Tweet Party is over says Colombia Minister of Finance The government of Colombia is imposing a 33% surtax on assets moved out of the country by its nationals to known tax havens. The surtax will be assessed against individuals and corporations to curb the exodus of funds out of Colombia. The government estimates that the […]
Tweet Crackdown on foreign nationals with unverified funds The G20 leaders have endorsed a sweeping plan proposed by its Anti-Corruption Working Group (“ACWG“) in 2012 to tackle the illicit movement of proceeds of crime internationally by corrupt foreign nationals to other countries (usually done as part of an immigration process). The change is part of […]
Tweet The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ“) announced that it has resolved its money laundering investigation into the Las Vegas Sands Corp. pursuant to which Sands will pay US$47 million to avoid criminal prosecution in connection with funds gambled by high rollers at its Venetian casino in Las Vegas. The DOJ was investigating Sands for failure to […]
Tweet Lawyer added to OFAC List The U.S. Department of the Treasury has designated a lawyer, Jose Antonio Nunez Bedoya, to its Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDNL“). Mr. Bedoya was added to the SDNL for incorporating several companies on behalf of members of Mexican organized crime, the Sinaloa Cartel, in an effort allegedly to create […]
Tweet Mafia funds must be frozen The U.S. Department of the Treasury today added several members of the Camorra mafia to its Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDNL“). As a result of the designation to the SDNL, all property (money, securities, and other property) of the designated Camorra in the U.S. or in the possession or […]
Tweet The independent reviewer of the U.K.’s terrorism legislation has released his latest report (the “Report“) highlighting terrorism developments over the last 12 months in the U.K. Some interesting parts of the Report are as follows: Terrorist acts targeted against Jewish people According to the Report, there were several terrorist incidents in the U.K. principally […]
Tweet The US has charged a Canadian woman for failing to report the transportation of more than USD$10,000 cash in the country as required by US anti-money laundering legislation. The woman, Moura El-Asmar, is alleged to have sewn $39,000 into her bra and to have attempted to enter the US wearing that bra. She is […]
Tweet The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (“INCSR“) published this month by the U.S. Department of State, particularly volume I on the drug trafficking trade, is more favourable of Canada than the last two years, primarily as a result of the enactment in Canada of the Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, know as the Safe Streets […]
Tweet The European Commission today adopted two new anti-money laundering directives; the first, a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (the 4th AML Directive). The Proposals take into account the […]
Tweet Today, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its long anticipated revised set of standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) which replace the 40 Recommendations + 9 Special Recommendations compiled in 2003. The revised FATF Recommendations integrate AML and CTF controls into one document and are quite expansive in that […]