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EBA releases the final draft technical standards under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation – provisions (including on AML) relating to ARTs will be applicable from 30 June 2024

Sets out three sets of final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and one set of final draft implementing technical standards (ITS) relating to the authorisation as issuer of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), to the information for the assessment of acquisition of qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs and to the procedure for the approval of white papers for ARTs issued by credit institutions under the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCAR).

European Parliament passed a historic law, marking a significant step towards holding big companies accountable for harm they cause to people and the planet.

As the EU is a major player on the global economic stage, the implementation of this law has the potential to create a ripple effect that reaches far beyond its borders. Global Witness has been championing this cause from the beginning, pushing for greater corporate responsibility and justice for affected communities. While there are a lot of gaps to fill in the law, the CSDDD will help level the power imbalance between profit-driven companies and the communities they impact.

Home Office publishes new powers to seize crypto-assets used by criminals go live

The government has updated proceeds of crime and terror legislation, making it easier for UK law enforcement to effectively investigate, seize and recover illicit cryptoassets. These changes include police will no longer be required to make an arrest before seizing crypto from a suspect – this will make it easier to take assets which are known to have been criminally obtained, even if sophisticated criminals are able to protect their anonymity or are based overseas items that could be used to give information to help an investigation, such as written passwords or memory sticks, can be seize…

US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control holds a hearing entitled ‘Chinese ML organisations: Cleaning cartel cash’

The hearing will examine Chinese money laundering organizations’ techniques and effects on the synthetic opioids supply chain, and actions the federal government can take to curb them. The Caucus, which is authorized in law and has the status of a standing committee, has held hearings on strengthening U.S. counter-narcotics efforts around the world, narcotics-related corruption, as well as addressing the drug overdose epidemic in America…

European Commission publishes latest update on AML/CTF of terrorism legislative package

EU proposed on 20 July 2021 by the European Commission are now agreed by co-legislators. The proposed agreement also covers the institutional side with the creation of a new EU authority to fight money laundering (AMLA) which will be at the core of the system implementing the new framework…

EBA identifies new types of payment fraud and proposes measures to mitigate underlying risks and protect consumers from resultant losses

The EBA confirms that regulatory measures such as the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) that the revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2) and the EBA’s Technical Standards have imposed on the payments industry have been successful in achieving the aim of significantly reducing fraud that involves the stealing of customers’ credentials. However, fraudsters have adapted their techniques and are using more complex types of fraud, such as those based on what is commonly referred to as ‘social engineering’…

US DoJ convicts CEO for $28m long-running investment fraud scheme

A federal jury convicted a Hawaii man yesterday for his role in a more than a decade-long scheme to defraud investors of Semisub Inc. and Semisub LLC (collectively, “Semisub”) of over $28 million. Curtiss E. Jackson, 71, of Honolulu, was Semisub’s CEO in addition to holding other corporate positions and fraudulently solicited investments in Semisub. Jackson and his co-conspirator falsely told investors for years that the vessel, Semisub One, was weeks and months away from beginning operations…

EBA to start collecting information on natural persons through its AML/CFT database, EuReCA

EuReCA contains information on serious AML/CFT deficiencies in individual financial institutions that have been identified by EU supervisors. It also contains information on the measures taken by supervisors to address those deficiencies.

Gold and art worth millions forfeited by NCA and linked to crime

The criminal assets were seized by NCA officers during an investigation into ML, whose clientele included drug traffickers. Mayhew-Lewis, of Oxted in Surrey, was caught with eight kilos of gold bars and shavings when he was arrested in 2019 by West Midlands Police officers acting on NCA intelligence. The officers found the precious metal – now worth more than £400k – stowed in a compartment of his Bentley…

FinCEN reminds financial institutions to remain vigilant to environmental crimes

FinCEN reminds financial institutions to remain vigilant in identifying and reporting suspicious activity related to environmental crimes. Environmental crimes frequently involve transnational criminal activity related to several of FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Priorities, including corruption, fraud, human trafficking, and drug trafficking…

UK commits to combatting corruption and recovering assets to the OSCE’s Economic and Environmental Committee

One of the enduring challenges in tackling corruption is untangling the complex web of corporate structures used to launder criminal proceeds and hide stolen assets. In the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the UK is fully committed to recovering and returning corruptly-obtained assets in accordance with due process…

European Parliament imposes ban on products made with forced labour from EU single market

Member state authorities and the European Commission will be able to investigate suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufacturers. If a product is deemed to have been made using forced labour, it will no longer be possible to sell it on the EU market (including online) and shipments will be intercepted at the EU’s borders…