John Byrne

Mr. Byrne serves as Vice Chairman of AML RightSource. He is an internationally known regulatory and legislative attorney with more than 30 years of experience in banking and financial crimes. Mr. Byrne has particular expertise in all aspects of regulatory management, anti-money laundering (AML) issues and has served in leadership positions at trade associations, financial services industry groups, and government working groups. Mr. Byrne earned his undergraduate degree at Marquette University and his juris doctor at George Mason University School of Law. He currently serves as a special advisor to the ACAMS Advisory board and on Marquette University’s Commercial Banking Board.

8 min read

This Year in AML: A Look Back at 2023

2023 was a turbulent year that contained an extensive number of events that correlate to our broad-based AML community. Whether it be corruption, sanctions, money laundering, or other parts of financial crime, our challenges to prevent, detect, and...

Read More

3 min read

This Year in AML: Up, Up and Away to 2023

Elliot Berman and I were pleased to be able to post close to 50 new conversations in 2022 about the many challenges, both domestic and international,...

Read More

3 min read

The June FATF Plenary Outcomes

Russia, Real Estate and Other Things*

Read More

4 min read

The 2022 NMLRA: The Pandemic, Opioids, and Other “Changes” Continue to Challenge our Communities

There is an old idiom, attributed to the British that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” For the financial crime prevention...

Read More

3 min read

The Art World Gets a Respite for Now, but “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere”

“The U.S. government and private sector must work together to bar criminals from exploiting the $28.3 billion American art market—the largest...

Read More

5 min read

In the Year 2022

What happened in 2021 and what to expect going forward?

Read More

4 min read

9/11 Created the AML Community We Know Today

The End of the Innocence[1]

Read More

3 min read

When is a Priority an Actual Priority?

Where Do We Go from Here?[i]

Building on the various themes and issues addressed the AML Act of 2020, the Treasury Department has now published the...

Read More

3 min read

Get Together: Partnering and Collaboration is a Model for Anti-HT Success*

We in the financial crime prevention community are still assessing how the new Administration will address white collar crime and accompanying...

Read More

4 min read

AML Reform 2021: Now the Real Work Begins

“Something Good This Way Comes”[1]

As the new Congress and the Biden Administration continue to grapple with COVID relief, economic uncertainty,...

Read More

1 min read

The AML Community List - 2021: What will be Out and In for the Upcoming Year?

I have always enjoyed The Washington Post’s (and I am sure various other publications) list for the next year. The uniqueness is, of course, they...

Read More

4 min read

2020—AML Year End Review and What will 2021 Bring?

Ball of Confusion[i]

Having been in what we call the AML community for close to 35 years, it was always clear to me that a “year-in-review” is both...

Read More

3 min read

Assisting NPO’s and Their Need for Financial Access

Finally, “Work to Do”[i]

Having spent a good deal of my career dealing with legislation, regulations, guidance and assorted policy statements, it...

Read More

3 min read

The FinCEN Request on How to Improve AML

Reason to Believe?[I]

Read More

3 min read

Examinations During the Pandemic

No Deja Vu[1]

Examiners will consider the unique, evolving, and potentially long-term nature of the issues confronting institutions and exercise...

Read More

3 min read

Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?

I have a comment…[1]

Read More

2 min read

COVID-19 Also Impacts Financial Access

“Time won’t let me”[I]

The need to move quickly..

As the AML community grapples with increased fraud and financial crime during this global pandemic,...

Read More

3 min read

The April 2020 Updates to the FFIEC BSA/AML Manual

“Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings” [i]

As the AML community clearly knows, the Federal Financial Examination Council (FFIEC) has...

Read More

4 min read

A review of: The Economics of Violence: How Behavioral Science Can Transform our View of Crime, Insurgency and Terrorism

A View to a Kill?[i]

I have said many times that AML professionals in today’s world need to evolve and change with the various ways criminals adjust...

Read More

2 min read

Getting by on fewer BSA Resources?

What a Fool Believes[I]

Until recently, the AML community has seen only two major cases of personal liability. Frankly, many conferences and webinars...

Read More

3 min read

Will 2020 bring true AML Reform?

“For what it’s worth,[1]” corruption is the key.

Read More
The-Song-Remains-the-Same

3 min read

The Song Remains the Same*

AML Professionals simply want the BSA to work..

Whether in open hearings before Congress, at conferences, or in closed-door sessions such as our...

Read More