Edition 7 · Wednesday, July 8, 2026
In This Edition
Australia’s Tranche 2 Goes Live
From the Founder
Australia just settled the gatekeeper debate. Lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents are now reporting entities, and every FATF member is watching how the rollout holds up. If your board still treats professional-services onboarding as a referral channel rather than a screening channel, this is the quarter to fix that. Canada and the US will follow this template.
Dominic Suszek · Founder and CEO, Global RADAR
This Week in 30 Seconds
- AUSTRAC’s Tranche 2 is live; 80,000 lawyers, accountants, and agents must enrol by July 29.
- OFAC hit CJNG fuel smuggling and Brazil’s PCC in back-to-back actions.
- GENIUS Act final stablecoin rules due July 18; AMLA technical standards land July 10.
Top Story of the Week
Australia’s Tranche 2 is live, and roughly 80,000 firms just became reporting entities. On July 1, lawyers, accountants, conveyancers, real estate agents, and dealers in precious metals and stones came under the AML/CTF Act. Firms providing designated services from day one must enrol with AUSTRAC by July 29. Core obligations include an AML/CTF program, customer due diligence, sanctions and PEP screening, suspicious matter reporting, and seven-year record keeping.
Why This Matters
Australia was among the last FATF members without gatekeeper coverage. Banks now inherit tens of thousands of newly regulated customers whose programs are weeks old; expect defensive suspicious matter reports and uneven due diligence quality through the first supervisory cycle.
Operational Implications
Three steps for this week:
- Update your customer risk model so Australian professional-services clients are scored as regulated entities, and document the change for your next audit.
- Ask Australian referral and correspondent partners for their AUSTRAC enrolment status before July 29; no enrolment, no onboarding.
- The first year will produce more noise than intelligence; brief your investigations team now so the SMR surge does not bury real cases.
Enforcement and Penalties
- OFAC, June 30: Sanctioned two Mexican nationals and nine entities tied to a CJNG fuel-theft and smuggling scheme generating tens of millions annually.
- OFAC, July 1: Designated two Brazilian nationals and four companies in a PCC laundering network, the first action since PCC’s terrorist designation in May.
- HMRC, UK: Petrofac Facilities Management agreed a compound settlement of GBP 569,157 for Russia sanctions breaches during divestment of its Russian operations.
- OFAC, June 30: Delisted four India-based entities designated in 2024 for exporting machine tools and electronics to Russia, with no explanation given.
- EU Council: Added six Russian individuals to its sanctions list over involvement in developing the toxin epibatidine as a chemical weapon.
Why This Matters
Cartel and gang finance is now a sanctions program, not just a narcotics matter. Fuel smuggling, shell companies, and sports-sector intermediaries all surfaced in one week; the exposure sits in trade finance and correspondent accounts, not retail.
Operational Implications
Two operational moves this week:
- Push the new CJNG and PCC names into your sanctions screening system today and run a look-back across trade finance and correspondent files.
- OFAC gave no reason for the four India delistings; unexplained removals are not permission to relax, so document your rationale before releasing any internal watch-list entries.
New Guidance and Rulemaking
- FATF, June 19 plenary: Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina added to the grey list; Algeria and Namibia removed after completing action plans.
- FATF, effective July 1: Giles Thomson of the UK assumed the presidency; a consultation on cross-border payment transparency guidance is open.
- UK OFSI: Published its ownership and control call-for-evidence summary, signalling changes to the hypothetical control test in UK financial sanctions.
- AMLA, due July 10: Most of the 23 technical standards and guidelines under the EU AML package are scheduled for delivery.
- GENIUS Act, deadline July 18: US regulators must finalize stablecoin AML rules; state compliance certifications are due the same day.
Why This Matters
Grey list changes flow directly into EU and UK high-risk country obligations, and AMLA’s technical standards will define what risk-based means in Europe for a decade. Choices your screening vendors make this month will sit inside your controls for years.
Operational Implications
A two-week playbook:
- Update country risk ratings for Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, and Namibia before your next model refresh, and record the grey list basis in your methodology file.
- If you issue or bank stablecoins, brief your compliance committee before July 18; the final rules will land close to the proposal, so building to the proposed text now beats waiting for the final version.
Coming Up in the Next 30 Days
| Date |
Event or deadline |
| July 10, 2026 |
AMLA deadline for most of the 23 technical standards and guidelines under the EU AML package. |
| July 18, 2026 |
GENIUS Act statutory deadline for final stablecoin AML rules and state compliance certifications. |
| July 29, 2026 |
AUSTRAC enrolment deadline for Tranche 2 firms providing designated services from July 1. |
| August 2, 2026 |
EU AI Act high-risk obligations apply, explicitly covering AML screening and credit scoring models. |
Next Wednesday
Next Wednesday: the GENIUS Act finalization deadline hits July 18, and we will cover what the final stablecoin rules kept, cut, and quietly added.
Want a 30-minute review of your Australian client onboarding and screening against the new AUSTRAC Tranche 2 obligations? Book a call with a Global RADAR compliance specialist.
