Zambia reveals US$2.8 billion of IFFs in final quarter of 2023
Zambia’s Financial Intelligence Centre’s (FIC) says that during the quarter ended 31st December 2023, it received 450 reports worth over US$2.8 billion on suspected tax evasion, fraud, forgery or money laundering. The reports, which have been forwarded to law enforcement agencies for further investigation, involved…
Companies in several jurisdictions sanctioned by US for facilitating business with Iran
Companies in several jurisdictions have been sanctioned by the US for facilitating the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products to buyers in East Asia. This latest tranche of sanctions underlines the determination of the US treasury department’s…
Inadequate due diligence and beneficial ownership transparency facilitating US$23 billion illegal fishing industry
Lax supply chain due diligence and a lack of beneficial ownership transparency are amongst factors allowing one-fifth of the global fisheries market to be captured by operators involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a new report from the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) and…
Myanmar – but not Russia – joins Iran and North Korea on FATF black list
Myanmar has joined Iran and North Korea on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action, better known as the FATF ‘black list’. Despite calls from Ukraine and elsewhere for Russia to be blacklisted, the FATF opted…
Pakistan and, despite concerns, Nicaragua off FATF grey list
Pakistan and Nicaragua have been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘grey list’ of jurisdictions under increased monitoring according to a statement issued at the end of the global financial watchdog’s plenary meetings in Paris last week. Pakistan, which has been on the…
International banks and auditors involved in US$700 million TBML scheme says Zambia’s financial intelligence unit
International banks and audit firms were used by a company involved in an “aggressive profit shifting” trade-based money laundering (TBML) scheme to understate its taxable income and tax liability due to the Zambian government by over US$700 million according to a new study by Zambia’s…
J P Morgan strategic alliance with Cleareye.ai to identify TBML and sanctions red flags
J P Morgan has entered into a global strategic alliance with California-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) platform Cleareye.ai to digitise trade finance due diligence processing. The alliance aims to identify trade-based money laundering (TBML) and sanctions red flags and significantly reduce false…
Supply chain visibility needed to see criminals using trade finance to launder money says ADB expert
We need to be able to see deep inside supply chains to know whether criminals are using trade finance to launder money says head of trade and supply-chain finance at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Steven Beck. Replacing paper trails with digital ledgers and QR…
UK network the world’s biggest financial secrecy supplier says TJN
UK overseas jurisdictions, collectively with the UK itself, make up the world’s biggest enabler of financial secrecy, according to analysis by the Tax Justice Network (TJN). While the UK overseas jurisdictions, some of which have a reputation for operating as offshore secrecy hubs, have reduced…
Trade finance retaliation warning as concerns mount over Turkey’s deepening ties with Russia
Trade finance for transactions with Turkey could be restricted amidst mounting alarm in western capitals over Ankara’s deepening ties with Moscow forged last week when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The leaders agreed to boost cooperation in trade and…
