Day: November 8, 2019

On 8^th November, Malta Today reported that officers found 36 containers out of 44 checked carrying counterfeit mobile accessories, clothes, shoes, and game controllers.  The seizure, the biggest in customs history, was thanks to an operation carried out by the Containers’ Monitoring Unit, the Scanning Unit and the Intellectual Property Rights Unit, while using specialised scanners.  Legal items were used to hide the counterfeits.  It is said that the containers originated from Asia and were headed to an African country.

https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/98522/customs_recordbreaking_bust_of_36_containers_hiding_counterfeit_shoes_and_clothes

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On 8^th November, Defence Web reported that the US has imposed sanctions on a leader of an al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group in Mali.  It has designated Amadou Koufa, a Salafist preacher and a leader of Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel region.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/joint/diplomacy-a-peace/us-sanctions-mali-islamist-group-leader/

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

On 7^th November, the Cayman Compass reported that the Cayman Islands Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group (AMLSG) has compiled real-life crime cases, from Cayman and abroad, in its publication ‘Money Laundering Typologies and Trends’ to demonstrate how different industry sectors can be misused by criminals.  It includes diagrams illustrating how sanctions designation was avoided, and sections on terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

The publication, dated September 2019, is available at –

http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/amlhome/publications/Money%20Laundering%20Typologies%20and%20Trends1

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

A blog post from the New York University School of Law comments on a ruling from of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  This is said to have significant implications for the conduct of corporate internal investigations by outside law firms in the US.  If there is “extensive coordination” between lawyers conducting a corporate investigation and the prosecutor’s office with whom they are in discussions or negotiations, the lawyers’ acts are “fairly attributable to the government”, and so those providing any information have been compelled to do so, and hence any such evidence cannot be used against them (as this would seem to violate their right against self-incrimination).  However, the post highlights another potential aspect involving so-called “blocking statutes” of other countries.  It explains that the term is used as a general description of laws that attempt to impose territorial sovereignty over access to information (including witness testimony) by prohibiting or limiting the international transfer of information gathered locally for use by a foreign government, and could render the lawyers involved to prosecution in their other country.  The post says that the best/worst example is found in French law, and provides that anyone located in France or of French nationality who transfers information of potential economic significance outside of France for use in a “judicial or administrative proceeding” commits a crime, unless the transfer is conducted pursuant to a bilateral or international agreement to which France is a party – though the US Supreme Court had rejected this as a defence against use of the information.

https://wp.nyu.edu/compliance_enforcement/2019/11/06/united-states-v-connolly-and-the-risk-that-outsourced-criminal-investigations-might-violate-foreign-blocking-statutes/

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

On 6^th November, Steptoe & Johnson published a briefing on the non-binding guidance and recommendations on internal compliance programs (ICP) for dual-use trade controls under Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009.  It points out that (implicitly) the EU Regulation provides that Member States shall take into consideration whether the exporter applies proportionate and adequate means and procedures for compliance when assessing applications for global export authorisations (i.e. authorisations granted in respect of a type or category of dual-use item which may be valid for exports to one or more specified end users and/or in one or more specified third countries).  The guidance aims to provide a framework to help exporters identify, manage and mitigate risks associated with dual-use trade controls and to ensure compliance with the relevant EU and national laws and regulations; and the ICP should be tailored not only to the company’s specific business activity and related risks but also to the size, the structure and scope of the business.  The briefing identifies the 7 core elements of the guidance –

• Top-level management commitment to compliance;
• Organisation structure, responsibilities and resources;
• Training and awareness raising;
• Transaction screening process and procedures;
• Performance review, audits, reporting, and corrective actions;
• Recordkeeping and documentation; and
• Physical and information security.

Annexes to the guidance provide a list of helpful questions pertaining to a company’s ICP, a list of “red flags” relating to suspicious inquiries or orders, and a list of EU Member States competent export control authorities.

https://www.steptoe.com/en/news-publications/eu-issues-guidance-on-internal-compliance-programs-for-dual-use-trade-controls.html

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