Financial Crime Digest

The Aperio Intelligence Financial Crime Digest is a monthly newsletter, targeted at investment and compliance professionals, which provides a synopsis of the latest regulatory and financial crime developments in the UK and worldwide. It provides technical and regulatory updates as well as a review of press and media coverage of topics including money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, and sanctions.

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

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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
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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
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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
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The Clean Energy Transition: Geopolitical Implications for the Renewables Sector

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Financial Crime Digest March 2021

This issue includes:

  • UK FCA launches criminal proceedings against NatWest for AML violations
  • EU proposes law on corporate due diligence and supply chain accountability
  • UK Crown Prosecution Service publishes first ever Economic Crime Strategy
  • A special feature on the US reversal of the licence issued to Dan Gertler and anti-corruption efforts in the DRC
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Forced labour in the supply chain: connecting the dots

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Financial Crime Digest February 2021

This issue includes:

  • FATF plenary outcomes include crypto consultation
  • EU supervisory bodies publish draft proposal on sustainability disclosures
  • UK consults on digital ID and trust framework
  • A special feature on countering financial crime with the help of AI
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