On September 27, 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which is a financial regulatory body in the UK that regulates firms providing financial services to consumers, fined a UK Challenger Bank (the “Bank”) £29 million due to significant failings in its financial sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering systems and controls. The FCA’s Summary of Reasons...… The post Fast-Growing UK Challenger Bank Fined £29m for Insufficient Sanctions and Financial Crime Controls appeared first on Global Investigations & Compliance Review ..read more

On August 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued two final rules to counter financial crime and safeguard national security: one broadening the definition of “financial institution” to include certain registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) and exempt reporting advisers (“ERAs”) under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), and one mandating...… The post FinCEN Issues Investment Adviser and Real Estate Rules appeared first on Global Investigations & Compliance Review ..read more

The President’s signing of the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (the “Act”)[1] on April 24, 2024 marked one of the most significant expansions of the sanctions enforcement authority of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). For many decades OFAC’s civil enforcement actions have been limited to five years...… The post OFAC Guidance on the Statute of Limitations Extension appeared first on Global Investigations & Compliance Review ..read more

In this article, we summarize the trends that have emerged from enforcement actions published between 2022 and the present day by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the “DFSA”). DFSA Enforcement Broadly speaking, the DFSA is responsible for authorizing and registering institutions and individuals wishing to conduct financial services in or from the Dubai International Finance Centre (“DIFC”), Dubai’s special economic zone for financial services. The DFSA also is responsible for supervising regulated participants by monitoring and enforcing their compliance with applicable laws, regulatio ..read more

In June 2022, the Group of Seven (“G7”) countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—decided to pursue a policy to cap the price of Russian oil. In December 2022, the G7 countries, joined by Australia and the supranational European Union (together, the “Price Cap Coalition”) officially implemented measures to ban a range of services related to the maritime transport of Russian-origin crude oil wherever the price being paid for that oil was above a capped threshold. The intent of the price cap was to keep Russian oil flowing to world markets, since ..read more

The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, has long been recognized as one of the world’s leading providers of institutionally focused financial services and a preferred destination for the structuring and domiciling of sophisticated and specialized financial services products, particularly investment funds.  However, for a number of reasons, the inherent risks to the Cayman Islands’ financial system of misuse by illicit actors such as money launderers and terrorist financiers are high.  Those reasons include the complexity of the products and services on offer, the high valu ..read more

The authors wish to thank Molly McKenna for her contributions to this post. On February 23, 2024, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) removed the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring (the “Grey List”).  As noted in our previous article (see here), FATF had intimated at its October 2023 Plenary that the UAE may be next off the Grey List as it had undertaken multiple key reforms to improve its overall anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) compliance framework. As set out in our previous article, the ..read more

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York recently announced a policy—called the “SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program”—that seeks to encourage individuals to voluntarily disclose financial crimes in which they themselves participated. First unveiled in January 2024 and then revised this month, the policy sets forth the circumstances under which SDNY says that it will grant a non-prosecution agreement to an individual in exchange for the individual’s cooperation. As we explain, while it remains uncertain whether and when it might make sense for any individual to co ..read more

Between October 25 and October 27, 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), an international policy-making and standard-setting body dedicated to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, held its third plenary meeting of the year (the “October Plenary”), at which it made important updates to its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, often externally referred to as the “Grey List,” adding Bulgaria and removing Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan, and Panama.  These developments are testament to the significant progress the four delisted countries have made in ..read more

The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has recently implemented a new compliance requirement related to the international importation of goods.  Specifically, pursuant to UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 38 of 2022 on the Attestation of Documents, Commercial Invoices and Certificates of Origin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (“MoFAIC”), all imports into the UAE worth AED 10,000 (approximately USD 2,723) or more must now be accompanied by a commercial invoice and other trade documentation attested by MoFAIC.  The new rule came into effect on February 1, 2023. As ..read more