Day: August 25, 2021

On 24 August, Le Temps reported on a case due to open in Switzerland and involving 3 managers from Tissot and CK Watch & Jewellery subsidiaries of the Swatch Group who are accused of receiving bribes 2006-14 from a Hong Kong supplier (who is also on trial) in exchange for large orders and looser controls on the equipment supplied.

https://www.letemps.ch/economie/corruption-horlogere-face-aux-juges

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/54/757_781_799/en

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On 25 August, Prokauer published an article on a case involving a former employee of a biopharmaceutical company and insider trading in advance of an acquisition – but with a unique twist: trading the securities of a company unrelated to the merger.  He allegedly purchased stock options for shares of a competitor not involved in the acquisition, in the belief (as alleged by the SEC) that the competitor’s stock price would also benefit from the news.  Despite the unusual nature of the case, the article proposes that the facts alleged by the SEC appear to fit within the traditional contours of the misappropriation theory and seem to suggest that the defendant had breached a duty to his own employer, and was subject to an insider-trading policy that appears to have covered the trading at issue.  An article from Akin Gump also suggests that private fund managers should track this case, as it may have broader implications, particularly for advisers that are active investors in sectors where the SEC may allege issuers are closely correlated to one another from a trading perspective.

https://www.corporatedefensedisputes.com/2021/08/mnpi-update-sec-pursues-shadow-trading-insider-trading-case/

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-shadow-insider-trading-sec-2954539/

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On 24 August, Reuters reported that a US Congress report has said that weak cooperation between US and Chinese authorities is hindering efforts to curb increasingly sophisticated forms of fentanyl trafficking.  While the amount of finished fentanyl shipped from China to the US has declined since 2019 when Beijing banned the synthetic drug. Yet illicit fentanyl from China remains widely available in the US. 

https://kyc360.riskscreen.com/news/limited-chinese-cooperation-hindering-u-s-fentanyl-fight-congress-report/

The report itself is available at –

https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/Illicit_Fentanyl_from_China-An_Evolving_Global_Operation.pdf

It reviews the situation since 2018 and the flows of product and money, including increased cooperation with Mexican cartels, and Chinese money laundering through Mexico.

On 25 August, a report from Insight Crime says that a series of seizures and drug raids across Latin America have revealed how previously niche high-strength marijuana products are establishing themselves within the region’s drug markets.  These products are known as “concentrates” and use mechanical or chemical separation techniques to create much more potent forms of marijuana by extracting high levels of THC.  Low-grade marijuana herb that is mass cultivated tends to contain between 2% and 10% THC, while concentrated forms of marijuana contain anywhere between 20% to 30% – in the case of “hashish” or marijuana resin – and 60% to 90% – in the case of highly processed extracts like “THC oil” or “wax”.  In the article InSight Crime examines 5 countries at the forefront of this development.

https://insightcrime.org/news/hashish-wax-thc-oil-latin-americas-marijuana-markets-diversify/

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3PB chambers in the UK has published this guide, said to be the first in a series of articles aims to address and provide practical advice on dealing with, common scenarios faced by businesses.  This first article addresses the risk of a ransomware attack and considers the practical steps that an organisation needs to take to survive such an event.

https://www.3pb.co.uk/content/uploads/Ransomware-attacks-a-practical-guide-to-survival-by-3PB-Barristers.pdf

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On 25 August, Investing.com reported that El Salvador could leave the FATF-style regional body after warnings that there is a danger of increased money laundering, and that the requirements of the Caribbean regulatory body could be violated; and El Salvador could be removed from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) due to the lack of independence and control over Bitcoin in preventing money laundering, when the Bitcoin Law comes into force on 7 September.

https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/el-salvador-could-exit-the-cfatf-due-to-lack-of-independence-and-control-over-bitcoin-2599043

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