Day: July 9, 2022

On 24 June, the FATF-style regional body released a number of reports –

FOLLOW-UP REPORT ON ETHIOPIA

The 10^th follow-up report dated April 2022 sets out Ethiopia’s progress in strengthening measures since its mutual evaluation (MER) in 2015.  Overall, Ethiopia has made significant progress in addressing deficiencies in technical compliance identified in its MER in respect of FATF Recommendation 24. Given minor shortcomings noted, Recommendation 24 has been upgraded from PC to LC. Considering overall progress made by Ethiopia since the adoption of its MER, its technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations has been revised as shown below.  Ethiopia will remain in enhanced follow-up given outstanding deficiencies in other Recommendations as well as in the Immediate Outcomes rating of effectiveness.

https://www.esaamlg.org/reports/Ethiopia%20FUR-April%202022.pdf

MUTUAL EVALUATION REPORT ON ESWATINI

The mutual evaluation report (MER) on Eswatini (the former Swaziland) was adopted by the Council of Ministers of ESAAMLG on 2 June. 

https://www.esaamlg.org/reports/MER%20of%20Eswatini-June%202022.pdf

FOLLOW-UP REPORT ON ZIMBABWE

This report sets out Zimbabwe’s progress in strengthening AML/CFT measures since the 2016 assessment. Zimbabwe has not made sufficient progress in addressing deficiencies identified in FATF Recommendations 2 and 7 to warrant an upgrade.  On the other hand, sufficient progress has been demonstrated in Recommendations 26, 28 and 34, warranting upgrades from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant in respect of Recommendations 26, 28 and 34. Considering overall progress made by Zimbabwe since the adoption of its MER, its technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations has been revised as shown below.

https://www.esaamlg.org/reports/Zimbabwe%20FUR%20-April%202022.pdf

ZAMBIA FOLLOW-UP REPORT

The report sets out Zambia’s progress in strengthening AML/CFT measures since its 2019 assessment.  Zambia will remain in enhanced follow-up given outstanding deficiencies in various FATF  Recommendations as well as in the Immediate Outcomes rating of effectiveness.

https://www.esaamlg.org/reports/Zambia%20FUR-April%202022.pdf

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On 8 July, La Estrella de Panama reported that the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has issued fines totalling €203.6 million to 6 main Spanish construction companies for having agreed for 25 years (1992 and 2017) public tenders for the construction and civil works of infrastructures.  It is said that the anti-competitive conspiracy affected thousands of tenders called by Spanish Public Administrations for the construction and construction of infrastructures such as hospitals, ports and airports, roads, etc.  The newspaper highlights the companies’ work in Panama.

https://www.laestrella.com.pa/internacional/mundo/220708/seis-constructoras-espanolas-radicadas-panama-multadas-alterar-licitaciones-25-anos

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On 8 July, the Law Society for Scotland said in a news release saying that the group, which is made up of both regulatory and representative bodies for legal services in the UK, produced the guidance which, following the Treasury’s approval, constitutes official guidance by practices supervised by the Law Society for AML.  The news release goes on to list the changes made in the guidance.

https://www.lawscot.org.uk/news-and-events/law-society-news/hm-treasury-approval-for-uk-aml-guidance-for-the-legal-sector/

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On 8 July, Tech Radar reported that the founder of a VPN, Ben Van Pelt, may be facing up to 5 years of jail time after being named as the prime accused in a fraud case in Greece.  He is being held personally liable after an anonymous user tried to make online purchases for about €2,000 with a stolen credit card in December 2018.  It says that VPN services are getting more and more popular, but along with protecting people’s online privacy and anonymity from internet snoopers, such tools can also be misused to carry out illegal activities on the web.  Although Van Pelt denies the allegations, whether or not he will manage to come out unharmed, the Greek fraud case against TorGuard is likely to set a precedent for the VPN industry. 

https://www.techradar.com/news/torguard-vpn-ceo-faces-up-to-five-years-in-prison-over-greece-fraud-trial

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On 7 July, Homeland Security Today published an article which highlights that not only Mainland Chinese fishing vessels are involved in IUU fishing.  During the patrol, the crew boarded 15 fishing vessels and identified 32 potential violations of conservation and management measures – which resulted in The Fisheries Agency of Taiwan issuing penalties against 5 Chinese Taipei-flagged vessels. 

https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/maritime-security/coast-guard-cutter-bertholf-2021-patrol-results-in-penalties-against-chinese-taipei-flagged-vessels/

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