KPMG Australia’s CEO Steps Down as Whistleblower Scandal Grows
The chief executive of KPMG’s Australian arm and its national audit leader have resigned after the Big Four firm admitted its investigation into whistleblower allegations of data misuse had fallen short of its standards.
China Launches Biggest Crackdown on Capital Flight in Decades
China has launched the biggest overhaul of its cross-border tax and capital-controls regime in decades, threatening three popular offshore brokers with at least $330 million in penalties, vowing stricter bank oversight, and ramping up private pressure on the country’s wealthiest citizens.
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.
Hong Kong Is Now the World’s Largest Hub of Offshore Wealth
Hong Kong has surpassed Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth-management center for the first time, driven by a surge of investment from mainland China.
BIS and Banks Will Soon Begin Testing Blockchain-Backed Payments Platform
A landmark public-private initiative convened by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Institute of International Finance will soon begin testing a tokenized payment platform for cross-border settlements across multiple currencies and jurisdictions.
Singapore Tells Private Banks to Speed Up Onboarding for Wealthy Clients
Singapore’s financial regulator has directed private banks to reduce account opening wait times to within one month by year-end, as the city-state moves to reassert itself as a global wealth management hub after a series of money-laundering scandals.
UK Sanctions Crypto Networks for Allegedly Helping Russia Skirt Sanctions
The United Kingdom announced a new package of sanctions Tuesday targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and a Kremlin-backed shadow finance network known as A7 as part of an effort to close off payment routes used by Russia to sustain its war against Ukraine.
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.