Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Centre

Welcome to your ICA CPD CentreIn the fast changing world of regulatory and financial crime compliance, it has never been more important to keep your knowledge up to date.

This is why the best professionals in your industry commit to a meaningful regime of CPD.

Creating a working plan to continuously develop your appropriate competencies will ensure that you perform at your best and will prepare you to meet your future career goals.

As an ICA member, you will get access to a wide range of events, publications, videos and a library of online resources that are being constantly updated, making it easy for you to gain the required number of CPD hours.

Our CPD learning centre is designed in a way that allows you to filter your view of the content based on your level of seniority and experience. It provides general and jurisdiction specific technical learning (both structured and unstructured) as well as a huge menu of soft skills learning – all in bite-sized pieces.

ICA CPD will help you meet your own personal development goals and our CPD log and the annual

recertifcation of your ICA Certificate or Diploma can also be used as evidence of your professionalism and competence to employers and regulators.

In addition to our own content, we’ve partnered with other organisation in order provide you with a wide range of resources, all of which are designed to help

with your professional career goals.

A number of soft skills CPD content is provided by the Chartered Institute of

Marketing (CMI) as well as four different pre-designed learning journeys, which are tailored specifically to suite each of the four different levels of membership.

ComplianceServe also provide another highly rated library of technical e-learning to help meet your CPD requirements.

Our CPD centre contains over 7,000 pieces of learning

CASE STUDIESE-BOOKS AND

BITE-SIZED WEBINARS

E-LEARNING MODULES

ON HOT TOPICS

IN-DEPTH REPORTS

AND WHITE PAPERS

INTERVIEWS WITH

THOUGHT LEADERS

SOFT SKILLS TRAINING

(POWERED BY CMI)

PODCASTS SHORT TRAINING

COURSES

LIVE AND RECORDED

CONFERENCES

AND EVENTS

CPD CENTRE - A QUICK GUIDE

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LOG INTO THE ICA WEBSITE TO ACCESS THE CPD CENTRE

CLICK ON THE ‘MY MEMBERSHIP’ DROP DOWN

BEGIN YOUR SEARCH FOR CPD HERE

CLICK ON ‘CPD SEARCH’

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WE HAVE CUSTOMISED YOUR SEARCH WITH YOUR PREFERENCES. THE FILTER

CAN ALSO REFINE YOUR SEARCH

YOU CAN SEQUENCE YOUR VIEW IN MANY WAYS

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THESE JOURNEYS ARE PRE-DESIGNED FOR EACH

OF THE 4 MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

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MONITOR AND UPDATE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS FOR YOUR EMPLOYERS AND REGULATORS, AND FOR ANNUAL

RECERTIFICATION OF YOUR ICA CERTIFICATE OR DIPLOMA

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PLAN AND RECORD ALL CPD IN THE CPD LOG

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COMPLIANCE SERVE WILL ALSO PROVIDE ANOTHER LIBRARY OF

TECHNICAL ONLINE LEARNING TO HELP MEET YOUR CPD REQUIREMENTS

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SOFT SKILLS CPD CONTENT IS POWERED BY CHARTERED

MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (CMI)

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DON’T FORGET TO RATE YOUR CPD WHEN COMPLETED!

TOP RATED CONTENT OF 2016 JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE CONTENT THAT HAS BEEN RATED 5/5 BY OUR MEMBERS

Beneficial ownership and corporate transparency module 2: European developmentsIn the second of a four-part series on beneficial ownership and corporate transparency, we focus on developments in Europe and take a closer look at the approach to reform taken by different European countries.

Beneficial ownership and corporate transparency module 2: European developments Module overviewIn this second module in our CPD series on beneficial ownership and corporate transparency, we will look in more detail at new developments in Europe, including analysis of how different countries in the European Union are working towards EU requirements and how countries outside the EU are tackling the issues.

The UKThe UK has positioned itself as a world leader on the issue of corporate transparency, although in the run-up to beneficial ownership reforms it was also described as having ‘one of the most laissez-faire business regimes in the world’ in which off-the-shelf companies could be bought cheaply and the identity of owners easily concealed.1

In June 2013, when the UK held the presidency of the G8, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced his intention to push for greater transparency about beneficial ownership and following its Lough Erne summit that month, the G8 published its Action Plan Principles2 to prevent the misuse of companies and legal arrangements. G8 members committed to publishing national plans of actions each would take to tackle money laundering and tax evasion, including bringing information on company ownership out into the open.Mr Cameron announced plans for a publicly accessible register of beneficial owners in October 2013 and when the UK’s Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 20153 passed into law on 26 March 2015, its wide-ranging measures included the introduction of the register, people with significant control (PSCs) over a company or limited liability partnerships (LLPs) (essentially people owning or controlling more than 25% of its shares or voting rights or who otherwise control the way it is run). Mr

Cameron described it as a ‘complete world first on transparency’.

Since April 2016, most UK companies and LLPs have been required to hold a PSC register, available for free inspection. From 30 June 2016, the company must also file the information annually at Companies House for inclusion on a free, searchable public register.

There are penalties for non-compliance with the

PSC register requirements. Individuals or entities that fail to respond to a company’s request for information may have their interest in it frozen until it is provided. Where companies fail to take ‘appropriate measures’ to gather or provide information required, or ‘knowingly or recklessly’ provide incorrect information, may have committed an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.4

The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering DirectiveWhile the UK may be the testing ground for the company beneficial owners register, the European Union as a whole is close behind.Members of the European Parliament strengthened the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (4MLD), adopted in May 2015, to include a requirement that EU member states keep central registers of information on the ultimate beneficial owners of corporate and legal entities such as companies and trusts.

1. Prem Sikka, ‘Is the UK Ending Corporate Secrecy? More Spin Than Substance’, The Huffington Post, 21 June 2014 (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/prem-sikka/corporate-secrecy_b_5184817.html – accessed March 2016)2. G8 Action Plan Principles to prevent the misuse of companies and legal arrangements, 18 June 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207644/Common_Principles.pdf – accessed March 2016)

3. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/26/contents/enacted (accessed February 2016)4. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, The Register of People with Significant Control: Scope, nature and extent of control, fees, the protection regime and warning and restrictions notices, June 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437974/bis-15-315-register-of-people-with-significant-control-consultation.pdf – accessed February 2016)

“Information was quite informative and current”

UK AML Action Plan - PodcastListen to International Compliance Training (ICT) our longest established partner discuss the impact of the UK’s AML Action Plan.

Financial crime issues facing firms and MLROsSally Scutt, Strategic Advisor, ICA in conversation with David Hicks, Partner, KPMG LLP on the issue of financial crime.

VIRTUAL CURRENCIES – APPROACHES TO REGULATION

Virtual currencies: setting the scene

The origins of virtual currencies can be traced back

to the 1990s but the sector’s rapid expansion dates

from 2009 when the specification for Bitcoin – self-

described as ‘a consensus network that enables a new

payment system and a completely digital money’ – was

published. According to the European Central Bank, in

February 2015 there were more than 500 schemes.

Virtual currencies are not issued by a government or

central bank; they are created, stored, transferred and

traded online, for virtual or actual goods and services

and other virtual or real currencies.

There are various schools of thought around defining

such currencies. This paper adopts the approach

of a June 2014 report from the Financial Action

Task Force (FATF), by using virtual currencies as

an umbrella term. It also proposed a common

vocabulary to aid understanding of how virtual

currencies operate, and their potential risks and

benefits, including the following definitions.

Virtual currency is a digital representation of value

that can be digitally traded and functions as (1) a

medium of exchange; and/or (2) a unit of account;

and/or (3) a store of value, but does not have legal

tender status…in any jurisdiction. It fulfils the above

functions…only by agreement within the community

of users of the virtual currency.

Cryptocurrency [such as Bitcoin] refers to a math-

based, decentralised convertible virtual currency that is

protected by cryptography.

E-money... is a digital representation of fiat currency

[real money] used to electronically transfer value

denominated in fiat currency. E-money…electronically

transfers value that has legal tender status.

Digital currency can mean a digital representation

of either virtual currency (non-fiat) or e-money (fiat)

and thus is often used interchangeably with the term

“virtual currency1”.

Centralised virtual currencies are issued, controlled and

monitored by a central organisation or administrator;

decentralised currencies, like Bitcoin, have no central

administrator or oversight but are typically controlled

by a community of users.

Convertible or open currencies have a real-world value

and can be exchanged with real currencies while non-

convertible or closed currencies can only be used in

specific online environments.

Following the Bitcoin model, transactions are

generally verified and recorded on a digital, public

ledger, shared by users, often referred to as a

blockchain or block chain.

Virtual currencies: key issues – benefits vs. risks

Virtual currencies can deliver commercial and

consumer benefits, including cheaper, faster and

more efficient transactions but as with any form of

system for transferring value, they are open to abuse.

The European Banking Authority (EBA)2 says around

70 risks have been identified; while some have much

in common with those affecting traditional financial

services or products, others are more specific to virtual

currencies. Some benefits and risks are set out below.

BenefitsRisks

A store of value that

crosses international

borders

Fluctuating and potentially

volatile values, with no

investor protection

Cheaper, faster and more

secure than traditional

payment systems

Digital wallets may be vul-

nerable to hacking; no com-

pensation for investors

‘Anytime, anyplace,

anywhere’ accessibility

through the Internet

Complex transaction

patterns may involve

multiple users/territories

Transactions traceable

through the blockchain Users can conceal

information linking currency

to their identity

Greater privacy for users Vulnerability to misuse due

to high degree of anonymity

Certainty over payments,

protecting merchants

over false customer

claims for repayments

No cancellation or reversal

of transactions

Reducing transaction costs

for very low cost itemsFew transaction limits

Lack of intermediaries

(e.g. banks)

Lack of central oversight/

control

Driving development of

new businesses

Uncertainty over tax

position

1. FATF, Virtual Currencies: Key Definitions and

Potential AML/CFT Risks (June 2014): http://

www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/

reports/Virtual-currency-key-definitions-and-

potential-aml-cft-risks.pdf

2. European Banking Authority, EBA Opinion on

‘virtual currencies’ (July 2014): http://www.

eba.europa.eu/documents/10180/657547/

EBA-Op-2014-08+Opinion+on+Virtual+Curre

ncies.pdf

Lessons from the front line - an interview with Kweku AdoboliAlan Ward of Stephenson Harwood, in conversation with Kweku Adoboli at the ICA annual conference, April 2016.

Virtual currencies: approaches to regulationAn overview of virtual currencies that explores the approaches to regulation around the world.

“An eyeopener about what can go wrong with operating a trading desk using complex investment schemes for a major international bank”

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