The leak of millions of records purporting to show widespread exploitation of offshore financial centers by global leaders, lenders and criminals is expected to draw governmental scrutiny of illicit finance, however unevenly.
The Obama administration is pushing lawmakers to introduce legislation that would require corporations to obtain tax identification data that could be turned over to investigators.
U.S. officials will formally propose this month a long-planned rule that would require banks to identify the owners of their corporate clients, according to an Office of Management and Budget schedule.
Intergovernmental plans to better identify corporate owners will do little to thwart financial crooks, even at great cost to banks and governments, according to an academic report on offshore financial flows.
Follow the headlines and you'll find an all too common story: the political winds shift, a leader is deposed and a fortune in dirty money is uncovered in a warren of offshore accounts. But why did no one stop the plundering sooner?
The Supreme Court nears a ruling on the long-running Arab Bank case, FATF spares Afghanistan from its blacklist, and more, in this week's news roundup.
EU parliamentarians voted Tuesday to require member-states to update their laws targeting money launderers and the financiers of terrorism, in part by naming corporate owners.
A European Parliamentary committee Thursday approved far-reaching changes to the EU's rules combating money laundering and terrorist financing, including an amendment that would require nations to publicize corporate owners.
Ukraine's widespread protests and weakened political stability are likely to prompt nervous investors and corrupt officials alike to move their money abroad, say economic analysts.
A U.K. plan to name the owners of privately-held corporations will help shine a light on shell companies, but how revealing that effort will be remains uncertain.
A Berlin-based advocacy group said Tuesday that Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia remained the least trusted nations in the world for the second year in a row.
Prosecutors in dozens of federal districts are investigating individuals suspected of illegally shipping luxury cars from the United States to China, two U.S. officials said Monday.
British asset management firms are failing to adequately address their vulnerabilities to money laundering, bribery and corruption, the United Kingdom's chief financial regulator said Thursday.
British officials are set to propose legislation that would require private corporations and limited liability partnerships to publicly disclose their individual owners, a U.K. minister said Monday.
U.S. officials will soon ask an influential intergovernmental group to call on its members to relax laws preventing bank affiliates from sharing data on suspected financial crimes, say sources.
The new law extends anti-money laundering program requirements to industries including real estate companies, company formation agents and consumer credit businesses. They also set guidelines for determining beneficial ownership of various entities.
Despite Chinas acceptance into FATF, money laundering and corruption in the country may get worse before they get better as root problems remain unaddressed, AML professionals say.
FATF approved Chinas membership during its plenary meeting in Paris this week. China passed comprehensive AML laws in October 2006 to bring its system in line with international standards.
The new rules, which extend a law enacted last year, are part of China's bid to join the international Financial Action Task Force.
The new law and corresponding regulations compel the nation's financial institutions to develop comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) programs, with customer identification procedures, recordkeeping rules and suspicious and large transaction reporting requirements.