Singapore court upholds J P Morgan’s refusal to pay L/Cs on grounds of sanctions violations
Singapore’s High Court has ruled in favour of J P Morgan Chase Bank after it was sued for refusing to pay a coal trader under two letters of credit (L/Cs) because its sanctions screening revealed that doing so would have violated US sanctions. The case…
Bangladesh Bank suspends L/Cs to counter TBML and preserve foreign exchange
Bangladesh Bank has suspended 100 letters of credit (L/Cs) for over-invoicing, according to the central bank’s governor, Abdur Rouf Talukder. The suspensions are part of the bank’s efforts to prevent trade-based money-laundering (TBML) via mis-invoicing and preserve foreign exchange reserves the governor says.
Back-to-back and standby L/Cs used in sanctions evasion and money laundering says MENA financial crime guide
Back-to-back letters of credit (L/Cs) can be used as a sanctions evasion technique according to multiple sources who contributed to a new guide published by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) chapter of the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime (GCFFC) and the MENA…
Trade finance banks risk higher penalties under revised US antiboycott rules
Trade finance banks operating in the US risk higher penalties under a policy issued by Washington aimed at strengthening and enhancing enforcement of the antiboycott rules administered by the US department of commerce. The rules prohibit US support for unsanctioned foreign boycotts against countries friendly to…
Russia and Iran sign agreement to facilitate bilateral trade with L/C alternative
Russia’s Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) has signed an agreement with the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) to provide export insurance for sellers in both countries. Export insurance provides an alternative to letters of credit (L/Cs) by insuring an exporter against…
New report sheds more light on nearly US$1 billion diverted from South Sudan’s L/C programme
Almost U$1 billion supplied to South Sudan through a credit line issued in US dollars in the form of letters of credit (L/Cs) from Qatar National Bank (QNB) and Kenya’s Stanbic Holdings to support the country’s efforts to import food, fuel, and medicine has gone…
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…
TBML top of emerging financial crime risks in Asia-Pacific says LexisNexis
Trade-based money laundering (TBML) has ranked top of the list of emerging financial crime risks in the latest LexisNexis True Cost of Compliance Study – Asia-Pacific Edition. Crimes involving digital payments and cryptocurrency, third parties – including TBML, money mules, professionals lending perceived legitimacy and…
Former CFO of collapsed commodity trader accused of fraudulently obtaining L/Cs
The former chief financial officer (CFO) of commodity trader Agritrade International which collapsed last year has been charged by Singapore police with cheating. Lim Beng Kim Lulu is accused of obtaining letters of credit (L/Cs) and procuring forged certificates of quality when there was no…
Romanian bank and US parent settle with OFAC for trade finance sanctions violations
Romania’s First Bank and its parent company, US investment firm J C Flowers, have entered into a US$862,318 settlement with the US treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for apparent violations of the Iran and Syria sanctions programmes. The bank, which provides letters…
