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The Official Home of Certified Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Professionals in Africa (ACCPA)
ACCPA AML Certification
Compliance News in Africa
ACCPA Compliance Magazine
AfriPEP KYC Database
ACCPA Blog: Personal Liability for Compliance Officers
The ACCPA Compliance Magazine is Africa’s first and only publication for compliance professionals. The magazine publishes articles written by compliance professionals working on the ground in Africa and distributed among ACCPA members.
The ACCPA AML Certification Program provides exceptional world-class professional training in global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and Anti-Terrorist Financing measures that are specifically tailored to professionals working in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Contact:
Email: info@acc-pa.org
Phone: +1(818) 284-6094
For a long time, it was presumed that individuals could not be held legally liable for compliance negligence incurred by financial institutions. Compliance negligence was perceived as an institutional liability, not a personal liability. As such, compliance professionals were typically not held legally liable for compliance negligence that occurred under their watch; the blame often shifted from individuals to their employers. However, the assumption that individuals could not be held personally liable for compliance negligence took a sharp turn in May 2017 when Tom Haider, a former Chief Compliance Officer at MoneyGram agreed to pay a $250,000 fine in a case brought against him by the United States AML regulator, FinCEN, for compliance oversights that happened under his watch. The case against Haider is indeed a turning point in how personal liability is perceived within the compliance profession. The decision by the U.S. regulator to bring a case against Haider may be the beginning of a new era in the compliance profession where the compliance officer can be held personally liable for negligence in the line of duty. While the case against Haider took place in the United States, it however has potential implications for compliance professionals everywhere, particularly in cases where USD denominated transactions are involved. In Africa, compliance officers have been sacked by their employers for negligence. Others have been called upon to testify in legal matters. But cases where a compliance officer was personally held liable in a legal case brought forth by a regulator is rare in the African context. This might however change as the compliance function becomes more complex.
Safeguarding Africa's Integrity in a Complex World
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About ACCPA
AfriPEP is a PEP/KYC screening and risk assessment tool designed to enable you check your client records against a verified list of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), and Blacklisted Entities.
United States:
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Los Angeles, CA 90066
U.S.A.