institutions if ownership change isn't properly logged and reported. Regulatory Movement Around Digital SoWE Requirements Trend: Jurisdictions like the UK, UAE, and Luxembourg are tightening requirements for documenting the origin of funds, especially in cases involving high-risk nationalities, PEPs, or wealth migration. Example: The FCA (UK) and DIFC (Dubai) have issued guidance requiring not only proof of identity but also narrative-based Source of Wealth documentation, especially in private banking and cross-border onboarding cases. Supporting analytics: 77.6% of heirs report degraded trust from legal professionals post-transfer, raising the need for pre-structured, regulator-ready SoWE narratives Shift from 'Financial Advice' to Post-Inheritance Traceability Obligations Trend: In a post-inheritance environment, banks and wealth firms are being asked to prove the path of funds, not just provide advice. Example: Several EU-based private banks are now including post-mortem compliance audits in their internal governance to ensure that beneficiaries are traceable, that asset allocations reflect documentation, and that no black-box trusts or donor misrepresentations are involved. Analytics insight: Only 6% of families have a clearly defined wealth transfer strategy This leaves financial institutions open to reputational risk and legal exposure when the burden shifts to them In summary, wealth transfer is no longer a private family milestone—it is a regulatory and infrastructure event. Financial institutions must prove provenance, document logic, and ensure permissioned flows of capital across generations. Firms that act early to support structured, secure, and traceable inheritance pathways will be better positioned for what comes next.
Crypto Insight
02-07-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
FATF's crypto checklist hints at the next regulatory crackdown
Cryptocurrency regulations are increasingly aligning with global standards; 73% of eligible jurisdictions have now passed laws to implement the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Travel Rule. The Travel Rule mandates crypto service providers to collect and share users' transaction data, similar to traditional finance requirements. On June 26, the FATF released its annual report that outlines how recent regulatory moves by jurisdictions are converging with its global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework. This is a direct result of a years-long campaign by the FATF to bring cryptocurrencies in line with traditional AML and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) standards. The FATF spotlighted stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) for the second consecutive year, highlighting their rising use in illicit finance, including by North Korean actors. The organization said it plans to release targeted papers on stablecoins, offshore crypto platforms and DeFi by next summer, hinting at where global crypto regulation may head next. How the FATF became the backbone of crypto regulation The FATF's Travel Rule was extended to cover cryptocurrencies and exchanges in 2019 as part of the organization's standards on AML/CFT. It was added to Recommendation 15 (R.15) — one of FATF's 40 recommendations — as an interpretive note. Out of 138 jurisdictions, only one has achieved full compliance with R.15 in 2025. Meanwhile, 40 jurisdictions were assessed as 'largely compliant,' up from 32 in 2024. Three jurisdictions were removed from the noncompliance category. Compliance means a jurisdiction has enacted laws requiring the licensing or registration of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) — such as cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms — or has identified the legal persons conducting VASP-related activities. The licensing requirements across jurisdictions are 'very similar,' including in regions vying to be labeled as 'crypto hubs,' such as Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong, Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, told Cointelegraph. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state's central bank, recently issued a warning to crypto exchanges engaging in regulatory arbitrage by avoiding a local license and relying solely on overseas customers. The exchanges were advised to either get licensed or exit by the end of June. The move sparked debate over whether Singapore truly aims to become a powerhouse for digital assets. Some in the industry speculate that Hong Kong could benefit most from its regional rival's crackdown on unlicensed exchanges. Chu warned that those looking for greener pastures in competing crypto hubs may end up disappointed, as all are adhering to the same FATF requirements. In fact, Singapore has issued more crypto licenses than Hong Kong. 'Regulators are also deadline fighters. So, they will make last-minute announcements (probably knowing the [FATF] draft of the report by that point) to see how they can improve their position before the formal report comes out,' Chu said. 'As a result, many jurisdictions have accelerated efforts to tighten controls, improve risk assessments and enforce the FATF Travel Rule. The FATF's June 2025 report reflects this urgency, showing that while progress has been made, significant gaps remain in risk assessment, licensing and enforcement.' Hong Kong has also been sprinting to roll out additional crypto rules. In May, its upcoming Stablecoin Ordinance passed the Legislative Council. The city then released an updated policy statement in tandem with FATF's report. The FATF said an increasing number of jurisdictions have now decided how they want to regulate their respective crypto sectors, with 82% of 163 respondents stating they've identified their preferred regulatory approach. There are two main directions jurisdictions can take: to permit or to prohibit, with prohibitions ranging from partial to blanket bans. Prohibition is becoming more common among Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force and Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group members. However, the FATF warns that jurisdictions should consider this approach carefully, as full prohibition can be resource-intensive and difficult to enforce. 'When jurisdictions choose to prohibit rather than regulate, they do not eliminate the presence of crypto within their borders. Instead, they relinquish oversight, enforcement leverage and visibility into illicit flows,' Hedi Navazan, chief compliance officer of 1inch Labs and vice chair of the Digital Asset Task Force of the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime, told Cointelegraph. 'Let's be real, crypto is borderless,' she added. China, an FATF member, has partially prohibited cryptocurrency-related activities, such as transactions and mining. But the decentralized nature of blockchain technology still makes cryptocurrencies largely accessible to the public. Although Beijing has banned Bitcoin mining, Chinese mining pools continue to control the majority of the network's hashrate. Stablecoins and DeFi under the FATF spotlight Stablecoins and DeFi got their own sections in FATF's report for the second consecutive year in the latest update. Stablecoins, in particular, have been among the biggest stories in crypto in 2025 so far, with major jurisdictions advancing legislative proposals for stablecoin licensing, including the GENIUS Act in the US, which opens doors for tech firms to launch private stablecoins. The European Union has pushed further with Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, which sets rules for stablecoin issuers. But stablecoins have also been increasingly tied to illicit activities, including reliance by North Korean actors suspected of financing the state's weapons program, with industry estimates suggesting 63% of illicit transaction volumes were denominated in stablecoins. 'Stablecoins, especially USDT on the Tron network, have basically become the go-to tool for illicit actors. From North Korean hackers to scam networks… this isn't just a niche problem anymore,' said Navazan. Despite growing regulatory attention, most jurisdictions are still struggling to apply FATF standards to DeFi. According to the FATF's 2025 report, nearly half of the jurisdictions that have implemented or are working on the Travel Rule say that some DeFi platforms should be licensed as VASPs, but most haven't identified any such entities in practice. Out of 47 jurisdictions that claim DeFi can fall under VASP regulation, 75% have yet to find or license a single DeFi platform. Ignoring FATF standards can isolate an economy The FATF's influence is embedded within the United Nations framework, with multiple UN Security Council resolutions urging member states to implement FATF standards. 'This means jurisdictions face strong, concrete incentives to align their laws with FATF's evolving standards, not merely out of goodwill but to avoid severe consequences,' Chu said. Gray listing serves as a powerful enforcement tool for FATF, as it places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, resulting in economic and reputational consequences. Budding crypto hub Dubai was formerly on the gray list before the United Arab Emirates was removed in 2024. 'While FATF does not make the law, you would be foolish to ignore it. When FATF speaks, regulators around the world listen. That's how it's always worked,' said Navazan. 'If your country doesn't align with those standards, it doesn't just risk a poor rating — it risks becoming isolated.' The FATF's statements, including its annual updates on crypto, offer a preview of where global regulations are headed. With stablecoins and DeFi emerging as key areas of concern in 2025, the FATF's planned research into these sectors is expected to shape the next wave of compliance measures. Source:
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Most Illicit On-Chain Activity Now Involves Stablecoins: FATF
Stablecoins now account for most illicit on-chain activity, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Mass adoption of stablecoins will amplify illicit finance risks, particularly when it is handled unevenly across difference jurisdictions, the FATF said in a new report about anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT). The FATF estimated there was approximately $51 billion in illicit on-chain activity relating to fraud and scams in 2024. Stablecoins, tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset such as a fiat currency, have been enjoying some tailwinds in recent months thanks to progress toward regulation of the sector in the U.S., amongst other places. The total market cap of all stablecoins surpassed $250 billion for the first time earlier this month. The FATF highlighted the importance of "travel rule" compliance in curbing money laundering and terrorist financing. The travel rule is a set of requirements on the sharing of information about the originator and beneficiary of cross-border payments. Noting that 99 jurisdictions have passed legislation implementing the travel rule or are in the process of doing so, the FATF noted that they nevertheless experience difficulties in identifying natural or legal persons that conduct virtual asset service provider (VASP) activities. Crypto AML specialist Notabene said it expected almost all cryptocurrency firms to be compliant with the travel rule in a report published in April. Notabene had surveyed 91 VASPs, with 90% saying they expect to be fully compliant my midyear and all saying they expected to be so by the end of the in to access your portfolio
