Day: May 2, 2023

Since yesterday (or possibly the day before), posts are not automatically copied onto Twitter.

So far this year, 127,678 migrants have arrived across the Darién Gap in the first 4 months of 2023 – and most of the migrants are from Venezuela, Haiti and Ecuador. The rest come from other countries such as Somalia, Cameroon, China, Afghanistan and India.

Just as a reminder that Covid-19 is still bubbling around in the background, the US has announced that it will lift mandatory vaccinations for foreign travellers arriving in the US on 11 May.

The start of the rainy season has already seen a drought of sorts (the rains have stopped again), and now the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Panama (IMHPA) has issued a surveillance warning for the high level of UV-B radiation, which may be experienced until 5 May.

In other news, it is reported that authorities in Panama seized 32 tons of drugs between January and April, with the Caribbean province of Colón as one of the areas where the largest seizures were madE.

2 May 2023

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 2 May, OFAC announced that, in a joint action with authorities in the Republic of Türkiye, it had designated 2 financial facilitators of Syria-based terrorist groups Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ), both of which are sanctioned by the US and the UN.  They are Omar Alsheak, more commonly known as Abu Ahmed Zakour; and Kubilay Sari.

https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230502

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1456

On 28 April, a news release from the FCA advised that the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) has found that professional bodies are continuing to demonstrate good levels of compliance with money laundering regulations but improvements in how effectively they supervise have not been good enough.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/opbas-publishes-report-legal-and-accountancy-sector-supervision

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/opbas/opbas-report-progress-themes-supervisory-work-2022-23.pdf

EU Regulation 2023/890/EU advised that Nizar AL-ASSAD had been removed from its sanctions lists following a decision of the General Court.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2023.114.01.0013.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2023%3A114%3ATOC

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2023.114.01.0022.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2023:114:TOC

EU Regulation 2023/888/EU follows an EU Council Decision which establishes a framework for targeted restrictive measures in view of actions destabilising the Republic of Moldova.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2023.114.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2023%3A114%3ATOC

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2023.114.01.0015.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2023:114:TOC

On 2 May, the Law Society Gazette reported that the Legal Services Board has opened a call for evidence on the role that lawyers’ conduct can play in the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) as it considers regulation to clamp down on abuses. The call for evidence runs to 14 July.

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/oversight-regulator-calls-for-evidence-on-nda-misuse/5115894.article

In October 2022, AUSTRAC published this guide, developed by its Fintel Alliance in partnership with the Australian Border Force. It was designed to to assist government agencies and financial service providers to understand and identify trade-based money laundering, and where appropriate, report suspicious financial activity.

https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-10/2022_AUSTRAC_FCG_Preventing_Trade_Based_Money_Laundering_web.pdf

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 2 May, HM Treasury announced that a new General Licence had been issued, and that anyone intending to use the new General Licence should consult a copy of the licence for full details of the definitions, permissions, and usage requirements as these do not mirror those of its predecessor. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1153971/Legal_Services_GL_INT20232954852.pdf