Day: July 29, 2022

On 29 July, OFAC advised that a number of individuals and entities had been added to its Russia sanctions lists, including Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, described as a “co-optee”, a person used to support Kremlin-directed influence operations against the US and its allies and partners.  He is linked to Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), whose English-language website claims to be a socio-political movement “against certain aspects of the globalization process” and Ionov Transkontinental which has a footprint in Iran, Venezuela, and Lebanon.  Also designated is STOP-Imperialism, an English and Russian-language website that styles itself as a “global information agency”, and which is listed on the AGMR website.  OFAC also said that Russia also uses state-sponsored and state-controlled proxy organisations, commonly referred to as “government organised non-governmental organisations” (GONGO) to achieve its goals both inside and outside Russia; and has designated Natalya Valeryevna Burlinova, the founder and president of the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative Creative Diplomacy (PICREADI, also known as “Creative Diplomacy”), in this regard.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20220729

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0899

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On 29 July, CNN reported on an incident in February that was one of at least 16 known Russian gold smuggling flights out of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest producer of the precious metal, over the last year and a half.  Multiple interviews with high-level Sudanese and US officials and troves of documents reviewed by CNN paint a picture of an elaborate Russian scheme to plunder Sudan’s riches in a bid to fortify Russia against increasingly robust Western sanctions and to buttress the war effort in Ukraine – and how Russia has colluded with Sudan’s beleaguered military leadership.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/29/africa/sudan-russia-gold-investigation-cmd-intl/index.html

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On 25 July, the French Government issued this report, a national risk analysis specifically on combating the financing of the proliferation of WMD.  It aims to facilitate a better understanding of these risks by the private sector, to identify the mitigation measures adopted to address them and to highlight the sectors for which better consideration of the risks is needed.

https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Articles/2022/07/25/publication-de-l-analyse-nationale-des-risques-de-financement-de-la-proliferation-anr-fp-par-le-colb-et-le-sgdsn

https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Articles/daf766da-5890-4f20-8389-873acd28d0f4/files/e819686e-e95c-4972-81cb-1abd443c3ba5

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On 29 July, Casino Beats reported that the AGA has rolled-out an updated resource regarding AML best practices to maintain a leading position in combative efforts.

https://casinobeats.com/2022/07/29/aga-updates-aml-guidance/

https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AGA-AML-Best-Practices-Guide-2022.pdf

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On 29 July, the Art Newspaper reported on the updated UK guidance, saying that while grey areas linger, some of the added clarity and pragmatic simplifications offered (notably in relation to who falls into the “regulated art sector” and who should be doing KYC checks on whom are to be welcomed.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/07/29/the-uk-has-updated-its-anti-money-laundering-guidanceheres-what-it-means-for-the-art-market

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On 29 July, Rferl reported that a court in Sarajevo has sentenced Amir Zukic, a former top ruling party official, to 3 years in prison for corruption.  He was a former secretary-general of the ruling Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, or SDA, and was found guilty of bribing and using political connections in 2016 to give jobs in state-run institutions to certain people.

https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia-zukic-sentenced-corruption-sda/31965516.html

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On 27 July, an article from Insight Crime is the first instalment of an investigation shining light into Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing – focuses on law enforcement challenges and IUU fishing practices in Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana, and Suriname.  The 2-part investigation paints a picture of IUU fishing in 9 countries, examining everything from its perpetrators to its devastating effects on marine life and people, and showing how IUU fishing is coupled with other crimes. Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina comprise the second instalment, “Plundered Oceans: IUU Fishing in South American Seas”, which is set to be published on 3 August.

https://insightcrime.org/investigations/plundered-oceans-iuu-fishing-central-america-caribbean/

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On 25 July Companies House published guidance on how to add an overseas entity and its registrable beneficial owners or managing officers to the Register of Overseas Entities.  This will allow it to buy and sell land or property in the UK.  Separate guidance on agent assurance code has also been made available. An agent must carry out verification checks on beneficial owners and managing officers of an overseas entity before the company can be registered.  The agent must request an agent assurance code before they can file any verification statements with Companies House.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-an-overseas-entity

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/agent-assurance-codes

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