March 19 - Prosecutors in Milan have begun a formal investigation into alleged money laundering involving Dutch bank ING Groep NV's Italian business, a source close to the matter said. ING had no immediate comment on Tuesday on the investigation, which was launched after prosecutors received requests for assistance from other European countries, where dozens of people had reported online scams, the source added.

March 18 - The term “money laundering” is believed to have originated as a result of infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone’s habit of channeling criminally obtained funds through laundromats, as their cash-heavy nature made it more difficult for the right side of the law to detect such money mixed in among legitimate payments. Money laundering has evolved greatly since Capone’s activities in the early 1900s, though, and it is becoming harder to combat. As such, the regulators and FIs seeking to crack down on these activities have their work cut out for them.

March 18 - B.C. Attorney General David Eby is considering a B.C. licensing system for money transfer and foreign exchange businesses, which are vulnerable to money launderers. Eby was responding Monday to a Postmedia investigation that found two dozen money-services businesses in Vancouver, Richmond and on the North Shore are run out of condos and homes, others are run by real estate firms and property developers, and many that have no public face at the street level or online.

March 18 - Federal authorities raided the office of Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy last summer, seeking records related to his dealings with foreign officials and Trump administration associates, according to a sealed search warrant obtained by ProPublica. Agents were authorized to use the megadonor’s hands and face to unlock any phones that required fingerprint or facial scans.

March 18 - An Italian subsidiary of Dutch banking giant ING has been ordered to stop taking on new clients. In a statement released over the weekend, the Bank of Italy said that ING Groep NV had failed to meet compliance standards related to anti-money laundering (AML) procedures.

March 16 - Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will unveil in the federal budget on Tuesday a new task force meant to improve money-laundering investigations and increase the likelihood of prosecutions. The government will announce funding for an “anti-money laundering action coordination and enforcement team,” according to a federal government source with direct knowledge of the initiative.

March 15 - Once considered the safest of them all, Nordic banks are now navigating a world dominated by allegations of laundering. Danske Bank A/S, Swedbank AB and Nordea Bank Abp, often via their Baltic operations, have all been tainted by claims that they handled vast amounts of money associated with crime. But the big risk now lies in the response, according to the head of the Financial Supervisory Authority in Finland, who oversees Nordea.