AML

Mexico’s banking lobby is urging lenders to adopt tougher rules on illicit finance that go beyond current law, after U.S. authorities moved to sever three Mexican firms from the American financial system for allegedly laundering money for fentanyl traffickers, according to Bloomberg.

A former director at Trenchant, an L3Harris Technologies subsidiary that develops offensive cyber tools, pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing and reselling trade secrets worth $35 million to a Russian broker whose clients include the Russian government, Bloomberg reported.

Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office accused the National Liberation Army (ELN) of running a two-decade money-laundering network that washed more than $225 million (COP 885 billion) in illicit proceeds through a web of shell and front companies across the country, according to a statement cited by Colombia Reports.

JPMorgan Chase will provide U.S.-dollar clearing services in Angola, becoming the first major American lender to reengage with the African nation following major corruption scandals and years of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance restrictions, Bloomberg reported.

Belgium is in danger of evolving into a “narco-state” as organized crime penetrates key institutions and exploits Antwerp’s giant port to smuggle cocaine into Europe, an investigating judge warned in an open letter cited by the Financial Times.

HSBC Holdings Plc will take a $1.1 billion provision in its third-quarter results to cover potential liabilities tied to investor lawsuits linked to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, Bloomberg reported.

Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) says it is hitting capacity limits as banks and other firms flood the agency with record numbers of suspicious activity reports, according to SWI swissinfo.ch.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies, South Africa and Nigeria, were delisted Friday from a global watchdog’s roster of jurisdictions under increased monitoring for illicit money flows, alongside Mozambique and Burkina Faso.

A former Citibank relationship manager has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to two years in jail for helping a Chinese criminal network launder money in Singapore, the Financial Times reported. 

President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, after months of behind-the-scenes efforts by Zhao and his allies to secure clemency.