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Fraud & White Collar Crime 2019 FRAUD & WHITE COLLAR CRIME 2019 EXPERT GUIDE www.corporatelivewire.com 33 CHANCERY LANE Expert Guide | Fraud & White Collar Crime 2019 Alma Angotti United Kingdom | United States [email protected] UK: +44 (0) 20 7550 4604 | US: +1 202 481 8398 www.navigant.com The ability to trace transactions on the blockchain allows for the identification of the originating cryptocurrency wallet address and the beneficiary cryptocurrency wallet address. Elizabeth Sisul Bitcoin is said to offer “pseudo-anonymity” because it United States [email protected] is often difficult to connect the cryptocurrency wallet +1 646 227 4725 www.navigant.com addresses with real-world individuals and entities. Brandy Schindler United States 1. Money Laundering Risks ability to move private keys across borders with a piece of paper [email protected] in his or her pocket, or by handing off that piece of paper to a co- +1 646 227 4881 I. Pseudo-anonymity/Anonymity conspirator crossing a border. www.navigant.com Many erroneously believe that the most popular cryptocurren- The ability to easily move money across borders facilitates the cies, including bitcoin, offer complete anonymity to its users. In layering3 stage of money laundering. Bad actors may leverage reality, bitcoin transactions can be traced on the bitcoin block- the ability to conduct cross-border transactions in order to direct chain. The ability to trace transactions on the blockchain allows complex transactions through multiple countries and/or through Key Considerations and Risk Management Practices in Building for the identification of the originating cryptocurrency wallet countries with weak regulatory frameworks. In addition, the in- address and the beneficiary cryptocurrency wallet address. Bit- ability to limit or control cross-border transactions makes it dif- Cryptocurrency Compliance Programs coin is said to offer “pseudo-anonymity” because it is often dif- ficult for organisations and law enforcement to monitor transac- By Alma Angotti, Elizabeth Sisul & Brandy Schindler ficult to connect the cryptocurrency wallet addresses with real- tions by jurisdiction. world individuals and entities. More concerning, and discussed later in this section, some blockchains now facilitate completely Lastly, cryptocurrency can be safer from government seizure if Cryptocurrency has quickly evolved from an instrument of the This article will discuss key risk considerations for organisations anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. Pseudo-anonymity and a user’s private keys are held in cold storage.4 If a private key is black market to an industry all its own. Cryptocurrency market that have exposure to the cryptocurrency industry. In addition, anonymity are attractive features to bad actors and may be espe- stored on a piece of paper in your pocket, the government would participants still include bad actors, but now also include estab- it will present risk management best practices for organisations cially useful during the placement1 stage of money laundering, have to find it in order to obtain access to the funds. Depending lished financial institutions and startup organisations seeking to that are amending or building a BSA/AML and OFAC Compliance because it can obscure the source of the unlawful proceeds. on the jurisdiction, authorities may also seek a court order requir- disrupt the financial services sector. While financial institutions Program that effectively addresses those risks. ing disclosure of the private key.5,6,7 often maintain robust Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering II. Cross-border transactions (“BSA/AML”) and Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) Com- Key Risk Considerations III. Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies and mechanisms pliance Programs, startup organisations frequently lack the ex- Cryptocurrency transactions are executed online, and cross- pertise and funding to do the same. Across both entity types, ex- This section presents key cryptocurrency risk considerations. It is border transactions require no additional effort from what is As mentioned above, new cryptocurrencies have been devel- posure to cryptocurrencies presents unique money laundering, not intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather a broad intro- required for a domestic transaction. In addition, cryptocurrency oped to provide more privacy than what is offered by pseudo- sanctions, and regulatory risks that must be considered as the duction to a selection of the more unique risks associated with users can store private keys2 in many ways, including: as a Quick anonymous cryptocurrencies. Listed in the table on the next organisation modifies or builds an effective BSA/AML and OFAC cryptocurrencies. Response (“QR”) code, in cold-storage wallets, or simply written page are examples of some of the most popular privacy-focused Compliance Program. down on a piece of paper. This gives a cryptocurrency user the cryptocurrencies. 18 19 Expert Guide | Fraud & White Collar Crime 2019 Cryptocurrency Privacy Offered changer”), Iran; DOB 09 Mar 1987; POB Tehran, Iran; national- 3. Regulatory Risk ity Iran; Website www.enexchanger.com; Email Address EnEx- Monero8 Hides sending address, receiving address, and transaction amount [email protected]; alt. Email Address Ensaniyat1365@gmail. In the U.S., it is fairly clear when an entity must be registered as a com; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary money services business (“MSB”) or broker-dealer. The chart be- 9 Dash Automatically mixes coins before completing a transaction Sanctions; Gender Male; Digital Currency Address - XBT 1AjZPM- low reflects common cryptocurrency industry participants, and snmpdK2Rv9KQNfMurTXinscVro9V; Identification Number the U.S. regulatory frameworks that potentially apply to them. Verge10 Obscures IP addresses using The Onion Router (“Tor”) 008-046347-9 (Iran); Birth Certificate Number 32270 (Iran) (indi- vidual) [CYBER2]. In other jurisdictions, it is often difficult to identify the registration 11 Zcash Uses zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt sending address, receiving address, and trans- requirements associated with an organisation’s business model. action amount KHORASHADIZADEH, Ali (a.k.a. “Iranvisacart”; a.k.a. “Mastercar- In addition, regulation related to cryptocurrencies continues to taria”), Iran; DOB 21 Sep 1979; POB Tehran, Iran; nationality Iran; evolve. On 21 June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) In addition, mechanisms have been developed to provide cryp- cess cryptocurrencies through exchanges based inside and out- Email Address [email protected]; alt. Email Address mas- adopted and issued an Interpretive Note to Recommendation 22 tocurrency users with additional privacy irrespective of the side of Iran, as well as through peer-to-peer exchangers. [email protected]; alt. Email Address alikhorashadi@ya- 15. The Interpretive Note “further clarifies the FATF’s previous cryptocurrency being used. Cryptocurrency mixers receive cryp- hoo.com; alt. Email Address [email protected]; alt. Email amendments to the international Standards relating to virtual as- tocurrencies from multiple wallet addresses and store them in Venezuela Address [email protected]; Additional Sanctions Infor- sets and describes how countries and obliged entities must com- one wallet address. At this point, cryptocurrencies from an ille- mation - Subject to Secondary Sanctions; Gender Male; Digital ply with the relevant FATF Recommendations to prevent the mis- gal source of income may be commingled with cryptocurrencies In 2018, the government of Venezuela created a state-sponsored Currency Address - XBT 149w62rY42aZBox8fGcmqNsXUzSSt- use of virtual assets for money laundering and terrorist financing 23 from a legitimate source of income. Next, the mixer redistributes cryptocurrency called the “Petro.” The Petro was launched on 20 Keq8C; Passport T14553558 (Iran) issued 28 Oct 2008 expires 29 and the financing of proliferation.” the commingled cryptocurrencies into a new set of different wal- February 2018, in response to the 25 August 2017, U.S. executive Oct 2013 (individual) [CYBER2]. let addresses, making it difficult to differentiate the “dirty” crypto- order14 that prohibited transactions in Venezuelan new debt. On Regardless of regulatory status, it is imperative that organisations currencies from the “clean” ones. 19 March 2018, the U.S. issued an executive order15 prohibiting The cryptocurrency address is a string of alphanumeric charac- maintain adequate risk management policies and procedures, transactions related to, the provision of financing for, and other ters. Traditional sanctions filters may be unable to alert on pos- especially related to BSA/AML and OFAC requirements. A lack of 2. Sanctions Risk dealings in the Petro. sible matches to cryptocurrency addresses. Therefore, a key risk proper risk management, by either an established financial insti- consideration for organisations is how to effectively and efficient- tution or a startup, may be unacceptable to regulators, or inves- I. Interest from sanctioned jurisdictions Russia ly screen transactions for this new type of sanctions indicia. tors, given the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Many countries are beginning to explore the potential applica- In 2018, Time magazine published a report16 asserting that the tion of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies to comple- Venezuelan Petro was a collaboration between Russia and Ven- Miners Do not have to register as an MSB unless mining cryptocurrency
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