Financial Crime

14th October 2020

Improving governance and tackling crime in free-trade zones

Free-trade zones (FTZs) are designed to attract trade by suspending the collection of customs duties. These incentives are frequently coupled with advantages such as simplified customs inspection procedures, liberalised incorporation regimes and physical infrastructure superior to that available elsewhere in the same country. These features can be attractive to legitimate… Read More

9th October 2020

Pope commits to clean finances amid scandal in backyard

AP — Pope Francis told European anti-money laundering experts Thursday that the Vatican was committed to “clean finance,” as he denounced financial speculation amid a spiraling corruption investigation in the heart of the Holy See. It is rare for a head of state to meet with the Council of Europe’s… Read More

8th October 2020

UK watchdog bans Bitcoin-based products for retail investors

Britain’s financial watchdog said on Tuesday it will ban the sale to retail investors of products that track the price of cryptoassets like Bitcoin, saying most people lose money on them. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said there is no reliable basis for valuing cryptoassets that underpin derivatives and exchange-traded… Read More

6th October 2020

Congress Is Close To Ending Anonymous Shell Companies

For over a decade, there have been calls in Congress to address shadowy corporate entities, known as shell companies, that are considered a cornerstone of fraud, corruption, and money laundering. These companies help unsavory characters and organizations hide wealth or use the proceeds of crime to buy up legitimate assets… Read More

6th October 2020

France asked to open investigation into four banks, Electrogas loan

France’s national financial prosecutor’s office has been asked to open an investigation into whether four French-based banks and an investment fund were complicit with Electrogas in laundering the proceeds of corruption. Sherpa, a French association that fights financial crimes, teamed up with the Daphne Caruana Galizia foundation to file the… Read More

5th October 2020

UK: Scammers bouncing banks into sham loans

When the BBC called last month to warn that he was the victim of a £50,000 fraud, Mark Telling thought it was a prank. “I was at work and, to be honest, I thought it was a bit of a wind-up,” said Telling, 47. The truth was less amusing. Criminals… Read More

1st October 2020

‘Significant’ threat of overseas financial crime in Jersey

The threat of financial crime in Jersey by overseas criminals is “significant”, a government report has found. The National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering is the first study of its kind and has been made public by the Government of Jersey. It found there was “no clear expression” on… Read More

24th September 2020

‘Wired to make money’: Barclays’ private bankers serve ultra-rich, as watchdogs sound alarms

By Tanya Kozyreva, Michael Hudson, Spencer Woodman, Will Fitzgibbon, Agustin Armendariz, Golden Matonga, Delphine Reuter, Micah Reddy and Fergus Shiel, ICIJ, 23 September 2020 ICIJ — Ivor Ichikowitz recoils at the arms industry’s “reputation for being very cloak-and-dagger.” “We are not in the destroying-anything business,” the 53-year-old founder of South… Read More

23rd September 2020

Mystery company ties accused temple raiders to art world elite

By Spencer Woodman, ICIJ, 22 September 2020 ICIJ — They pulled ancient Buddha heads out of the ground in war-torn Afghanistan and stole idols from temples in India. They cracked open shrines in Nepal, and in Cambodia bought an 11th-century statue of the Hindu god Shiva on the black… Read More

22nd September 2020

FinCEN Files: Dublin business features in leak of US treasury documents

An unprecedented glimpse into the staggering amounts of suspect money that flow through the international banking system is revealed in leaked files from an agency of the US Department of the Treasury that have been seen by The Irish Times. The files show that the world’s largest banks play a… Read More