NEWS: Australia announces new transaction reporting rules from July 1

Regulatory Watch News

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  Operation against criminal network smuggling migrants between Algeria and Spain: nine arrests

  Europol

  May 29, 2026

  A collaborative operation between the Spanish Guardia Civil and National Police (Policía Nacional), supported by Europol, has resulted in nine arrests and the dismantling of a criminal network smuggling irregular migrants from Algeria to Spain. The operation targeted migrant smugglers responsible for organising trips across the Mediterranean, as well as those managing the complex logistics behind the smuggling events. Europol's migrant smuggling experts provided crucial operational support to the Spanish authorities leading up to and during the action day.

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  FINTRAC publishes money laundering indicators relating to human trafficking and major international sporting and entertainment events

  FINTRAC

  May 28, 2026

  FINTRAC published today a Special Bulletin on human trafficking risks associated with major international sporting and entertainment events to help businesses subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (the Act) detect transactions related to human trafficking activities and report suspicious transactions to the Centre. Major international sporting and entertainment events can attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from home and abroad.  This can boost economic activity in sectors such as hospitality, entertainment, transportation and tourism, which are vulnerable to human trafficking. These events generate short‑term surges in economic activity and demand for services, labour and transactions, and may intensify conditions under which exploitation activities are present.

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  Treasury Begins Sanctions Modernization Effort by Removing Outdated Entries

  OFAC

  May 28, 2026

  WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing sanctions on 76 outdated targets, which are now being taken off its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.  The removals are part of Treasury’s ongoing sanctions modernization initiative, which Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent recently discussed at the No Money For Terror conference in Paris. For today’s action, OFAC identified 76 outdated SDN List entries for removal, including deceased individuals, scrapped or decommissioned vessels, persons designated as part of illicit financial networks that no longer exist, and individuals designated more than 10 years ago who lack sufficient identifiers for continued screening and do not appear to pose an ongoing threat.  OFAC conducted an interagency vetting process for each entry to ensure that removal would not harm U.S. foreign policy or national security interests.