Anti-money laundering
Advice across the full AML risk spectrum
As rules have got stricter and enforcement more stringent, anti-money-laundering (AML) has emerged as one of the most significant risks for financial institutions, and a growing risk for non-financial services companies.
AML is becoming a priority for regulators across the world, just as whistleblowers gain greater protection, credibility and confidence. The range of AML risks is broadening to include prudential regulation, criminal enforcement and a potential tsunami of third-party follow-on litigation. Where AML difficulties were once mostly confined to a single jurisdiction, authorities’ extra-territorial reach means problems can now snowball across multiple borders.
Freshfields has deep experience across the full spectrum of AML risks, including third-party litigation and criminal defence. We provide our clients with a coherent worldwide defence and communication strategy, fast.
Our comprehensive understanding of AML risks comes from hands-on work such as putting in place and monitoring know your customer (KYC), customer due diligence (CDD) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) processes. We understand how the solutions and policies suggested by the UK Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, are implemented by governments. And we negotiate with national and international regulators across the world.
With a single integrated global AML team, nobody is better placed to navigate the risks and achieve the best outcomes.
Case study
MoneyGram International
Freshfields attorneys from 10 offices, including in the US, UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore, worked as a team to assess how MoneyGram and its more than 347,000 agent locations in 200 jurisdictions comply with AML and antifraud standards. MoneyGram handles more than 130m transactions worth over $30bn per year.
Much of our work in this area is highly confidential, and our experience includes advising global financial institutions on cross-border AML investigations and enforcement.
We also conduct frequent on-the-ground reviews of AML compliance practices in the US, South Africa, Nigeria, the UK, the UAE, and in more than 30 other countries.
As a result of these and other matters, we have extensive experience assessing:
- what transaction monitoring rules must be in place to meet legal obligations across multiple jurisdictions, including how those rules are developed and tuned over time;
- when ‘suspicious activity reports’ (SARs) must be filed in each jurisdiction and what controls must be put in place around that process;
- what information must be obtained from customers conducting transactions and what due diligence should be conducted to verify that information; and
- the implications of transaction flows for other legal requirements, including applicable laws regarding sanctions, wire fraud and other financial criminal laws.
Regulatory
- Administrative and public law
- Anti-bribery and corruption
- Anti-money laundering
- Constitutional complaints and procedures
- Data protection and privacy
- Defence and export controls
- Environmental, construction and planning law
- Financial services regulation
- Foreign investment regulation
- Human rights
- Low-carbon economy
- Privatisation
- Product regulation
- Public private partnerships (PPP)
- Public procurement
- Regulatory and public affairs
- Sanctions
- State aid
- Trade
Our team

Dr. Stephan Denk 合伙人
Vienna

Pascal Cuche Public Law
Paris

Marcel Kaufmann 合伙人
Berlin

Kaori Yamada 合伙人
Tokyo

Norbert Nolte 合伙人
Düsseldorf

Dr. Juliane Hilf 合伙人
Düsseldorf

Rutger Kleemans 合伙人
Amsterdam

Winfred Knibbeler 合伙人
Amsterdam

Tony Foster 合伙人
Hanoi

Fares Al-Hejailan 合伙人
Riyadh

Sami Tannous 合伙人
Dubai

Kate Gough 合伙人
London

Vanessa Medina 资深律师
London

Tom Hutchison 顾问律师
London

Sascha Arnold 顾问律师
Hamburg, Berlin

Dr. Lukas Pomaroli 顾问律师
Vienna

Tanguy Bardet Public Law
Paris

Ignacio Borrego 顾问律师
Madrid

Ana Calvo 资深律师
Madrid