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…
Nigeria and South Africa added to FATF’s grey list, Cambodia and Morocco removed
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Nigeria and South Africa on its list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list, after they failed to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing….
Themis and Diligencia partnership to expand financial crime intelligence capabilities in the Middle East and Africa
Digital financial crime platform Themis has announced a new strategic partnership with UK-based Diligencia, which provides corporate intelligence and due diligence solutions in the Middle East and Africa. Themis, which operates out of the UK and the UAE, uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine…
Wolfsberg Group updates correspondent banking due diligence and financial crime materials
The Wolfsberg Group has released version 1.4 of its correspondent banking due diligence questionnaire (CBDDQ) and version 1.2 of its financial crime compliance questionnaire (FCCQ), along with updated supporting guidance, glossary and FAQs documents. The association of global banks that aims to develop frameworks and…
Banks filed record number of SARs last year, Russian sanctions a factor
Banks are providing by far the greatest number of suspicious activity reports (SARS) to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) according its latest report which features statistics covering the years 2020-21 and 2021-22. The agency’s 2022 Suspicious Activity Report (SARs) Annual Report also shows that…
Traders in Russian gold across the world now face prospect of US sanctions
Traders in Russian gold based anywhere in the world now face the prospect of US sanctions under the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023,which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on 29 December 2022. Not later than 90 days after that…
FinCEN analysis of Russian oligarchs’ funds flows highlights value of data from financial institutions
Russian oligarchs are increasingly purchasing high-value goods or property as they reroute their finances in response to their country’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent slew of international sanctions imposed on them, according to new analysis from the US treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network…
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…
