Day: November 6, 2019

On 30^th October, the European Banking Federation, European Savings and Retail Banking Group, European Association of Co-operative Banks, and the European Payment Institutions Federation published a paper which says that they and their members strongly support the fight against VAT and other tax fraud.  However, it says that they are deeply concerned that in current form the proposals are disproportionate in terms of scope, volume of data required and cost; create significant risk; produce uncertainty in terms of reporting obligations; and will not practically achieve stated objectives.  It calls for support at the November meeting of EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) in prompting a full review of the proposal the proposal which introduces requirements for all payment service providers (PSP) to provide information on cross-border payments within the EU and outside of it when certain criteria are met on a transaction-by-transaction basis – to combat VAT fraud with the active involvement of the payments industry.  The objective would be to ensure that the current proposal is not approved until it has been amended to make it practicable and workable and would actually achieve the aims set out.

https://www.ebf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Joint-Industry-Position-Paper-on-VAT-and-Payments-30.10.19-final.pdf

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A news release on 5^th November advised that BEN ALI BEN AL-BASHEER AL-TRABELSI MOURAD had been removed from the sanctions lists under UN SCR 1267 etc.

https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc14014.doc.htm

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On 1^st November, Stimson in the US starts by saying that commercial fishing is big business, with a complex global seafood supply chain and over 56 million people working on vessels to support it.  In the past several decades distant water fishing (DWF) has expanded its size and reach across the ocean and around the world. Despite its importance to international trade and economics, the industry largely remains a mystery.  It is shrouded in an opaque operating system that limits information about where vessels operate, who owns them, the amount of fish that is caught, how fish is shipped and transshipped to market, the human labour practices onboard, and the access arrangements to other nations’ waters.  The nature of the industry has led to illicit activities and increased illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, all of which threaten the long-term sustainability of global fisheries.  A report from Stimson identifies the top DWF fleets in the world, where they operate, their motivations and economic impact, and their connections to IUU fishing and illicit activity.  The top 5 DWF fleets, which account for nearly 90% of DWF efforts – China and Taiwan at 60%, with 10% each for Japan, South Korea and Spain.  The report paints a picture of exploitation of (other) coastal nations’ resources, with these countries experiencing negligible short-term gains at the cost of long-term marine destruction, and it argues that the current fishing industry is unsustainable.  The report comments on the low level of transparency that persists across the industry, including intentionally ambiguous reporting by DWF fleets – with little to no insight into vessel ownership, the conditions aboard such ships, or access agreements – and the significant gap in understanding the movement and extent of DWF fleets and support vessels due to AIS and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) technology not being mandated abroad these vessels.

https://www.stimson.org/sites/default/files/file-attachments/Stimson%20Distant%20Water%20Fishing%20Report.pdf

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On 5^th November, RUSI published a Commentary and in the final instalment in a 4-part series of Commentaries by RUSI researchers and guest contributors on the challenges of combatting illicit trade and money laundering in free trade zones, it says that to safeguard free trade zones from criminal activities, national authorities and zone administrators must feel the pressure to do the right thing.  It says that there are 2 primary reasons why FTZ fall victim to criminal exploitation: weaknesses in governance and weaknesses in information-sharing procedures.  The article concludes by saying that there will always be a tension between crime prevention and competitiveness, but as this series has made clear, illicit trade and trade-based money laundering cannot be seen as the inevitable price of doing business.

https://rusi.org/commentary/free-trade-zones-and-financial-crime-faustian-bargain

This blog is primarily for my own use, to keep informed and up to date. However, if you would like to say thank you (and perhaps help me get a new, better laptop when I am away…) you can “buy me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y