UK May Force Crown Dependencies, Territories on Beneficial Ownership
The United Kingdom government warned it could legislate to compel its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories to adopt public registers of beneficial ownership if voluntary efforts continue to stall, the prime minister’s anti-corruption champion said.
Panama Seeks to Shed a Bad Reputation with New Shell-Company Tax
Panama has enacted a 15 percent tax on corporations without domestic activities, targeting shell companies used by wealthy foreigners to shield profits earned abroad, as the country seeks to shed its tax-haven reputation and exit a European Union blacklist.
Wise Under Investigation Over Half a Billion Euros in Suspicious Transactions
Digital money transfer giant Wise is under criminal investigation by Belgian prosecutors over concerns that its accounts were used by international criminal organizations to launder proceeds of fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking.
U.S. Extends ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’ Sanctions to Brazil’s Gangs
The Trump administration will designate Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations effective this June, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Thursday.
FCA Sees Industry Weaknesses in Sanctions Due Diligence, Trade Compliance
Financial firms have improved their sanctions controls but persistent weaknesses in due diligence, screening, and asset-freezing controls continue to drive compliance violations, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a multi-firm review published Thursday.
How Criminals Their Changed Tactics in Response to EU’s Anti-Mafia Rules
Local governments in southern Italy that colluded with organized crime deliberately avoided large EU-funded projects to stay below anti-mafia certification thresholds, according to new academic research.
BNP Paribas Makes Case to Overturn $21mn Sudan Human-Rights Verdict
BNP Paribas is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a landmark jury verdict that found the French bank liable for enabling human rights abuses in Sudan, arguing the trial judge misapplied both Swiss and U.S. law.
Baltic FIUs Warn Client Migration Concentrated AML Risks at Single Digital Bank
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have jointly concluded that deliberate de-risking campaigns by traditional Baltic banks have driven large-scale client migration toward Lithuanian fintech firms, concentrating money laundering risk in a single digital institution.
U.S. Regulators to Consider Citizenship Status of Bank Customers a Risk Factor
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing federal financial regulators to treat undocumented immigrants as potential credit and compliance risks.
Unlike the Marquis, France’s Biggest Ponzi Schemer Avoids Prison
Gérard Lhéritier, the French businessman convicted of running what prosecutors called the largest Ponzi scheme ever uncovered in France, has avoided prison after negotiating a last-minute plea bargain citing age and health.