Money Laundering

UK law firms are preparing for more stringent oversight of their anti-money laundering (AML) programs after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was designated as the compliance supervisor for the legal sector, The Guardian reported.

Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has marked a stark shift in white-collar crime enforcement, with federal prosecutors and investigators stepping back from complex foreign-bribery, money-laundering, and corruption cases, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former attorney general and minister of justice, has been charged with 16 counts of money laundering and conspiracy involving billions of naira, Reuters reported.

Malaysia’s High Court sentenced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak to 15 years in prison after convicting him on 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power linked to the looting of the 1MDB sovereign-wealth fund, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Australian regulators took coordinated action on Thursday to address weaknesses in the anti-money laundering and risk-management controls of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, including the imposition of a A$50 million operational-risk capital charge. 

Authorities raided the residential properties and offices of French Culture Minister Rachida Dati on Thursday as part of a corruption probe linked to her previous tenure as a member of the European Parliament, Bloomberg reported. 

Spanish prosecutors are investigating whether Madrid-based airline Plus Ultra used a €53-million Covid-era bailout to launder money embezzled from Venezuela through a web of companies in France, Switzerland and Spain, according to a report in El País.

The Trump administration is moving to give the U.S. Treasury Department’s financial intelligence unit a decisive say over how banks are punished for anti–money-laundering (AML) failures, according to new reporting by The Wall Street Journal. 

Federal police raided the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and more than 30 soccer clubs as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering involving a key sponsor of the game, CNN said.

Mexican federal authorities have taken former Chihuahua governor César Duarte back into custody, preparing to charge him with laundering public funds allegedly diverted while he was in office, according to the Associated Press.