Day: October 13, 2021

A news release from the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority on 13 October advised that work carried out to make sure solicitors keep criminals from using the profession to launder money has been detailed in a new review – its first professional supervisor report, a recent requirement placed on all supervisors by both the Money Laundering Regulations and guidance by the Office for Professional Body Anti-money laundering Supervision (OPBAS) and HM Treasury. 

https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/news/press/aml-supervisor-report-2021/

The report is at –

https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/how-we-work/reports/antimoney-laundering/

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On 11 October, Insight Crime reported that seizures in the last 2 years have been frequent, with authorities finding large quantities of Chinese cigarettes in Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia and even Texas – with CNTC brands such as Golden Deer and Silver Elephant, despite there being no legal market for them in any country other than Chile.  The article considers 3 key takeaways from the investigation into this booming market, and saying that there is one major gateway for Chinese cigarettes into Latin America: Panama.  It cites loose regulation within Panama’s Colón Free Trade Zone exploited to import Chinese cigarettes tax-free, or even manufacture the brands within Panama. 

https://insightcrime.org/news/contraband-chinese-cigarettes-take-latin-america-by-storm/

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On 13 October, Metro reported that the Slovak President has said that central bank governor and ECB policymaker Peter Kazimir, 53, should consider resigning after he was charged with corruption.

https://www.metro.us/slovak-central-bank-chief

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On 13 October, ERR reported that the chief of the money laundering bureau (RAB) has said that cryptocurrency operating licences in Estonia should be revoked, and the system rebuilt from scratch.  Despite a cull of licence-holders in 2020, over 400 cryptocurreny operators are still active in Estonia.

https://news.err.ee/1608367998/anti-money-laundering-chief-cryptocurrency-licenses-should-be-revoked

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On 13 October, Middle East Eye reported that the UK has authorised exports of tear gas to numerous authoritarian states in the Middle East over the past decade, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman, despite several of the countries being on its own human rights priority list.  Since 2008, the British government has approved licences for tear gas to 70 countries. 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-middle-east-tear-gas-exporting-authoritarians

On 12 October, the Coal News Hub carried an article posing this question in the wake of the Pandora Papers and news about expensive property in London.  It says that there are questions about what has become of billions of dollars in mineral wealth generated over the past decade and a half by a mining boom, as Australian, Canadian and Chinese companies have moved in to develop lucrative deposits of coal, silver, gold and copper.  The World Bank estimates that Mongolia has produced $28 billion worth of mineral outputs since 2004 and, taxes and royalties amounted to nearly $9 billion in the past 15 years.  It is said that mining now accounts for nearly one-quarter of GDP, and mineral exports represent 26% of fiscal revenue, and that surveys have revealed deposits of coal, copper, gold, rare earth minerals and uranium worth an estimated $2.75 trillion – enough to make everyone a near-millionaire.  However, the country’s poverty rate of 28% and wealth gap remain unchanged from early 2012.

https://coalnewshubb.com/mongolias-missing-millions-what-happened-to-a-decade-long-mining-boom/