‘The Gentleman of Cali’ might sound like a bunch of nice men doing gentlemanly things but it was the nickname of the figures behind the Cali Cartel – one of (if not) the most powerful and sophisticated drug cartels ever.
The Netflix show, Narcos, was a global hit. After the fall of Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel in season 2, season 3 took viewers deeper into the Cali Cartel, introducing the characters Chris Feistl (played by Michael Stahl-David) and Daniel Van Ness (played by Matt Whelan), DEA agents, who go after the Cali Cartel. TV shows can only go into so much detail due to time limits and in order to provide continuity – the real world includes much more depth, nuance and can be a little more complicated.
This is where the real Chris Feistl and Dave Mitchell’s book with Jessica Balboni, ‘After Escobar: Taking Down the Notorious Cali Godfathers and the Biggest Drug Cartel in History’, comes in. The book is almost a ride along with Chris and Dave from the moment they touchdown in Colombia for the first time to helping to bring down the Cali Cartel. Reading the book, you really do feel like you are right there with them – through the ups, downs and heart pounding moments they find themselves in.
Helping bring down a drug cartel, let alone one with such power, influence and money to bribe their way into anything and anyone, is no easy feat. After Escobar details how Chris and Dave meticulously planned all their operations, the challenges they faced in their efforts (there were many along the way!) and how they overcame them.
What they were up against was almost unbelievable, at one point in the book Chris details how a raid on one of the Cali Cartel’s properties led to a seizure of an IBM AS/400 mainframe, valued at over $1,000,000 at the time. It not only contained valuable information but proved that resources of the cartel certainly were significant.
It’s moments like these that sometimes can only be explained in detail in a book and this was the case involving a raid using chicken trucks as cover (yes, you read that right – a raid involving chicken trucks). Whilst in the Narcos show the raid was pulled off using chicken trucks as a disguise successfully and led to an arrest, the book details that in reality this proved more difficult and unsuccessful – and the reason why it turned out so difficult and unsuccessful? You’ll have to read the book to find out, as it shows just how locked down the Cali Cartel had things.
Against the backdrop of something so serious, readers are also treated to moments of some memorable comedy gold. From the binoculars incident to how Chris and Dave managed to get out of a tricky police stop when meeting an informant – the less said about the latter the better! – you’ll be laughing along as you read these small moments of comedy in this action packed book. That being said, Chris and Dave did so much more than just help bring down a drug cartel, they saved lives whilst risking their own.
After Escobar details what really went down when Chris and Dave went after the Cali Cartel – it is worth reading the book and then revisiting Narcos season 3 to see the similarities and differences between TV and real life. If you loved Narcos on Netflix, you’ll absolutely love ‘After Escobar: Taking Down the Notorious Cali Godfathers and the Biggest Drug Cartel in History’ – go and buy it now!
Links to buy After Escobar:
Check out the After Escobar website for exclusive pictures and more: https://www.afterescobar.com/
Check out the Launder This podcast episode where the real Chris Feistl talks about After Escobar and his time going after the Cali Cartel: https://thelaundrynews.com/new-podcast-launder-this-premieres-first-episode-after-escobar-chris-feistl-the-real-narcos/
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In the premiere episode of Launder This, financial crime expert and podcast host Dev Odedra speaks to Chris Feistl (a former DEA agent) who went after the notorious Cali cartel. Chris talks about his time on the ground in Colombia going after the Cali cartel, the real narcos, his new book with Dave Mitchell and Jessica Balboni ‘After Escobar: Taking Down The Notorious Cali Godfathers And The Biggest Drug Cartel In History’ and much more.
Listen to the episode on Spotify:
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts:
After Escobar: Taking Down The Notorious Cali Godfathers And The Biggest Drug Cartel In History is available to buy from afterescobar.com
An international NCA-led investigation – Operation Destabilise – has exposed and disrupted Russian money laundering networks supporting serious and organised crime around the world: spanning from the streets of the UK, to the Middle East, Russia, and South America.
Investigators have identified two Russian-speaking networks collaborating at the heart of the criminal enterprise; Smart and TGR… Read the full press release here: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/operation-destabilise-nca-disrupts-multi-billion-russian-money-laundering-networks-with-links-to-drugs-ransomware-and-espionage-resulting-in-84-arrests
Case Summary 1: “…network used physical tokens for cash handovers, a common practice for cash-based money launderers. Tokens are usually low denomination bank notes which bear a unique serial number. This serial number is passed on before a cash handover takes place and when the two parties meet, the person collecting the cash will produce the bank note to prove that they are the intended party. The token is usually then handed over, acting as a receipt that the handover has taken place…”
Case Summary 2: “…The Crown assessed that the value of criminal property transferred was £15,667,720. This was uncontested. Saiedi was sentenced to 4 years and 4 months imprisonment…”
Case Summary 3: “…investigation focused on money laundering activities of…who were attempting to launder approximately £60,000 in used Jersey bank notes in Jersey. Evidence from seized mobile phones, documentation, receipts and lists revealed their involvement in sub-letting UK properties paid for in cash from drug trafficking or prostitution. The seized mobile phones held identities of Uzbekistanis, Hungarians, Latvians and Romanians, believed to have illegally entered the UK, to be housed in properties subject to illegal sub-letting…”
Case Summary 4: “…Ukrainian registered Mercedes Sprinter, was intercepted outbound the Channel tunnel. The van had two occupants, both Ukrainian nationals…claimed to be taking items to Ukraine for the war effort. A search identified several boxes labelled Asda washing powder found to contain an estimated £1 million in cash…”
Case Summary 5: “…During a search of the vehicle, Border Force Officers found silver taped packages containing cash in:
Case Summary 6: “…Three bags were found within the storage area beneath the front passenger seat. Within each bag was a further inner bag within which Officers identified sterling notes estimated to be in the sum of £400,000. The notes were secured with coloured elastic bands…was charged with money laundering…The total cash seized and subsequently forfeited was £357,730.95. The contents of…mobile revealed a number of photographs indicating a greater level of involvement than that of simply a courier…”… Read the full case summaries here: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/?view=article&id=3685:operation-destabilise-case-studies
With touchpoints around the world, the TGR Group is an extensive sanctions evasion and money laundering network that works to obfuscate the illicit activities of its clients, including through the use digital assets, such as stablecoins like Tether (USDT). Controlled by Ukrainian national George Rossi, the networkprovides a range of services to place, layer, and integrate illicit financial schemes into the global financial system. These include: the laundering of funds associated with sanctioned entities; providing an unregistered service to exchange cash and cryptocurrency; the receipt of cash and making the value available to clients in the form of cryptocurrency; providing a pre-paid credit card service; and, obfuscating the source of funds to allow high-net worth Russian nationals to purchase property in the United Kingdom… Read the full press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2735
…action reaffirms the G7 commitment to counter attempts to circumvent sanctions, disrupt illicit actors misusing virtual assets to hide and enhance their wealth, and degrade Russia’s ability to fund its malign influence activities abroad. We will continue to protect the international financial system and take action against sanctions evaders inside and outside of Russia… Read the full press release here: https://www.state.gov/exposing-the-tgr-group-sanctions-circumvention-network/
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a record $1.3 billion penalty against TD Bank, N.A. and TD Bank USA, N.A. (collectively, TD Bank, or the Bank) for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the primary U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) law that safeguards the financial system from illicit use. TD Bank is among the largest banks in the United States.
FinCEN’s $1.3 billion settlement is the largest penalty against a depository institution in U.S. Treasury and FinCEN history. FinCEN’s action also imposes a four-year independent monitorship to oversee TD Bank’s required remediation.
“The vast majority of financial institutions have partnered with FinCEN to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system. TD Bank did the opposite… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-assesses-record-13-billion-penalty-against-td-bank
Link to FinCEN Consent Order here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement_action/2024-10-10/FinCEN-TD-Bank-Consent-Order-508FINAL.pdf
TD Bank N.A. (TDBNA), the 10th largest bank in the United States, and its parent company TD Bank US Holding Company (TDBUSH) (together with TDBNA, TD Bank) pleaded guilty today and agreed to pay over $1.8 billion in penalties to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and money laundering.
TDBNA pleaded guilty to conspiring to fail to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program that complies with the BSA, fail to file accurate Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), and launder money. TDBUSH pleaded guilty to causing TDBNA to fail to maintain an AML program that complies with the BSA and to fail to file accurate CTRs.
TD Bank’s guilty pleas are part of a coordinated resolution with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), as well as the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). “By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one”… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/td-bank-pleads-guilty-bank-secrecy-act-and-money-laundering-conspiracy-violations-18b
Link to TD Bank US Holding Company Information here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1373341/dl
Link to TD Bank N.A. Information here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1373346/dl
Link to TD Bank US Holding Company Plea Agreement and Attachments here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1373351/dl
Link to TD Bank N.A. Plea Agreement and Attachments here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1373336/dl
Good afternoon everyone. Before we get started today, I want to extend my sympathy to the millions of Americans who’ve had their lives turned upside down by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene.
I know I speak for all of us in expressing my gratitude to the first responders on the ground who are carrying out rescue missions. And I want to thank all of the volunteers who are helping their neighbors get through these storms.
And now to the subject of today’s announcement.
Today, TD Bank pled guilty to multiple felonies, including conspiring to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and commit money laundering. TD Bank has also agreed to a $1.8 billion criminal penalty. Combined with civil enforcement actions announced today by other agencies, the United States will be imposing a total [penalty] of approximately $3 billion against TD Bank.
TD Bank created an environment that allowed financial crime to flourish. By making its services convenient for criminals, it became one… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-announcing-td-banks-guilty-plea-bank
Thank you, Mr. Attorney General.
Today, one of North America’s largest banks pleaded guilty to some of the most serious charges a financial institution can face.
This case should serve as a warning and a reminder that we will hold corporate wrongdoers accountable, no matter their size or stature.
But this case also highlights the critical importance of maintaining a culture of compliance — and offers a cautionary tale of how bad things can go without one.
When you put your hard-earned money in a bank – that bank should meet a very basic requirement.
It should follow the law.
For financial institutions, that means — among other obligations — adhering to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
This law is fundamental — not only for protecting our financial system — but also our national security… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-lisa-monaco-delivers-remarks-announcing-td-banks-guilty-plea
Thank you, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo. I’m Nicole Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division.
Today, we are announcing the guilty plea of TD Bank, the 10th largest retail bank in the United States, for Bank Secrecy Act violations and money laundering. Over the course of a decade, TD Bank placed profits over compliance, prioritizing a “flat cost paradigm” that limited spending across the bank — including on the bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program, despite growing risks — even while profits soared.
The bank knew it had pervasive and systemic deficiencies in its AML program, including a transaction monitoring system that remained stagnant over the course of 10 years despite warnings from regulators, consultants, and even its own employees.
AML employees joked that the Bank’s failed AML system made TD an “easy target” and a “convenient” bank for bad actors. And they were right. TD’s failed AML compliance program created vulnerabilities that criminals — including TD’s own employees — used to launder money through the Bank.
All told, three large money laundering networks, two prosecuted by our partners in the District of New Jersey and the third prosecuted in the District of Puerto Rico, laundered over $670 million through TD… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/principal-assistant-attorney-general-nicole-m-argentieri-delivers-remarks-announcing-td
Thank you. I am glad to join Attorney General Garland, Deputy Attorney General Monaco, and the rest of you here today.
The Department of the Treasury utilizes sanctions and the enforcement of our country’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws to protect our national security from illicit actors. From drug trafficking to combatting Russian aggression, the Treasury Department is committed to using all of the tools available to us to protect the American people.
We are proud of the public-private partnership we have formed with the financial sector to protect our national security. The vast majority of financial institutions work hand-in-hand with Treasury to keep our country and our communities safe.
TD Bank has done the exact opposite. For more than a decade, through deliberate actions—and inaction—TD Bank failed to meet its responsibilities… Read the full remarks here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2640
The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday fined Toronto-Dominion Bank $123.5 million for violations related to anti-money laundering laws. The Board is also requiring TD to implement enhanced measures to comply with anti-money laundering laws and to correct its risk management deficiencies.
TD failed to conduct adequate risk management and oversight of its retail banking operations in the United States, resulting in a U.S. subsidiary being used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds. The Board’s action will help ensure that TD operates in compliance with all U.S. laws and regulations.
The Board is requiring TD to:
Link to Cease and Desist Order and Assessment of Civil Money Penalty Order here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/enf20241010a1.pdf
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a cease and desist order and a $450 million civil money penalty against TD Bank, N.A. and TD Bank USA, N.A. (bank), for deficiencies in the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program. Today’s action also imposes a restriction on the growth of the bank and a measure designed to ensure that the bank invests sufficient resources to remediate its BSA/AML deficiencies in a timely manner.
“TD Bank’s persistent prioritization of growth over controls allowed its employees to break the law and facilitate the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars. The bank’s blatant risk management failures attracted illicit actors and are egregious and unacceptable,” said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu. “The OCC’s coordinated and comprehensive action, including the imposition of an asset cap, will ensure that the bank focuses on building proper controls commensurate with its risk profile”… Read the full press release here: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2024/nr-occ-2024-116.html
Link to Consent Order here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/eaAA-ENF-2024-77.pdf
Link to Civil Money Penalty here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/eaAA-ENF-2024-78.pdf
Link to Enforcement Action Types here: https://www.occ.gov/topics/laws-and-regulations/enforcement-actions/enforcement-action-types/index-enforcement-action-types.html
Link to Fact Sheet here: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2024/nr-occ-2024-116a.pdf
Today, Peter Routledge, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, released the following statement:
“Earlier today U.S. subsidiaries of Toronto-Dominion Bank pled guilty in the United States to charges related to deficiencies in their anti-money laundering regime. The information disclosed by Toronto-Dominion Bank’s U.S. regulators is serious.
While OSFI continuously responds to all relevant information it receives during our supervisory activities, Section 22 of the OSFI Act and Section 636 of the Bank Act bar me or any OSFI official from disclosing information regarding the business or affairs of a federally regulated financial institution.
Deficiencies in any institution’s anti-money laundering regime are a prudential risk. They can be illustrative of how non-financial risks can manifest as material financial risks… Read the full press release here: https://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/news/statement-superintendent-financial-institutions-regarding-toronto-dominion-bank
Link to 19 page presentation titled ‘Resolution of AML Investigations’ by TD Bank here: https://www.td.com/content/dam/tdcom/canada/about-td/pdf/investor/resolution-of-aml-investigations-en.pdf
International ministers agreed new actions to take down fraudsters as the first ever Global Fraud Summit began.
Home Secretary James Cleverly discussed the threats posed by organised crime groups, and how global law enforcement can tackle it, during a series of meetings with senior ministers and representatives from the G7, Five Eyes, Singapore and South Korea, at Lancaster House.
Ministers explored how closer partnerships with the private sector can be used to counter criminality and reimburse victims of crime… Read the full press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-hosts-world-leaders-for-first-global-fraud-summit
As part of the summit, ministers have signed up to a communiqué which sets out an agreed global framework to tackle fraud and declares that fraud is an increasing transnational threat.
The communiqué has 4 key pillars… Read the communiqué outline here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communique-from-the-global-fraud-summit
1. We, ministers and representatives of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States convened in person in Lancaster House, London, for the inaugural Global Fraud Summit. We discussed the increasing threat of fraud against individuals and business and the challenges it poses. We stand firm in our commitment to tackle fraud and crack down on the criminal networks responsible. In this we were supported by INTERPOL, the Financial Action Task Force and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The European Union was also represented at the meeting.
2. Fraud against individuals and businesses, has grown rapidly to become one of the most prevalent crimes globally and is an organised transnational threat. In some countries, it is the most common crime type that citizens experience. Fraudsters operate at scale, exploiting telecommunications networks, cyberspace and a population that spends an increasing amount of time online.
3. Fraud types can vary across jurisdictions, but the devastating impact of fraud is universal. Fraud causes significant financial losses for individuals and institutions. It damages trust between consumers and legitimate businesses. It also causes deep distress for victims. Finally, failure to tackle fraud risks undermining public trust in law enforcement and government institutions.
4. With fraudsters adopting ever more sophisticated methods, it is the shared responsibility of governments, law enforcement, industry, regulators, and individuals to combat this rising threat… Read the full Communiqué here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communique-from-the-global-fraud-summit/global-fraud-summit-communique-11-march-2024
The Home Secretary has secured a new agreement with world leaders to tackle fraud.
All G7 and Five Eyes nations, as well as Singapore and South Korea, have agreed a communiqué which recognises fraud as an organised, transnational threat that has become one of the most prevalent global issues.
The document, released on day 1 of the world’s first Global Fraud Summit, sets out a 4-point framework to combat fraud together.
Under this framework, signatories have pledged to enhance law enforcement cooperation, improve victim support and bolster intelligence sharing.
Nations have also set out a clear requirement for collaboration with the private sector to prevent fraud.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
“We’ve been clear that the global community needs to unite to fight fraud head on and this communique is a massive step forward… Read the full press here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-agreement-to-fight-fraud-secured
A new INTERPOL assessment on global financial fraud highlights how the increased use of technology is enabling organized crime groups to better target victims around the world.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), large language models and cryptocurrencies combined with phishing- and ransomware-as-a-service business models have resulted in more sophisticated and professional fraud campaigns without the need for advanced technical skills, and at relatively little cost.
Analysis behind the INTERPOL Global Financial Fraud Assessment also points to the global expansion of human trafficking for the purpose of forced criminality in call centres, particularly to carry out ‘pig-butchering’ scams – a hybrid scheme combining romance and investment frauds, using cryptocurrencies…The report is being launched by the Secretary General at the Financial Fraud Summit, organized by the UK government in London… Read the full press release here: https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2024/INTERPOL-Financial-Fraud-assessment-A-global-threat-boosted-by-technology
A new strategy aimed at tackling the growing threat of serious and organised crime has been announced by the Home Secretary as the government steps up action to clamp down on criminal gangs operating in and against the UK.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimate that there are at least 59,000 people in the UK involved in serious and organised crime and that it costs the UK at least £47 billion each year, equating to the cost of building around 450 new hospitals or supplying around 730,000 more affordable homes outside of London.
The new strategy, which builds on the work already underway by government and law enforcement, sets out further action to eradicate complex criminal networks, including through the NCA, which received record investment in 2023/24. It also empowers local forces to tackle these illicit crimes in their communities and sets out work overseas to prevent exploitation, such as modern slavery and human trafficking.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
“Serious and organised crime threatens our national security and prosperity, degrades society and causes serious harm to individuals and businesses up and down the country”
“Through investment in innovative and cutting-edge policing capabilities and tactics, collaboration with international partners, as well as creating new criminal offences, we will disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups and those who enable them”
Through the strategy, the government will strengthen local communities’ resilience to serious and organised crime, ensuring once a gang has been dismantled, the area does not become the target for another group to take its place. Read the full press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-strategy-to-tackle-organised-crime
A copy of the full strategy document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-and-organised-crime-strategy-2023-to-2028
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), has taken unprecedented action to hold Binance Holdings Ltd. and its affiliates (collectively, Binance) accountable for violations of the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions laws that protect American national security and the integrity of the international financial system. Binance is the world’s largest virtual currency exchange, responsible for an estimated 60% of centralized virtual currency spot trading.
Today, Binance settled with FinCEN and OFAC for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs. The violations include failure to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists — including Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — ransomware attackers, money launderers, and other criminals, as well as matching trades between U.S. users and those in sanctioned jurisdictions like Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea region of Ukraine. By failing to comply with AML and sanctions obligations, Binance enabled a range of illicit actors to transact freely on the platform. Today’s settlements are part of a global agreement simultaneous with Binance’s resolution of related matters with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)… Read the full press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925
Good afternoon. I’m very glad to join Attorney General Garland, Deputy Attorney General Monaco, and CFTC Chairman Behnam for such an important occasion.
We’re here today to announce the Treasury Department’s historic action—the largest enforcement action in Treasury’s history—against Binance—the world’s largest virtual currency exchange—for its consistent and egregious violations of U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.
Protecting the U.S. financial system, and through that, the global financial system, is core to the Treasury Department’s mission. And, ever since Binance launched its convertible virtual currency platform, it has knowingly evaded the U.S. laws designed to protect these systems.
Over more than three years, FinCEN, OFAC, and IRS Criminal Investigation thoroughly investigated key aspects of Binance’s activities. Our work revealed that Binance claimed to have exited the U.S. market years ago, but actually did not, retaining U.S. users and other significant ties with the United States. It also had critical gaps in its anti-money laundering program and practices, from a lack of risk-based procedures for various offerings to instructing staff to withhold information from law enforcement. It deliberately undermined its own sanctions monitoring controls, and it failed to report suspicious transactions… Read the full remarks here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1926
Binance Holdings, Ltd. (“Binance”), a Cayman Islands virtual currency exchange with affiliates around the world, has agreed to pay $968,618,825 to settle its potential civil liability for 1,667,153 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). For over five years, between August 2017 and October 2022, Binance matched and executed virtual currency trades on its online exchange platform between U.S. person users and users in sanctioned jurisdictions or blocked persons. Although Binance took steps to project an image of compliance, including by misleading third parties about its controls, senior Binance management knew of and permitted the presence of both U.S. and sanctioned jurisdiction users on its platform, and did so despite understanding that Binance’s trade matching algorithm could cause violations of OFAC-administered sanctions programs due to the presence of U.S. users on the platform. In addition to disregarding known sanctions risks, Binance management also took steps to undermine its own compliance function, encouraging users to circumvent the company’s own ostensible controls… Read the Enforcement release here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/system/files/2023-11/20231121_binance.pdf
From approximately August 2017 to October 2022 (the “Relevant Period”), Respondent matched and executed vi1tual currency trades on its online exchange platfonn between U.S. person users and users in sanctioned jurisdictions or blocked persons. In doing so, Respondent appears to have violated multiple OFAC sanctions prohibitions across various U.S. sanctions programs when, among other things, it (i) engaged in the direct or indirect exportation or other supply of goods and services from the United States, or by U.S. persons, to users whom Respondent identified through its Know Y our Customer (KYC) process, Internet Protocol (IP) address, phone number or other means, as being located in Iran, Syria, North Korea, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Cuba, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”), the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (“LNR”), or blocked; and (ii) caused U.S. persons to engage directly or indirectly in transactions with users located in Iran, Syria, North Korea, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Cuba, the DNR, the LNR, or blocked persons, by matching such U.S. users to patties in sanctioned jurisdictions or blocked persons… Read the Settlement agreement here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/system/files/2023-11/20231121_binance_settlement.pdf
Binance Admits It Engaged in Anti-Money Laundering, Unlicensed Money Transmitting, and Sanctions Violations in Largest Corporate Resolution to Include Criminal Charges for an Executive.
Binance Holdings Limited (Binance), the entity that operates the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.com, pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay over $4 billion to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), failure to register as a money transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Binance’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian national, also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, in violation of the BSA and has resigned as CEO of Binance… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/binance-and-ceo-plead-guilty-federal-charges-4b-resolution
Today is a watershed moment. The Department of Justice and its partners are holding accountable the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and the CEO who ran it, for their criminal conduct.
Binance vaulted to the top of the crypto market in part through the scheme exposed today: by pursuing growth, market share, and profits at the expense of compliance with U.S. law.
Today’s charges and guilty pleas – combined with a more than $4 billion financial penalty – demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to corporate accountability. And they send an unmistakable message to crypto and defi companies: if you serve U.S. customers, you must obey U.S. law.
A corporate strategy that puts profits over compliance isn’t a path to riches. It’s a path to federal prosecution.
As detailed in the statement of facts, Changpeng Zhao was warned by his own compliance team that Binance lacked basic safeguards to prevent users from evading U.S. sanctions law… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-delivers-remarks-announcing-binance-and-ceo-guilty
I am joined today by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and CFTC Chairman Russ Behnam.
We are here today to announce that the Justice Department has secured felony guilty pleas from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, and from its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ.
Separate from the criminal enforcement actions the Justice Department is announcing today, Secretary Yellen and Chairman Behnam will also announce civil regulatory enforcement actions that the Treasury Department and the CFTC are taking against Binance.
While criminal and civil enforcement actions are subject to different legal standards, this collective effort represents the whole of government approach that we are taking to combat corporate crime.
Binance has agreed to plead guilty to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act, knowingly failing to register as a money transmitting business, and willfully violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-announcing-binance-and-ceo-guilty
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) took unprecedented action to hold Binance Holdings Ltd. and several affiliates (collectively, Binance) accountable for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. FinCEN’s consent order assesses a civil money penalty of $3.4 billion, imposes a multi-faceted five-year monitorship overseen by FinCEN, and requires significant compliance undertakings, including undertakings to ensure Binance’s complete exit from the United States… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-largest-settlement-us-treasury-department-history-virtual-asset
Link to FinCEN Binance Consent Order: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement_action/2023-11-21/FinCEN_Consent_Order_2023-04_FINAL508.pdf
Binance Holdings Limited (Binance), the entity that operates the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.com, pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay over $4 billion to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), failure to register as a money transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Binance’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian national, also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, in violation of the BSA and has resigned as CEO of Binance.
Binance’s guilty plea is part of coordinated resolutions with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in part because of the crimes it committed – now it is paying one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In just the past month, the Justice Department has successfully prosecuted the CEOs of two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges in two separate criminal cases. The message here should be clear: using new technology to break the law does not make you a disruptor, it makes you a criminal”… Read the full press release here: https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/binance-and-ceo-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-in-4-billion-resolution
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced Changpeng Zhao, and his companies Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited (together, Binance) agreed to a proposed consent order for permanent injunction, civil monetary penalty, and equitable relief that, if entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, will resolve all charges the CFTC brought against Zhao and Binance for knowingly disregarding provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to profit from their operation of an illegal digital assets derivative exchange.
The proposed consent order requires Binance to disgorge $1.35 billion of ill-gotten gains and pay a $1.35 billion civil monetary penalty to the CFTC, and obliges Zhao to pay a $150 million civil monetary penalty to the CFTC. In addition, the order permanently enjoins Zhao and Binance from willfully evading the CEA; acting as an unregistered futures commission merchant (FCM); operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange; and failing to have adequate know-your-customer compliance controls among other illegal activities in the order. The defendants must also certify that certain remedial measures have been implemented and Binance must further certify it will take certain remedial steps in the future, including no longer allowing “sub-accounts” to circumvent Binance’s newly implemented compliance controls… Read the full press release here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8825-23
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced former Binance Chief Compliance Officer, Samuel Lim, agreed to a proposed consent order for permanent injunction, civil monetary penalty, and equitable relief that, if entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, will resolve all charges the CFTC brought against Lim for violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and willfully aiding and abetting Binance’s numerous violations of the CEA as detailed in the CFTC filing against Binance today. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8825-23]
The proposed consent order requires Lim to pay a $1.5 million civil monetary penalty.
In addition, it permanently prohibits Lim from willfully evading the CEA. The Consent Order also permanently prohibits Lim from, directly or indirectly, acting as an unregistered futures commission merchant (FCM); operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange; and failing to have adequate know-your-customer compliance controls among other illegal activities described in the proposed order… Read the full press release here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8826-23
Good afternoon. Thank you, Attorney General Garland, Treasury Secretary Yellen, Deputy Attorney General Monaco, and all of our law enforcement counterparts.
Today, the CFTC stands with the Department of Justice and the Treasury Department in protecting U.S. investors and financial markets from those who sought to create an empire through a calculated strategy of regulatory avoidance and arbitrage, outright defiance of the law, and breaching the fundamental principles of market behavior.
Today, the CFTC agreed to resolve charges against Binance, its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and its former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim. Binance is the world’s largest digital asset exchange and offers trading in spot digital assets and digital asset derivatives, including CFTC jurisdictional products such as bitcoin futures, options, and swaps. The proposed orders impose a civil monetary penalty and disgorgement totaling $2.7 billion against Binance, a $150 million civil monetary penalty against Zhao and a $1.5 million penalty against Lim… Read the full statement here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/behnamstatement11213
Today the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the filing of a proposed consent order in its litigation against three affiliated entities of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Binance’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Changpeng Zhao, and former Binance chief compliance officer (CCO) Samuel Lim. Pending approval by Judge Manish S. Shah of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, this order will resolve the CFTC’s litigation against Binance, Zhao, and Lim filed in March of this year. The Commission’s complaint charged the defendants with offering and executing illegal off-exchange futures, options, and retail commodity transactions; failing to register as a futures commission merchant and a designated contract market or swap execution facility; failing to diligently supervise, including failing to maintain a Customer Identification Program (CIP), know your customer (KYC) procedures, or an anti-money laundering (AML) program; and conducting activities designed to willfully evade requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act (the CEA) and Commission Regulations… Read the full statement here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/johnsonstatement112123
Today, the CFTC has filed with the court a proposed resolution of the case against Binance, which operates the world’s largest digital asset trading platform, its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, and its Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim, in connection with proposed resolutions of a criminal case by the Department of Justice, and a civil case by the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). The case is resolved for $2.8 billion, a ban from operating unregistered in CFTC-regulated markets, changes to implement Know Your Customer (KYC) controls, and removing accounts that violate the new controls, including U.S. trading firms.
The CFTC has zero tolerance for crypto platforms used for illicit finance. Binance was aware that its platform facilitated illicit activity by terrorist organizations like Hamas, darknet marketplaces like Hydra, and others. Instead of shutting down this criminal activity financing, Binance turned a blind eye and even advised users how to circumvent Binance’s superficial controls… Read the full statement here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/romerostatement112123
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Caroline D. Pham released the following statement regarding the CFTC’s consent orders related to Binance announced today:
“These enforcement actions, including separate consent orders against two individuals with hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, demonstrate that the CFTC is committed to holding management accountable. It should be crystal clear that the CFTC will not stop in its pursuit of non-U.S. entities, and that the CFTC does not recognize any limits on its exercise of its broad Dodd-Frank authorities. The CFTC continues to bring severe penalties—over a billion dollars—against crypto trading platforms for alleged failures to register properly and other violations… Read the full statement here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/phamstatement112123b
When people think of Australia, they might typically picture kangaroos, barbecues and the Sydney Opera House – what they won’t be picturing is a professional money launderer shot in the early hours of a Sunday morning, found with keys to a sports car and a Phantom Secure encrypted phone in his pocket.
This is exactly how The Lucky Laundry opens, more like the transcript to a movie than a book about money laundering in Australia but this is not the work of fiction, it is all real. From there on out the author, Nathan Lynch, takes the reader on a Australia-centred journey (and beyond) through a money laundering lens.
Lynch lays out chapter after chapter of some of the biggest and most important money laundering-related cases and issues in Australia, from the Commonwealth Bank case to the Westpac case and everything before and after them, the book takes not only anti-money laundering professionals but also the casual reader on a money laundering reality rollercoaster.
One of the standouts in the book is the story of Neil Jeans, a well respected financial crime expert, and how he managed to connect a penny stock fraud to a drug cartel laundering operation back in the 90’s. Fast forward to more recent times and the chapter goes on to outline that many may not be aware Jeans was a key part of the AUSTRAC alliance – he’d played a crucial role as an expert witness in prosecuting two of the biggest banks in Australia, resulting in the biggest fines in the Australian corporate world.
Another standout in the book is the chapter on the case of the encrypted mobile device called ‘AN0M’, in what was seen as a big win for law enforcement but you’ll have to read the book to find out more on this – there’s setting traps and waiting for crooks and then there’s setting traps and taking them to the crooks. The AN0M case went for the latter.
Lynch’s knack for writing is not just in his ability to lay out in a digestible manner the big stuff in money laundering and the state of play in efforts to tackle it in Australia but he is also able to weave in personal stories of the people he has spoken to around the world. He takes the reader outside the shores of Australia to places like the UK, Jordan and Vietnam to detail the characters he meets and talks to about money laundering as though we are right there with him.
Before picking up the book, the title ‘The Lucky Laundry’ may appear to be just another catchy alliteration but there is a deeper meaning to the title and its significance to Australia. This is not just a book for anti-money laundering professionals in Australia or those in living Australia, it is a book for everyone…money laundering and the crimes connected to it affect each and every one of us.
Links to buy The Lucky Laundry are here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/the-lucky-laundry-how-the-aussie-economy-got-hooked-on-the-worlds-dirtiest-cash-nathan-lynch
© 2023 The Laundry. All Rights Reserved.
Every year, economic crime costs the UK economy at least £300 billion – that’s equivalent to around 15% of our national income. And twice our annual health budget.
Britain has become the destination of choice for too many oligarchs, people traffickers and drug smugglers who seek to launder their dirty money. They use our financial system, our tax havens, and our opaque corporate structure to hide and clean their ill-gotten gains. This is why, one year ago, we published an ambitious, cross-party Manifesto which set out pragmatic steps to tackle the scourge of dirty money. The Manifesto urged the Government to consider action on four central pillars for reform: Transparency, Enforcement, Accountability and Regulation. Working on these four fronts is essential if we are to systematically drive dirty money out of the UK.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine brought Britain’s shameful role as a butler to the world’s kleptocrats and crooks into the light, but it did provide an important impetus for change. The Government’s two Economic Crime Bills represent a welcome start, but we should be going further and faster. All of us who are committed to the task of eliminating illicit finance can feel proud of what we have accomplished so far. The alliance of people from civil society, industry, academia, the Church, and all parties in Parliament is strong and impressive. But now is not the moment to take our foot off the gas. We need to sustain our efforts and build on the momentum we have achieved. We need to strengthen the alliances across parties and across sectors. We need to continue to work together to persuade our Government that it is geopolitically, economically and morally vital to eradicate dirty money in our country.
One year on: How we’re tackling economic crime & dirty money, one step at a time…Read the full ‘one year on’ update here by clicking ‘1 Year Impact Report’ from the menu: https://economiccrimemanifesto2022.co.uk
The Economic Crime Manifesto was written by the APPG on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax and the APPG on Fair Business Banking and funded by the Open Society Foundations. It is not an official publication of the House of Commons or House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues.
Last year’s manifesto can be found here: https://economiccrimemanifesto2022.co.uk
British American Tobacco (BAT) and its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore (BATMS), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of tobacco products based in the United Kingdom, has agreed to pay combined penalties of more than $629 million to resolve bank fraud and sanctions violations charges with U.S. authorities, arising out of the companies’ scheme to do business in North Korea through a third-party company in Singapore, in violation of the bank fraud statute and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Separately, charges were unsealed today in the District of Columbia against a North Korean banker and Chinese facilitators for their roles in facilitating the illicit sale of tobacco products in North Korea.
According to court documents, BATMS pleaded guilty to a criminal information filed in the District of Columbia charging BAT and BATMS with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to violate IEEPA. BAT entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) related to the same charges.
Specifically, in 2007, BAT spun off its North Korea sales to a third-party company, issuing a press statement that it was no longer involved in North Korea tobacco sales. In reality, BAT continued to do business in North Korea through the third-party company and BATMS maintained control over all relevant aspects of the North Korean business. Between 2007 and 2017, BAT and BATMS ran the payments for the tobacco sold to North Korean entities through the third-party company, resulting in approximately $418 million of U.S. dollar cash and correspondent banking transactions from North Korea to the third-party company in Singapore – money that was then passed on to BATMS and BAT. To make these payments, North Korean purchasers used front companies so that U.S. banks – which processed the transactions – would not know about the connection to North Korea. Pursuant to the DPA and plea agreement, BAT and BATMS will pay a total of $629 million in penalties and fines… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-obtains-629-million-settlement-british-american-tobacco-resolve-illegal-sales
Read the British American Tobacco court document here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1581536/download
Read the Indictment of others here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1581541/download
I am Matt Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice. I am joined by my colleagues in the Justice Department: the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, and FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division, Suzanne Turner. We are also joined by Undersecretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, and Deputy U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Jung Pak – who are both here to announce associated actions by their departments.
Today, in the culmination of a long-running investigation, the Justice Department is announcing a deferred prosecution agreement with British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the world’s largest producers of tobacco products, as well as a guilty plea by its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore (BATMS). The agreement and the plea resolve charges for bank fraud and for violations of U.S. sanctions against North Korea.
Under the agreement, British American Tobacco will pay more than $629 million dollars in penalties.
This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Justice Department – and the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and consequences of violating U.S. sanctions… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-attorney-general-national-security-matthew-g-olsen-delivers-remarks-announcing
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $508 million settlement agreement with London-headquartered British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) to resolve its apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This settlement is OFAC’s largest ever with a non-financial institution and reflects the statutory maximum penalty.
OFAC’s investigation found that BAT, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, engaged in a seven-year conspiracy from 2009 to 2016 to send over $250 million in profits from a North Korean joint venture through U.S. financial institutions by relying on designated North Korean banks and a variety of intermediaries. BAT’s Singaporean subsidiary also exported tobacco to the North Korean Embassy in Singapore until 2017, using unwitting U.S. banks to receive or process these payments… Read the full press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1441
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $508,612,492 settlement with British American Tobacco p.l.c. (“BAT”). BAT, a London, England-headquartered tobacco company, has agreed to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (WMDPSR) and the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (NKSR). The apparent violation of the WMDPSR arose from BAT’s formation of a conspiracy to remit approximately $250 million in payments from a North Korean joint venture, through bank accounts controlled by blocked North Korean banks, to BAT’s Singaporean subsidiary – in a manner that involved U.S. banks in clearing the transactions – between 2009 and 2016… Read the full press release here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230425
Read the Enforcement Action here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/931666/download?inline
Read the Settlement Agreement here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/931661/download?inline
The U.S. Department of State, through the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP), is announcing a reward offer of up to $5,000,000 for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) national Sim Hyon-Sop. We are also offering separate reward offers of up to $500,000 each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationals Han Linlin and Qin Gouming. As part of a whole-of-government action, these three individuals were charged by the Department of Justice with various criminal offenses, and Sim was sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
According to the Department of Justice’s indictment, Qin, Han, and Sim used multiple front companies to purchase tobacco products and other goods for North Korean customers and laundered U.S. dollars for these shipments. The tobacco imported by Qin, Han, and others into the DPRK was used to manufacture counterfeit cigarettes, the sales of which benefitted the DPRK regime… Read the full press release here: https://www.state.gov/u-s-department-of-state-announces-reward-offers-for-information-leading-to-the-arrests-and-or-convictions-of-three-transnational-criminals-violating-dprk-sanctions/
BAT today announced that it has reached agreement with DOJ and OFAC to resolve previously disclosed investigations into suspicions of sanctions breaches. These concern business activities relating to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) between 2007 and 2017.
British American Tobacco p.l.c. has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with DOJ and a civil settlement agreement with OFAC, and an indirect BAT subsidiary in Singapore has entered into a plea agreement with DOJ. The total amount payable to the U.S. authorities is $635,241,338 plus interest… Read the full press release here: https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOCR8FJZ
UOP LLC, dba as Honeywell UOP, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., has agreed to pay more than $160 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil stemming from bribe payments offered to a high-ranking official at Brazil’s state-owned oil company.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s resolution is coordinated with prosecutorial authorities in Brazil as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to court documents, Honeywell UOP entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the department in connection with a criminal information filed in the Southern District of Texas charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
According to the company’s admissions and court documents, between 2010 and 2014, Honeywell UOP conspired to offer an approximately $4 million bribe to a then-high-ranking executive of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A (Petrobras) in Brazil. Specifically, Honeywell UOP offered the bribe to secure improper advantages in order to obtain and retain business from Petrobras in connection with Honeywell UOP’s efforts to win an approximately $425 million contract from Petrobras to design and build an oil refinery called Premium… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/honeywell-uop-pay-over-160m-resolve-foreign-bribery-investigations-us-and-brazil
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Honeywell International Inc. for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribery schemes that took place in Brazil and Algeria. The company has agreed to pay more than $81 million to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC’s order finds that Honeywell, a U.S.-based global manufacturer of aerospace, building technologies, and automation products, engaged in a bribery scheme involving intermediaries and employees of its U.S. subsidiary to obtain business from the Brazil state-owned entity Petrobras. Specifically, the order finds that, in 2010, Honeywell offered at least $4 million in bribes to a high-ranking Brazilian government official in connection with the bidding process at Petrobras. The SEC’s order also finds that, in 2011, employees and agents of Honeywell’s Belgian subsidiary paid more than $75,000 in bribes to an Algerian government official to obtain and retain business with the Algerian state-owned entity Sonatrach… Read the full press release here: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-230
Read the SEC Order here: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2022/34-96529.pdf
Danske Bank A/S (Danske Bank), a global financial institution headquartered in Denmark, pleaded guilty today and agreed to forfeit $2 billion to resolve the United States’ investigation into Danske Bank’s fraud on U.S. banks.
According to court documents, Danske Bank defrauded U.S. banks regarding Danske Bank Estonia’s customers and anti-money laundering controls to facilitate access to the U.S. financial system for Danske Bank Estonia’s high-risk customers, who resided outside of Estonia – including in Russia. The Justice Department will credit nearly $850 million in payments that Danske Bank makes to resolve related parallel investigations by other domestic and foreign authorities.
“Today’s guilty plea by Danske Bank and two-billion-dollar penalty demonstrate that the Department of Justice will fiercely guard the integrity of the U.S. financial system from tainted foreign money – Russian or otherwise,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Whether you are a U.S. or foreign bank, if you use the U.S. financial system, you must comply with our laws. We expect companies to invest in robust compliance programs – including at newly acquired or far-flung subsidiaries – and to step up and own up to misconduct when it occurs. Failure to do so may well be a one-way ticket to a multi-billion-dollar guilty plea.”… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/danske-bank-pleads-guilty-fraud-us-banks-multi-billion-dollar-scheme-access-us-financial
Read the complaint here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1557606/download
Read the plea agreement here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1557611/download
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against Danske Bank, a multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denmark, for misleading investors about its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program in its Estonian branch and failing to disclose the risks posed by the program’s significant deficiencies. Danske Bank agreed to pay $413 million to settle the SEC’s charges.
According to the SEC’s complaint, when Danske Bank acquired its Estonian branch in 2007, it knew or should have known that a substantial portion of the branch’s customers were engaging in transactions that had a high risk of involving money laundering; that its internal risk management procedures were inadequate to prevent such activity; and that its AML and Know-Your-Customer procedures were not being followed and did not comply with applicable laws and rules. The SEC alleges that, from 2009 to 2016, these high-risk customers, none of whom were residents of Estonia, utilized Danske Bank’s services to transact billions of dollars in suspicious transactions through the U.S. and other countries, generating as much as 99 percent of the Estonian branch’s profits. The complaint further alleges that, although Danske Bank knew of these high-risk transactions, it made materially misleading statements and omissions in its publicly available reports stating that it complied with its AML obligations and that it had effectively managed its AML risks. As the full extent of Danske Bank’s AML failures became apparent, its share price dropped precipitously.
“Corporations that raise money from the public must disclose information that is material to investors, who then get to decide what risks they want to take. That’s the basic bargain of our securities laws and it extends to foreign issuers like Danske Bank, which sought to access our capital markets, even though its securities were not registered with the Commission,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “But as alleged in our complaint, Danske Bank repeatedly broke that bargain by misrepresenting to its shareholders, including U.S. investors, that it had strong anti-money laundering controls while hiding its significant control deficiencies and compliance failures.”… Read the full press release here: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-220
Danske Bank has reached resolutions with the DoJ, the SEC and the Danish SCU following the investigations in relation to the non-resident portfolio at Danske Bank’s former Estonia branch.
In relation to the resolutions with the U.S. authorities, Danske Bank has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge from DoJ of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which has today been approved by a U.S. District Court. Furthermore, Danske Bank has agreed to settle a civil securities fraud action with the SEC.
Under the SCU resolution, Danske Bank has agreed to accept a fine and confiscation for violations of the Danish AML Act and the Danish Financial Business Act.
The aggregate amounts payable to the US and Danish authorities total USD 2.06 billion (~ DKK 15.3 billion – hedged following the provision) and is comprised of forfeiture, fine, disgorgement and confiscation. This is covered by the provisions booked in connection with our financial results for the third quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2018. Reflecting cross-crediting arrangements between the three authorities as well as currency conversions, the amounts payable to the authorities are as follows:
Danske Bank accepts and agrees to the terms of the resolutions… Read the full press release here: https://danskebank.com/news-and-insights/news-archive/company-announcements/2022/ca13122022
ABB Ltd. (ABB), a Swiss-based global technology company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with core businesses focused on electrification, automation, motion, and robotics has agreed to pay more than $315 million to resolve an investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stemming from the bribery of a high-ranking official at South Africa’s state-owned energy company…
According to court documents and statements made in court, ABB entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the department in connection with the filing of a criminal information in the Eastern District of Virginia charging the company with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s books and records provisions, and substantive violations of the FCPA. In addition, ABB subsidiaries ABB Management Services Ltd. (Switzerland) and ABB South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (South Africa) each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/abb-agrees-pay-over-315-million-resolve-coordinated-global-foreign-bribery-case
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against global electrification and automation technology company, ABB Ltd, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of a bribery scheme in South Africa. The company has agreed to pay a $75 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC’s order finds that, from 2015 through 2017, ABB executives in Switzerland and South Africa colluded with a high-ranking government official at Eskom, an electricity provider owned by the South African government, to funnel bribes to the official through complicit third-party service providers with whom the government official had close personal relationships. ABB paid the service providers more than $37 million to bribe the government official. In return ABB obtained a $160 million contract to provide cabling and installation work at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station… Read the full press release here: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-214
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) resolves the criminal investigation against ABB. Namely, it issues a penalty order for an offense against the Art. 102 Par. 2 Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) in connection with Art. 322septies SCC and sentences the company to a fine of 4 million Swiss francs…
ABB Management Services Ltd with headquarters in Switzerland acknowledges in the penalty order not having taken all necessary and reasonable organizational provisions in order to prevent bribery payments to foreign officials in South Africa. In concrete terms, various ABB employees set up from 2013 on a bribery scheme in order to obtain orders, through excessive payments to subcontractors, for the construction of a coal-fired power plant in South Africa. In this way, ABB South Africa received orders for a value of at least 200 million dollars with bribery payments of at least 1.3 million Swiss francs… Read the full press release here: https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-92020.html
As part of its ongoing criminal investigation into complex corruption at Eskom, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) has finalised a comprehensive settlement agreement with ABB to pay over R2,5 billion in punitive reparations to South Africa. This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards accountability and justice for alleged offenders, particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom during the state capture period…
ABB Ltd, an international company with a large South African footprint, was implicated in state capture era corruption. ABB has acknowledged liability and taken responsibility for the alleged criminal conduct of its employees involving contracts with Eskom. As a result, ABB has been forthcoming in cooperating with law enforcement agencies conducting the investigations into such alleged conduct. It has assisted the NPA’s ID to secure evidence and key witnesses which have formed an essential part of the NPA’s ongoing investigations into the company’s alleged offences. It will continue to do so as part of the agreement… Read the full press release here: https://www.npa.gov.za/media/step-towards-accountability-state-capture-corruption-eskom-abb-pay-over-r25-billion-punitive
Lafarge S.A. (Lafarge), a global building materials manufacturer headquartered in France, and Lafarge Cement Syria, S.A. (LCS), a Lafarge subsidiary headquartered in Syria, pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging them with conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Immediately following the defendants’ guilty pleas this morning, United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II sentenced the defendants to terms of probation and to pay financial penalties, including criminal fines of $90.78 million and forfeiture of $687 million, totaling $777.78 million.
The charges arose out of the defendants’ scheme to pay ISIS and ANF in exchange for permission to operate a cement plant in Syria from August 2013 to October 2014, which enabled LCS to obtain approximately $70.30 million in revenue… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/lafarge-pleads-guilty-conspiring-provide-material-support-foreign-terrorist
Thank you, Breon, and thank you all for being here.
Today’s guilty pleas to terrorism charges by multi-national construction conglomerate Lafarge SA and its Syrian subsidiary reflect corporate crime that reached a new low and a very dark place.
For the first time ever, the United States has charged these companies with providing material support to terrorist organizations — in this case, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF).
And for the first time, companies have pleaded guilty to supporting terrorist organizations, with Lafarge SA and its Syrian subsidiary facing criminal penalties of more than three-quarters of a billion dollars.
Protecting national security by fighting international terrorism is mission-critical for the Department of Justice.
Fighting corporate crime is also a top Department priority.
Today’s charges and guilty pleas should make clear: when companies and their executives engage in conduct that threatens our national security — in this case by fueling a violent terrorist organizations — the Department will respond with resolve.
And this case also makes clear – business with terrorists cannot be business as usual… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-delivers-remarks-announcing-guilty-plea-lafarge
As you’ve heard this morning, there is no question as to the seriousness of the conduct at the heart of today’s resolution. The defendants routed nearly six million dollars in illicit payments to ISIS and al-Nusrah Front in Syria – two of the world’s most notorious terrorist groups.
In my time as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, I saw the horrific violence perpetrated by these terrorist organizations and the ways they exploited sectarian violence in Syria to seize territory, coerce the civil population and generate revenue streams to accelerate their attack plotting.
The defendants negotiated and made unlawful payments at a time when these groups were gaining territory and brutalizing innocent civilians in Syria and elsewhere and were actively plotting against Americans.
LaFarge and its Syrian subsidiary have admitted to engaging in criminal conduct that constitutes material support to terrorism in both legal and practical terms. There is no justification – none – for a multi-national corporation authorizing payments to a designated terrorist group. Such payments are egregious violations of our laws, justify maximum scrutiny by U.S. authorities, and warrant severe punishment… Read the full remarks here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-attorney-general-national-security-matthew-g-olsen-delivers-remarks-lafarge
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced settlements for over $24 million and $29 million, respectively, with Bittrex, Inc. (Bittrex), a virtual currency exchange based in Bellevue, Washington. This is OFAC’s largest virtual currency enforcement action to date. It also represents the first parallel enforcement actions by FinCEN and OFAC in this space. Investigations by OFAC and FinCEN found apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs and willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA’s) anti-money laundering (AML) and suspicious activity report (SAR) reporting requirements. These enforcement actions emphasize to the virtual currency industry the importance of implementing appropriate risk-based sanctions compliance controls and meeting obligations under the BSA… Read the full press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1006
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with Bittrex, Inc., a private company based in Bellevue, Washington that provides an online virtual currency exchange and hosted wallet services. Bittrex agreed to remit $24,280,829.20 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Cuba, Ukraine-related, Iran, Sudan, and Syria… Read the full press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20221011
Bittrex, Inc. (“Bittrex”), a private company based in Bellevue, Washington, that provides an online virtual currency exchange and hosted wallet services, has agreed to remit $24,280,829.20 to settle its potential civil liability for 116,421 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs. As a result of deficiencies related to Bittrex’s sanctions compliance procedures, Bittrex failed to prevent persons apparently located in the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria from using its platform to engage in approximately $263,451,600.13 worth of virtual currency-related transactions. The applicable sanctions programs generally prohibited U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with these jurisdictions. Based on internet protocol (“IP”) address information and physical address information collected about each customer at onboarding, Bittrex had reason to know that these users were in jurisdictions subject to sanctions. At the time of the transactions, however, Bittrex was not screening this customer information for terms associated with sanctioned jurisdictions… Read the full enforcement notice here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/20221011_bittrex.pdf
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has assessed a civil money penalty in the amount of $29,280,829.20 against Bittrex, for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and FinCEN’s implementing regulations. FinCEN’s action is part of a global settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“For years, Bittrex’s AML program and SAR reporting failures unnecessarily exposed the U.S. financial system to threat actors,” said FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das. “Bittrex’s failures created exposure to high-risk counterparties including sanctioned jurisdictions, darknet markets, and ransomware attackers. Virtual asset service providers are on notice that they must implement robust risk-based compliance programs and meet their BSA reporting requirements. FinCEN will not hesitate to act when it identifies willful violations of the BSA.”
FinCEN’s investigation found that, from February 2014 through December 2018, Bittrex failed to maintain an effective AML program. Bittrex’s program failed to appropriately address the risks associated with the products and services it offered, including anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies.
Bittrex failed to implement effective transaction monitoring on its trading platform, relying on as few as two employees with minimal anti-money laundering training and experience to manually review all of the transactions for suspicious activity, which at times were over 20,000 per day… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-29-million-enforcement-action-against-virtual-asset-service
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has conducted a civil enforcement investigation and determined that grounds exist to impose a Civil Money Penalty against Bittrex, Inc. (Bittrex) for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations. Bittrex admits to the Statement of Facts and Violations set forth below and consents to the issuance of this Consent Order… Throughout the Relevant Time Period, Bittrex owned and operated a convertible virtual currency (CVC) trading platform known as “Bittrex.” The platform was primarily operated from offices located in Bellevue, Washington, and included a hosted digital wallet service for storing and transferring CVCs. Bittrex also operated as an “exchanger” of over 250 different CVCs,4 including bitcoin, ether, monero, zcash, and dash.5 During the Relevant Time Period, Bittrex facilitated almost 546 million trades on its platform in the United States and at times averaged over 20,000 transactions (deposits and withdrawals) through its hosted wallets daily during the Relevant Time Period, including transactions involving over $17 billion worth of bitcoin during the Relevant Time Period… Read the full Consent Order here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement_action/2022-10-11/Bittrex%20Consent%20Order%2010.11.2022.pdf
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will strengthen the UK’s reputation as a place where legitimate businesses can thrive while driving dirty money out of the UK. Through the reforms, anyone who registers a company in the UK will need to verify their identity, tackling the use of companies as a front for crime or foreign kleptocrats.
The reforms to Companies House – its biggest upgrade in 170 years – will also see the organisation armed with new powers to check, challenge and decline incorrect or fraudulent information, making it a more active gatekeeper over company creation. The investigation and enforcement powers of Companies House will also be upgraded, enabling the organisation to cross check data with public and private partners, as well as reporting suspicious activity to security agencies and law enforcement… Read the full press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-crackdown-on-fraud-and-money-laundering-to-protect-uk-economy
Factsheets giving details of the different measures contained in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill:
Fact sheet: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill overarching: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-overarching
Fact sheet: the role and powers of the Registrar of Companies: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-the-role-and-powers-of-the-registrar-of-companies
Fact sheet: company names: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-company-names
Fact sheet: identity verification and authorised corporate service providers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-identity-verification-and-authorised-corporate-service-providers
Fact sheet: preventing abuse of personal information on the Register: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-preventing-abuse-of-personal-information-on-the-register
Fact sheet: improving transparency of company ownership: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-improving-transparency-of-company-ownership
Fact sheet: Companies House fees: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-companies-house-fees
Fact sheet: company accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-company-accounts
Fact sheet: limited partnerships: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-limited-partnerships
Fact sheet: impact of corporate transparency reforms on limited liability partnerships: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-impact-assessments
Fact sheet: Civil sanctions and offences relating to reform of Companies House and limited partnerships: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105665/11._Civil_Sanctions_and_Offences_Relating_to_Reform_of_Companies_House_and_Limited_Partnerships.pdf
Factsheet: cryptoassets – key terms and definitions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/factsheet-cryptoassets-key-terms-and-definitions
Fact sheet: cryptoassets technical: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-cryptoassets-technical
Fact sheet: cryptoassets – legislation: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-cryptoassets-legislation
Fact sheet: information sharing measures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-information-sharing-measures
Fact Sheet: the removal of the statutory cap on financial penalties for the Law Society, as delegated to the Solicitors Regulation Authority: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-the-removal-of-the-statutory-cap-on-financial-penalties-for-the-law-society-as-delegated-to-the-solicitors-regulation-authority
Fact sheet: new regulatory objective in the Legal Services Act 2007: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-new-regulatory-objective-in-the-legal-services-act-2007
Fact sheet: the extension of the Serious Fraud Office’s pre-investigation powers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-the-extension-of-the-serious-fraud-offices-pre-investigation-powers
Fact sheet: economic crime in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets/fact-sheet-economic-crime-in-the-uk
Main page of fact sheets: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-factsheets
Impact assessments relating to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill:
Impact assessment for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105777/1._Impact_Assessment_from_Department_for_Business__Energy_and_Industrial_Strategy.pdf
Regulatory Policy Committee opinion: corporate transparency and Companies House register reform: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105781/2._RPC_Opinion_-_Corporate_Transparency_and_Companies_House_Register_Reform.pdf
Regulatory Policy Committee opinion: reform of limited partnership law: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105789/3._RPC_Opinion_-_Reform_of_limited_partnership_law.pdf
Impact assessment: overarching economic crime measures (Home Office measures): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105797/4._Overarching_Economic_Crime_Measures_IA.pdf
Impact assessment: cryptoassets: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105799/5._Cryptoassets_IA.pdf
Impact assessment: exemptions for handling mixed suspected criminal and legitimate property: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105802/6._Exemptions_for_handling_mixed_suspected_criminal_and_legitimate_property_IA.pdf
Impact assessment: DAML: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105806/7._DAML_Review_IA.pdf
Impact assessment: Information Orders: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105810/8._Information_Order_IA.pdf
Impact assessment: information sharing: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105814/9._Information_Sharing_IA.pdf
Regulatory Policy Committee opinion: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill 2022 (Home Office measures): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105819/10._2022-07-14-RPC-HO-5197_1_-Economic_Crime_Bill_.pdf
Impact assessment: enhanced due diligence: designation of high-risk countries (HM Treasury): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105823/11._-_EBC_DM_IA_-_HRTC_Measure_.pdf
Impact assessment: the removal of the statutory cap on financial penalties in relation to economic crime matters (Ministry of Justice): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105826/12._MoJ_Impact_Assessment_Fining_Measure.pdf
Impact assessment: regulators of legal services: objective relating to economic crime (Ministry of Justice): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105829/13._MoJ_Impact_Assessment_Regulatory_Objective_Measure.pdf
Main page of impact assessments: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-impact-assessments
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) memoranda relating to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill:
ECHR memorandum: Parts 1-3 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105845/ECHR_Memorandum_for_Parts_1-3_Economic_Crime_and_Corporate_Transparency_Bill__BEIS_components_.pdf
ECHR memorandum: Parts 4-5 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105849/ECHR_Memorandum_for_Parts_4-5_ECCT_Bill__Home_Office_MoJ_SFO_.pdf
Main page to European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022-echr-memoranda
Main page for overarching documents (fact sheets, impact assessments and ECHR memoranda) that relate to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill… See the links here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-bill-2022
The Government are today introducing the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, as committed to in the Queen’s Speech at the start of this parliamentary Session. Building on the recently enacted Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, the measures in this new, significant Bill enable us to bear down further on kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists who abuse our open economy, strengthening the UK’s reputation as a place where legitimate business can thrive while driving dirty money out of the UK.
The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle illicit finance and economic crime… Read the all the statement here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-09-22/debates/22092219000013/EconomicCrimeAndCorporateTransparencyBill
Main page for the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, including details, news, stages and publications… Read the all the details here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3339
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, explanatory notes: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0154/220154.pdf
The digital assets market has grown significantly in recent years. Millions of people globally, including 16% of adult Americans, have purchased digital assets—which reached a market capitalization of $3 trillion globally last November. Digital assets present potential opportunities to reinforce U.S. leadership in the global financial system and remain at the technological frontier. But they also pose real risks as evidenced by recent events in crypto markets. The May crash of a so-called stablecoin and the subsequent wave of insolvencies wiped out over $600 billion of investor and consumer funds.
President Biden’s March 9 Executive Order (EO) on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets outlined the first whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology. Over the past six months, agencies across the government have worked together to develop frameworks and policy recommendations that advance the six key priorities identified in the EO: consumer and investor protection; promoting financial stability; countering illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation… Read the full press release here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/16/fact-sheet-white-house-releases-first-ever-comprehensive-framework-for-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/
At the direction of President Biden and after 180 days of determined work across the Biden-Harris administration, we are releasing the first-ever comprehensive federal digital assets framework– positioning us to keep playing a leading role in the innovation and governance of the digital assets ecosystem at home and abroad and in a way that protects consumers, is consistent with our democratic values, and advances U.S. global competitiveness.
First, consistent with the President’s directive to place the “highest urgency” on research and development of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Administration encourages the Federal Reserve to continue its research and experimentation. We will also launch an interagency working group to support Federal Reserve efforts by the considering policy implications of a potential CBDC, especially for our national security. The leadership of the Federal Reserve, the National Economic Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Treasury Department, and other agencies as appropriate, will meet regularly to discuss updates and progress. Second, the Administration will execute a comprehensive action plan with priority steps to mitigate key risks of cryptocurrencies—among others, money laundering and financing for terrorism… Read the full statement here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/16/statement-by-nec-director-brian-deese-and-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-digital-assets-framework/
MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone, and thanks for joining. Today we’re doing a press call on the new Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets.
The first part of the call is on the record so we’re going to go ahead and get that started. And I’m going to turn it over to Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese. Over to you.
MR. DEESE: Thanks, and thank you all for joining here today. I’ll be brief at the top and them I’m going to turn it over to my colleagues, Secretary Yellen and Director Nelson.
Just to start, the bottom line here is that the responsible development of digital assets is vital for American interests, from the well-being of consumers and investors to the safety and stability of our financial system, and for our financial and technological leadership around the world.
And we’ve seen in recent months substantial turmoil in cryptocurrency markets, and these events really highlight how, without proper oversight, cryptocurrencies risk harming everyday American’s financial stability and our national security. And it is why this administration believes that now more than ever prudent regulation of cryptocurrencies is needed if digital assets are going to play a role that we believe they can in fostering innovation and supporting our economic and technological competitiveness… Read the full press briefing here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/09/16/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-first-ever-comprehensive-framework-for-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today published three reports pursuant to Sections 4, 5 and 7 of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14067 on “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” The reports address the future of money and payment systems, consumer and investor protection and illicit finance risks.
“Innovation is one of the hallmarks of a vibrant financial system and economy. But as we have learned painfully from the past, innovation without appropriately addressing the impact of these developments can result in significant disruptions and harm to the financial system and individuals, especially our more vulnerable populations. The reports clearly identify the real challenges and risks of digital assets used for financial services. At the same time, if these risks are mitigated, digital assets and other emerging technologies could offer significant opportunities. These reports and their recommendations provide a strong foundation for policymakers as we work to realize the potential benefits of digital assets and to mitigate and minimize the risks.”… Read the full statement here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0956
The reports and their recommendations can be viewed at the following links:
Section 4 – The Future of Money and Payments: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Future-of-Money-and-Payments.pdf
Section 5 – Implications for Consumers, Investors, and Businesses: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/CryptoAsset_EO5.pdf
Section 7 – Action Plan to Address Illicit Financing Risks of Digital Assets: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Digital-Asset-Action-Plan.pdf
The Department of Justice today announced significant actions regarding digital assets, including the public release of its report, pursuant to the President’s March 9 Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, on The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets; and the establishment of the nationwide Digital Asset Coordinator (DAC) Network, in furtherance of the department’s efforts to combat the growing threat posed by the illicit use of digital assets to the American public.
“As digital assets play a growing role in our global financial system, we must work in tandem with departments and agencies across government to prevent and disrupt the exploitation of these technologies to facilitate crime and undermine our national security,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The efforts announced today reflect the commitment of the Justice Department and our law enforcement and regulatory partners to advancing the responsible development of digital assets, protecting the public from criminal actors in this ecosystem, and meeting the unique challenges these technologies pose.”… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-report-digital-assets-and-launches-nationwide-network
A link to the report, The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, And Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets, is here: https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1535236/download
President Biden often summarizes his vision for America in one word: Possibilities. A “digital dollar” may seem far-fetched, but modern technology could make it a real possibility.
A United States central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar. While the U.S. has not yet decided whether it will pursue a CBDC, the U.S. has been closely examining the implications of, and options for, issuing a CBDC. If the U.S. pursued a CBDC, there could be many possible benefits, such as facilitating efficient and low-cost transactions, fostering greater access to the financial system, boosting economic growth, and supporting the continued centrality of the U.S. within the international financial system. However, a U.S. CBDC could also introduce a variety of risks, as it might affect everything ranging from the stability of the financial system to the protection of sensitive data.
Notably, these benefits and risks might vary significantly based on how the CBDC system is designed and deployed. That is why Executive Order 14067, Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, placed the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a U.S. CBDC. The Executive Order directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in consultation with other Federal departments and agencies, to submit to the President a technical evaluation for a potential U.S. CBDC system.
Today, OSTP is publishing its report, Technical Evaluation for a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency System, which lays out policy objectives for a potential U.S. CBDC system and analyzes key technical design choices for a U.S. CBDC system. The report also estimates the technical feasibility of building a CBDC minimum viable product and describes how a U.S. CBDC system might affect Federal operations. The report makes recommendations on how to prepare the Federal Government for a U.S. CBDC system. Importantly, the report does not make any assessments or recommendations about whether the U.S. should pursue a CBDC, nor does it make any decisions regarding particular design choices for a potential U.S. CBDC system… Read the full briefing here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/09/16/technical-possibilities-for-a-u-s-central-bank-digital-currency/
A link to the report, Technical Evaluation for a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency System, is here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/09-2022-Technical-Evaluation-US-CBDC-System.pdf
This is a live page. Last updated: 24 Jul 2022 – 5:34pm (UK Time)
Image credit: ICIJ
This is The Laundry’s ‘live’ aggregated news page for the Uber Files. The page is updated regularly with new links to content when it is published by various outlets.
Going after Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel wasn’t enough for Robert Mazur, he went and done it again when he went after the Cali Cartel, headed up by the Orejuela brothers (Gilberto and Miguel) and their partners José Santacruz Londoño and Hélmer Herrera – only this time the stakes were even higher!
After his first book The Infiltrator was turned into a movie of the same name, Robert Mazur or Bob (as he is known as) takes you on an even more unbelievable (but very true) journey as an undercover US agent, laundering money for some of the most dangerous people in the world. The Betrayal details that journey and it is one that those in law enforcement and anti-money laundering (AML) alike, along with the general public, need to know about – it affects everyone.
The epilogue of the book lets the reader know instantly that The Betrayal is definitely movie material but at the same time this is not make-believe and highlights the reality of the grave danger Bob put himself in more than once – those weren’t movie prop AK47s and MAC-10s loaded with blanks, those were real guns with bullets!
One of the standouts and recurring themes of the book is the focus on professional money launderers – for anyone in AML, this is something that should be of particular note. Throughout the book Bob highlights some of the techniques used by the criminals to launder and move funds – one of the schemes described on pages 166-167 of the book was complex and (not to give the criminals credit but for lack of a better word) brilliant.
In between the information of the money laundering schemes, Bob also weaves in details of the characters that he had to deal with in his time undercover and these ranged from informants to people with political connections, not to mention some with access and ties to banks also – and these people were darted all around the world, highlighting that money laundering is truly a global affair.
Bob’s brilliance is not only in his quick thinking in difficult situations and in his dealing with criminals – ones that might get the average person killed for saying or doing the wrong thing if they sniffed something was out of place or character – but also his integrity. With the amounts of money that Bob dealt with and the information he had access to, a lesser man may have ran off with the money a long time ago and lived out a comfortable life but Bob is somebody with the utmost of integrity and it really comes across not only in The Betrayal but The Infiltrator before it.
The Betrayal is a page turner for sure and you won’t want to put it down until it is finished – you will understand exactly why it was called The Betrayal and why that mattered. What makes the book even more interesting is right at the end – Bob takes it to the next level but we might have to wait for a third instalment from Bob for that. In the meantime The Betrayal is a ‘must read’ for all – if you haven’t bought it already go and buy The Betrayal now, you won’t be disappointed.
Links to buy The Betrayal are here: https://iconbooks.com/ib-title/the-betrayal/
Robert Mazur also offers speaking and consulting services. More information is available on his official website here: https://www.robertmazur.com
© 2022 The Laundry. All Rights Reserved.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced that it has assessed a $140 million civil money penalty against USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA FSB) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations.
Specifically, USAA FSB admitted that it willfully failed to implement and maintain an anti‑money laundering (AML) program that met the minimum requirements of the BSA from at least January 2016 through April 2021. USAA FSB also admitted that it willfully failed to accurately and timely report thousands of suspicious transactions to FinCEN involving suspicious financial activity by its customers, including customers using personal accounts for apparent criminal activity.
“As its customer base and revenue grew in recent years, USAA FSB willfully failed to ensure that its compliance program kept pace, resulting in millions of dollars in suspicious transactions flowing through the U.S. financial system without appropriate reporting,” said FinCEN’s Acting Director Himamauli Das. “USAA FSB also received ample notice and opportunity to remediate its inadequate AML program, but repeatedly failed to do so. Today’s action signals that growth and compliance must be paired, and AML program deficiencies, especially deficiencies identified by federal regulators, must be promptly and effectively addressed”… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-140-million-civil-money-penalty-against-usaa-federal-savings
The full FinCEN Consent Order imposing Civil Money Penalty can be found here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement_action/2022-03-18/USAA%20Consent%20Order_Final%20508%20(2).pdf
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today assessed a $60 million civil money penalty against USAA, Federal Savings Bank, for violations of the OCC’s Bank Secrecy Act regulations. The OCC also issued a Cease and Desist Order against the bank based on its failure to establish and maintain an effective Bank Secrecy Act/Anti Money Laundering (BSA/AML) program.
The OCC found that USAA, Federal Savings Bank, failed to adopt and implement a BSA/AML program that adequately covered the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. Such deficiencies resulted in the bank’s failure to file timely suspicious activity reports. The bank also failed to correct BSA/AML internal control problems that the OCC had previously identified and reported to it… Read the full press release here: https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2022/nr-occ-2022-25.html
The full OCC Civil Money Penalty can be found here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/ea2022-009.pdf
The full OCC Consent Order can be found here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/ea2022-008.pdf
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is announcing its efforts to support the multilateral Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force, announced earlier today by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Justice. The task force aims to deny and disrupt illicit actors’ ability to deceptively access the international financial system and conduct economic activity. FinCEN is supporting Treasury’s efforts to boost cooperation and intelligence sharing by agreeing to increase information sharing with relevant authorities in task force member countries. FinCEN is also issuing a FinCEN Alert, which highlights the importance of financial institutions identifying and quickly reporting suspicious transactions by sanctioned Russian elites and their proxies that involve real estate, luxury goods, and high-value assets.
“Financial intelligence is fundamental to U.S. bilateral and multilateral efforts to trace, freeze, and seize the corrupt gains of Russian elites and their enablers,” said FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das. “It is critical that financial institutions increase their awareness of indicators of potential Russian sanctions evasion and that governments work together to collect and share information in this rapidly evolving crisis. We appreciate the collaboration of our financial institution and government partners in this effort.”… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-actions-support-repo-multilateral-task-force-and-ongoing-us
We, the Financial Intelligence Units of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, referred to herein as Working Group Members issue this statement of intent:
Recalling statements made by governments around the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, condemning Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice against Ukraine, enabled by the Belarussian government (“the threat”);
Recognizing that the respective governments of the Working Group Members and the European Union have imposed several rounds of far-reaching economic and financial sanctions, and committed to imposing further sanctions in response to the threat… Read the full statement here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/russia-related-illicit-finance-and-sanctions-fiu-working-group-statement-intent
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing a second alert on the importance of identifying and quickly reporting suspicious transactions involving real estate, luxury goods, and other high-value assets of sanctioned Russian elites and their family members and those through which they act (collectively, “sanctioned Russian elites and their proxies”). This alert provides select red flags4 to assist financial institutions in identifying suspicious transactions, and reminds financial institutions of their Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting obligations. This alert also complements other recent coordinated U.S. Government actions related to luxury goods, and highlights the establishment of U.S. and international task forces and programs designed to freeze and seize the assets of sanctioned Russian actors… Read the full alert here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/FinCEN%20Alert%20Russian%20Elites%20High%20Value%20Assets_508%20FINAL.pdf
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today met virtually with representatives from Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission, to launch the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) multilateral task force. The task force was first announced by leaders on February 26.
The task force, consisting of Finance Ministry and Justice or Home Ministry in each member jurisdiction, each committed to using their respective authorities in concert with other appropriate ministries to collect and share information to take concrete actions, including sanctions, asset freezing, and civil and criminal asset seizure, and criminal prosecution.
Cooperation between the U.S. Government and foreign partners has already yielded notable successes. In the last three weeks alone, information provided by U.S. law enforcement to foreign partners has contributed to the restraint of multiple vessels controlled by sanctioned individuals and entities. Collectively, these vessels are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Our sanctions, trade restrictions, and other measures have already imposed significant costs on Russia, its leadership, and those who enabled Putin’s unprovoked invasion into Ukraine,” said Secretary Yellen. “This multilateral task force will raise those costs even more, by galvanizing coordinated efforts to freeze and seize assets of these individuals in jurisdictions around the world and deny safe haven for their ill-gotten gains.”… Read the press release here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0659
…The REPO task force members discussed ways to ensure the effective, coordinated implementation of the group’s collective financial sanctions relating to Russia, as well as assistance to other nations to locate and freeze assets located within their jurisdictions. Participants also discussed the need to preserve evidence and determine whether these frozen assets, or other assets linked to these sanctioned individuals or entities, are subject to forfeiture. Finally, the task force discussed ways to bring to justice enablers and gatekeepers who have facilitated the movement of sanctioned assets or other illicit funds.
The Department of Justice’s newly launched Task Force KleptoCapture, which the Attorney General established on March 2, will help support this international effort. Task Force KleptoCapture is designed to help deploy U.S. prosecutorial and law enforcement resources to identify sanctions evasion and related criminal conduct… Read the press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-departments-justice-and-treasury-launch-multilateral-russian-oligarch-task-force
Welcome to the ‘FinCrime BookClub’ – An initiative between FINTRAIL and The Laundry.
The FinCrime BookClub sessions are online and discuss a different FinCrime-related book each month.
Hosted by Maya Braine of FINTRAIL and The Laundry’s Dev Odedra, the FinCrime BookClub is not a webinar nor is it a podcast – the audience can get involved in the discussions too.
In the next session we will be discussing My Italians: True Stories of Crime and Courage by Roberto Saviano.
REGISTER AND JOIN THE NEXT SESSION FOR FREE ONLINE AT: https://app.livestorm.co/fintech-fincrime-exchange-fintrail/fintrail-and-the-laundry-april-fincrime-bookclub
Delegates representing the 206 members of the Global Network and observer organisations, such as the IMF, the United Nations and the World Bank, met for four days of meetings. The event took place in a hybrid form with the majority of participants able to travel to meet in person in Paris due to gradual easing of COVID-19 related restrictions in many countries.
FATF Members discussed the tragic developments and the loss of life in Ukraine and issued a statement that expresses FATF’s grave concern about the invasion’s impact on the money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risk environment as well as the integrity of the financial system, the broader economy and safety and security… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/outcomes-fatf-plenary-march-2022.html
The FATF expresses deep sorrow due to the loss of people’s lives in connection with the tragic developments in Ukraine.
At the heart of the work of the FATF are the principles of international cooperation, dialogue and mutual respect among countries. In light of the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine, the FATF, as the global standard setting body for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, expresses its grave concern about the invasion’s impact on the money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risk environment as well as the integrity of the financial system, the broader economy and safety and security… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/ukraine-2022.html
Jurisdictions under increased monitoring are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring. This list is often externally referred to as the “grey list”… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/high-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/documents/increased-monitoring-march-2022.html
The Financial Action Task Force today adopted amendments to Recommendation 24 and its Interpretive Note which require countries to prevent the misuse of legal persons for money laundering or terrorist financing and to ensure that there is adequate, accurate and up-to-date information on the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons.
These amendments represent the outcomes of the two years of work in reviewing the standards. They strengthen the international standards on beneficial ownership of legal persons, to ensure greater transparency about the ultimate ownership and control of legal persons and to mitigate the risks of their misuse. This will significantly strengthen the requirements for beneficial ownership transparency globally, while retaining a degree of flexibility for individual countries to go further in refining individual regimes… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/r24-statement-march-2022.html
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is considering proposals for the update of the FATF Risk Based Guidance to the Real Estate Sector.
In June 2021, the FATF Plenary agreed to review the guidance and set out a Project Team of FATF delegations and private sector representatives to consider the necessary changes and gather relevant information.
The Guidance paper proposed for public consultation reflects the work and discussion of the Project Team, as well as members’ input of relevant case studies and data on the real estate sector’s AML/CFT supervision and practice.
The FATF is consulting all interested stakeholders in advance of finalising the Guidance… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/public-consultation-guidance-real-estate.html
This is a live page. Last updated: 21 Apr 2022 – 7:23pm (UK Time)
Image Credit: ICIJ
This is The Laundry’s ‘live’ aggregated news page for the Ericsson List. The page is updated regularly with new links to content when it is published by various outlets.
This is a live page. Last updated: 14 Mar 2022 – 8:27pm (UK Time)
Image Credit: OCCRP
This is The Laundry’s ‘live’ aggregated news page for Suisse Secrets. The page is updated regularly with new links to content when it is published by various outlets.
FINTRAIL and The Laundry are excited to announce the launch of the ‘FinCrime BookClub’. Hosted by Maya Braine of FINTRAIL and The Laundry’s Dev Odedra, the club is open to everybody, where we will be talking about different FinCrime books.
In the first meeting we will be looking at Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright.
REGISTER AND JOIN THE SESSION FOR FREE ONLINE AT: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkcuyoqzgrGdNaN-lnDStZHObcjDp9wI0x
The proposal should ensure that entities in the European Union that have no or minimal economic activity are unable to benefit from any tax advantages and do not place any financial burden on taxpayers. This will also protect the level playing field for the vast majority of European businesses, who are key to the EU’s recovery, and will ensure that ordinary taxpayers do not suffer additional financial burden due to those that try to avoid paying their fair share.
While shell, or letterbox, entities can serve useful commercial and business functions, some international groups and even individuals abuse them for aggressive tax planning or tax evasion purposes… Read the full press release here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/news/commission-proposes-end-misuse-shell-entities-tax-purposes-within-eu-2021-12-22_en
What did the European Commission propose? Why are shell companies a problem? What will the new rules do? What are the standards and indicators used to determine if a company has real economic activity? The question and answers page includes responses to these questions plus much more… Read the full Questions and Answers here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_21_6968
The factsheet is a short one-pager with a couple of quick questions to consider… Read the Factsheet here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/system/files/2021-12/Factsheet%20Unshell.pdf
The full text of the proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes and amending Directive 2011/16/EU can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/system/files/2021-12/COM_2021_565_1_EN_ACT_part1_v7.pdf
The impact assessment report to accompany the proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes and amending Directive 2011/16/EU can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/system/files/2021-12/Impact%20Assessment%20-%20Council%20Directive%20laying%20down%20rules%20to%20prevent%20the%20misuse%20of%20shell%20entities%20for%20tax%20purposes%20%28UNSHELL%29.pdf
On 22 December 2021, the European Commission presented a key initiative to fight against the misuse of shell entities for improper tax purposes. The Unshell proposal should ensure that entities in the European Union that have no or minimal economic activity are unable to benefit from any tax advantages and do not place any financial burden on taxpayers. This will also protect the level playing field for the vast majority of European businesses, who are key to the EU’s recovery, and will ensure that ordinary taxpayers do not suffer additional financial burden due to those that try to avoid paying their fair share…Read the full text here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation-1/unshell_en
On 22 December 2021, the European Commission has proposed a Directive ensuring a minimum effective tax rate for the global activities of large multinational groups. The proposal delivers on the EU’s pledge to move extremely swiftly and be among the first to implement the recent historic global tax reform agreement, which aims to bring fairness, transparency and stability to the international corporate tax framework.
The proposal follows closely the international agreement and sets out how the principles of the 15% effective tax rate – agreed by 137 countries – will be applied in practice within the EU. It includes a common set of rules on how to calculate this effective tax rate, so that it is properly and consistently applied across the EU…Read the full text here: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation-1/minimum-corporate-taxation_en
National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest) was today fined £264,772,619.95 following convictions for three offences of failing to comply with money laundering regulations… The charges covered NatWest’s failure to properly monitor the activity of a commercial customer, Fowler Oldfield, a jewellery business based in Bradford, between 8 November 2012 to 23 June 2016. When taking on the customer, NatWest initially understood it would not handle cash from the Fowler Oldfield business. However, over the course of the customer relationship approximately £365m was deposited with the bank, of which around £264m was in cash…. Read the full press release here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/natwest-fined-264.8million-anti-money-laundering-failures
For the offences of:
I sentence NatWest as follows:
Read the full sentencing remarks here: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/FCA-v-Natwest-Sentencing-remarks-131221.pdf
This is a Statement of Facts, agreed between the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and National Westminster Bank Plc (“NatWest”, “the Bank”) about the commission by NatWest of offences of failing to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (“MLR 2007”). It relates to the draft indictment accompanying it.
During the period 8 November 2012 to 23 June 2016 (the “Indictment Period”), NatWest was a ‘credit institution’ under the MLR 2007. As such, the Bank was a ‘relevant person’ required to adhere to certain requirements designed to prevent it from being used for money laundering purposes. The MLR 2007 included requirements to carry out ongoing monitoring of business relationships (Regulation 8(1)), to do so on a risk-sensitive basis (Regulation 8(3)) and to carry out enhanced monitoring in high-risk cases (Regulation 14). Failing to comply with each of those requirements constituted a criminal offence by virtue of Regulation 45(1). Whether or not a relevant person has committed an offence is to be considered in light of their compliance with relevant approved guidance, namely that issued by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (the “JMLSG”)… Read the full statement of facts here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/corporate/agreed-statement-facts-fca-national-westminster-bank.pdf
07/10/2021 – ‘NatWest Plc pleads guilty in criminal proceedings’: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/natwest-plc-pleads-guilty-criminal-proceedings
16/03/2021 – ‘FCA starts criminal proceedings against NatWest Plc’: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-starts-criminal-proceedings-against-natwest-plc
The publication, the first-ever Global Report on Corruption in Sport, asks for an urgent, unified and international response to fight malpractice and fraud across the sector. The ground-breaking new report was issued to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day, marked each 9 December.
According to the UN Agency, it reveals a “staggering scale, manifestation, and complexity of corruption and organized crime in sport at the global, regional, and national levels.”…Read the full release here: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1107472
Offering for the first time a truly comprehensive look at corruption in sport, the Global Report on Corruption in Sport reveals the staggering scale, manifestation, and complexity of corruption and criminal networks in sport at international and national levels…See overview of report here: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/safeguardingsport/grcs/index.html
Full Global Report on Corruption in Sport – Download the full report here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/index_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_FULL_REPORT.pdf
Executive summary – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/executive-summary_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_EXSUM.pdf
Section 1: Evolutions in sport related to corruption – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-1_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S1.pdf
Section 2: Applying the United Nations Convention against Corruption to sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-2_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S2.pdf
Section 3: Overview of international initiatives to tackle corruption in sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-3_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S3.pdf
Section 4: Detection and reporting corruption in sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-4_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S4.pdf
Section 5: Gender and corruption in sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-5_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S5.pdf
Section 6: Organized crime and sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-6_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S6.pdf
Section 7: Corruption and abuse in sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-7_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S7.pdf
Section 8: Understanding the manipulation of sports competition – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-8_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S8.pdf
Section 9: Illegal betting and sport – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-9_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S9.pdf
Section 10: Major sport events and corruption – Download here: https://www.unodc.org/res/safeguardingsport/grcs/section-10_html/SPORTS_CORRUPTION_2021_S10.pdf
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the beneficial ownership information reporting provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The proposed rule is designed to protect the U.S. financial system from illicit use and impede malign actors from abusing legal entities, like shell companies, to conceal proceeds of corrupt and criminal acts. Such abuses undermine U.S. national security, economic fairness, and the integrity of the U.S. financial system.
The proposed rule addresses, among other things, who must report beneficial ownership information, when they must report, and what information they must provide. Collecting this information and providing access to law enforcement, financial institutions, and other authorized users will diminish the ability of malign actors to hide, move, and enjoy the proceeds of illicit activities… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-issues-proposed-rule-beneficial-ownership-reporting-counter-illicit
Millions of corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities are formed within the United States each year. While such entities play an essential and legitimate role in the U.S. and global economies, they can also be used to facilitate illicit activity, such as corruption, and enable those who threaten U.S. national security to access and transact in the U.S. economy. Few jurisdictions in the United States require legal entities to disclose information about their beneficial owners—that is, the people who actually own or control a company—or the persons forming them. This creates opportunities for corrupt actors, criminals, and terrorists to remain anonymous while facilitating illicit activity through legal entities in the United States… Read the full fact sheet here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fact-sheet-beneficial-ownership-information-reporting-notice-proposed-rulemaking
The document is scheduled to be published on 12/08/2021…. It will available at the following webpage: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2021-26548/beneficial-ownership-information-reporting-requirements
A draft version is available for download here: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-26548.pdf
Whether you want to increase your reading of financial crime books or just don’t know which book to read next, take a look at the book suggestions here. It’s simple:
Image credit: Europol
Police forces across the world have arrested 150 alleged suspects involved in buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web as part of a coordinated international operation involving nine countries.
More than €26.7 million (USD 31 million) in cash and virtual currencies have been seized in this operation, as well as 234 kg of drugs and 45 firearms. The seized drugs include 152 kg of amphetamine, 27 kg of opioids and over 25 000 ecstasy pills…Read in full here: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/150-arrested-in-dark-web-drug-bust-police-seize-€26-million
Police forces across the world have arrested 150 alleged suspects involved in buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web as part of a coordinated international operation involving nine countries. More than EUR 26.7 million (USD 31 million) in cash and virtual currencies have been seized in this operation, as well as 234 kg of drugs and 45 firearms. The seized drugs include 152 kg of amphetamine, 27 kg of opioids and over 25 000 ecstasy pills.
This operation, known as Dark HunTOR was composed of a series of separate but complementary actions in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, with coordination efforts led by Europol and Eurojust…Read in full here: https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/150-arrested-dark-web-drug-bust-police-seize-eur-26-million
Twenty-four people have been arrested in the UK in one of the largest ever international operations targeting a criminal dark web marketplace.
Operational activity over the last six months – coordinated by the National Crime Agency in collaboration with UK policing partners – also resulted in the seizure of over £220,000 in suspected criminal cash and bitcoin, and more than 50 kilos of cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, methamphetamine and ketamine.
The operation, known as Dark HunTOR, began when German authorities arrested the marketplace’s alleged operator earlier this year and gained access to the wider criminal infrastructure. This enabled officers to share intelligence packages with law enforcement agencies around the world on the site’s vendors and buyers…Read in full here: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/international-operation-targets-dark-web-drugs-marketplace
In a conference room space used by the partner agencies that form the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team, an FBI analyst is examining the online marketplaces that have made it possible for users to get potentially deadly drugs delivered to their doors.
These sites exist on the dark web or darknet, an area of the internet accessed through a specialized browser called Tor. Tor offers additional levels of privacy by obscuring the user’s IP address and encrypting information. But the markets themselves look like standard e-commerce sites, complete with pictures, customer reviews, and listings for not only drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine but what sellers claim are brand name prescription medications…Read in full here: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fbi-and-partners-target-online-drug-markets-102621
Today, the Department of Justice, through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined Europol to announce the results of Operation Dark HunTor, a coordinated international effort on three continents to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet. The operation, which was conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, was a result of the continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation Dark HunTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation DisrupTor and the coordinated law enforcement takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then-largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet. At the time, German authorities arrested the marketplace’s alleged operator and seized the site’s infrastructure, providing investigators across the world with a trove of evidence…Read in full here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/international-law-enforcement-operation-targeting-opioid-traffickers-darknet-results-150
Operation Dark HunTor stands as our most recent victory in the global fight against cyber-enabled drug trafficking. The online trafficking of opioids, particularly fentanyl, poses a lethal threat to not only the United States, but also to our European and Australian counterparts, and beyond. This is a global threat that requires a global response. Our communities now face the constant threat of relatively easy access to dangerous illicit drugs now being peddled not on a street corner but in cyber space. Operation Dark HunTor highlights both the magnitude of this lethal threat, and the significant efforts we are taking at the Department of Justice to address it…Read in full here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-attorney-general-kenneth-polite-jr-criminal-division-delivers-remarks-operation
We are here today to expose those who seek the shadows of the internet to peddle killer pills worldwide. Thanks to unprecedented international law enforcement collaboration — 150 Darknet drug traffickers have been arrested around the world — including 65 here in the Untied States.
Led by the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, an international law enforcement partnership — also known as JCODE — Operation Dark HunTor spanned 10 months, three continents, and more than 12 international law enforcement agencies. The graphic you see on screen reflects what can be achieved through global cooperation — including the recovery of more than 500 pounds of illegal drugs, which contained enough fentanyl for more than four million lethal doses. This operation seized nearly $32 million in cash and virtual currencies — the largest JCODE seizure to date…Read in full here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-delivers-remarks-operation-dark-huntor
Delegates representing the 206 members of the Global Network and observer organisations, such as the IMF, the United Nations and the World Bank met for three days of meetings. After five completely virtual Plenary events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this Plenary meeting took place in a hybrid format, allowing the limited number of delegates who could travel to meet face-to-face, while the remaining delegations connected virtually. Around the world, many countries are re-opening and focusing on rebuilding economies that have strained under the pressure of this unprecedented health crisis… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/outcomes-fatf-plenary-october-2021.html
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, the FATF, as the global standard setting body for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, expresses its concern about the current and evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk environment in the country.
The FATF affirms recent UN Security Council Resolutions on the situation in Afghanistan. In particular, UNSCR 2593 (2021) demands that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/afghanistan-2021.html
The threat of terrorism remains serious in many regions of the world. The FATF notes with grave concern a series of terrorist attacks recently in Afghanistan, Iraq and many other regions, including Africa and South Asia. These attacks, either claimed by ISIL (Da’esh) and its affiliated groups, or conducted by lone attackers inspired by them, have killed or injured hundreds, many of them innocent civilians. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations continue to pose a serious threat to international stability, security and peace.
The territorial defeat of ISIL in 2019 has significantly impacted its ability to generate revenue. However, the group is still able to raise and receive funds, through legal and illegal sources, and maintains roughly USD 25-50 million in reserves… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/statement-isil-al-qaeda.html
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is considering proposals for amendments to Recommendation 24 and its Interpretive Note on the transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons. Following a White Paper consultation in June-August 2021 on a number of key policy areas, the FATF has analysed the views received from various stakeholders in considering the potential amendments. These amendments seek to reinforce the Recommendation to ensure greater transparency about the beneficial ownership of legal persons, and take action to mitigate the risks… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/public-consultation-r24.html and see the draft text of proposals for amendments here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/recommendations/pdfs/Pdf-file_R24-Beneficial-Ownership-Public-Consultation.pdf
Faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payment services, that are safe and secure can facilitate economic growth, international trade, global development and financial inclusion.
Enhancing cross-border payments is a key priority of the G20. In October 2020, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsed the Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, which comprises 19 Building Blocks… Read in full here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/cross-border-payments.html and see survey here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/recommendations/pdfs/Cross-Border-Payments-Survey-Results.pdf
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This is The Laundry’s ‘live’ aggregated news page for the Pandora Papers. The page is updated regularly with new links to content when it is published by various outlets.
This is a live page. Last updated: 03 Oct 2021 – 1:56pm (UK Time)
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This is The Laundry’s ‘live’ aggregated news page for recent media stories related British American Tobacco and bribery. The page is updated regularly with new links to content when it is published by various outlets.
