It's a story that has grabbed the headlines - a week after it was first published. One suspects that there was much fact-checking going on before a New York Times article that says US President Trump "participated..in outright fraud," a statement of such extraordinary bluntness that the mere fact that it appears in print is at least as shocking as the allegation itself. There are so many things to consider but in FinancialCrimeRiskOfficers.com, we are interested in a relatively narrow aspect of the story...
The UK is undergoing a revolution in how legal advice is provided. After decades of de-regulation which has resulted in many areas of law that were covered by solicitors, supposed improvements have allowed many who are not specifically qualified as lawyers to provide advice and assistance. Add in the ever-more restrictive legal aid scheme and it's no surprise that some people turn to non-lawyers for help. Enter the dangerous world of the "professional McKenzie Friend."
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is very active in a wide range of litigation supporting a wide range of opinions. Here are five things he's supporting now.
Tokyo's famed Tsukiji Fish Market closes for the last time in October 2018. The last trade-only auction that allowed in visitors was on 15th September. The last full trading session was on the 6th October. Nigel Morris-Cotterill photographed the wholesale market and the "outer market" in the last days before the wholesale market was closed.
Financial crime risk management - be it related to money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud or embezzlement purposes, to say nothing of anti-bribery requirements - is expensive. For small businesses, it's cost prohibitive. Compliance is even worse. Is it feasible, permissible, even advisable to share the burden with others?
It's a very long time since Formula One (and many countries) banned tobacco advertising. For a decade, Ferrari have kept the red and white of their previous long-standing tobacco sponsor, Marlboro. Now Malboro's parent company are back, with a white logo, on the Ferraris and a book of Haiku poetry created from the wit and wisdom and sometimes grouchiness of Kimi Raikkonen just before he leaves the team. So what's going on?
Questions over the future of takeaway food apps and delivery services are raised by the second case of a restaurateur being prosecuted following the death of a customer after an extreme allergic reaction.
It's incredible. The European Union has produced five Money Laundering Directives and still in some respects it is not one but two steps behind some countries that are often subject to criticism. Indeed, it is behind many of its own member states. This week, the Council of the European Union "adopted" a "regulation." Politically, the fact that a Regulation has been made is more important than what it does.
Across much of South East Asia, 2018 has been the year of awful weather. As the western media focusses on bad weather in the USA, countries in and bordering the China and South China Seas have been battered by typhoons that make the origin of the word (big wind) sound positively benign. But storms pass, winds blow themselves out, floods recede or evaporate. In Indonesia, however, the threat comes from the very earth itself as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have become more frequent, more severe and more damaging.
In 2011, Moody’s Investors Service Hong Kong Limited which along with many associated companies is generally known only as "Moody's," and which has forgone the sobriquet "ratings agency" in favour of the much more honest "ratings organisation", issued a document entitled "Red Flags for Emerging-Market Companies: A Focus on China." Ignoring, for the sake of simplicity, that the document referred to warning signs and not red flags in the true sense, it contained material that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) decided was not apt. That started a battle which continues.
It's one of the quickest settlements that the USA's Securities and Accounts Commission will ever see. On 27th September, civil proceedings were started. That was Thursday. The proceedings were, it has to be said, no surprise but while the "what" was expected, the "when" was unknown. After all, American prosecutors and regulators enjoy the glare of publicity and trying their cases in the court of public opinion long before they ever get to a court room. But Elon Musk, who is increasingly demonstrating deteriorating judgement in so many ways, is nothing if not decisive. On Saturday, 29th September, the SEC issued a statement: the SEC and Musk had settled and Musk didn't do anywhere near as badly as the SEC had applied for. But there is a sting in the tail.
It's a story that isn't gripping Malaysia: in 2015, a helicopter crash resulted in the deaths of several prominent members of the government of then Prime Minister Najib that Najib's office said was carrying guests from a wedding reception for Najib's daughter. Now, in an action before the Shariah High Court in Kuala Lumpur, there's a dispute over the very substantial estate of one of the politicians. So far, in a country obsessed with 1MBD, no one is asking loudly how such wealth was accumulated by one man in a life in public service.
It is often said (by our boss, Nigel Morris-Cotterill) that those who succumb to Nigerian (419) frauds are either greedy or stupid. And that old scams never die, they just hibernate for a while and that spam-scammers often time their contact to hit while people are in a sanguine or relaxed state of mind. This spam-scam, he says, proves all of that.
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