There is, at present, a state of excitement amongst the media, some financial crime consultants and some politicians in response to what they are being told is public opinion.

The so-called FinCEN Files were heavily telegraphed in a media blitz more akin to the launch of a Hollywood film that has cost a fortune but the result isn't as good as was hoped.

In the USA and the UK, mainstream media outlets have published a series of articles that, they say, arise because of what it has found in documents obtained from the USA's Financial Intelligence Unit, FinCEN.

Before almost every FATF meeting in the recent past there have been comments that Pakistan will be removed from the "Grey List". We've heard about legal and regulatory changes to make that happen.

Hello

It′s been a busy few weeks in financial crime. One has to wonder how much of it is pent-up action that people have found ways to do since the world began working from its back-bedroom or the kitchen table and how much of it is people trying to keep busy so they look as if they are achieving something when they haven′t found ways to perform their normal duties effectively.

In this newsletter:

Covid-19 won't go away, why I gave up with podcasts in 1997 and how the number 8 is playing a huge part in the launch of a new course on correspondent banking, value transfer systems and remittances.

Last week, I finished the Essentials: Correspondent Banking etc. course. Then I threw it away and wrote something completely different instead.

Here's why and how I've ended up walking around like a bird with a broken wing.

The announcement without warning that the UK's Financial Conduct Authority was freezing assets of German FinTech Wirecard has caused consternation.

But while the fall-out has been severe for many individuals, it was both temporary and fits the profile of interventions. There were also good and prudent reasons for it.

Here's why.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening depending on where you are. Sitting at 101 degrees East, I'm roughly in the middle of the day for half of the world and in the tail end of the previous day for the other half.

That's an example of how we tend to think in a very localised way, even when we are acting on a much bigger stage. But there's more....

In the past week, we have learned that the 2020 F1 Grands Prix in Singapore, Suzuka, Sao Paulo, Austin and Baku will not, or probably will not, take place. take place. We have already lost the first half of the season including the much awaited Vietnamese Grand Prix. The underlying reason is that there remains great fear of the spread of the CoVid-19 virus and such fear is not misplaced.

But there is one place where ground can be made up quickly, easily and even cheaply.

It's a thing. And you are not alone.

Good morning.

Last month's newsletter was a round-up of lots of updates.

And it was long.

Not so now we're all on the same page. This one :)