Author: Alisha Houlihan

Regulatory Watch News

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  AMLA finalises standards for supervisory cooperation in direct supervision

  AMLA

  July 22, 2026

  AMLA today published the rules that set out its cooperation with national financial supervisors to select and directly supervise some of the most significant cross-border financial institutions in the EU. They cover how entities are selected, how supervision passes between national and EU level, and how AMLA and national supervisors work side by side.  

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  Student charged over alleged $5 million GST fraud involving luxury watches

  Australia Federal Police

  July 22, 2026

  A Sydney-based international student has been charged for allegedly exploiting the Tourist Refund Scheme at Australian airports by lodging more than $5 million in dishonest claims on luxury and counterfeit watches. The man, 25, is scheduled to appear before Downing Centre Local Court today (22 July, 2026). An AFP-led Taskforce Avarus investigation began in February, 2026, following a report from Australian Border Force (ABF) about a coordinated network suspected of using multiple high-value Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) claimants and several individuals engaged in rapid international travel, structured cash deposits and the circulation of high-value goods.

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  Joint human trafficking investigation leads to three arrests; police seek additional victims

  FINTRAC

  July 21, 2026

  (Ottawa) –The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking Unit East Team, in partnership with the Ottawa Police Service through the Intelligence-led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS), is seeking additional victims following a lengthy multi-jurisdictional human trafficking investigation that resulted in the arrest of three men from the Ottawa area. Between 2025 and July 2026, investigators from the OPP Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking Unit East Team and the Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit conducted a complex investigation into an alleged organized human trafficking network operating between Ottawa and the Greater Toronto Area. The investigation originated in the Ottawa and London regions and expanded to multiple communities across Ontario, including Windsor, London, Toronto, and Sarnia.