As the latest MONEYVAL assessment approaches, the FSC has issued its latest Business Plan on 8 February. It says that the strategic focuses include increasing effectiveness in the combating of financial crime, with one of its core work streams being its Financial Crime Prevention Capability Programme. It includes a diagram setting out the schedule for the MONEYVAL assessment.
https://www.jerseyfsc.org/media/6446/2023-jfsc-business-plan.pdf
On 9 February, OFAC advised that it had sanctioned 9 entities across multiple jurisdictions that have played a critical role in the production, sale, and shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia. The US Treasury is targeting 6 Iran-based petrochemical manufacturers or their subsidiaries, and 3 companies in Malaysia and Singapore involved in facilitating the sale and shipment of petroleum and petrochemicals on behalf of Triliance Petrochemical Co Ltd, which OFAC designated in 2020 for facilitating the sale of Iranian petroleum products from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1257
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20230209
On 9 February, a news release from the US Treasury advised that it was designating 7 individuals who are part of the Russia-based cybercrime gang Trickbot. This action represents the very first sanctions of their kind for the UK, and result from a collaborative partnership between OFAC and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office; NCA; and HM Treasury to disrupt Russian cybercrime and ransomware.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1256
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20230209
On 8 February, ETH Zurich provides a comparative analysis of national risk assessments. It compares the assessments made by 9 European countries and Swiss Re respectively of 5 types of cross-border risks: electricity supply shortage, nuclear accident, pandemic, severe space weather, and volcanic outbreak. Even though the selected countries have correlated risk profiles for these hazards, the report finds noteworthy differences in their estimated likelihood and impact.
On 9 February, a briefing from HFW explains that spoofing is a type of disruptive trading behaviour that can occur frequently in the commodities markets, or where there is the use of algorithmic or high-frequency trading strategies. Spoofing (also referred to as ‘layering’) is a term used to describe a form of market manipulation where traders place a bid or offer with no intention of fulfilling it, instead cancelling the bid or offer before execution.
https://www.hfw.com/downloads/004741-HFW-Spoofing-What-it-is-and-our-top-5-tips-for-prevention.pdf
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