---
title: 2020 Anti-Money Laundering Year in Review
description: 2020 witnessed a flurry of anti-money laundering activity, with the issues and developments continuing to be global in scope. In the United States, suspicious activity reports, outlining transactions
---

[Member News | CGCCUSA ](https://www.cgccusa.org/en/news)

# [2020 Anti-Money Laundering Year in Review](https://www.cgccusa.org/en/news/2020-anti-money-laundering-year-in-review)

 Written by [CGCC](https://www.cgccusa.org/en/news/author/cgcc) | January 23, 2021

**Author:** Jones Day  
**Published:** January 2021

*The following report is courtesy of CGCC member  
 Jones Day. This resource does not, and is not intended to constitute legal  
 advice.*

2020 witnessed a flurry of anti-money  
 laundering activity, with the issues and developments continuing to be global  
 in scope. In the United States, suspicious activity reports, outlining  
 transactions involving terrorism finance or other illegal activity, were leaked  
 to the public. This sparked questions into the effectiveness of current  
 anti-money laundering regime and suspicious activity report filing.  

In the European Union, an action plan to  
 prevent money laundering and terrorist financing was proposed, foreshadowing  
 increased enforcement action and further regulation. The European Union also  
 adopted a global human rights sanctions regime, highlighting the need for  
 appropriate safeguards in compliance frameworks.  

In Hong Kong, the test to determine the  
 reasonableness of a person's belief regarding legitimacy of sources of funds  
 was reformulated. Last year also witnessed multiple public pronouncements and  
 penalties imposed in Singapore regarding anti-money laundering and countering  
 the financing of terrorism, forcing companies to look into their compliance  
 programs and the quality of their execution.  

This Year in Review focuses on these  
 developments as well as highlights other key trends in the sanctions and  
 anti-money laundering arena from a global perspective. This Year in Review also  
 provides insight into potential anti-money laundering and what these issues  
 mean for financial institutions, and offers an outlook for the year ahead.

### [CLICK HERE](https://www.jonesday.com/-/media/files/publications/2021/01/2020-antimoney-laundering-year-in-review/files/2020-antimoney-laundering-year-in-review/fileattachment/2020-antimoney-laundering-year-in-review.pdf) to read the report

For any questions, kindly contact **Lanier Saperstein**, [lsaperstein@jonesday.com](mailto:lsaperstein@jonesday.com)

[View full post](https://www.cgccusa.org/en/news/2020-anti-money-laundering-year-in-review)

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