Last month the UK Privy Council delivered an important decision on the extent to which a bank is obliged to make inquiries into the underlying commercial purpose of offshore financial arrangements. Background Crédit Agricole Corporation and Investment Bank (Appellant) v Papadimitriou (Respondent) (Gibraltar) The appeal concerned a proprietary claim to proceeds of sale from a […]

The Crédit Agricole v Papadimitiou decision shines a spotlight on what are sometimes perceived as the more difficult areas to interpret in the Jersey Financial Services Commission’s AML/CFT Handbook and provides guidance as to what constitutes understanding the ‘commercial rationale’ of a structure and related transactions. It should give banks and other financial services businesses […]

Privy Council decision goes to the heart of what financial institutions should know about the commercial rationale behind transactions and the source of customers’ funds. This case provides important guidance as to the circumstances in which a financial institution may be held to have had notice of impropriety based on its failure to ask proper […]

Financial services should take note – they should have to do more to spot when they are being used by criminals to launder money. A recent court decision (Crédit Agricole Corporation and Investment Bank v Papadimitriou) shows tolerance is waning for bankers claiming ignorance over why some clients go to such lengths to hide the […]