NEWS: UK Illicit Finance Summit 2026 delayed by six months to December

Regulatory Watch News

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  Fiji Police Force and AFP commissioners release communique from first Pacific Transnational Crime Summit

  Australia Federal Police

  May 25, 2026

  Fiji Police Force Commissioner (FPF) Rusiate Tudravu and AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett have together released the official communique from the first Pacific Transnational Crime Summit, held in Fiji from May 18-22. Focused on the opportunity to advance Pacific-led policing cooperation to combat the malicious threat of transnational organised crime in the region, the summit carried the theme of ‘Connected by Ocean, United in the Fight’. The summit, co-hosted by the FPF and AFP, brought together law enforcement from across the Pacific and internationally, as well as members of the banking and finance sector, Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

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  Europol’s Project A.S.S.E.T. identifies millions in criminal assets

  Europol

  May 23, 2026

  Europol, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies from 31 countries and leading private sector partners, has concluded its third and most successful operational week of Project A.S.S.E.T. (Asset Search & Seize Enforcement Taskforce). This initiative, organised by the Europol's European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC), has become a crucial component in the global fight against serious and organised crime and the seizure of criminal assets.

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  Refund fraud could be costing UK retailers over £5 billion a year, new research finds

  Cifas

  May 22, 2026

  Refund fraud could be costing UK online retailers up to £5.76 billion a year, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth, funded by the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, Cifas. The Mapping the Online Economy of Refund Fraud report – conducted with colleagues from the University of Bristol, University of Surrey and Queensland University of Technology – launches today (21 May) and analyses nearly 500,000 posts across cybercrime forums, Telegram and Discord. The research found fraudsters have been using these channels to openly share techniques, target retailers and sell fraudulent refunds as a paid service. Some ‘refund‑as‑a‑service’ vendors were even taking up to 30% of the refund value for a guaranteed outcome