Episode #67 with Nigel Morris-Cotterill, Oonagh van den Berg and Malcolm Nance

In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, the panel tackles the Trump administration’s controversial move to suspend enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)—a key anti-money laundering (AML) initiative passed under the Biden administration. The decision, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department in early March, stated that it would halt all penalties and fines associated with beneficial ownership information reporting under current regulatory deadlines. Crucially, it also confirmed that no penalties would apply even after forthcoming rule changes take effect—effectively dismantling the mechanism meant to expose the real owners of shell companies.

The net result: the U.S. government will no longer require shell companies to disclose their beneficial owners, allowing wealthy individuals and corporations to hide their profits from public scrutiny. The CTA, passed in 2021, had required companies to submit ownership data to FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) as a means to tackle tax evasion and corporate cronyism. The rule's enforcement had already been frozen by a federal court order. Reacting to the Treasury’s announcement, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, calling the CTA “an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide” and celebrating the suspension of what he described as “the economic menace” of beneficial ownership reporting.

This episode’s Spotlight segment features returning guest Nigel Morris-Cotterill, a renowned expert in counter-money laundering and financial crime compliance. He breaks down why the term “beneficial ownership” is a legal misnomer in corporate law and argues that the CTA was always set up to fail—especially in a country like the U.S. that has historically resisted full FATF compliance. Nigel discusses how this rollback affects compliance expectations in Asia-Pacific financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore, stressing that legal and compliance professionals in the region must remain vigilant. He also cautions that the rollback creates tension between U.S. and local AML standards, while selective extraterritorial enforcement by the U.S. is all but guaranteed.

Joining the discussion, Malcolm Nance and Oonagh Van den Berg weigh in on the global implications of the move. They explore whether this rollback represents a temporary pause for regulatory review or a tectonic shift in the U.S.’s approach to corporate accountability, transparency, and AML enforcement. Oonagh underscores that while the CTA imposed real burdens on SMEs, the abandonment of enforcement could signal a broader retreat from anti-corruption efforts—especially as the Trump administration also moves to suspend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and disband units focused on fighting kleptocracy.

Together, the panel explores pressing questions: Will deregulation lead to more illicit finance? Is this the start of a new multipolar world order where financial crime enforcement becomes political and transactional? They touch on how trade-based money laundering, sanctions evasion, and the exploitation of legacy systems like hawala continue to pose massive risks to financial systems.

The conversation ends with a consensus that blanket deregulation is not the answer. Instead, they call for smarter, more risk-based, tech-enabled regulation that moves beyond box-ticking and uses modern tools—like AI and data analytics—to target the real threats. It’s a sobering yet thought-provoking discussion on what may be the beginning of a global recalibration in financial crime compliance.

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Episode #66 with Henri Arslanian (Nine Blocks Capital Management) and Andrew Fei (King & Wood Mallesons)

This episode opens with Andrew Fei discussing recent US crypto regulatory developments. Then, Henri Arslanian, a leading voice in global crypto circles, shares his insights on the Trump administration’s decision to establish a cryptocurrency strategic reserve made up of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. “This really may start paving the way for other countries to look at potentially acquiring Bitcoin as part of their strategic… their own basket of reserves,” he said, referring to the ripple effect the U.S. reserve move could have on global sovereign crypto adoption.

In the Spotlight segment, Andrew discusses with Regulatory Ramblings host, Ajay Shamdasani, the implications of recent US regulatory developments for Asia, the Mideast, the rest of the world such as the GENIUS Act and the recent White House Crypto Summit in Washington, DC.

Henri then shares his thoughts on the Trump administration’s decision to create a reserve composed of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. While acknowledging it is a significant step forward for crypto, he said the move is not without criticism because it begs the question why certain virtual assets were chosen for the reserve and not others.

Reflecting on the 2024 US Presidential Election, Henri stressed that concerns over which party would be friendlier to the industry was partly why the recent US presential election swung in Donald Trump’s favor because for many single-issue voters, the future of digital currencies was their paramount concern. In that sense, it could be said that 2024 was the election that the crypto bros bought.

Henri also shares his thoughts on what it means for the rest of the world if the US creates its own crypto reserve, stating the entry of institutional and sovereign players hints at a more distributed global adoption trend.

While the idea of a strategic reserve for critical assets or commodities is not new, it is curious as to why President Trump did so now when he was vehemently against crypto during his first term (2017-21). The popular press has suggested that Silicon Valley power players such as Peter Theil, Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk helped Trump change his mind and brought him around to the cause.

As Henri himself wrote in a recent piece on LinkedIn: “We should expect criticism—rightly so—regarding how the included coins were selected for this reserve. Bitcoin makes complete sense. One could also argue for ETH and perhaps SOL. However, the inclusion of XRP and ADA will likely be questioned.”

Additionally, Solana and Ethereum are two platforms used by many American firms including important companies like Visa and Blackrock.

As Henri noted in his recent article, the presidential action prohibited the purchase of additional crypto without a specific executive or legislative action. Simply put: “the U.S. is not going to buy new Bitcoin but rather keep the 200,000 BTC it already holds mainly via the seizure of Silk Road assets and the recovery of the Bitfinex hack.”

Moreover, mainland China purportedly holds around 190,000 Bitcoin, primarily acquired through its 2019 seizure from the PlusToken ponzi scheme, and the UK allegedly owns 60,000 seized Bitcoin.

For more about our guests, please visit: www.hkufintech.com/regulatoryramblings

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Episode #65 with Tom Fox & Malcolm Nance, plus Philip Rohlik

This episode is devoted to discussing the recent executive order signed by US President Donald J. Trump instructing the Department of Justice to halt enforcement of the decades old, much-dreaded Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) pending a one-year review. In our initial “Regulatory Ramblings Spotlight” segment, we speak with Philip Rohlik, an American attorney in mainland China with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton to get a sense of what the president’s decision means for Hong Kong and the broader Asia-Pacific.

Following that, we have a lengthier chat on the global implications of President’s Trump’s move with Tom Fox, a veteran compliance and anti-corruption lawyer, noted FCPA specialist and podcaster, as well as Malcolm Nance, a former US naval intelligence officer, counterterrorism specialist and author.

About the guests. Philip Rohlik is a counsel in the Shanghai office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He is a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense and International Dispute Resolution Groups whose practice focuses on international investigations, securities law and dispute resolution.

He is recognized by “The Legal 500 Asia Pacific – Greater China” (2024-2025) for his anti-corruption and compliance practice and has been described as “very thorough and hands on," and "excellent investigation lawyer".

Based in Asia since 2011, Philip leads the firm’s dispute resolution team in Shanghai. He joined Debevoise in 2000, having received his J.D. magna cum laude from the New York University School of Law that same year. He received a B.A. summa cum laude with honors from St. Louis University in 1997.

Tom Fox is based in West Texas and a prominent member of the compliance community and one of the most well-known legal practitioners when it comes to the FCPA. Over the past 15 years, he has been a general counsel and chief compliance officer. He is now an independent consultant, assisting companies with anti-corruption, anti-bribery compliance, and international transaction issues.

He is also the author of the award-winning FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog and the international best-selling book “Lessons Learned on Compliance and Ethics.” His podcasts have won numerous w3, Davey, Communicator, and Webby awards for podcasting excellence.

Tom is the author of the seminal text “The Compliance Handbook,” now in its 5th edition published by LexisNexis. In addition to his blog and podcast, he is a columnist for “Corporate Compliance Insights” and a contributing editor to the “FCPA Blog.” He is a well-known and frequent speaker on compliance and ethics issues, social media use, and corporate leadership.

In the interests of full disclosure, Tom is founder of the Compliance Podcast Network which also carries this program.

Malcolm Nance is based in upstate New York. He was a 20-year veteran of the US Navy where he was an intelligence officer and cryptographer, and a Russian and Arab language specialist. In his capacity as a master chief, he was responsible for discipline all throughout the ranks.

He is best known for his appearances on MSNBC where he warned about Russian interference in the run up to the 2016 and 2020 US Presidential elections. Malcolm is also a best-selling author – with his books “The Plot to Hack America,” “The Plot to Destroy Democracy,” “The Plot to Betray America” and most recently “They Want to Kill Americans” – all of which are well worth reading. Given the radical actions of the second Trump administration, his two most recent books seem eerily prescient.

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.