Financial Crime Digest

Financial Crime Digest August 2023

This issue includes:

• Ukraine uncovers UAH62.5m embezzlement scheme involving high-ranking officials
• Special feature: Violation of duty: When corrupt officials open the door for human traffickers
• Special feature: Why is the global art market a financial crime prime target?
• Special feature: Russia-Africa relations and the green transition
• Q&A with Tristram Hicks: Tipping off issue could be “existential” for SAR regime
• Country Update: Francophone Africa coups: a rejection of French influence or a response to failing civilian regimes?
• Country Update: Gabon coup – beware generalisations
• Country Update: Romania takes new steps towards OECD accession
• Environmental, Social and Governance updates for August

Financial Crime Digest July 2023

This issue includes:

• 71 percent of corporate-owned real estate in France is anonymously held, TI report shows
• Special feature: As US advances anti-surveillance agenda, EU efforts to tackle spyware abuse fall short
• Special feature: As Supreme Court blocks APP fraud reimbursement, UK regulator pushes forward with reforms
• Special feature: Syria’s Captagon trade and the readmission of Assad to the Arab League
• Q&A New UK rules on bank account closures could risk “indirect tipping off”, says money laundering specialist
• Q&A with RUSI’s Sam Ramani on Russia’s attempted path forward in Africa
• ESG feature: Unanswered questions over political complicity, NGO silence after Suriname oil spill

Financial Crime Digest June 2023

This issue includes:

• UNODC warns drug dealing via social media platforms is increasing
• EU Commission aims to use Russian assets for Ukraine reconstruction, faces German objections
• Special feature: How American companies and lawmakers are reinventing child labour
• Special feature: Police cooperation in East and SE Asia critical to combating the organised crime crisis
• Q&A with Swiss tax evasion expert Sébastien Guex: Switzerland is introducing trusts to “compensate for weakening of banking secrecy”
• Environmental, Social and Governance updates for June

Financial Crime Digest May 2023

This issue includes:

• UK 2020 Economic Crime Survey reveals ‘substantial under-reporting’ of fraud and corruption cases
• China’s alleged surveillance and censorship practices increasingly threaten religious freedom, reports warn
• Special feature: Environmental litigations disclose unprecedented financial risks for Guyana
• Special feature: Beyond the walls of artificial intelligence – innovative ally or biased disruptor in fighting crime?
• Q&A with American crypto advisor Richard Sanders at the National Police of Ukraine
• Q&A with financial crime reporter Matei Roșca

Financial Crime Digest April 2023

This issue includes:

• UK Government publishes Economic Crime Plan 2023-2026
• UK and partners urged to prevent genocide in Sudan and impose targeted sanctions
• US DOJ ceases tax fraud prosecution in Bank Hapoalim case after meeting DPA compliance conditions
• A Special Feature by Roger Hamilton-Martin: The US government wants banks to prioritise domestic terror in their AML/CFT programmes. Will it work?
• Q&A with with Martin C.W. Walker, Director for Banking and Finance at the Center for Evidence-Based Management
• PLUS a Special Feature: World Press Freedom Day passes with journalism under sustained attack worldwide

Financial Crime Digest March 2023

This issue includes:

• UK Government publishes Economic Crime Plan 2023-2026
• Wells Fargo Banks to pay $97.8m to US Treasury, Federal Reserve for sanctions compliance failures
• Venezuelan oil minister replaced, high-level officials arrested in PDVSA corruption case
• Q&A with Svetlana Martynova, CFT Coordinator at the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate
• PLUS a Special Feature: Tristram Hicks on his new book The War on Dirty Money: “It’s a call to arms”

Financial Crime Digest February 2023

This issue includes:

• UK launches consultation on long-awaited crypto regulation regime
• UK surveillance watchdog warns about Chinese surveillance cameras, Australia to remove them amid security concerns
• US announces new measures to combat illegal child labour and hold companies accountable
• Environmental, Social and Governance February Updates
• PLUS a Special Feature: As EU stumbles on corporate transparency, UK presses ahead – but for how long?

Financial Crime Digest January 2023

This issue includes:

• Largest information communications and technology companies are failing to identify and address supply chain forced labour, report shows
• As NGOs warn about deforestation and human rights abuses in the Amazon, Lula vows to reverse Brazil’s environmental destruction
• EP adopts amended proposal on preventing the use of shell entities for tax evasion and avoidance
• Q&A with journalist Bradley Hope on his investigative outlet Project Brazen, FTX and 1MDB
• PLUS a Special Feature: Price cap on refined products spells further challenges for Russian economy

Financial Crime Digest December 2022

This issue includes:

• EU Council agrees on AML regulation and new directive
• EP VP arrested, stripped of responsibilities in wide-reaching corruption allegations involving Qatar
• Financial Crime Digest FinTech Roundup 2022
• Demystifying the FATF: Q&A with Julia Morse on her book The Bankers’ Blacklist
• PLUS a Special Feature: Crypto critics claim vindication and regulators circle industry after FTX collapse

Financial Crime Digest November 2022

This issue includes:

• EU Court invalidates legal provision on fully transparent beneficial ownership registers, citing potential fundamental rights infringements
• UK Home Office’s anti-fraud strategy still ‘lacking’, audit office chief contends
• WJC releases report on nexus between organised crime and illegal tiger trade in Southeast Asia
• Q&A with Gibson Dunn’s Adam Smith on Russia sanctions
• PLUS a Special Feature: Private sector grapples with Russian oil price cap implementation

Financial Crime Digest October 2022

This issue includes:

• TI UK research indicates over one in ten UK-registered limited liability partnerships are used for financial crime
• Lafarge and subsidiary plead guilty to US charge of supporting ISIS and al-Nusra
• US, UK, EU, Canada impose sanctions over human rights violations in Iran, UN calls for international independent investigative mechanism
• Q&A with Simon Zaugg on the role of financial institutions in combatting ML-related human trafficking and modern slavery
• PLUS a Special Feature: Corruption and uncertainty in China’s shaky real estate market

Financial Crime Digest September 2022

This issue includes:

• OFAC designates Iran’s Morality Police and senior security officials over Mahsa Amini and protester’s deaths
• US fines and charges Wall Street broker-dealers with widespread recordkeeping failures
• Fraudulent investments appearing more ‘tempting’ as cost-of-living crisis deepens, UK watchdog warns
• Q&A with Natia Seskuria, defence and security expert and founder of the Tbilisi-based Regional Institute for Security Studies
• PLUS a Special Feature: Inside the UK’s suspicious activity report regime

Financial Crime Digest August 2022

This issue includes:

• UN states serious human rights violations in Xinjiang “may constitute crimes against humanity”
• Najib Razak reportedly imprisoned for 12 years immediately after losing final appeal in 1MDB corruption case
• Iranian steel producer at heart of £2bn corruption scandal, parliamentary report states
• Q&A with Ruta Bajarunaite, independent financial crime expert
• PLUS a Special Feature: Are Guyana’s fiscal prospects hostage to bad oil deals?

Financial Crime Digest July 2022

This issue includes:

• UK register of overseas entities comes into force, critics warn of “flaws and loopholes”
• International community condemns Myanmar executions, UN Special Rapporteur calls for sanctions
• “Sobering” reviews into Serco, Unaoil cases underscore “fundamental” issues at UK SFO
• Q&A with Graham Barrow and Ray Blake, hosts of the Dark Money Files podcast
• PLUS a Special Feature: Can US sanctions avert chaos in Bosnia?

Financial Crime Digest June 2022

This issue includes:

• FATF plenary outcomes include changes to grey list, Russia statement, report on virtual assets requirements implementation
• Lithuanian woman sentenced to eight years for role in Danske Bank money laundering conspiracy
• G7 leaders commit to fighting corruption, sanctions evasion, hybrid threats, and human rights abuse
• Q&A with member of Bank of England’s CBDC Engagement Forum and former head of corporate affairs at SWIFT Natasha de Terán
• PLUS a Special Feature: Poaching the poachers: is the UK failing to tackle illegal wildlife trade?

Financial Crime Digest May 2022

This issue includes:

• Queen’s Speech includes pledge to tackle economic crime
• ‘Xinjiang Police Files’ reveal thousands of images of detainees, “shoot-to-kill” police protocols and officials instigating violence
• Glencore reaches $1bn settlements in Brazil and US related to decade-long bribery scheme
• Q&A with Tom Stocks, Senior Investigator at OCCRP
• PLUS a special feature: UK campaigners smell victory on economic crime legal reform after Ukraine upends status quo

Financial Crime Digest April 2022

This issue includes:

• UK FCA review finds shortcomings in certain challenger banks’ financial crime controls
• UK, US and EU sanctions on Russia throughout April
• US FinCEN publishes kleptocracy advisory
• PLUS a special feature: War creates tough questions over critical Ukraine payments as de-risking threats loom

Financial Crime Digest March 2022

This issue includes:

• US, UK and EU sanctions throughout March in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine
• UK Foreign Affairs Committee launches inquiry into Wagner Group
• FATF plenary outcomes include amendments to beneficial ownership standard
• PLUS a special feature on controlling crypto: have digital assets escaped Pandora’s box?

Financial Crime Digest February 2022

This issue includes:

• UK fines Barclays Bank for oversight failings
• UK government fast tracks economic crime bill following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• EBA concludes its Luanda Leaks investigation
• PLUS a special feature on the private sector and the “unprecedented” sanctions on Russia

Financial Crime Digest January 2022

This issue includes:

• US DOJ issues open procedure release in response to FCPA-related request
• Europol publishes report on illicit use of cryptocurrencies
• ECJ Advocate General issues opinion on public access to beneficial ownership information
• PLUS a special feature on the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine spurs sanctions plans

Financial Crime Digest December 2021

This issue includes:

• UK FCA fines NatWest for violations of the AML regulations
• US FinCEN publishes proposed rule on beneficial ownership reporting
• White House unveils anti-corruption strategy
• PLUS a special feature on financial crime in 2021: a year in review

Financial Crime Digest November 2021

This issue includes:

• UK PSR consults on plans to fight APP scams
• Swiss AG orders SBM Offshore subsidiaries to pay £5.6M for failure to prevent bribery in Africa
• EU proposes blacklisting transport operators involved in migrant smuggling at Belarus border
• PLUS a special feature on Italy’s largest mafia trial for decades: will the UK come under scrutiny?

Financial Crime Digest October 2021

This issue includes:

• US issues sanctions guidance for virtual currency industry, FinCEN publishes ransomware trends analysis
• ENISA releases 2021 threat landscape report
• UK, US and Switzerland fine Credit Suisse for due diligence failings over Mozambique loans
• PLUS a special feature on greenwashing and ESG adaptability

Financial Crime Digest September 2021

This issue includes:

• UK SFO secures conviction against Petrofac
• EU consults on blocking statute amendment
• EU Data Protection Supervisor calls for greater clarity on AML legislative package
• PLUS a special feature on the Pandora Papers

Financial Crime Digest August 2021

This issue includes:

• UK OFSI fines TransferGo over transactions with Russian National Commercial Bank
• US issues new EO, and imposes coordinated sanctions with the UK and Canada on Belarus
• EBA consults on new guidelines on the role of AML/CFT compliance officers
• Two indepth special features on the situation in Afghanistan

Financial Crime Digest July 2021

This issue includes:

• EU proposes creation of central AML/CFT authority
• UK NCA annual report finds 2020/21 was the “most successful” year operationally
• US issues Hong Kong business advisory, OFAC designates seven individuals
• A special feature on the rise of police operations against encrypted organised crime communications

EU’s Green Investment Rules: A Sea-Change for ESG

Financial Crime Digest June 2021

This issue includes:

• UK FCA Dear CEO letter highlights AML weaknesses, mandates gap analysis by mid-September
• FATF consults on proposed changes to beneficial ownership standards
• Amec Foster Wheeler Energy enters $177 million global settlement over bribery scheme
• A special feature on ten years of the UK Bribery Act

Financial Crime Digest May 2021

This issue includes:

• ECJ Advocate General opinion on Bank Melli case against German telco on the EU Blocking regulation and US secondary sanctions
• UK NCA publishes national strategic assessment of serious and organised crime
• UK reports on its progress on the Economic Crime Plan
• A special feature on the UK FCA’s Digital Sandbox

Financial Crime Digest April 2021

This issue includes:

• UK launches global anti-corruption sanctions regime and designates 22 individuals
• US FinCEN issues consultation on beneficial ownership reporting
• UK SFO case against former Serco managers collapses, statement of facts published
• A special feature on sanctions on Venezuela