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Weekly Roundup: U.S., Europe Impose Further Sanctions on Iran and Libya, UK Publishes Plan for the New National Crime Agency, And More
printThe U.S. and Europe rolled out new sanctions against Iran and Libya on Thursday when the U.S. Treasury and State Departments targeted three Iranian entities for serious human rights violations. Both the State and Treasury said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij Resistance Force, and the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), also known as the national police, have been responsible for the suppression of democracy and the violent mistreatment of political dissenters. More The European Union imposed further sanctions on Libya Tuesday for the Gaddaffi regime's violence against protestors. The sanctions – which target the ports of Khoms, Brega,...
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The United Kingdom should strengthen asset forfeiture and anti-money laundering powers as part of an effort to aid the recently-formed National Crime Agency, Britain's Home Office said in a report Tuesday.
A group of investigative journalists reveal the identities of thousands of suspected tax evaders, U.S. prosecutors increasingly turn to a civil fraud statute to prosecute money launderers, and more, in this week's news roundup.
JPMorgan Chase drops a Milan account for the Holy See, Beijing police freeze nearly $800 million tied to at least six "underground" banks, and more.
Iran's central bank prepares to sue to win back $2 billion in frozen assets, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklists the heads of a money laundering ring based in Panama and Colombia, and more, in this week's news roundup.
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
The Justice Department launches investigations into three Israeli banks and continues its probe into the financial network of R. Allen Stanford, in this week's news roundup.
Two banks were dinged in consent orders Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations, the European Union imposed sanctions against Syria, Libya's rebel government began the search for assets allegedly purloined by the Gaddafi family, and more.
Afghanistan arrests two former top bank officials for alleged graft, Taiwan brings corruption charges against a second former president and FATF advises countries on how to evaluate the risks of alternative financial service providers, in this week's news roundup.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday sanctioned three more Libyan banks, bringing to a dozen the number of financial institutions cut off from the U.S. financial system since Libya was first targeted for economic sanctions at the end of February.
Two U.S. companies paid a total of $200 million dollars this week for anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions violations. On Wednesday, Wells Fargo Co. agreed to pay the United States $160 million and the next day a Delaware corporation paid $40 million.
As the United States and Europe continue to press China to support new sanctions against Iran, North Korea has launched a bank to circumvent international trade and financial prohibitions against it.
While an Office of Foreign Assets Control report revealed this week that the total assets frozen annually by the United States for alleged ties to terrorism fell five percent in 2009 from the previous year, another report pinpointed the top money laundering countries in the world.
A Milwaukee-based company sues American Express for failing to block illegal transactions and Royal Bank of Scotland discloses that the U.K. Financial Services Authority is investigating it, in this week's news roundup.
Iran seeks help with its terrorist financing laws on the heels of its inclusion in an international blacklist and investigators in the UAE say they are looking at U.S. credit card companies as part of investigation into the assassination of a Hamas leader, in this week's roundup.
A New York City councilman is charged with laundering money stolen from public funds, a prominent car dealership owner is accused of bilking cash from Chrysler and the UAE sees a 48 percent jump in suspicious transaction reports, in this week's news roundup.
A client of UBS AG pleads guilty to tax evasion as a longstanding data sharing arrangement between the United States and the European Union is poised to collapse, in this week's news roundup.
The Credit Suisse saga isn't over yet, at least not for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. His office announced Wednesday that the bank handed over $268 million to his office. Half of the sum will be turned over to the city of New York and the rest to New York State.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said sanctions against Iran were likely as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office prepares to issue a large deferred prosecution agreement penalty against a foreign bank over its ties to the Persian country.
The prosecution of high-profile, alleged Ponzi schemes kept money laundering in the headlines this week as a federal court convicted a Minnesota businessman for bilking investors of $3.5 billion and investigators arrested a well-known Florida lawyer for allegedly stealing over $1 billion.
In other AML news this week, New Jersey prosecutors won guilty pleas in two high-profile cases, and AUSTRAC issued its annual report detailing the number of suspicious transaction reports for the year.