Ep 67 - Selective Enforcement & Global Risk: A Tectonic Shift in AML

Episode #67 with Nigel Morris-Cotterill, Oonagh van den Berg and Malcolm Nance

In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, the panel tackles the Trump administration’s controversial move to suspend enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)—a key anti-money laundering (AML) initiative passed under the Biden administration. The decision, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department in early March, stated that it would halt all penalties and fines associated with beneficial ownership information reporting under current regulatory deadlines. Crucially, it also confirmed that no penalties would apply even after forthcoming rule changes take effect—effectively dismantling the mechanism meant to expose the real owners of shell companies.

The net result: the U.S. government will no longer require shell companies to disclose their beneficial owners, allowing wealthy individuals and corporations to hide their profits from public scrutiny. The CTA, passed in 2021, had required companies to submit ownership data to FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) as a means to tackle tax evasion and corporate cronyism. The rule's enforcement had already been frozen by a federal court order. Reacting to the Treasury’s announcement, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, calling the CTA “an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide” and celebrating the suspension of what he described as “the economic menace” of beneficial ownership reporting.

This episode’s Spotlight segment features returning guest Nigel Morris-Cotterill, a renowned expert in counter-money laundering and financial crime compliance. He breaks down why the term “beneficial ownership” is a legal misnomer in corporate law and argues that the CTA was always set up to fail—especially in a country like the U.S. that has historically resisted full FATF compliance. Nigel discusses how this rollback affects compliance expectations in Asia-Pacific financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore, stressing that legal and compliance professionals in the region must remain vigilant. He also cautions that the rollback creates tension between U.S. and local AML standards, while selective extraterritorial enforcement by the U.S. is all but guaranteed.

Joining the discussion, Malcolm Nance and Oonagh Van den Berg weigh in on the global implications of the move. They explore whether this rollback represents a temporary pause for regulatory review or a tectonic shift in the U.S.’s approach to corporate accountability, transparency, and AML enforcement. Oonagh underscores that while the CTA imposed real burdens on SMEs, the abandonment of enforcement could signal a broader retreat from anti-corruption efforts—especially as the Trump administration also moves to suspend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and disband units focused on fighting kleptocracy.

Together, the panel explores pressing questions: Will deregulation lead to more illicit finance? Is this the start of a new multipolar world order where financial crime enforcement becomes political and transactional? They touch on how trade-based money laundering, sanctions evasion, and the exploitation of legacy systems like hawala continue to pose massive risks to financial systems.

The conversation ends with a consensus that blanket deregulation is not the answer. Instead, they call for smarter, more risk-based, tech-enabled regulation that moves beyond box-ticking and uses modern tools—like AI and data analytics—to target the real threats. It’s a sobering yet thought-provoking discussion on what may be the beginning of a global recalibration in financial crime compliance.

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