CFTC To Focus on Prediction Markets, Willful AML Violations
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will prioritize enforcement against insider trading in prediction markets, manipulation in energy markets, spoofing, retail fraud, and willful violations of anti-money-laundering (AML) laws, the agency’s new enforcement director said Tuesday.
Malta Isn’t Ready to Let the EU Take the Reins on Crypto Supervision
Malta is mounting an unusually public fight against a European Union push to centralize crypto supervision, arguing the move would strip the island-nation of oversight over major digital-asset firms it helped attract and regulate.
OFAC Warns on Sham Transfers in Sanctions-Evasion Schemes
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday issued new guidance warning that sham transactions used by sanctioned individuals and entities to disguise continuing control over assets do not extinguish a blocked interest in property under U.S. sanctions rules.
Fed Gov Warns on Stablecoins’ AML Risks as Agencies Draft Rules
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned on Tuesday that stablecoins pose risks related to money laundering, financial stability, and reserve quality, as U.S. banking agencies work on regulations to implement new federal rules for the sector.
Ex-Malaysian PM Razak Ordered to Pay $1.3 Billion to 1MDB Unit
A Malaysian court on Tuesday ordered jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak to pay $1.3 billion to SRC International, a former unit of scandal-linked state fund 1MDB, after finding him liable for losses incurred by the company.
Hungary Secretly Worked with Russia to Water Down EU Sanctions
Hungary’s foreign minister privately shared sensitive European Union discussions with Russia and worked with Moscow to try to remove sanctioned Russian individuals, banks, and companies from EU blacklists.
U.S. Indicts Hacker Allegedly Behind $53-Million Uranium Finance Exploit
U.S. authorities have charged an alleged hacker in connection with a 2021 exploit of decentralized exchange Uranium Finance that drained about $53 million in crypto and helped force the platform to shut down.
U.S. Senators Want Answers on Sudden Departure of SEC Enforcer
Two Democratic U.S. senators pressed Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins on Monday to explain the abrupt resignation of the agency’s enforcement director and whether it was tied to the SEC’s pullback from cryptocurrency cases linked to Donald Trump.
From Cuba to South Korea, Russian Oil Exports Start Arriving
Cuba was preparing on Monday to receive a sanctioned Russian tanker carrying about 730,000 barrels of oil, offering a temporary lifeline to the island as it struggles through a fuel crisis worsened by a U.S. oil blockade.
UK Fines Apple $500,000 for Russia Sanctions Violations
Britain’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has fined Apple Distribution International Ltd £390,000 for breaching Russian sanctions, saying the subsidiary of Apple instructed a UK bank to make two payments totaling £635,618.75 to a Russian streaming company owned by a designated entity.