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Hong Kong SFC warns public against unlicensed virtual asset trading platform MEXC

SFC has taken a firm stance against cryptocurrency exchange MEXC by adding it to its cautionary list issued on 15th March. This development highlights the SFC’s vigilance in ensuring compliance within the crypto industry, especially regarding licensing requirements for operating in Hong Kong…

AUSTRAC commences investigation into online betting company bet365

The investigation will focus on whether bet365 has complied with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) and follows a supervisory campaign of entities within the corporate bookmaker sector and AUSTRAC’s consideration of the external audit report received following AUSTRAC’s order to bet365 to appoint an external auditor.

US DoJ charges India and New Jersey-based jeweller with multimillion-dollar international trade fraud scheme and unlicensed money transmitting

Shah engaged in a scheme to evade duties for shipments of jewelry from Turkey and India to the US. Shah would ship or instruct his conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India – which would have been subject to an approximately 5.5 percent duty if shipped directly to the US – to one of Shah’s companies in South Korea…

EAG publishes First Follow-up Report on the Russian Federation

Outlines re-rating of Russia of Four Recommendations following progress between October 2019 and July 2023.

IMF publishes detailed assessment report on AML/CFT in the British Virgin Islands

Analyses the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations and the level of effectiveness of VI’s AML/CFT system and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.

MONEYVAL publishes Fifth Round Mutual Evaluation report on Azerbaijan

Notes that conversion from intelligence obtained through suspicious transactions reports (STRs) and other reports into case investigations and ultimately prosecutions is insufficient. The absence of a beneficial ownership framework is also remarked upon.

CFTAF publishes Mutual Evaluation Report on the British Virgin Islands

Finds that the overall understanding of ML/TF  risks is “fair and narrow”, although most prosecutions comprise simple cases of possession of cash proceeds derived for drug trafficking.

FINTRAC updates guidance related to the ministerial directive on financial transactions associated with Russia

This guidance is related to the Ministerial Directive issued by the Minister of Finance that was published in the Canada Gazette and came into force on February 24, 2024.

Singapore’s biggest money laundering case tests city’s weak property market

A mass sale of prized real estate seized in Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case is set to provide a key test of demand for a niche part of the financial hub’s property market. More than a dozen so-called shophouses, each worth millions of dollars, have been put on sale as the nation’s largest bank, DBS Group Holdings, steps up efforts to reduce…

 

UAE banks limit payments with Russia over secondary sanctions threat

Major lenders in the UAE have begun to close bank accounts belonging to Russian nationals as a response to the threat of secondary sanctions from the US. These warnings had already led to banks in China and Turkey to restrict accounts of Russian nationals…

Hong Kong Customs detects largest money laundering case on record involving about $14 billion

Hong Kong Customs mounted an enforcement operation codenamed “Daybreak” and successfully dismantled a large-scale transnational money laundering syndicate which had laundered about $14 billion through transnational trade activities, as well as a money laundering operation centre…

The White House releases notice on the continuation of the national emergency with respect to the situation in Burma

The situation in and in relation to Burma, and in particular the February 1, 2021 coup, in which the military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of Burma and unjustly arrested and detained government leaders, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, and religious leaders, thereby rejecting the will of the people of Burma as expressed in elections held in November 2020…