NEWS: France, Germany issue warning to banks on money laundering risks of virtual IBANs, increasing use by fraudsters

Regulatory Watch News

• 

  SFC reprimands and fines Luk Fook Securities (HK) Limited $2.1 million for inadequate cybersecurity control to fend off cyberattack

  Securities and Futures Commission

  July 28, 2026

  The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Luk Fook Securities (HK) Limited (LFSHK) $2.1 million for failing to implement adequate and effective cybersecurity control measures, which might have contributed to its failure to withstand a ransomware attack and led to a delay of approximately three weeks in fully recovering its systems from the cyberattack. The disruption from the 19 September 2022 ransomware attack on LFSHK’s critical IT infrastructure was sweeping, affecting file servers, domain controllers, email servers, trading application servers, and accounting servers. LFSHK restored its system in phases, and the process was not complete until 7 October 2022.

• 

  NSW man charged over alleged $1.3 million GST fraud

  July 28, 2026

  A NSW man, 33, has been charged for allegedly attempting to defraud the Commonwealth of more than $1.3 million in false Goods and Services Tax (GST) claims, following a joint AFP and Australian Taxation Office (ATO) investigation. The former Commonwealth public servant was arrested on 30 June, 2026, by Serious Financial Crime Task Force (SFCTF) investigators at a Broken Hill home, with assistance from the Operation Protego Integrity Taskforce (OPIT) and the New South Wales Police Force.  

• 

  Treasury Announces Second Round of Sanctions Removals, Updates in Modernization Initiative

  OFAC

  July 27, 2026

  WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took the second major action in its sanctions modernization efforts, announced by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in May. Today’s action removed 84 individuals and entities and improved identifying information for 22 list entries to facilitate compliance. Those removed from OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) today include individuals and entities no longer considered U.S. national security or foreign policy priorities: some deceased individuals, defunct entities, and targets sanctioned more than 20 years ago, some of whom lack sufficient information for effective compliance screening.  As with any removal from its sanctions lists, OFAC conducted appropriate interagency review to ensure that such removal would not harm U.S. foreign policy or national security interests.