Hong Kong launches bank-to-bank information sharing platform
The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB), Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) have launched the Financial Intelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST), a bank-to-bank information sharing platform. The initiative aims to help increase banks’ ability to share information for detecting…
Hong Kong bankers urged to curb dual-use and advanced technology exports to Russia
Bankers in Hong Kong are amongst those in the Asian financial hub to have been asked by US treasury department officials to help identify American-made high-tech items being shipped to Russia according to the Nikkei The US diplomatic effort reflects Washington’s aim to prevent circumvention…
Partnerships between public sector agencies and reporting entities can strengthen measures to counter financing of terrorism
Collaboration between public sector agencies and reporting entities such as banks can significantly enhance the effectiveness of measures to counter financing of terrorism according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) recently published book on counter terrorism financing frameworks (Trade-based Financial Crime, 15 May 2023). Countering…
OFAC sanctions vast network of Hezbollah-linked traders in precious gems, art, and luxury goods
The US treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated what it describes as a vast international money laundering and sanctions evasion network of 52 individuals and entities in the UAE, Lebanon, South Africa, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,…
Washington continues blitz on third-country entities linked to sanctions evasion
The US is continuing its blitz of sanctions on third-country entities that Washington believes are helping sanctioned entities to continue doing business in global markets. The latest sanctioning of 39 entities in Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey and the UAE relate to them allegedly forming a…
China, Turkey and Cyprus circumventing Russian sanctions, UAE a particular concern for Western allies
Russian customs data shows that countries most actively facilitating circumvention of wartime sanctions by Russia include China, Turkey, Cyprus and the UAE, according to analysis by the Free Russia Foundation (FRF). Western allies are responding by calling on jurisdictions to curb exports of critical goods…
Global TBML scope and characteristics analysed in new paper
A new paper analysing the scope and characteristics of global trade-based money laundering (TBML) has been published. The paper, Trade-Based Money Laundering: A Global Challenge, was co-authored by Global Financial Integrity, Fedesarrollo, Transparency International Kenya and Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment and draws on the…
Challenges, priorities and trends in AML in Asia Pacific revealed in new report
NICE Actimize and Regulation Asia have published their AML Tech Barometer 2023 report to explore anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud trends based on survey and interview data collected from 289 practitioners in the Asia Pacific region. In the wake of the geopolitical and economic instability…
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…
US tops list of world financial secrecy ranking
The US tops the list of countries for enabling banking secrecy, shell companies, anonymous real estate ownership or other forms of financial secrecy, which in turn enable money laundering, tax evasion and the evasion of sanctions according to the Tax Justice Network’s (TJN’s) Financial Secrecy…
