Glossary

Hacking is the act of gaining unauthorized access to digital devices, accounts, or computer systems. While not always malicious?such as in ethical hacking?it is most often linked to illegal activities involving data breaches, theft, or system disruption by cybercriminals.

An informal value transfer system based on trust, operating outside of traditional banking systems, often used to transfer funds internationally without physical movement of money, which can be exploited for laundering illicit funds

A hazard is a condition or situation that increases the likelihood or severity of a loss from a peril. Hazards can be physical, moral, or legal factors that raise the risk of damage or injury.

HoFIU is the core decision-making entity in the Egmont Group, composed of senior leaders from each member FIU. They set the network’s strategic objectives, approve the charter and budgets, and ensure mutual cooperation through consensus-driven governance.

U.S. law that lengthens the Cuba embargo and penalizes foreign companies trading in Cuban property.

If dissatisfied with the Appellate Tribunal’s decision, an aggrieved party may appeal to the jurisdictional High Court. This appeal must be based on a substantial legal question. The provision offers a final level of judicial scrutiny to ensure justice. The High Court’s ruling is binding unless reviewed by the Supreme Court under constitutional jurisdiction.

Strong enforcement actions that set industry-level compliance practices.

Countries with poor AML/CFT controls or sanctions exposure identified.

U.S. law to shield sensitive patient health information from unjustified disclosure.

Ratio of actual screening alerts (true hits) to total alerts.

Directives for prioritization of which screening alerts must be escalated urgently.

Hong Kong AML guidance by financial regulator.

UK body imposing financial sanctions.

A horizontal merger is the combination of two companies operating in the same industry and at the same stage of the supply chain. These firms are often direct competitors. The goal is usually to increase market share, reduce competition, achieve economies of scale, and improve operational efficiency through consolidation of similar business activities.

Reasonable, proportionate hospitality (e.g., meals, events) is allowed under the Act. However, anything lavish or intended to influence improperly risks constituting bribery under S1 or S6. Companies must articulate policies defining acceptable corporate hospitality and monitor actual expenditures to ensure transparency.

r is an acquisition attempt by a company or individual opposed by the target company’s management and board. It usually involves directly offering to buy shares from shareholders or using other tactics to gain control without the target’s consent. Hostile takeovers can lead to legal battles and resistance from the target company

REs are required to adopt board-approved methods to assess a borrower’s household income, document and submit the income data to CICs, and explain discrepancies, ensuring repayment capacity analysis is robust.

A Housing Finance Institution primarily finances the purchase, construction, or renovation of housing. Such institutions are recognized as financial entities under the PMLA and must adhere to anti-money laundering norms such as client due diligence and reporting suspicious activities.

NPCI and participating banks maintain dynamic blacklists of compromised devices, SIMs, virtual payment addresses, merchant IDs, and UPI handles. Transactions involving them trigger automatic rejections or escalations, preventing misuse by known bad actors. Watchlists update in real time via an integrated risk feed.

A design approach in artificial intelligence and machine learning systems where human oversight is integrated into the decision-making process. In HITL systems, humans are actively involved at key stages?such as training, testing, or deploying AI models?to validate, intervene, or guide outcomes. This helps ensure greater accuracy, ethical alignment, and accountability, especially in high-stakes or sensitive applications.

AML investigations should follow hypothesis testing: define a suspicious scenario, test it against data, and confirm or rule out suspicion based on evidence?avoiding bias and enhancing decision logic in line with Wolfsberg frameworks.