This month’s sponsor thank you and spotlight tips a hat to Accuity and features new podcasts they’ve published. These feature discussions with Hdeel Abdelhady. She sits on the ABA Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation and the Profession, which focuses on U.S. government and multilateral efforts to combat international money laundering and the implications of these efforts for lawyers and the profession.

These podcasts explore the challenges firms are facing in establishing efficient anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) compliance programs, delving into issues including:

• Lawyers as gatekeepers in the fight against financial crime
• Why should lawyers and law firms be concerned about financial crime?
• What does it mean personally and to their firm
• What is around the corner for law firms and financial crime
• What are firms not talking about that they really should be

You can access these here:

• “Episode 1: The regulatory landscape for legal firms in the U.S.“
• “Episode 2: The regulatory landscape for legal firms in the U.S.“

I was curious about the ABA task force and found it interesting to explore their resource page and publications.

And all of this lead me to discovering a good written interview (for those less audio inclined) with Abdelhady: “Ask the Expert: Q&A with Principal Attorney Hdeel Abdelhady (Part 1)” —

• “OFAC has made it unmistakably clear on a number of recent occasions that sanctions compliance is expected of all U.S. persons and foreign parties engaged in business with the United States, or using “U.S.-origin” goods or services.”
• “More recent OFAC enforcement actions have reached across industries – from insurance to agriculture to cosmetics – and applied to ‘run of the mill’ transactions, such as the provision of services or benefits under individual health and life insurance policies.”