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Dubai property register leaks expose scores of alleged criminal owners - OCCRP
'Dubai Unlocked', an investigation of leaked Dubai property records by 75 international media outlets, coordinated by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), has identified among foreign owners multiple criminal suspects, sanctioned individuals and politically exposed persons (PEPs) accused of corruption.
Online Published Date:
15 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Write right - impactful SARs
The suspicious activity report is AML's end product so content, structure and clarity are critical if it is to deliver in combating crime. Paul Cochraneseeks advice on how to compose reports that will be closely read and used.
Online Published Date:
16 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Great expectations - EU AML
Cross-border supervision of the banks highest rated for ML riskoperating in the European Union, closer coordination of national financial intelligence units and tightened rules through a regulation, alongside a new AML directive - the major overhaul of EU machinery to combat illicit finance is set to become law: so, will it make a substantive difference, reduce money laundering? Sara Lewis, in Brussels, tests opinion.
Online Published Date:
17 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
On the record - UK Companies House redux
It has long been cheap and easy to incorporate in the UK, which explains why so many criminals do so. But wholesale reform of the registry aims both to strengthen the perimeter and clean up the population of extant companies. Sara Lewis looks for signs of change.
Online Published Date:
23 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
N26 fined €9.2m in Germany for late report filings
German digital bank N26 must pay a €9.2 million (US$10 million) penalty after BaFin, the financial services regulator, found it had systematically filed suspicious activity reports (SARs) late in 2022.
Online Published Date:
24 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Dubai: paradise for the world's rogues
The "Dubai Unlocked" investigation, led by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), details how criminals and corrupt public officials from around the world have bought and continue to own, and live, in luxury real estate in the UAE. Tom Vidovic explores the findings and their reputational impact.
Online Published Date:
27 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Virtual IBAN variance creates money laundering risk, EBA warns
The European Banking Authority (EBA) is warning that differences in the way virtual bank account numbers (vIBANs) are regulated, and even defined, is creating gaps that criminals can exploit for money laundering and terrorist financing.
Online Published Date:
30 May 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
On the edge - IT advances
AML technologists are now looking to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle, inter alia, tracing the finances of criminal networks, to spot trade-based money laundering and detect deepfaked biometrics. Paul Cochrane checks on progress.
Online Published Date:
02 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank agrees to thorough review of AML and OFAC compliance
Under a consent order, signed with the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Philadelphia-based Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank has agreed to ensure that its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CFT) program and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliance are properly designed and effective.
Online Published Date:
03 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
FinCrime Curator - June 2024
Sunnier, longer days mid-year - at least in the northern hemisphere - may just afford more opportunity to catch up on a rich selection of podcasts delving into grift, graft, fraud and how and where illicit funds flow.
Online Published Date:
04 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
StanChart US sanctions failings disinterred by whistleblower lawsuit
A US court filing, on 31 May, alleges that Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) facilitated transactions for banks and other sanctioned entities in Iran, some linked to terrorist organisations, after it said it would cease doing business with customers in the country in 2007.
Online Published Date:
04 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
SkyCity pays A$67m in Australia for AML breaches "over many years"
Casino operator SkyCity Adelaide Pty Ltd (SCA) has been ordered to pay a A$67m (US$44m) fine for long-term contravention of Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).
Online Published Date:
07 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
UBS fined CHF50,000 in Switzerland for PEP transaction reporting failures
UBS was ordered by Swiss authorities, on 4 April, to pay a CHF50,000 (US$55,735) penalty for not filing suspicious activity reports (SARs) on transactions linked to accounts it operated for Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ex-president of Yemen, and connected persons; he was assassinated in 2017. His relationship with UBS dated from 2004.
Online Published Date:
10 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024
Evolve Bank & Trust to refit BSA/AML & OFAC programs under cease and desist order
Arkansas, USA-based Evolve Bank & Trust and holding company Evolve Bancorp will engage in a root and branch rebuild of its US Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliance frameworks in line with a cease and desist order, signed, on 11 June, with the Federal Reserve Board and the Arkansas State Bank Department.
Online Published Date:
15 June 2024
Appeared in issue:
315 - 01 July 2024