The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said on Friday it had reprimanded MUFG Bank, Ltd. for lapses in its anti money-laundering controls and other compliance issues at its New York, Chicago and Los Angeles branches. The Tokyo-based bank did not accept or deny the charges dating back to 2016. The bank […]

In December 2018, former solicitor Kevin Robert Manning (62) was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, having pleaded guilty to the offences earlier in the year. The indictments were as follows:- 1. First Indictment a. 20 counts of: Fraudulent conversion (Counts 7, 8,10,11, 12, 14,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, b. […]

  Photography: Dado Ruvic As the global use of cryptocurrencies continues to gather momentum, what are the potential risks and implications for compliance professionals and how can they stay a step ahead of money launderers? Criminal networks are adept at exploiting loopholes in regulations, making the risk of cryptocurrency-related reputational fall-out very real.  Regulation of […]

The Government approved and submitted to Parliament a proposal amending Act No. 297/228 Coll., on the protection against the legalization of income from crime and on the protection against financing of terrorism, and on amendment to certain acts as amended, and amending certain acts (hereinafter referred to as “AML Revision”). The main purpose of the […]

  Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, an Iranian national and former chairman of the Maltese Pilatus Bank, was arrested and charged with six counts of sanctions evasion before a Manhattan court. His family allegedly controlled an Iranian conglomerate called Stratus Group. Its purported subsidiary Iranian International Housing Corporation allegedly entered into a USD 476 million contract […]

The Bulgarian Parliament is about to pass the Measures Against Money Laundering Act (the “Bill”) mandated by the EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, No. 2015/849 (4th AMLD) of 26 June 2015.  Approved on its first hearing on 6 October 2017, the Bill will repeal and replace existing anti-money laundering legislation. Currently going through its second […]

The National Crime Agency boss Lynne Owens has been quoted as saying “We are looking to focus on corrupt professional enablers over the next 12 months.” This weekend (13/14 JAN 2018) she revealed the agency is “finalising” its first case against senior bankers for bribery and money laundering. “Specialist techniques” normally reserved for organised crime […]

A U.S. bank regulator has fined Citibank (C.N) $70 million for failing to address shortcomings in its anti-money laundering policies. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined the bank in late December and announced it on Thursday. The regulator assessed the civil penalty because the bank had failed to address concerns it had […]