Wolfsberg Group

The Wolfsberg Group is a non governmental association of thirteen global banks, founded in 2000 at the Château Wolfsberg, near Ermatingen,(Switzerland). Its goal has been to develop financial industry standards for Anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) policies. Its work is similar to what the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) does on a government level. The Wolfsberg Group has criticized FATF's draft AML revision as "too prescriptive and too narrowly conceived". The Group operates in relative obscurity without press coverage.

History

In 1998 Peter Eigen and Fritz Heimann, representatives from Transparency International, Stanley Morris, former director of FINCEN and consultant of Interpol and Mark Pieth, professor of Criminology of the University of Basel met about how to encourage US banks to develop anti-money laundering (AML) standards. In 1999, they approached a group of international banks to join.[1]:3 There were 8 banks and except for the US and Switzerland most countries were represented by their largest private bank. Later "a major US investment bank, a large bank from Japan, and a Spanish bank" joined for the original 11 member-group.[1]:4

In 2000, the Wolfsberg Group was an association of the following eleven global banks: Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, Société Générale, UBS Banks. It took its name from the Château Wolfsberg, where it held their first meetings and where they hold their annual forum.[1]:1 After 9/11, the group changed its focus to counter-terrorist financing standards.[1][2]

In June 2015, the Wolfsberg group expanded to 13 member banks as Standard Chartered Bank joined the association[3] and Bank of America was mentioned as an existing member in the same notice; As of May 2016 no information to determine when BOA joined could be found.[4]

Standards

As of 2015 the Wolfsberg Group has issued 14 documents they call The Wolfsberg Standards:[5] The first document published in October 2000 was the Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles for Private Banking, and revised in May 2002.

In November 2002, the group published the Wolfsberg Correspondent Banking Principles, in which they recommended a risk-based approach to AML and to develop an international registry for financial institutions, where those would submit information useful for conducting due diligence. After collaborating with Bankers Almanac.com, part of BankersAccuity, it launched a Due Diligence Repository as a module separate from its service to support.[6]

In September 2003 the Group published the Wolfsberg Monitoring Screening & Searching Principles, in March 2006 the Wolfsberg Managing Money Laundering Risks, in March 2011 the Wolfsberg Trade Finance Principles, in October 2011 the Wolfsberg Guidance on Prepaid & Stored Value Cards, in 2012 the Wolfsberg Private Banking Principles, in 2014 the 14-page Wolfsberg Group Mobile and Internet Payment Services (MIPS) Paper, and a revision of Wolfsberg Correspondent Banking Principles.

Outreach

The Wolfsberg group meets with financial industry bodies, such as the European Banking Federation, the International Banking Federation, the New York Clearing House, and the Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).[1]:7

In January 2011, the group commented on the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), draft review of its 2003 AML/CTF standards. The Wolfsberg group "caution[ed] FATF not to make recommendations or issue guidance that is too prescriptive with regard to any of the various risk indicators...for example that all foreign Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) present a heightened risk".,[7]:2,6 that "a categorical approach [is] not only unnecessary but fundamentally counterproductive", "too prescriptive and too narrowly conceived",[7]:3

Press coverage and criticism

The group has issued only 3 press releases: in April 2007, in May 2008 re the Revised politically exposed person FAQs, and in January 2015 about the US Treasury having incorporated "advanced sanctions list" format, based on data standards developed by the United Nations and the Wolfsberg Group.

Robert Mazur, a former undercover US DEA agent investigating money laundering, called the Wolfsberg group "wolves [...] guarding the sheep".[8][9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hans-Peter Bauer and Gemma Aiolfi (2012). "The Wolfsberg Group". In Mark Pieth. Collective Action: Innovative Strategies to Prevent Corruption (PDF). Zurich,St. Gallen: Dike. p. 11.
  2. ↑ Mark Pieth, Gemma Aiolfi (26 October 2002). "The Private Sector becomes active: The Wolfsberg Process" (PDF). Wolfsberg Group. p. 9. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "We have joined the Wolfsberg Group of international financial institutions". Standard Chartered Bank. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Search". Bank of America. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Wolfsberg Standards". The Wolfsberg Group. n.d. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Accuity.com (n.d.). "Financial Counterparty KYC". Bankersalmanac. Reed-Elsevier. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 David Bagley, Phillipp von Türk (6 January 2011). "The Wolfsberg Group Comment Letter on FATF Standards Review January 2011" (PDF). letter. The Wolfsberg Group. p. 9. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Robert Mazur (4 November 2010). "Banking on Terror". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Robert Mazur (13 September 2010). "Follow the Dirty Money". New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2015.

External links

"Wolfsberg Group official site". 

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