Category: North America

Switzerland’s Largest Insurance Company and Three Subsidiaries Admit to Conspiring with U.S. Taxpayers to Hide Assets and Income in Offshore Accounts

US Department of Justice

May 15, 2021

The Department of Justice today filed a criminal information charging Swiss Life Holding AG (Swiss Life Holding), Swiss Life (Liechtenstein) AG (Swiss Life Liechtenstein), Swiss Life (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Swiss Life Singapore), and Swiss Life (Luxembourg) S.A. (Swiss Life Luxembourg), collectively, the “Swiss Life Entities,” with conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to conceal from the IRS more than $1.452 billion in offshore insurance policies, including more than 1,600 insurance wrapper policies, and related policy investment accounts in banks around the world and the income generated in these accounts.

Administrative Measure Publication Notice -Merkanti Bank Limited

FIAU

May 14, 2021

Administrative Penalty of €259, 927 and Follow-Up Directive in terms of Regulation 21 of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations (PMLFTR). The deficiencies in relation to the Customer Risk Assessment Procedures of the Bank varied between two different time periods. The Committee noted that prior to 2019 although the Bank did carry out risk assessment of its customers no rationale was ever recorded and thus only a risk rating used to be maintained on file. In 2019 however the Bank took a proactive approach, identified such deficiency and took action to remediate its internal processes in relation to the carrying out of a customer risk assessment.

Banking licence of JSC Texbank cancelled

Bank of Russia

May 14, 2021

By its Order No. OD-883, dated 14 May 2021, the Bank of Russia cancelled the banking licence of Cherkessk-based Joint-stock Company Texbank, or JSC Texbank (Registration No. 2756). The credit institution ranked 320^th by assets in the Russian banking system.¹