Transparency and Beneficial Ownership in the UK Property Market While it is nothing new to hear stories of corrupt elites owning UK property in rather dubious circumstances, The Times published a joint investigation with Transparency International earlier this month that showcases the truly brazen manner in which some individuals linked to illicit activities purchase and maintain property in the country. In one case, it was revealed that a multi-million pound flat in Kensington was registered to the eight-year-old daughter of Vladimir Gruzdev, a close associate of Putin’s. This ..read more

Themis announces today that they are opening new offices with Runway East, the contemporary office provider “fighting boring offices since 2014”. This partnership reflects Themis’ ongoing investment in its mission to normalise due diligence and protect companies and people from unknown or unwanted associations with criminals or organised crime. The company, which recently announced that it had raised £3.1 million its Pre-Series A round, helps both companies and individuals really understand their clients, suppliers and third parties.  This announcement  also coincides with B Corp Mon ..read more

Corruption - the abuse of entrusted or public power for private gain - is a major obstacle for sustainable economic development in many parts of the world. It enforces wealth disparity and inequitable access to public resources and enables a raft of financial crimes, including modern slavery and human trafficking, the illegal wildlife trade, drugs and weapons trafficking, and fraud.  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI - or EDI, as it is sometimes known) - covers multiple different dimensions. Gender, race, ethnicity, age, engagement, opportunity and disability are some of the more visib ..read more

An explosive report by aptly named short seller, Hindenburg Research, has claimed that one of India’s largest conglomerates, the USD 235 billion valued Adani Group, is in fact “the most egregious example of corporate fraud in history” Hindenburg detailed the findings of their two year investigation in January of this year, throwing the future of the Adani Group and its founder Guatam Adani, into question. Gautam Adani was thought of by some as the Indian Rockefeller, and was the third richest person in the world just a couple weeks ago. He has since dropped to the twenty-sixth position, at the ..read more

Today is World Wildlife Day and the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Themis’ Illegal Wildlife Trade Toolkit has also just been shortlisted for the International Compliance Association (ICA) Awards’ ESG Initiative of the Year - so it seems like a good time to take stock of where we are in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade (IWT).  IWT as an organised crime Global efforts to crack down on IWT - thought to be the world’s fourth most lucrative financial crime - have continued to progress, with an important, recent slew of l ..read more

As part of their portfolio of trafficking activities, criminals are targeting some of the most helpless and innocent victims – puppies. As a lasting side effect of the pandemic lockdown, the demand for puppies in the UK has grown substantially in recent years. 3.2 million pets since the beginning of the pandemic  alone, a large proportion of which were dogs. As a result, the illicit breeding and smuggling of puppies has become an increasingly common problem in the country as criminals seek to financially benefit from heightened demand.  From 2019 to 2020, the average price of common ..read more

The issue of supply chain due diligence is at the forefront of the corporate agenda as more and more companies suffer financial and reputational damage as a result of their failure to conduct such due diligence effectively. These risks were highlighted in July 2021 when it was reported that Inditex, the parent company of Zara, and Sketchers were profiting from forced labour by sourcing clothing from factories in China where Uyghurs were interned (see Figure 1). Recognising the financial and reputational damage that these reports could cause, both Inditex and Sketchers released statements ..read more

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has already got the new year off to a flying start, issuing two financial penalties within a day of each other. Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited (GT Bank) and Al Rayan Bank PLC were fined £7.7 million and £4 million respectively, for failing to effectively manage their financial crime risks.  Al Rayan, whose parent company is a subsidiary of a Qatar-based Islamic bank, reportedly failed to establish, implement and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures in relation to enhanced due diligence (EDD). This was especially in relatio ..read more

At Themis we offer global coverage of sanctions to help you best understand your specific sanctions risk exposure. Whether you are doing business with a crypto service provider or concerned about customer or third party risk exposure through crypto transactions, Themis Search & Monitoring is here to help.  What are crypto sanctions? As governments step up their fight against financial crime threats posed by new technologies and novel forms of value transfers, the use of crypto-related sanctions is on the rise. The targets of sanctions range from specific virtual currency addresses as ..read more

The Prince of Wales delivered the Queen’s speech today, outlining the government’s legislative agenda for the year ahead. In addition to the government’s broader goals of increasing economic growth and levelling up was evidence of its commitment to tackle both domestic and global financial crime. This is highlighted by a further Economic Crime Bill, which provides powers to seize crypto-assets from criminals, and the Modern Slavery Bill, which aims to reduce the prevalence of modern slavery in supply chains by increasing transparency requirements. These measures, along with today’s other anno ..read more