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…
New US sanctions target Russian banks, metals and mining sector, and third-country actors linked to sanctions evasion
In one of its most significant sanctions actions to date, the US treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated over a dozen more Russian banks and financial institutions and announced a new determination targeting Russia’s metals and mining sector. It is also imposing…
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…
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…
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…
Banks caused to violate sanctions to launder millions of dollars for Russian oligarchs and proscribed entities
US banks were caused to process tens of millions of dollars in schemes to evade sanctions and export controls applicable to Russia according to an indictment charging five Russian nationals and two oil traders with global sanctions evasion and money laundering. The defendants allegedly obtained…
Danske Bank’s Irish branch fined €1.82 million for AML/CFT breaches
Danske Bank has been fined €1.82 million (US$1.79 million) and reprimanded by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) for three transaction monitoring failures in its anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems. The three breaches of Ireland’s criminal justice act (CJA) all stem…
Gazprombank and Russian diamonds in line for EU sanctions
Gazprombank could be a prime target in a new batch of European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia expected in response to Moscow’s mobilisation decree to conscript 300,000 reservists into the Russian army and referendums in areas the union sees as Ukrainian sovereign territory. Imports of…
Tightening the screws on Russian sanctions, more help expected from US banking and financial services sector
The banking and financial services sectors have been “enormous partners” throughout the information sharing effort to combat Russian sanctions evasion according to the US justice department’s director of Task Force KleptoKapture, Andrew Adams. Now, he says, the department wants to introduce additional means to prevent…
Wolfsberg publishes RFI best practice guidance
The Wolfsberg Group has published a guidance paper on requests for information (RFIs) as used in anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) transaction monitoring processes. The guidance is focused primarily on inquiries initiated as a result of transaction monitoring, and is not intended to…
