NEWS: British law firm fined £101K for AML failings 

Regulatory Watch News

• 

  Treasury Targets Cartel-Enabled Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Operations

  OFAC

  November 26, 2024

  WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning five Mexican individuals associated with the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal organizations. Those designated today are tied to the Gulf Cartel’s involvement in criminal activities associated with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, human smuggling, and narcotics trafficking in the Gulf of Mexico. IUU fishing often involves criminal activity, forced labor, and human rights abuses, and is often a revenue stream for criminal organizations. IUU fishing is also a threat to U.S. maritime security, as criminal organizations may use the same vessels for smuggling narcotics and humans across borders.

• 

  Germany: Two arrests in €19 million VAT fraud involving Voice over IP

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  November 26, 2024

  (Luxembourg, 26 November 2024) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Munich (Germany), two suspects were arrested today in an investigation into a €19 million cross-border VAT carousel fraud involving the sales of Voice over IP (VoIP). The suspects, who were arrested in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and in Rome (Italy), are believed to have acted as strawmen for a German buffer company, which served to hide the fraud from the authorities. 

• 

  DFSA took decisive action by finalising eight enforcement cases in 2024 against individuals and firms, underscoring its focus on promoting integrity

  DFSA

  November 26, 2024

  The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the independent regulator of financial services conducted in, and from, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has, 2024 year to date, taken eight enforcement actions and issued 24 alerts. These actions targeted individuals and entities that undertook unauthorised financial services activities, misled investors, failed to comply with anti-money laundering obligations, and misled the DFSA or obstructed DFSA investigations – compromising the integrity of the DIFC financial services sector.