AUSTRAC’s Chief Executive defends financial crime regulator after NSW Police Assistant Commissioner said watchdog was ‘not swinging hard enough’

Regulatory Watch News

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  FATF Ministers commit to stepping up efforts to fight money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing

  FATF

  April 19, 2024

  The Ministers of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to combat financial crime, and fully support the FATF as the global standard-setter for preventing and combatting money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF). During this biennial meeting in Washington DC, members recognised  the achievements of the Singapore Presidency under FATF President T. Raja Kumar. These included major steps taken to enhance the FATF Standards on asset recovery - improving jurisdictions’ toolkits to recover the proceeds of crime, and also to reinforce the international framework for the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal  arrangements, in addition to legal persons. FATF Ministers also recognised that the FATF has led global efforts to effectively implement standards to regulate virtual assets and virtual assets service providers for AML/CFT/CPF.

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  Belgium: Three convicted of evading €3.1 million in customs duties on imported e-bikes

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  April 19, 2024

  (Luxembourg, 19 April 2024) – Last week, one individual and two companies were found guilty of evading customs duties on the importation of electric bicycles (e-bikes) from China, following a case investigated and prosecuted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Brussels (Belgium). The e-bikes were imported into the EU by a French company via the port of Antwerp, using a company that fulfilled the customs formalities in Belgium. The investigation showed that whole e-bikes were deliberately imported in separate parts, to avoid the payment of anti-dumping duties due on the importation of fully assembled e-bikes. The e-bikes were then assembled in France by the French importer.

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  Treasury Targets Iranian UAV Program, Steel Industry, and Automobile Companies in Response to Unprecedented Attack on Israel

  OFAC

  April 18, 2024

  WASHINGTON — Today, in response to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on April 13, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is targeting 16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran’s UAV production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the April 13 attack. These actors work on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), its UAV production arm, Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), and other Iranian manufacturers of UAVs and UAV engines. OFAC is also designating five companies in multiple jurisdictions providing component materials for steel production to Iran’s Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), one of Iran’s largest steel producers, or purchasing KSC’s finished steel products. Iran’s metals sector generates the equivalent of several billion dollars in revenue annually, with the majority coming from steel exports.