A report produced by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) – the intergovernmental body recognised as the standard bearer when it comes to anti-money laundering (“AML”) and counter-terrorist financing (“CTF”) – has highlighted how law firms are the ideal conduits by which criminals seek to, and do, launder money and finance terrorism. Replete with quite […]

It was reported last month that Iraq had signed an agreement to import natural gas from Iran for power generation. This briefing considers the potential sanctions issues which may arise for companies involved with Iraqi power plants supplied by this pipeline and, in particular the risk of contravening the EU restrictions on dealing with Iranian […]

FCA publishes guidance consultation on good and poor practice in trade finance following the publication of Thematic Review 13/3, “Banks’ control of financial crime risks in trade finance” (the Review), http://www.fca.org.uk/your-fca/documents/thematic-reviews/tr13-03 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is presently consulting on examples of good and poor practice in the trade finance sector, as set out in […]

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) recently published two documents which provide additional information about its current supervisory and enforcement approach and priorities in relation to financial crime issues. These are the FCA’s Anti-Money Laundering Annual Report 2012/13 (“AML Report”) http://www.fca.org.uk/your-fca/documents/anti-money-laundering-report and t he first Financial Crime Newsletter since the transition to the FCA (“Newsletter”).http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/newsletters/financial-crime-newsletter-1.pdf This […]

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged four men connected to Sustainable AgroEnergy plc (SAE) with offences of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to furnish false information in breach of section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The four men, which include the former Director and Chief Commercial Officer of […]

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) recently published two documents which provide additional information about its current supervisory and enforcement approach and priorities in relation to financial crime issues. These are the FCA’s Anti-Money Laundering Annual Report 2012/13 (“AML Report”) and the first Financial Crime Newsletter since the transition to the FCA (“Newsletter”). This e-bulletin summarises […]

There have been seven further arrests this month in connection with Operation Elveden, an investigation into inappropriate payments made to police and public officials by journalists. Two journalists from the Sun have been charged, along with a former health care assistant at the Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital, with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public […]

The FCA has fined Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Ltd (GT Bank) £525,000 (including a 30 per cent discount for early settlement) for failings in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls for high risk customers between May 2008 and June 2010 in breach of Principle 3 of the FCA’s Principles for Businesses and the Senior Management Arrangements, […]