Month: June 2022

On 30 June, the BBC reported that the UK has paid the European Commission €678 million over a long-running dispute with the EU over fraud on imported Chinese clothing, and follows a ruling from the EU’s top court that the UK failed to pass on the correct amount of tax to the EU for imports between 2011 and 2017.  The Commission had sued the UK for €2.7 billion in 2018.  HM Treasury said that the UK was liable for interest payments of 16% plus the Bank of England base rate on any outstanding amount, and it said it was paying this amount to “protect UK taxpayers from significant continued interest accrual”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62001446

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On 30 June, the Daily Mail reported that authorities have announced that they have suspended the operations of Puerto Rico-based Euro Pacific International Bank, which officials previously said was under suspicion of facilitating money laundering and offshore tax evasion. It is said that the bank that was established in Puerto Rico in October 2017 came under scrutiny following a lack of internal controls, a lack of compliance and a level of insolvency.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-10970785/Puerto-Rico-accuses-bank-money-laundering-tax-evasion.html

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On 30 June, the US Treasury reported that OFAC had announced it has issued a Notification of Blocked Property to Heritage Trust, a Delaware-based trust in which OFAC-designated Russian oligarch Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov holds a property interest.  As of 30 June, Heritage Trust holds assets valued at over $1 billion, and this action ensures that those assets remain blocked and inaccessible to Kerimov.   Heritage Trust was formed in July 2017 for the purpose of holding and managing Kerimov’s US-based assets.  It is said that enforcement investigation unearthed the oligarch’s use of a network of relatives, advisers, and opaque legal entities to invest in the US.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/maryland/articles/2022-06-30/treasury-blocks-1-billion-trust-owned-by-russian-oligarch

https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/us-treasury-blocks-over-1-billion-in-suleiman-kerimov-trust-enforcement-inv/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/30/us-russian-oligarch-sanctions-suleiman-kerimov

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On 16 June, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime published this report which aims to provide a broad overview of cryptocurrencies and organised crime.  It is meant for readers that may have an expertise in one, both or neither, as a means to better understand the challenges posed by emerging blockchain technologies and decentralised finance.

https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cryptocurrencies-crime/

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On 30 June, Appleby published an article about the situation in the Isle of Man following legislation enacted in 2021 permitting the cultivation, production, supply, possession, importation and exportation of certain medicinal cannabis products under licence.  The first licence for a pharmacy to import and dispense certain cannabis-based products for medicinal use has been granted and an “approval in principle” for a company to cultivate, extract, manufacture, import and export medicinal cannabis.

https://www.applebyglobal.com/publications/getting-into-the-weeds-isle-of-man-regulation-of-global-cannabis-investments/

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On 30 June, FATF published a targeted update on implementation of FATF Standards on virtual assets (VA) and virtual asset service providers (VASP), with a focus on FATF’s Travel Rule.  This report comes 3 years after FATF extended its AML/CFT measures to VA and VASP to prevent criminal and terrorist misuse of the sector.  The report finds a continued need for many countries to strengthen understanding risks of the VA and VASP sector, and to rapidly implement FATF Recommendation 15/INR.15 to mitigate such risks.  Of the 98 jurisdictions that responded to FATF’s March 2022 survey, only 29 jurisdictions have passed relevant Travel Rule laws, and a small subset of these jurisdictions have started enforcement.  This, FATF says, demonstrates an urgent need for jurisdictions to accelerate implementation and enforcement to mitigate criminal and terrorist misuse of virtual assets. 

https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/targeted-update-virtual-assets-vasps.html

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On 29 June, a news release from the EU advised that the EU Council has agreed its partial position on the proposal.  The Council has added powers to the Authority to directly supervise certain types of credit and financial institutions, including crypto asset service providers, if they are considered risky.  It also entrusts the Authority to supervise up to 40 groups and entities – at least in the first selection process – and to ensure a complete coverage of the internal market under its supervision. More powers are also given to the general board in the governance of AMLA.  The Council’s position is partial as it has not yet agreed on the location at which the new Authority will be based.  This proposal is part of a package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU AML/CFT rules, presented by the Commission on 20 July.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/29/new-eu-authority-for-anti-money-laundering-council-agrees-its-partial-position/

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On 29 June, the EU announced that negotiators from the EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on the proposal updating the rules on information accompanying the transfers of funds by extending the scope of those rules to transfers of crypto assets.  It says that the introduction of this “travel rule” will ensure financial transparency on exchanges in crypto-assets and will provide the EU with a solid and proportional framework that complies with the most demanding international standards on the exchange of crypto-assets, in particular FATF Recommendations 15 and 16.  This proposal is part of a package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU AML/CFT rules, presented by the Commission on 20 July 2021.  The package also includes a proposal to create a new EU authority to fight money laundering.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/29/anti-money-laundering-provisional-agreement-reached-on-transparency-of-crypto-asset-transfers/

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On 29 June, the EU Sanctions blog reported that the Court had rejected an application made by made by Alisher Usmanov, who was added to the EU’s Russia sanctions list on 28 February. 

https://www.europeansanctions.com/2022/06/eu-court-rejects-interim-measures-application-by-alisher-usmanov/

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On 28 June, OCCRP reported on Belarusian PEP listed as owning real estate in Dubai, a kingdom in the UAE that has become a playground for the global rich.   Following on from the Dubai Uncovered report in May, further investigations have identified a similar group of politically exposed citizens of Belarus among the listed property owners.  They include Aliaksei Aleksin, a businessman sanctioned by the US and reputed to be Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s “wallet,” and others with ties to the regime in Minsk.  The investigation reveals that, even in a country whose government places a high priority on Soviet-style equality, people connected to the authorities can earn big money and offshore it to the UAE.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16492-new-investigation-dubai-properties-of-belarusians-close-to-lukashenko

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