Day: December 15, 2020

On 15 December, Insurance Marine News reported claims by Lloyds List that a quarter of Aframax tankers that were more than 20 years old were being deployed in Venezuelan and Iranian trades.  An Aframax vessel is an oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 metric tonnes. The term is based on the Average Freight Rate Assessment, a tanker rate system created in 1954 by Shell Oil to standardize shipping contract terms.

https://insurancemarinenews.com/insurance-marine-news/a-quarter-of-old-aframax-tankers-deployed-in-sanctioned-trades-report/

https://maritime-connector.com/wiki/aframax

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On 15 December, LBC reported that the co-founder and chairman of the company planning to build the UK’s first gigafactory in the North East of England has quit after it emerged he was convicted for tax fraud in Sweden more than 20 years ago.  He was also later accused of acting negligently by Sweden’s tax authority over a separate unpaid tax bill for one of his companies in 2011.  The Swede also has links to Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, the former Portsmouth FC owner who jumped bail in England 5 years ago.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/business/afcb29a2dde44bfa97df5419d4befa77/

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On 15 December, OFAC advised that this entity, which has a string of alternative names, to the SDN List.  It is a Shia extremist organisation that was established during 2013 and which targeted the ruling Khalifa royal family, Bahrain security forces and Saudi Arabia. 

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20201215

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On 14 December, The Paypers published an article explaining that KYT is a process employed by financial institutions to monitor the merchants’ businesses through the analysis of transaction data.  Examining transaction data allows accurate and data-driven conclusions to be made, as it produces the essential evidence required upon suspicions over any fraudulent merchant activity.  Transaction laundering is conducted online and involves setting up/using a website that appears ‘normal’ (the shell website) whilst operating a ‘fraudulent’ site unknown to banks and card networks that conducts prohibited business activities. The transactions from the ‘fraudulent’ site are then routed through the ‘normal’ site to disguise the transaction as legitimate – deceiving banks, payment service providers, and card networks that these are all valid transactions and profits acquired from the ‘normal’ website.

https://thepaypers.com/expert-opinion/know-your-transaction-kyt-the-key-to-combating-transaction-laundering–1246231

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On 14 December, a news release from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced that new draft legislation sets out the government’s minimum standards for British Overseas Territories when they publish the owners of companies registered there.  It is said that the legislation – which is supported by Overseas Territories themselves – will improve corporate transparency and deter illicit finance.  The introduction of publicly accessible registers of who controls companies in their jurisdiction shows the Overseas Territories’ commitment to corporate transparency.  The government expects all Overseas Territories to have these registers in place by the end of 2023.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-overseas-territories-commit-to-publishing-further-information-on-company-ownership-in-major-anti-corruption-move

SANCTIONS AND ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACT 2018 (COMMENCEMENT NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2020

These Regulations bring into force certain provisions of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 which enable HM Treasury or the Secretary of State to make regulations relating to the detection, investigation or prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.  Section 51 of the Act relates to publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership of companies in British Overseas Territories.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1535/note/made

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The Gambling Commission has provided a new page which contains the latest AML notices and updates from the Gambling Commission and other government agencies.

https://beta.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/licensees-and-businesses/aml

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On 15 December, an article from Out-Law explains that an NPO is a disclosure order available in England and Wales which allows information to be obtained from third parties who have become ‘mixed up’ in wrongdoing, helping victims to investigate, pursue those ultimately responsible and recover their losses. They are often used where a victim of wrongdoing does not know the identity of the wrongdoer but can point to a third party who has this information. They can also be used to trace assets and obtain other information needed by the victim to put together its case against the wrongdoer. 

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/guides/disclosure-guide-seeking-norwich-pharmacal-orders

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On 11 December, an article from Transparency International is concerned with examples of state capture, when powerful individuals and groups use corruption to shape a nation’s policies, laws and economy to benefit their own private interests.  It allows the corrupt to maintain their power, get rich from the state and avoid punishment.  It says that this is happening at all levels of government – from local authorities to the executive – in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.  Here, chains of loyalty and mutual benefits are leading officials to abuse their office and tighten the grip of a few networks on these countries.  It refers to a new report which reveals the causes of this state capture, as well as 2 enabling factors that allow it to happen: undue influence on the judiciary and on law-making.

https://www.transparency.org/en/news/captured-states-western-balkans-turkey

The report is at –

https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2020_Report_ExaminingStateCapture_English.pdf

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On 15 December, Accountancy Daily reported that the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) have jointly released a new toolkit for establishing and running an effective exchange of information (EOI) function.  t underlines policy considerations and provides guidance on setting up and managing an effective EOI function in order to improve co-operation among tax administrations and better tackle tax evasion.

www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/global-forum-secretariat-and-african-tax-administration-forum-deliver-new-toolkit-to-help-countries-set-up-and-run-effective-exchange-of-information-units.htm

www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/documents/eoi-unit-toolkit.htm

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On 14 December, NK Pro reported that Ri Jong Chol was not charged for the death of Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, but he is said to be part of a big sanction evading network.  In 2017, police arrested a North Korean man in connection with the murder, but Ri Jong Chol was never charged with the murder.  However, he is said to be one of the hundreds of North Korean agents who help their home country survive tough economic sanctions by running elaborate international networks that procure the government’s material needs.  In the process, these agents abroad abuse diplomatic privileges and hide behind layers of Chinese shell companies to run transactions right under the noses of international investigators.  It is said that the North Korean contacts found in Ri’s electronic devices were openly violating sanctions using shell companies opened in China’s national company register, and these contacts may still be active today.  Ri mainly worked on behalf of two companies: Korea Singwang Economic and Trading Corporation and Korea Ponghwa General Trading Corporation, but he also closely coordinated with North Korean diplomats in Malaysia and had extensive relationships with North Korean collaborators, Chinese collaborators and others throughout Asia.

https://www.nknews.org/pro/our-man-in-malaysia-how-a-man-booked-for-murder-smuggled-goods-to-north-korea/

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