Month: April 2023

On 28 April, Cohen & Gresser (UK) Ltd reported that the Insolvency Service has published statistics on its enforcement activities and outcomes during the last financial year.  The report describes its enforcement activities in the areas of director disqualifications, company enforcement actions, bankruptcy and debt relief matters, and criminal prosecutions.  The report says that 3 noteworthy trends in director disqualification enforcement emerge –

• an overall increase in the number of disqualifications, as compared with previous years;
• a focus by the Insolvency Service on the abuse of Covid-19 financial support schemes; and
• an increase in the average length of disqualifications.

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-uk-s-insolvency-service-reports-on-9441261/

On 28 April, CNN reported that new research has revealed the extent to which Iran has built a powerful weapons industry based on Western technology, and how that technology is being used by Russia.   Findings from Conflict Armament Research (CAR), made through detailed examination of components recovered in Ukraine and shared exclusively with CNN, underlines Iran’s ability to mimic and finesse military technology it has obtained illegitimately.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/28/world/iran-drones-russia-ukraine-technology-intl-cmd/index.html

EU Regulation 2023/886/EU said that the information concerning the entries for 24 persons and one entity has been amended.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.LI.2023.113.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2023%3A113I%3ATOC

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=uriserv:OJ.LI.2023.113.01.0021.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2023:113I:TOC

On 28 April, a news release from US Immigration & Customs Enforcement advised that US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in partnership with ACAMS issued an alert today outlining AML red flags and compliance guidance associated with so-called “pig-butchering”, a rising global fraud scheme that targets victims by earning their confidence over the course of weeks or months before soliciting money for fraudulent crypto-asset investments. The alert was issued as part of the CORNERSTONE outreach project.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-acams-issue-guidance-combating-financial-fraud-other-crypto-scams https://www.ice.gov/doclib/cornerstone/pdf/cornerstoneACAMS_SpecialIssue40_Apr21_2023.pdf

On 26 April, the UN advised that MAULAWI RAJAB and SULTAN AZIZ AZAM had been added to its ISIL/Al Qaida sanctions lists.  On 26/27 April, the UK and Switzerland added the names to their sanctions lists.

https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15267.doc.htm

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1153445/Notice_ISIL__Da_esh__and_Al-Qaida_270423.pdf

https://www.europeansanctions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Al-Qaida-Taliban_Delta_2023-04-27.pdf

 On 28 April, Reuters reported that the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) said in its annual report that legal and accounting bodies in the UK continue to show significant weaknesses in policing how their members apply AML rules. 

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/uk-legal-accounting-bodies-weak-110026443.html

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/opbas-hmt-mlr-46a-supervisory-update-march-2023.pdf

https://www.fca.org.uk/about/how-we-operate/who-work-with/opbas

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/aml-watchdog-demands-more-ambition-from-professional-regulators/5115884.article

On 27 April, OFAC advised that it has designated 4 senior officials of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organisation (IRGC-IO), an entity that is being concurrently designated by the State Department for its role in the hostage-taking or wrongful detention of US nationals in Iran.  OFAC also implemented the Department of State’s designation of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), in addition to the IRGC-IO, for their involvement in the wrongful detention of US nationals abroad.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1444

https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230427

On 27 April, OFAC advised that it had designated Eduardo Pardo Espino, who is a fugitive from a US drug trafficking charge, along with 6 other individuals and 19 Mexican companies.  These individuals and companies are linked, directly or indirectly, to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which is a violent Mexico-based organisation that traffics a significant proportion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs that enter the US.  OFAC coordinated this action with the Government of Mexico and US Government partners.

https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230427

https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/931681/download?inline=

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1443

On 27 April, OFAC advised that General License 1C (Authorizing certain transactions with the Russian federal security service or FSB) had been issued, together with 3 amended related FAQ 501, 502 and 503.

https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230427

https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/931686/download?inline

On 27 April, a Notice from HM Treasury advised that Maulawi RAJAB and Sultan Aziz AZAM have been added to sanctions lists.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1153445/Notice_ISIL__Da_esh__and_Al-Qaida_270423.pdf

https://www.gov.im/news/2023/apr/27/financial-sanctions-isil-daesh-and-al-qaida/

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y