Author: gracechurchfcp

Swiss Banks Hold More Than $200 Billion in Stashed Russian Cash

Sanctions
(Bloomberg) — Swiss banks may hold more than $200 billion of Russian wealth, the country’s banking lobby estimates, as sanctions shine a spotlight on the extent of Russian wealth stored in overseas vaults. Banks probably hold between 150 billion ($160 billion) and 200 billion Swiss francs of Russian client money in offshore accounts, according to the Swiss Bankers Association. Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein said earlier this week that Russian money accounted for about 4% of assets at the bank’s wealth management division. The country of 8.6 million inhabitants has long been attractive for wealthy Russians,…

We Were Leaked the Panama Papers. Here’s How to Bring Down Putin’s Cronies

Financial Crime
Seven years ago, an anonymous source who went by the name “John Doe” provided us with the data that became the Panama Papers – 2.6 terabytes of leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The leak turned out to have quite an impressive Russian component. We found shell companies connected to Vladimir Putin’s judo friends, Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, to the oligarch Alisher Usmanov and the wife of the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. But, most significantly, we stumbled across Sergej Roldugin, a professional cellist and godfather of Putin’s eldest daughter, who had a central role in a network…

Treasury Publishes National Risk Assessments for Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

Money Laundering, Risk Assessments, Terrorism
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today issued the 2022 National Risk Assessments (NRAs) on Money Laundering (NMLRA), Terrorist Financing (NTFRA) and Proliferation Financing (NPFRA). These documents highlight the most significant illicit finance threats, vulnerabilities, and risks facing the United States. The United States is vulnerable to all three forms of illicit finance because of the size and sophistication of the U.S. financial system and centrality of the U.S. dollar in the payment infrastructure of global trade. These NRAs are the third iteration of the NMLRA and NTFRA since 2015 and second for NPFRA since 2018. They take…

Tencent Dives on Report of Record Fine for Money Laundering

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Tencent Holdings Ltd. extended losses to close more than 10% lower after the Wall Street Journal reported it faces a record fine for violating Chinese anti-money laundering regulations. The People’s Bank of China found Tencent’s WeChat Pay had allowed the transfer of funds for illicit purposes such as gambling, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. WeChat Pay was also judged non-compliant with other rules that required Tencent to identify users and merchants transacting on the platform, the Journal said. A probe into potential money-laundering would open a new front in Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on the internet…

Lack of System Tuning, Unsustainable Alert Backkigs Leads to $140 million USAA AML Penalty

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Over the years, more and more attention has been drawn to banks and anti-money laundering failings, with news headlines hitting the mainstream, over the last decade hitting historic figures in the billions of dollars – just against one institution. Banks often include in their responses that such issues were “historic,” with the caveat they have since moved on and corrected the identified deficiencies, but from time to time, the failings have been found to be more recent – case in point, USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA FSB). The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of the…

Entire Former Board of Swedbank Estonia Suspected of Money Laundering

Money Laundering
TALLINN – The Office of the Prosecutor General has brought suspicions against the banking unit of Swedbank Estonia and its former heads of participating in money laundering exceeding 100 million euros, the daily Postimees writes citing the weekly Eesti Ekspress. Robert Kitt, who was a member of the management board of Swedbank in the period 2011-2019, told Postimees that he had followed the law in force and the recommendations given by the supervisory body in his activities during his time on the management board of Swedbank. He confirmed that he is aware of the prosecutor’s office’s suspicion. “I have received…

US Regulators Slap National Bank of Pakistan With $55m Fine

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines, Terrorism
The National Bank of Pakistan has agreed to pay $55m in fines imposed on its New York branch by three US regulators. According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services recently announced the NBP will be fined the amount due to non-compliance and anti-money laundering violations. The National Bank of Pakistan’s shares dropped by 7.2% following the announcement. However, the bank said there were no findings of improper transactions or wilful misconduct and that it has substantially enhanced its compliance programme. The NBP is one…

Weak Money Laundering Laws Put Australia at Risk of Becoming a Haven for Russian Cash

Money Laundering
Australia’s lax money laundering laws mean the nation is at risk of becoming a haven for Russian cash belonging to oligarchs who are seeking to avoid sanctions over the war in Ukraine, experts say. The country is one of only three – along with Haiti and Madagascar – yet to commit to bringing lawyers, accountants and real estate agents under the umbrella of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws (AML-CTF). Having failed to act on a promise it made eight years ago to bring the professions into the AML-CTF system, the government now faces a race against time to take…

New Zealand Moves to Crack Down on Corporate Secrecy After Pandora Papers

Money Laundering, Regulation
New Zealand has pledged to end corporate secrecy by establishing a public beneficial ownership registry. The government announced a new transparency bill this week to stop the abuse of locally-based, secretive companies by criminals. The legislative crackdown came in response to revelations made in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Pandora Papers investigation, the government said. The proposed law, to be introduced later this year, will require companies and limited partnerships registered in New Zealand to disclose the identity of the person who owns or controls them. “The Pandora and Panama papers highlighted some key vulnerabilities which need to be…

Proposals to Reduce the Liability Burden on CCO

Compliance
In the US, chief compliance officers can be held liable for their financial services firms’ failures to comply with regulations – whether they’re involved or not. In this article, we look at a framework proposed by the New York City Bar Association to help to reduce the burden on CCOs. “These career-ending enforcement actions discourage individuals from becoming or remaining compliance officers and performing vital functions that regulators stretched too thin would otherwise be unable to perform, particularly when other options, such as providing legal advice or becoming an outside compliance service provider or businessperson, involve less personal risk.” Framework…

Money Laundered Millions Seized in Jersey to be Sent to Kenya

Corruption, Money Laundering
Millions of pounds that was seized in Jersey from money laundering is being returned to Kenya in a world first. The £3million was confiscated in 2016 following the conviction of Jersey-registered company Windward Trading Ltd. for money laundering offences. The money originated in Kenya, and was being fed through the Jersey company. Despite the 2016 conviction of the company, two individuals from Kenya linked to the company are still awaiting trial. Now, Jersey has agreed to send the money back after Her Majesty’s Attorney General for Jersey signed an Asset Recovery Agreement (ARA) with the Kenyan government. The money will…

Deutsche Bank to Wind Down in Russia, Reversing Course After Backlash

Financial Crime
FRANKFURT, March 11 (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), which faced stinging criticism from some investors and politicians for its ongoing ties to Russia, said on Friday in a surprise move that it would wind down its business in the country. Deutsche joins the ranks of Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), which were the first major U.S. banks to exit after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Those moves put pressure on rivals to follow. read more . Deutsche had resisted pressure to sever ties, arguing that it needed to support multinational firms doing business in Russia. But on Friday evening…

New Financial Sanctions Measures in Relation to Russia

Sanctions
Following the Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on 22 February 2022, the UK announced a tranche of sanctions on Russia. The Prime Minister announced further measures on 24 February 2022 which are available on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website. If you require a licence to permit any activity which would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions regulations, you must contact the relevant department. We expect firms to have established systems and controls to counter the risk that they might be used to further financial crime and this includes compliance with financial sanctions obligations. Where the FCA…

U.S. Officials Fear Russian Money is ‘Entrenched’ in London and Warn ‘Leverage Against Putin Could be Lost’

Money Laundering
As the Western world waits with bated breath on a potential Ukraine invasion by Russian military, American officials have revealed their fears of ineffective economic sanctions against Russia. US State Department officials are believed to have expressed “dismay and frustration” at the British government’s perceived failure to tackle dirty Russian money sloshing around London. “The fear is that Russian money is so entrenched in London now that the opportunity to use it as leverage against Putin could be lost,” one US diplomatic official was reported as telling The Times. “Biden is talking about sanctioning Putin himself but that can only…

Pressure Mounts for Action Against ‘Enablers’ of Russian Regime

Money Laundering
The role of English law firms acting for powerful Russian clients has come under growing political scrutiny as the government prepares to announce long-delayed legislation against the flow of ‘dirty money’ to the UK. Writing in today’s Financial Times, Cabinet Office minister Andrew Griffith called on law firms to ‘go further, faster, wherever they can’ to ensure that sanctions bite. His comments followed claims that the government has received threatening letters from City law firms acting for clients facing sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Foreign secretary Liz Truss briefed MPs over the weekend that law firms were holding…

Charity Urges Crackdown on £1.5bn Worth of U.K. Property Linked to Kremlin and Financial Crimes

Money Laundering
A charity has urged the British Government to fast-track measures to crack down on dirty money following the Prime Minister’s announcement of new Russia sanctions. Their remarks come after the prime minister announced sanctions on five Russian banks and three Kremlin-linked individuals earlier today. Analysis from Transparency International UK has identified at least £1.5 billion worth of UK property owned by Russians accused of financial crime or with links to the Kremlin. Most of this property is held by secretive offshore companies. The true figure for illicit wealth invested in the UK is likely to be far higher, with almost…

Boris Johnson Promises U.K. Property Register to Expose Kleptocrat Money

Money Laundering, Regulation
As the government acts to squeeze Russian oligarchs in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson has promised to rush forward plans for a new public register, revealing the ultimate owners of properties across the UK. The government had previously failed to act, despite the vast offshore leak known as the Pandora Papers revealing last year the details of 1,500 UK properties owned through secretive offshore companies, some of them connected to senior Russian figures. The data showed that the family of Russian oligarch Mikhail Gutseriev – who was placed under sanctions by the UK, EU and…

UK Second in Money Laundering Hall of Shame

Money Laundering
The second-highest amount of money is laundered each year in the UK, with an estimated £88bn worth of money cleaned by criminals annually. Only the US sees more, with £216.5bn laundered annually, while France (£54.5bn), Germany (£51.3bn) and Canada (£25.6bn) also rank among the top five countries in terms of value of money laundered. The figures, from identity verification software maker Credas Technologies, put together using OECD data, also revealed that about £1.8tn is laundered globally each year, some 3% of total GDP. Money laundering, and its links to organised crime, is a serious global problem that banks find themselves…

‘Credit Suisse Papers’ Leak Shows How Lender Banked Criminals and Tyrants with Little Due Diligence

Due Diligence, Money Laundering
TROUBLED Switzerland banking giant Credit Suisse was thrown into further crisis today as a massive data leak revealed a client list involved in money laundering, torture, drug trafficking and corruption. The data dump shows up massive failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse despite repeated promises by the bank that it would end relationships with dodgy clients and illicit funds. The Suisse Papers also shed light on one of the world’s largest and most secretive financial centres, based out of Geneva and Zurich, and grown used to operating in the shadows. Swiss financial institutions manage about 7.9tn CHF (€7.56tn) in…

Leak Exposes Credit Suisse’s Criminal Clients as AML Whistleblower Law Awaits Reform

Money Laundering, Whistleblowing
A whistleblower recently leaked data from Credit Suisse revealing that the bank opened accounts for and served numerous individuals with criminal ties, including sanctioned businessmen and human rights abusers. The leaked data includes information on more than 18,000 bank accounts, collectively holding more than $100 billion. It has increased scrutiny of the Swiss banking system and has renewed calls for stronger anti-money laundering laws. According to the New York Times, “among the biggest revelations is that Credit Suisse continued to do business with customers even after bank officials flagged suspicious activity involving their finances.” The Times reports that these customers…

‘Swiss Secrets’: What Would E.U. Blacklisting Mean for Switzerland?

Money Laundering
The Swiss Secrets scandal threatens to shift the country back to the European Union’s blacklist – but what does that mean for Switzerland? In view of a recent data leak showing that Credit Suisse bank accepted money from illicit sources, the European People’s Party (EPP) has called on the EU to “re-evaluate Switzerland as a high-risk money-laundering country” and add it to the list of nations at high risk for financial crime. Credit Suisse bank held tens of billions of euros of dirty money for decades, a new cross-border media investigation claimed Sunday. The investigation was coordinated by the Organised…

Credit Suisse Faces Money Laundering Charges in Bulgarian Cocaine Traffickers Trial

Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering
ZURICH, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse faced charges in a Swiss court on Monday of allowing an alleged Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang to launder millions of euros, some of it stuffed into suitcases. In the first criminal trial of a major bank in Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors are seeking around 42.4 million Swiss francs ($45.86 million) in compensation from Credit Suisse (CSGN.S). They say the country’s second-biggest bank and one of its former relationship managers did not take all necessary steps to prevent the alleged drug traffickers from hiding and laundering cash between 2004 and 2008. “Credit Suisse unreservedly rejects…

Why the U.K. Needs to Accelerate its AML/CTF Efforts on Crypto Assets

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Terrorism
As money-laundering risks rise with the increased adoption of cryptocurrencies, the UK needs to accelerate its response to maintain its future as a centre for financial innovation. It’s been two years since the UK rolled out its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime for cryptoassets. And there’s been one clear lesson in that time: getting it right isn’t easy. As the Treasury Select Committee report on Economic Crime (TSC Report) launched on 2 February noted, ‘registration of crypto-asset firms for money laundering has been slow’, leading the Committee to urge quicker progress. However, UK progress should…

Estate Agents See 64% Rise in AML Registrations

Money Laundering, Terrorism
With the property market long being a target for money laundering, new data reveals that UK estate agents are stepping up to the challenge and have seen the largest annual increase in the number of newly AML registered businesses. The government’s latest risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing increased the risk score for money laundering within the UK property market to high, with the specific risk to both estate and letting agents also increasing. Despite this risk, HMRC revealed that estate agents had been slow out the blocks when it came to AML compliance, estimating back in 2019…

Court Approves £5.6m Seizure Over Money Laundering

Money Laundering
The National Crime Agency can seize £5.6m from a sophisticated global money laundering scheme involving UK companies, a court has ruled. Financial investigators can take the money from the London-based family of Javanshir Feyziyev, an MP in the Azerbaijan parliament. The NCA had hoped to seize over £15m but hailed Monday’s ruling a success. It comes as campaigners criticise the government for delaying new laws to target allegedly dirty money in the UK. The investigation was launched after the exposure of a corruption scandal dubbed the Azerbaijani laundromat. The NCA pored over thousands of leaked documents from Den Danske Bank,…

Fraudster in £100k Diamond Ring Who Made Millions Out of Others’ Misery

Fraud
Lorraine McLaren and her husband Edwin were seen as “saviours” to the cash-strapped homeowners who turned to them in desperation when financial difficulties struck. But really Edwin used his financial know-how to dupe unsuspecting victims into signing over their houses, which were then sold from under them. And Lorraine benefited from her husband’s fraudulent scheme to live it up in a £762,000 home in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, with lavish holidays in Dubai and private schools for her kids. Shameless Lorraine even splashed out on a ring worth £100,000 while her victims were left homeless. The duplicitous pair were only…

Kazakh Ex-Dictator Used U.K. Company to Protect Empire

Corruption
Kazakhstan’s former dictator used the UK to help safeguard a multibillion-dollar business empire built during his three-decade rule, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Telegraph can reveal. Foundations controlled by Nursultan Nazarbayev, a notorious autocrat who was in office until 2019, controlled $7.8bn in assets via Jusan Technologies. One of the company’s subsidiaries, a Kazakh bank, received a multi-billion dollar state bailout and went on to hand a dividend to its parent. It is registered in the UK, where it has just one employee. Documents from October 2021 showed Jusan Technologies at the centre of a sprawling corporate operation…

No 10 Pressured Me to Drop Anti-Money Laundering Measures, Says Ex-Minister

Money Laundering, Regulation
A former Conservative minister, once at the heart of efforts to clamp down on money laundering in London, has revealed that during Theresa May’s premiership, No 10 “leant on him” when he tabled amendments to introduce a public register of overseas property owners. Lord Faulks said he had first tried to put the register into the criminal finances bill in 2017 and then again into a government bill on money laundering in 2018. He had described the overseas ownership of “dirty money” in London as an obscenity. Faulks, a distinguished barrister and now an independent peer, told the Guardian he…

HMRC Seizes NFT for First Time in £1.4m Fraud Case

Digital Currencies, Fraud
The UK tax authority has seized three Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) as part of a probe into a suspected VAT fraud involving 250 alleged fake companies. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said three people had been arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud it of £1.4m. The authority said it was the first UK law enforcement to seize an NFT. NFTs are assets in the digital world that can be bought and sold, but which have no tangible form of their own. The digital tokens, which emerged in 2014, can be thought of as certificates of ownership for virtual or physical…

Online Investment, Call Center Scams Prey on Desire for ‘Easy’ Money

Fraud
Fake it till you make it? Financial fraudsters are setting up fake websites and posing as financial consultants from call centers. Late last month, Bulgarian police took down a financial crime ring that was responsible for stealing at least €10 million. Experts say that this could be happening here, too, targeting financial customers. According to CSC’s Domain Security Report, “Internet fraud is typically targeted, using a variety of threat vector forms, and is a systemic issue,” said Ihab Shraim, chief technology officer, Digital Brand Services at CSC. “These threat vectors start with a fraudulent domain containing a look-alike brand name,…

U.K. Seizes Millions from Lawmaker Linked to the Azerbaijani Laundromat

Money Laundering
The U.K. authorities have seized from an Azerbaijani lawmaker 5.6 million pounds (US$7.56 million) derived from a sophisticated international money laundering scheme that was revealed by the OCCRP and its partners in 2017, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement on Monday. Based on the results of an investigation conducted by the agency, a court ruled that the money can be seized from six bank accounts belonging to Javanshir Feyziyev, his wife, one of his children and a nephew. Feyziyev is a serving member of Azerbaijan’s Parliament, Chair of the UK-Azerbaijan All Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and Co-chair of…

GMP Returning Millions to Crypto Currency Scam Victims

Digital Currencies, Fraud
The case marks a rare achievement for law enforcement in returning cryptocurrency funds to victims who have been duped by an international scam. More than £4m has been returned to the victims of a global cryptocurrency scam after specialist officers in Manchester acted on intelligence to track down two suspects – and police say £7m is yet to be claimed. A 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman have been arrested for fraud and money laundering offences after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received intelligence that those running the scheme had been in the city for a limited time. In all 150…

UK Treasury Committee Calls for government Action on Fraud and Scam Surge

Fraud
A new report by the UK’s Treasury Select Committee has called on the government to work harder to tackle the ‘growing fraud epidemic’ in the UK. The report – which focuses on Economic Crime – urges the government to legislate against online fraudulent adverts and to consider whether online giants should reimburse those who fall victim to scams on their platforms. The Committee also called on the government to make reimbursement for victims of authorised push payment fraud mandatory. Amongst a number of recommendations, the report called on law enforcement to be resourced appropriately to tackle the scale of the…

Towards a stronger AML/CTF framework in the EU

Money Laundering, Terrorism
The EU framework for the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing already has a long history. It is more than 30 years now since the first Anti-money Laundering Directive was published in June 1991. Since then, the framework has undergone many improvements, with the previous – fifth – AML Directive being published in May 2018. The framework grew both in terms of the number and the forms of the regulatory instruments involved, incorporating both regulations and directives, as well as regulatory technical standards and guidelines developed by the European…

Money Laundering via Cryptocurrencies up 30% in 2021

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering
Money laundering via cryptocurrencies increased in 2021 by 30% and is estimated to account for US$8.6 billion, claims a report recently published by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. Although only 0.05% of all cryptocurrency transactions worldwide are linked to the laundering of money, Europol says it could get much worse in the future. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their use of cryptocurrency transactions and their money laundering schemes are becoming increasingly complex, the European police agency said. The Chainalysis report indicates the origin of money being laundered to stem from darknet sales and potential ransomware attacks. Cryptocurrency transactions are supposed…

DOJ Promises Robust Anti-Bribery Enforcement Despite Dip in Cases

Bribery, Corruption
A senior Justice Department official cautions against reading too much into a decline in the number of corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases A senior DOJ official said the department has a robust pipeline of cases and he would expect some significant resolutions in the next year. The U.S. Justice Department’s enforcement of a key antibribery law appeared to ebb last year, with prosecutors levying fines against only three companies for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. However, a senior Justice Department official is seeking to dispel the notion that prosecutors have taken their foot off the pedal. “I…

EBA Unveils New Central Database for AML and CFT

Money Laundering, Terrorism
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched EuReCA, a new central database for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. According to the EBA, EuReCA will be central to coordinating efforts by competent authorities and the EBA to prevent and counter money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the EU. EuReCA will hold information on material weaknesses in individual financial institutions in the EU that competent authorities have previously identified. Competent authorities will also be reporting the measures they have imposed on financial institutions to rectify those weaknesses. Such weaknesses include the lack of adequate AML/CFT policies and procedures including the absence…

The Contract Factory – Inside Danske Bank Estonia Money Laundering Machine

Money Laundering
Skype user Maxim.Canning was a veritable one-stop-shop for anyone looking to launder illicit funds. For a fee, he would not only sell you a company registered on an offshore paradise island, but also help you to disguise who really owned it. If you needed to transfer suspect money, he could make fake contracts to give it a semblance of legality, or rapidly funnel the cash through dozens of offshore accounts. “Maxim” could even find you proxy directors to add to company paperwork — for a price. “We have for 1000 euros per piece a Kazakh until 2022,” he wrote to…

SEC Says it Won’t Limit Whistleblower Payouts

Whistleblowing
Regulator proposes changes to two amendments adopted during Trump administration that it says could have been used by future commission to reduce awards ‘These amendments, if adopted, would help ensure that whistleblowers are both incentivized and appropriately rewarded for their efforts in reporting potential violations of the law,’ SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that it was revising two amendments governing the rules of its whistleblower program to address concerns that they would discourage tipsters from coming forward. The two amendments were adopted in September 2020, during the Trump administration. SEC Chairman Gary…

Ex-Goldman Banker: ‘Bribes’ Made 1MDB Business Possible

Bribery
Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, once hailed for bringing the bank lucrative Malaysian business, has told a court that “bribes and kickbacks” made the deals possible. Mr Leissner was testifying in the trial of his former colleague, Roger Ng. Prosecutors say the two men helped divert billions from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund to be used in bribes for politicians and others. Mr Ng, who is on trial over the matter, has denied wrongdoing. Mr Leissner, the former boss of Goldman’s Southeast Asia unit, told a New York courtroom on Wednesday that Mr Ng was a key banker for…