Briefs

PWC APPOINTS PALMER

PricewaterhouseCoopers has appointed Andrew Palmer to lead its UK forensic services practice. Palmer, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers since 1996, has most recently led the UK's regional forensic team and its European transaction and shareholder disputes team. As well as acting as an expert in High Court trials and international arbitration, he now advises major UK and international clients on contractual negotiations, strategies for optimising transaction values and dispute resolution strategies.

FRENCH GROUP ADDS NORKOM TECHNOLOGY

In late July, Crédit Agricole announced that the bank is to introduce financial crime and compliance software from Norkom Technologies.

The French group, which is one of the world's largest banks, will deploy Norkom's software across all of its retail banking operations in France. Through a network of 41 Caisses Regionales and LCL (Crédit Lyonnais), it serves 23 million customers.

Norkom's anti-money laundering and watch list management software will be used to monitor banking transactions to detect suspicious and criminal behavior using sophisticated behavioral profiling, link analysis and case management technology. The software will be implemented in several phases over the next 18 months.

AUSSIES RELEASE REVISED AML/CTF DRAFT

A revised exposure draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Bill, and draft AML/CTF Rules covering key operational details of the proposed reforms, was released in July for public comment in Australia. The package of proposed AML/CTF reforms represents the outcomes of consultations between the government and industry following the release of the first exposure draft Bill and sample Rules in December 2005.