On 31 October, the Jersey Evening Post reported that the aircraft registry – which ended up with just 1 aircraft on its books – has finally been closed. It was launched in 2015 with hopes of attracting a wealth of aircraft, but just 4 aircraft were registered over the 7 years and by last month it had just a solitary Cessna to its name.
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2022/10/31/jerseys-ill-fated-aircraft-registry-finally-closes/
On 26 October, the Financial Transparency Coalition published this report saying that Africa concentrates 48.9% of identified industrial and semi-industrial vessels involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, 40% in West Africa alone which has become a global epicentre for these activities. It is said to be the most extensive analysis of IUU fishing cases to date, and warns that developing countries lose billions of dollars in illicit money flows directly linked to this practice every year – up to $11.49 billion for Africa, and $2 billion for Argentina and $4 billion for Indonesia. The study also reveals that the top 10 companies involved in IUU fishing concentrate nearly one-quarter of all reported vessels: 8 from China, 1 from Colombia and another from Spain which received millions of dollars in EU and other subsidies. The report warns that almost no countries require information about owners when registering vessels or requesting fishing licences, meaning that those ultimately responsible for these activities are not detected and punished, resulting in fines often being applied to the vessel captains and crew.
A report from Interpol on 20 October says that there are a number of policy issues connected to the Metaverse that will require international efforts to address. Some of the issues identified in the report are broader than just law enforcement, but they will have a major impact on policing.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y
SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY (SRA) REFERRED 20 SAR TO THE NCA RELATING TO SOLICITORS HANDLING £149 MILLION OF POTENTIALLY CRIMINAL FUNDS
On 31 October, Legal Futures reported that the SRA annual report says supervision activity showed some improvement in law firms’ compliance but still identified plenty of non-compliance.
https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/aml-annual-report-2021-22/
On 28 October, the Wolfsberg Group published its updated Financial Crime Principles for Correspondent Banking. This updates the 2014 version and provides guidance and best practices for banks, draws a distinction between Correspondent Relationships and Correspondent Banking activity, addresses entities other than banks who have Correspondent Relationships, and incorporates revised FAQ that were previously a separate document. The Principles detail risk-based due diligence measures that, when undertaken, allow the Correspondent Bank to assess the profile, customer base and Financial Crime Programme of its Respondent customers.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y
On 28 October, the EU announced that the Commission has published guidance on the use of public-private partnerships (PPP) to prevent and fight money laundering and terrorist financing. The guidance aims to improve stakeholders’ general understanding of what PPPs are, and to encourage, where possible, their role in the effective fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. The document provides guidance on the main features and the associated opportunities, specific legal considerations, as well as observed best practices of PPP.
On 28 October, the EU advised that the Commission has adopted the Supranational Risk Assessment (SNRA) Report, a tool to help Member States identify and address money laundering and terrorist financing risks. The report shows that while most recommendations of the previous assessments (the last such report dates from 2019) have already been implemented, it underlines the fact that weaknesses in identifying beneficial ownership continue to remain a considerable threat to the financial system, as anonymity remains a critical vulnerability for all sectors and activities. The report also re-calculates the risk levels of certain areas where changes have been detected since 2019, e.g. crypto-assets and online gambling, where risks are now higher.
On 27 October, a report from Global Financial Integrity says that China is unique in that the government itself engages in certain types of criminal activity — specifically forced labour and intellectual property rights violations. In addition, the country’s political, economic, and social policies have extensive repercussions on the presence and prevalence of these crimes, both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, it says, the country’s willingness to cooperate and act on these crimes within the global context has been relatively limited. The report scrutinises China’s role in 4 different transnational crimes — drug trafficking, counterfeiting and IP theft, human trafficking and wildlife trafficking — as well as the illicit financial flows (IFF) associated with these crimes.
On 28 October, Regulation Asia reported that the guidance describes the most common TBML methodologies and provides indicators and behaviours to help financial service providers detect and report suspicious activity.
https://www.regulationasia.com/austrac-issues-new-guidance-on-preventing-tbml/
https://www.miragenews.com/trade-based-money-laundering-on-radar-in-new-884003/
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