Day: June 29, 2020

On 29 June, STEP reported that Cayman Island companies classed as ‘registered persons’ will be exempted from the beneficial ownership reporting obligations imposed by the Companies Law or the Limited Liability Companies Law. They include the nearly 3,000 financial institutions previously known as ‘excluded persons’ under the Securities Investment Business Law (SIBL) and which were allowed to offer securities investment services to sophisticated and high-net-worth individuals without obtaining a licence.  They do have some new ongoing obligations under the SIBL.

https://www.step.org/industry-news/cayman-islands-exempts-registered-persons-company-beneficial-ownership-rules

 

 

 

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US IMPOSES VISA RESTRICTIONS ON CHINESE OFFICIALS OVER HONG KONG

A news release from the US State Department on 26 June announced visa restrictions on current and former Chinese Communist Party officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, as guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.  Family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions. No names have been released.

https://www.state.gov/u-s-department-of-state-imposes-visa-restrictions-on-chinese-communist-party-officials-for-undermining-hong-kongs-high-degree-of-autonomy-and-restricting-human-rights/

CHINA TO IMPOSE VISA BAN ON AMERICANS “INTERFERING” IN HONG KONG

On 29 June, Bloomberg reported that China will impose a visa ban on US citizens who interfere with sweeping national security legislation planned for Hong Kong, after the Trump Administration imposed visa bans on some Chinese officials.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-to-impose-visa-ban-on-americans-interfering-in-hong-kong/ar-BB165PlE?ocid=msedgntp

 

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RECORDS REVEAL MONEY TRAIL IN KYRGYZ CORRUPTION SCANDAL

On 29 June, Rferl claimed an exclusive with an article saying that hundreds of financial records leaked by a self-confessed money launderer at the centre of a corruption scandal in Kyrgyzstan have been published, showing how hundreds of millions of dollars linked to a secretive cargo empire were funnelled out of the country over the course of several years. They were from Aierken Saimaiti, a Chinese-born businessman previously based in Kyrgyzstan, prior to his murder in Istanbul in November. An investigation implicated influential former Kyrgyz customs official Raimbek Matraimov in widespread corruption linked to the money Saimaiti moved out of the country, although Matraimov and his family deny any links to Saimaiti or corruption and filed a libel suit over the investigation. Implicated was Khabibula Abdukadyr, a secretive Uyghur businessman with a Kazakh passport who has built a cargo-and-real-estate empire in Central Asia, Europe, UAE, and the US.

https://www.rferl.org/a/exclusive-records-reveal-money-trail-in-kyrgyz-corruption-scandal-saimati-matraimov/30696114.html

KYRGYZ CHARITY RUN BY POWERFUL FAMILY RECEIVED SUSPICIOUS FUNDS LINKED TO MURDERED MONEY LAUNDERER

Linked to the above, a report on OCCRP claims that a charitable foundation run by Kyrgyzstan’s politically powerful Matraimov family received much more money than previously known from an underground network that laundered a vast fortune out of the country, according to newly revealed bank records. It says that the questionable funds represent nearly half of the $1.4 million in donations the Ismail Matraimov Charitable Foundation is publicly known to have received between 2014 and 2019; and that the money appears to have originated in an underground cargo empire run by a Uighur family with the collusion of Kyrgyzstan’s customs service.

https://www.occrp.org/en/plunder-and-patronage/kyrgyz-charity-run-by-powerful-family-received-suspicious-funds-linked-to-murdered-money-launderer

https://www.rferl.org/a/saimaiti-s-archive/30692600.html

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On 29 June, Reuters reported that the grandson of the former president of Kazakhstan and other respondents have submitted a demand for £1.5 million in costs from the NCA after the High Court struck down UWO in April. The NCA had sought UWO against companies which owned properties connected to Nurali Aliyev, the grandson of former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-kazakhstan/ex-kazakh-presidents-grandson-others-seek-1-5-million-pound-costs-after-uk-wealth-order-failure-idUKKBN24012X

 

 

 

 

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In the second “High Risk Thinking” podcast in the Suspicious Transport Report series from RUSI, host Emil Dall is joined by the team behind EuropeanSanctions.com, Maya Lester, QC of Brick Court Chambers and Michael O’Kane of Peters & Peters to discuss the high risks associated with sanctions – from the point of view of the designated individual. Recommended.

https://rusi.org/multimedia/season-two-other-side-sanctions

 

 

 

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On 29 June, a Commentary from RUSI says that FATF has made a welcome effort to engage with and promote the importance of financial investigation as a tool to combat the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). It says that FATF leadership ensures that countries around the world can no longer ignore the financial crime dimension of IWT. It says that the FATF report on 25 June highlights the poor understanding of the risks IWT financial flows pose, the weakness of legislative bases to combat IWT as a financial crime and the commitment of insufficient resources to its elimination. Put simply, RUSI says, IWT is a low-risk, high-profit crime to which minimal attention is being paid by those responsible for financial crime in many of those states most affected. The Commentary concludes by saying that awareness has clearly been raised, but the extent to which countries genuinely embrace this cause remains to be seen. The work of FATF is not done. It must take responsibility for ensuring that the focus on the financial investigation of IWT is sustained.

https://rusi.org/commentary/leading-behind-focus-financial-investigation-wildlife-crime-must-be-sustained

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Middle East Eye on 22 June reported that Israel’s controversial surveillance technology accounted for around 14% of 2019 total arms sales, almost double the figure from 2018. Israel’s defence exports amounted to $7.2 billion in 2019, down from $7.5 billion in 2018 and $9.2 billion in 2017. At 17%, radar and electronic warfare systems made up the largest chunk of exports, followed by rockets and air-defence systems at 15%. Exports of drones  amounted to about 8% of Israel’s arms sales, while cyber and intelligence systems were 7%.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-arms-sales-fall-exports-spy-tech-nearly-double

 

 

 

 

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On 28 June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US is said to be targeting China’s largest maker of security-screening equipment, saying its expanding presence in Europe is a threat to Western security and businesses. The US National Security Council and other US agencies are trying to persuade European governments to end their relationship with Nuctech, arguing it could give the Chinese authorities data it collects at ports, border crossings and airports across Europe. It was effectively barred from US airports in 2014.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-presses-europe-to-uproot-chinese-security-screening-company-11593349201

For the sort of work Nutech is involved in, see this presentation from the company on air cargo screening produced for the ICAO –

https://www.icao.int/Meetings/a39/workshops/Documents/Nuctech%20Industry%20workshop.pdf

 

 

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