The Puppet Masters Anti-Corruption Conference – Guernsey’s Anti-Bribery and Corruption Committee has hosted a conference on anti-corruption, which was attended by over 450 delegates. This committee comprises representatives of the Law Officers’ Chambers, Guernsey Law Enforcement and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. The reference in the conference title to the “Puppet Masters” was taken, by […]

FATF Blacklists Ecuador, Yemen, Vietnam, Upgrades Philippines. – the Financial Action Task Force said Friday it added Ecuador, Yemen and Vietnam to its list of countries that haven’t made sufficient progress in tackling money laundering and terrorist financing. The three countries were slapped with a label saying they either didn’t address deficiencies in fighting money […]

Lessons Learned from ING’s OFAC Violations & $619m Payout – On July 12th, the largest settlement was made between a bank and authorities over a clear violation of U.S. economic sanctions. ING Bank is paying a record $619 million dollar settlement after a joint investigation between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Manhattan District […]

Outcomes of the FATF plenary meeting – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meeting under the Italian Presidency was held in Rome on 20 – 22 June 2012. The actions taken by FATF include: • publication of the FATF public statement on jurisdictions with strategic anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) […]

AML Failures + solicitors = For those solicitors who wonder whether they are the only ones putting in significant effort to comply with their AML obligations and whether anyone ever notices, the Law Society’s annual report on AML supervision to HM Treasury should be welcome reading. The Annual Supervisor’s Report, published jointly by the Law […]

Revised anti-money laundering principles for private banking – The Wolfsberg Group has published revised anti-money laundering principles for private banking. The principles are designed, in particular, to prevent the use of a bank’s worldwide operations for criminal purposes and minimise the risk of money laundering. These principles will be periodically updated to take into consideration […]

Guidance for anti-bribery due diligence in mergers, acquisitions and investments – Transparency International UK has published a document entitled “Anti-bribery due diligence for transactions – Guidance for anti-bribery due diligence in mergers, acquisitions and investments”. This publication is designed to assist those operating in this area by providing a practical guide that contains: • a […]

City trader jailed for insider dealing scam – A City trader who spent more than £1m renovating his Georgian townhouse with the profits from an insider dealing scam was jailed for four years today (20 June). James Sanders, 35, snapped up a five-storey property worth £5m a few doors from JK Rowling’s west London residence […]