Day: December 2, 2020

On 2 December, the House of Commons Library published a Research Paper saying that UK law requires “gatekeepers” to the financial system to perform enhanced checks on PEP, their families and their known close associates.  Such firms need to have measures in place to identify PEP, assess the level of risk they pose, and manage the relationship appropriately.  Criminal and regulatory sanctions are available for non-compliance.  Criticism of the regime, including by British MPs, has focused on 2 points:

1. firstly, on the relatively recent requirement to treat domestic and foreign PEP alike, even for domestic PEP without formal executive power; and
2. secondly, on perceived overly-cautious approaches taken by some risk-averse firms, which it has been argued resulted in disproportionate due diligence measures taken against PEP, their families or their close associates.

FCA guidance published in July 2017 sought in part to address these issues, and in December 2018 FATF rated the UK “compliant” with its main recommendation on PEP, noting that “all criteria are met”.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7376/

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On 2 December, OFAC advised that a Mexican individual had been added to the SDN List as a drug trafficker (said to be a close associate of notorious drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero), with 6 other names deleted (5 Colombian and a Mexican), with another entry amended.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20201202

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1199

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On 1 December, ZD Net reported that the FBI says that cyber-criminals are increasingly relying on email forwarding rules in order to disguise their presence inside hacked email accounts.  It says the technique has been seen and abused in recent BEC (Business Email Compromise) attacks reported over the summer.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-warns-of-email-forwarding-rules-being-abused-in-recent-hacks/

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On 2 December, an article from OCCRP said that fake cryptocurrency trading software is being used to harvest the contact details of potential customers for unscrupulous investment brokers and a London-based company used fake celebrity endorsements from famous faces to direct investors to brokers, some of which are offshore and subject to official UK warnings.  A San Diego-based tech company made huge profits pushing thousands of ads promoting fake cryptocurrency investment platforms.  It is said that Facebook and Google are “awash” with the adverts and that Google has taken tens of millions of dollars this year from questionable brokers and investment review websites.

https://www.occrp.org/en/fraud-factory/down-the-bitcoin-funnel-the-tech-firms-driving-investors-to-ruin-with-fake-celebrity-news

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A Europol news release on 2 December advised that law enforcement authorities from 26 countries and Europol announce the results of the European Money Mule Action ‘EMMA 6’, a worldwide operation against money mule schemes. Between September and November, EMMA 6 was carried out for the sixth consecutive year with the support of the European Banking Federation, FinTech FinCrime Exchange, Interpol and Western Union.  As a result, 4,031 money mules were identified alongside 227 money mule recruiters, and 422 individuals were arrested worldwide.  During the span of the operation, 1,529 criminal investigations were initiated. With the support of the private sector including more than 500 banks and financial institutions, 4,942 fraudulent money mule transactions were identified, preventing a total loss estimated at €33.5 million.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/422-arrested-and-4%C2%A0031-money-mules-identified-in-global-crackdown-money-laundering

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/eu-affairs/143514/worldwide-crackdown-on-money-laundering-mules-422-arrests

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On 1 December, FATF announced that it was welcoming contributions to an online questionnaire on enhancing cross-border payments.  It says that faster, cheaper and more inclusive cross-border payment services could have widespread benefits for people and economies worldwide.  They would help support economic growth, international trade and global development.  That is why the enhancement of cross-border payments, with a focus on safety and security, is a key priority of the G20, the FATF, and other international organisations.  A questionnaire is provided, and contributions are required by 15 January.

https://survey.oecd.org/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766572&lang=en%20

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