Category: Middle East

Regulatory Watch News

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  Financial sanctions update: Libya

  OFSI

  January 2, 2025

  On 02 January 2025 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated the UK Sanctions List on GOV.UK. This list provides details of those designated under regulations made under the Sanctions Act. The following entry has been removed from the Libya financial sanctions regime and is no longer subject to an asset freeze:

  • Abdelhafiz Zlitni (Group ID: 11701)

  OFSI’s consolidated list of asset freeze targets has been updated to reflect these changes.

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  Instant Message Alert – Phishing instant messages related to Welab Bank Limited

  HKMA

  January 2, 2025

  The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Welab Bank Limited relating to phishing instant messages, which have been reported to the HKMA.  A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.

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  Chinese ‘drug catcher’ jailed in WA after international investigation

  Australia Federal Police

  January 2, 2025

  A juvenile Chinese national has been sentenced to more than six years’ imprisonment for his involvement in a failed plot to import 5.4kg of methamphetamine into Australia and traffic it in Western Australia. The male, 17, was sentenced in the Perth Children’s Court on 11 December, 2024, to six years and seven months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years and one month. The AFP charged the juvenile on 25 June, 2024, after an investigation supported by Hong Kong authorities and Australian Border Force (ABF). The investigation started that same month when ABF officers in Sydney intercepted a consignment from Hong Kong that contained 6kg of cocaine.