Author: gracechurchfcp

U.S. Imposes Further Sanctions in Connection With Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline

Sanctions
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, targeting Russia-linked Transadria Ltd. and its vessel. The State Department submitted a report to the U.S. Congress listing two vessels and an entity, Transadria Ltd., involved in the pipeline, Blinken said, but did not give details on the second vessel. Washington opposes the $11 billion pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to bypass Ukraine and carry gas from Russia’s Arctic region to Germany. Nord Stream 2 has faced stiff opposition from the United States and some European states, which say it will make Europe…

$56 Million in Seized Cryptocurrency Being Sold as First Step to Compensate Victims of BitConnect Fraud Scheme

Digital Currencies, Fraud
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson granted a request from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California for authority to liquidate approximately $56 million in fraud proceeds seized from the self-described “number one promoter” of BitConnect, a cryptocurrency, who consented to the seizure. This liquidation is the largest single recovery of a cryptocurrency fraud by the United States to date. According to court documents, on Sept. 1, Glenn Arcaro, 44, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to participating in a massive conspiracy to defraud BitConnect investors in the United States…

A Single AML Supervisor and Rulebook Might Just Be What’s Needed to Drive True Collaboration in Europe

Regulation
As European finance ministers agreed to progress plans for a major reform of anti-money laundering regulation in the European Union, Nina Kerkez outlines the likely benefits and challenges. Earlier in November, European finance ministers agreed draft proposals for establishing a single rulebook and centralised supervision within the European Union for anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorism financing (TF). The Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) council has backed up the Commissions approach to present legislative proposals in early 2021. It is expected that the reforms should be drawn up in a comprehensive way, and the Commission will have to ensure that legislation…

More Than 1,000 Arrested and $27m Intercepted in Massive Financial Crime Crackdown

Fraud, Money Laundering
LYON, France: An operation coordinated by INTERPOL codenamed HAECHI-II saw police arrest more than 1,000 individuals and intercept a total of nearly USD 27 million of illicit funds, underlining the global threat of cyber-enabled financial crime. Taking place over four months from June to September 2021, Operation HAECHI-II brought together specialized police units from 20 countries, as well as from Hong Kong and Macao, to target specific types of online fraud, such as romance scams, investment fraud and money laundering associated with illegal online gambling. In total, the operation resulted in the arrest of 1,003 individuals and allowed investigators to…

Ex-Credit Suisse Bankers Say It Still Aids Hidden Accounts

Tax Avoidance
(Bloomberg) — Former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers have told criminal investigators that the bank is still helping U.S. clients hide accounts from the Internal Revenue Service, even after the firm paid $2.6 billion in penalties in 2014 and promised to stop the practice. Those bankers “have come forward with credible information that Credit Suisse continued to assist additional Americans with concealing assets from the United States after 2014,” according to a Nov. 18 filing in a civil lawsuit. “In some instances, the concealment is ongoing today.” The latest allegations of wrongdoing come during a tumultuous year for the Zurich-based…

Swiss Watchdog Faults Two More Banks in Venezuela Money Laundering Probe

Money Laundering
ZURICH, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s financial regulator reprimanded two more Swiss banks for breaching their obligations to combat money laundering as it wrapped up a five-year investigation into banks’ dealings with people linked to Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. The FINMA watchdog contacted 30 Swiss banks during its investigation. It has already taken issue with two former chief executives of private bank Julius Baer (BAER.S) and rapped Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) for anti-corruption failings. read more FINMA has now reprimanded five banks in total since the investigation began in 2016. In the final case disclosed on Thursday, the regulator criticized…

Three Swiss Subsidiaries of the Oil-Related Group SBM Offshore Convicted of Corruption Offences

Bribery, Corruption
Bern, 23.11.2021 – The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has sentenced three Swiss subsidiaries of the multinational group SBM Offshore and ordered them to pay an amount of over CHF 7 million, including a fine of CHF 4.2 million. These three companies failed to take all the reasonable organisational measures required to prevent the bribery, of foreign public officials in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria In a summary penalty order dated 18.11.2021, the OAG sentenced the Swiss companies SBM Holding Inc. SA, Single Buoy Moorings Inc. and SBM Production Contractors Inc. SA and ordered them to pay…

Understanding the Reasons Behind Malta’s FATF Grey Listing

FATF, Money Laundering
The 2018/2019 evaluation MONEYVAL, a Council of Europe body tasked with assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, published an evaluation report on Malta in September 2019. This evaluation exercise was not specific to Malta: in fact, regular evaluations on countries around the world are carried out. These evaluations are carried out either by the FATF itself or, as in Malta’s case, by other FATF-style regional bodies such as MONEYVAL. The FATF is the international standard-setter for Anti Money Laundering/Counter Funding of Terrorism (AML/CFT). MONEYVAL is a regional player that falls…

Is FATF Playing Politics With Pakistan

FATF, Regulation
When the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) disclosed in June that Pakistan would remain on its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, critics of the decision responded with a question: is the intergovernmental watchdog’s criticism of Pakistan largely political? Such an argument may seem, at least superficially, to be borne out by the facts. After all, critics noted, Pakistan completed 26 of the 27 steps required of it under a 2018 FATF action plan. After praising Pakistan’s efforts to date, FATF in June called on the nation to take six additional steps, including enhancing its international cooperation on financial-crime investigations,…

Ex-Prison Warden in Lithuania Struck $1M Deal with Sanctioned Belarusian State Truckmaker

Sanctions
A former prison warden from Lithuania may have helped the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko dodge sanctions by benefitting from a $1.1 million deal to export Belarusian trucks through Lithuania’s biggest seaport. The trucks in question were made by sanctioned Belrussian state company BelAZ, one of the world’s top manufacturers of large trucks and dump trucks, and a major source of income for Lukashenko’s regime. The European Union sanctioned BelAZ in June 2021 in the midst of a violent crackdown by Lukashenko on civil society, journalists, and opponents in the wake of a disputed election. Since then, EU businesses…

Rabobank Faces Punishment Over Customer Anti-Money Laundering Checks

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
AMSTERDAM, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Dutch cooperative Rabobank (RABO.UL) said on Monday it had been ordered by the Dutch central bank to fix its customer due diligence practices and that it is facing a “punitive enforcement procedure.” In a statement, Rabobank said it had received an instruction from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on Oct. 12 to remedy deficiencies in its compliance with laws against money laundering. It said it was too early to say whether the procedure would result in a fine. “These deficiencies mainly concern the execution, recording and outsourcing of client due diligence, transaction monitoring and reporting of…

US and UK Agree to Heighten the Focus on Illicit Use of Cryptocurrency

Digital Currencies
The U.S. and U.K. governments have “committed and agreed to heighten the focus on illicit use of cryptocurrency and ransomware,” the U.S. Department of Justice announced. According to the FBI, high crypto prices have partially made ransomware “incredibly lucrative for the criminals.” Governments Collaborate to Focus on Illicit Use of CryptoThe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and officials from its National Security Division and Criminal Division met with U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “In their meeting, both governments discussed their close cooperation against numerous threats to their…

Swedish Bombardier Executive Denies Bribing Azeri Official

Bribery
A former manager at the railway equipment company Bombardier Transportation in Sweden denied on Tuesday charges of paying a US$100 million bribe to win a contract in Azerbaijan. He did not approve the deal and had no contacts with Azeri officials, the manager’s lawyer claimed at the trial in the Stockholm District Court. The former business area manager, Thomas Bimer, is charged with aggravated bribery when Bombardier in 2013 won a tender worth $340 million to upgrade the signalling system for a stretch of railway in Azerbaijan. Bombardier and Trans-Signal-Rabita (TSR), a local partner in Azerbaijan, colluded with an official…

PrivatBank Latvia hit with yet another fine for anti-money laundering failures

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Latvia’s banking regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said November 23 it was hitting AS PrivatBank with a fine of more than three quarters of a million euros “for breaches of regulatory requirements in the field of anti-money laundering and combating terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CTPF)”, plus various other measures.The sanctions come following inspections carried out in 2020 as a result of which FKTK “has concluded that AS “PrivatBank” needs to strengthen internal governance, improve its internal control system, implement and improve risk management culture corresponding to the nature of Bank’s activities and ensure full-scale internal audit functioning.”…

Israel to impose new AML rules on digital currencies

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Regulation
Israel is bringing its digital currency industry under the purview of its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations. The move is meant to stamp out crime from the sector and give it legal recognition and certainty. Israel’s Authority for Combating Terror Financing and Money Laundering recently announced that it’s seeking to raise its monitoring of digital currency transactions. Authority Director Shlomit Wegman said that the move would give the agency the ability to stamp out crime from Bitcoin. With the new regulations, virtual currency service providers (VASPs) now have clear standards to operate under, Wegman…

L.A. Casino Fined $500,000 for Looking the Other Way When a Gambler Brought Duffle Bags Stuffed With $100m

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Federal prosecutors say the unnamed whale — described only as a Chinese national — made over 100 visits to the Bicycle Hotel & Casino over eight months in 2016 Officials at the Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens, Calif., admitted they filed financial reports for a high roller’s huge cash transactions in the name of the gambler’s assistant, which was against the law. These wagers were too rich for the Department of Justice’s blood. A Los Angeles County casino was hit with a hefty fine for failing to properly alert financial regulators and the Internal Revenue Service when a…

Crypto Exchange Chatex and Russian Nationals Indicted for Roles in Ransomware Operations

Digital Currencies, Sanctions
Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced joint indictments, arrests, and sanctions designations against organizations and individuals associated with ransomware attacks against U.S. companies. Telegram bot-based P2P cryptocurrency exchange Chatex, which shares a founder with recently sanctioned OTC service Suex, has now been added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, thereby prohibiting Americans from doing business with the company. Additionally, three other companies were sanctioned for their role in setting up key infrastructure Chatex relied on to operate. It’s important to remember that unlike violations of anti-money…

Head of Mexico’s FIU forced to resign after $35,000 cash is found on private jet carrying guests to his wedding

Bribery, Corruption
The head of Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has been forced to resign following a scandal related to his wedding in Guatemala. Santiago Nieto, long seen as a trusted ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in his campaign to root out corruption, stepped down from the position on Monday. It came after Guatemalan authorities seized $35,000 in cash from a private jet carrying influential guests to Nieto’s wedding to Carla Humphrey, a counsellor with Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE), in the city of Antigua. Wedding guest Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, the president of the prominent Mexican newspaper El Universal,…

Moscow’s Tallest Tower Is a Cybercriminal Cash Machine

Digital Currencies, Financial Crime
The crown jewel of Moscow’s business district, a 97-story glass tower known alternately as Federation Tower East or Vostok, is a tribute to Russia’s post-Soviet economic influence and national strength. Promotional materials for the building, which was the tallest in Europe when it was completed in 2017 and is now No. 2, boast of its highly paid staff and its supposed fortification against “missiles and explosions.” Its apartments are rented and owned by high-ranking government officials and C-suite executives. Residential units sell for upwards of $36 million. The building has also been home to more than a dozen companies since 2018…

HKMA Takes Disciplinary Actions Against 4 Banks

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
HKMA Takes Disciplinary Actions Against 4 Banks for Contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (19 November) that it had completed investigations and disciplinary proceedings for four banks under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Chapter 615 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (AMLO) (Note 1). The Monetary Authority (MA) has imposed pecuniary penalties of a total of HK$44,200,000 against China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCBA), CTBC Bank Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Branch (CTBCHK), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBCA) and UBS AG, Hong Kong…

Homebuyers Bidding Against Criminals Using Property to Launder Money

Money Laundering
Australians heading to auctions this weekend could be outbid by financial criminals who are using the property market to launder money, an inquiry has been told. The Senate has been told Australia is a “honey pot destination” for organised crime and its outdated laws are allowing widespread money laundering in the property sector and contributing to inflated house prices. It is examining the strength of Australia’s money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, which have not undergone a substantial update since they were introduced in 2006. Representatives from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Federal Police, Home Affairs and the financial crimes…

Cryptocurrency fraud continues to plague UK

Digital Currencies, Fraud
So far in 2021, news reports reveal that cryptocurrency fraudsters have cheated over £146m ($200USD) out of victims in Great Britain. City of London police informed Bloomberg that since the start of this year, losses have mushroomed by 30% up on the number for the whole of 2020. The UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre is based within City of London police, where officials say that over 50% of the 7118 victims in this year to date are aged between 18 and 45. Detective chief inspector, Craig Mullish, said: “Reports of cryptocurrency fraud have increased significantly over the past…

Tory Donor Mohamed Amersi Involved in Telecoms Corruption Scandal

Bribery, Corruption
A prominent Tory donor who contributed to Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign was involved in one of Europe’s biggest corruption scandals, a BBC investigation has discovered. Mohamed Amersi has given nearly £525,000 to the party since 2018. Leaked documents reveal how he worked on a series of controversial deals for a Swedish telecoms company that was later fined $965m (£700m) in a US prosecution. Mr Amersi denies any wrongdoing. The 61-year-old is a corporate lawyer who worked as a consultant for Telia between 2007 and 2013. Working with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Guardian, BBC Panorama has obtained…

Crypto Crime Landscape Shifts to Bigger Threats Targeting Smaller Numbers

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Terrorism
The use of cryptocurrencies for illicit activities from ransom money, money laundering and funding for terrorist activities continues unabated. The tightening regulation does not appear to be making enough of a difference yet. Over the past eighteen months, the Covid crisis appears to have made matters worse as the authorities shifted their focus to fighting the pandemic. While the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) continues to warn about illicit use of virtual currencies, even the task force’s member nations – including some of the leading G20 economies – have failed to transpose the latest FATF Standards into their domestic regulation.…

NatWest Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Failings

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Britain’s NatWest bank has pleaded guilty to failing to prevent the laundering of nearly £400m. Natwest gave guilty pleas in a London court to three offences of failing to “adequately monitor and therefore prevent money laundering” by one of its customers between 2012 and 2016. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) first brought the case to public attention in March, accusing the bank of paying round £365m into the customer’s accounts – of which around £264m was in cash. “The facts of the case are complex, the likely sentence is a very large fine,” a lawyer for the Financial Conduct Authority…

Police Seize $2.7m of Crypto From a British Teenager in a Credit Card Fraud Scheme

Digital Currencies, Financial Crime, Money Laundering
Police in England seized more than $2 million worth of crypto from a 17-year-old involved in a credit card scam. Lincolnshire Police said seized 48 bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after discovering money-laundering links in the case. The teenaged boy was charged with false representation and money laundering. Police in an English county said they’ve seized more than $2 million worth of cryptocurrency from a 17-year-old boy who obtained the coins through online fraud. Detectives from the Lincolnshire Police’s cybercrime unit took possession of the digital currency in a case centered on an unnamed boy involved in an April 2020 credit…

The U.K. Gambling Commission Sanctions Victoria Gate Casino Leeds for Customer Care and AML Failures

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
Leeds’ Victoria Gate Casino (VGC Leeds), trading as Global Gaming Ventures, has been handed a £450,000 penalty package by The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). It comes after a shortfall in the firm’s AML and customer care duties, after an investigation undertaken by the UKGC. These failings, the Commission claims, came from VGC failing to effectively implement its anti-money laundering and safer gambling policies and procedures. The Commission investigated the handling of 10 customers following concerns identified at a compliance assessment in July 2019. Helen Venn, Commission executive director, explained: “These failings were identified as part of our ongoing drive to…

Register of True Owners of Anonymous Companies on Track to Become a Worldwide Requirement

Regulation
The Financial Action Task Force’s proposed measures for strengthening the global standard a positive development in eliminating corporate secrecy Transparency International welcomes the proposed amendments to the global standard on company ownership, released yesterday. The draft revisions, put forward by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following a three-day plenary, have the potential to significantly strengthen countries’ resistance to dirty money. Most notably, FATF is finally gearing up to require that all countries set up a beneficial ownership register or use an alternative mechanism with equal efficiency. The encouragement for countries to make the registers public falls short of Transparency…

Joint Taskforce Relaunched to Protect Against Rise in Fraud Crime

Fraud
The Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the relaunch of the Joint Fraud Taskforce on 21 October 2021. In light of the 24% rise in fraud during coronavirus (COVID-19), the Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the relaunch of the Joint Fraud Taskforce on 21 October 2021, which will play a vital role in countering fraud through public-private sector partnerships. A crime that leaves devastating financial and emotional effects on victims will now be tackled jointly in a first-of-its-kind agreement between private sector companies and the government to protect people’s hard earned cash. To coincide with the first meeting of the relaunched…

How Governments Around the World Regulate Cryptocurrency

Digital Currencies, Regulation
In the early days of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies operated in a gray area of the economy, their applications as unique as they were unregulated. But since then, as financial institutions have entered the industry and adoption has soared, the risk calculus has changed for regulators. While governments around the world have taken major steps to combat cybercrime and protect the users of cryptocurrencies, many believe the work is far from over. For this reason, it’s critical for investors, businesses, and institutions in the industry to understand both how governments regulate cryptocurrencies and how industry leaders can push the conversation forward.…

Credit Suisse Fined £147m and Undertakes to Forgive US$200m of Mozambican Debt

Bribery, Regulatory Fines
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Credit Suisse over £147 million for serious financial crime due diligence failings related to loans worth over $1.3 billion, which the bank arranged for the Republic of Mozambique. These loans, and a bond exchange, were tainted by corruption. Credit Suisse has also agreed with the FCA to forgive US$200 million of debt owed by the Republic of Mozambique as a result of these tainted loans. Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: ‘The FCA’s fine reflects the impact of these tainted transactions which included a debt crisis and…

Chinese Tech Giant Huawei had Secret Offshore Contracts With Men Linked to Serbian State Telecom Company

Bribery, Corruption
Amid a Chinese push to gain influence in Serbia, Huawei appears to have paid large sums to a former Serbian state telecom executive through an offshore shell company. Key Findings A former executive at state telecom company Telekom Srbija likely received over $1 million through an offshore firm in the British Virgin Islands that had contracts with Chinese technology giant Huawei. The payments were linked to contracts with Huawei, some for consulting services that included introducing Huawei to government officials and arranging meetings for the Chinese company. In 2016, Huawei inked a major agreement with Telekom Srbija to overhaul Serbia’s…

‘Tick box’ AML Regime Isn’t Working, Society Tells Treasury

Money Laundering, Terrorism
Current money laundering regulations disproportionately affect small firms and promote ‘tick box compliance’, the Law Society has told the Treasury. Responding to a consultation about the effectiveness of the UK’s anti-money laundering regime, the Society warned that the current regime ‘undermines the effectiveness and proportionality of the measures’ and drives up costs for legal services consumers. Law Society president I.Stephanie Boyce said: ‘At its centre, the UK AML regime should be effective at reducing money laundering and terrorist financing. It must be built on an evidenced-based assessment of the risks and what works to mitigate those risks. ‘A risk-based approach…

FATF Releases Updated Guidance on Virtual Assets

Digital Currencies, FATF
The FATF has issued its finalized guidelines providing clarifications on its previous crypto regulation recommendations. Key Takeaways Today FATF issued updated regulatory guidance on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. It clarifies that NFTs or crypto-collectibles generally fall outside its virtual asset definition but may be considered such if used for payment or investment purposes. Developers, owners, and operators that “maintain control or sufficient influence” over DeFi protocols could be regulated as VASPs. VASPs are subject to various KYC, AML/CFT, licensing, and transaction reporting requirements depending on the jurisdiction. Today the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an independent…

Pandora Papers: 4 Takeaways From Massive Leak of World Leaders’ Finances

Tax Evasion
A massive leak revealing the secret assets of some of the world’s most powerful figures is putting new pressure on global leaders to crack down on shadowy finances. The so-called Pandora Papers consist of millions of leaked financial documents that were reviewed and analyzed for two years by more than a hundred news outlets, including The Washington Post and the BBC, that are part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The trove illustrates the secretive practices that world leaders and wealthy individuals have employed to keep their assets hidden in dozens of countries, including the United States. Here…

Pandora Papers: Dirty Money, Bribery and the U.K. High Street

Bribery
Money from a corrupt company at the centre of a global bribery scandal has been invested in the UK High Street. Documents from the Pandora Papers leak reveal how £7.5m ($10.2m) in earnings from Unaoil – a business which paid bribes to secure oil and gas contracts – was funnelled offshore. The money from Ata Ahsani, the British Iranian founder of Unaoil, was paid into large funds used to invest in UK property including a cinema complex in Sunderland and a business park near Hull. Ata Ahsani’s lawyers say he has not been convicted of anything and there is no…

Pandora Papers: Tax Avoidance Revelations Prompt Outraged Denials

Tax Evasion
International reaction to offshore data leak ranges from pledges to clamp down to anger and cries of old news. The Pandora papers’ revelations prompted an avalanche of international reaction on Monday, ranging from solemn government pledges to clamp down on tax avoidance to outraged denials and a few cries of “old news”. The leak published on Sunday by the Guardian and other global media partners revealed the leading role played by the US in the offshore industry, including in the state of South Dakota. It also showcased the use of offshore secrecy jurisdictions by world leaders past and present, as…

NBG Bank Fined €337,422 by FIAU For Money Laundering Breaches

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
A Malta-based bank has been fined €337,422 for a series of money laundering regulations breaches, including weak oversight over a “very well-known” businessman’s multi-million US Dollar transactions. In an announcement made on October 19, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit said that NBG Bank Malta had breached several anti-money laundering rules. NBG Bank Malta, formerly Finansbank Malta, was established in 2005 and is a subsidiary of NBG Group based in Greece. It services high-net-worth clients and corporations. In one of the files reviewed by the FIAU, it turned out that although a customer had been subject to adverse media reports in…

Hacking Humans: Social Engineering in Financial Fraud

Fraud
The phrase ‘social engineering’ may sound like something out of a behavioural psychology textbook, yet it represents a real and present threat facing citizens and financial institutions around the world. In fact, social engineering is a leading cause of financial crime today, wherein criminals dupe their victims through the use of psychological manipulation in order to commit financial fraud, such as disclosing confidential information and eliciting payments. And it’s on the rise. Fourthline recently gathered data pertaining to millions of bank account openings throughout Europe in the past year and found a 37% increase in social engineering attempts by fraudsters…

Everything You Need to Know About OFAC’s New Sanctions Guidance for Cryptocurrency Businesses

Digital Currencies, Sanctions
On October 15, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released Sanctions Compliance Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry. This guidance follows the recent designation of Russia-based cryptocurrency Over The Counter (OTC) broker Suex, as well as an updated Advisory on ransomware payments, which we wrote about in our blog. The newly-released brochure reiterates OFAC’s previous guidance and outlines best practices in one comprehensive document. Specifically, OFAC’s guidance covers: Sanctions-related compliance requirements for cryptocurrency businesses Consequences for non-compliance and examples of how timely reporting can mitigate those consequences Best practices for building a risk-based compliance…