A leading question facing the Canadian government as it works to reform the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws is how to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the real estate sector.

The Panama and Paradise Papers’ publication as well as the current probes into Russian interference in U.S. elections have shifted counter-money laundering officials’ views on who money launderers are. Financial institutions, too, must change their understanding of who launders money, why and alter their strategies to defend better against a wider range of illegal activity. That change has been slow in coming.

A recently announced U.S. plan to impose unprecedently stringent economic sanctions on Iran will likely trigger an equally historic effort to evade those restrictions and launder resulting proceeds. While past sanctions have wreaked havoc on the Iranian economy, Tehran still managed to sell vast quantities of oil in global markets, using a wide array of sanctions-evasion tactics.

A recent report on the concealment of beneficial ownership provides a sideways look at the notorious exploits of the “Hound of Hounslow,” Navinder Sarao, in an anonymised case study. The report was a joint effort between the Financial Action Task Force and Egmont Group.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering unit on Wednesday extended for another month temporary relief exempting certain rollover or renewal products and services from the bureau’s beneficial ownership rule.

Two international bodies charged with combating financial crime last week issued a report outlining the role lawyers, accountants and other “professional intermediaries” actually play in helping to hide the true, or “beneficial” owners of shell companies and other entities criminals use to disguise their assets.

A new joint report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Egmont Group, entitled “Concealment of Beneficial Ownership”, has assessed the vulnerabilities linked to concealment of beneficial ownership. The report is designed to support risk analysis by governments, financial institutions and other professional service providers.

The Canadian government’s proposed amendments to its main anti-money laundering law introduce significant changes to compliance obligations for businesses and seek to bring the country’s regime closer to international standards. Under the amendments proposed earlier this month, firms subject to reporting requirements to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will have to contend with more stringent and burdensome reporting requirements and recordkeeping obligations.

Even as bipartisan support grows in the U.S. Congress for reform of the country’s nearly 50-year-old anti-money laundering law, gridlock on Capitol Hill and looming mid-term elections mean it is unlikely that the burden on financial institutions will ease this year, experts say. “This is probably the first time since the (the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001) that there has been an active focus on AML potential reform.