Author: Stephen Rae

Regulatory Watch News

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  From Vietnam to the EU by air: 8 arrested in a migrant smuggling sting across Europe

  Europol

  April 9, 2026

  On 30 March 2026, a coordinated international French-led operation, which was supported by Europol and involved law enforcement and judicial authorities from Germany and Hungary, led to the dismantling of a Vietnamese migrant smuggling network. The criminal organisation operated across several European countries, with the United Kingdom as the final destination of the migrants. Such migrant smuggling networks link facilitators in countries of origin, transit hubs, and destination countries, while generating significant illicit profits.

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  Kazakhstan: New Reports on Party Funding Transparency and Criminal Law Convention on Corruption Incriminations

  GRECO

  April 9, 2026

  In two new Evaluation Reports published today, GRECO assesses the efforts of Kazakhstan to ensure incriminations for corruption and transparency of party funding, and formulates 17 recommendations for specific actions to be taken by the Kazakh authorities to address the shortcomings identified by GRECO. The reports also note a number of steps already taken.

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  Scam alert related to banks

  HKMA

  April 9, 2026

  The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to the press releases issued by the banks listed below relating to fraudulent websites, internet banking login screens, phishing emails or other scams, which have been reported to the HKMA.  Hyperlinks to the press releases are available on the HKMA website.  

  Bank	Type of Scam
  The Bank of East Asia, Limited	Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens
  Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited	Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens
  Chong Hing Bank Limited	Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens
  OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited	Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens
  The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited	Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens