The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has, far too late, waded into the scandal over businesses that offer completely unnecessary, and very costly, services relating to the mis-selling of Personal Protection Insurance. The industry around selling what amounts to little more than form-filling assistance and which has collected in excess of GBP1,000 million, has force-fed advertising and is now ramping up the pressure on those who have not yet made a claim. The FCA has countered with its own advert. It's rubbish and in the wrong place.
We've been down this road before: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has taken action against auditors of self-managed
superannuation fund (SMSF).
Coupled with the evidence before the Royal Commission one thing is clear: ASIC's mandate is fundamentally flawed and a new model must be created ASAP, not ASIC.
A company operating outside the UK obtained contracts in another country by means of corrupt payments made to diplomats of that country. That company was later bought by a UK company which meant that the transactions came within the jurisdiction of the UK authorities and courts. A UK court ordered that the diplomats must pay back the benefits they received calculated at GBP4.4 million. Once recovered, the money will form part of the UK's directed aid budget for the country.
You'd have to be an idiot not to recognise this mail as spam. But that's not the dangerous bit. The spam is identified as containing malware Sanesecurity.Scam4.874.UNOFFICIAL (DO NOT search for it: read on for why). We wouldn't bother reporting another, simple, spam-scam but this one isn't simple and there's a whole ecosystem behind it that only multiple layers of security, working together at server level and at desktop level, were able to protect us from. That was where this writer did something stupid, thinking he was doing something interesting. This attack arrived with us within the past hour and is therefore currently active. **Free Content**
The world and his dog seem to be creating apps for you to get food deliveries from restaurants and take-aways. But the fad is already over. Here's five reasons why.
Not long ago, it's hours not even a day, a man drove, at high-speed a rented van along pavements and up streets in the face of incoming traffic in Toronto, Canada.The man has been arrested and is in custody. He has been named as Alek Minassian, aged 26. Whatever Minassian's motive, one thing is clear: publicity was inevitable because the choice of weapon, the fact that it's in Canada and the fact that it took place only a few kilometres from a G7 ministers meeting convened to discuss developments in terrorism and counter-terrorism. Media has provided blanket coverage around the world. It's time to think about that.
Early on Saturday morning,in Setapek, one of Kuala Lumpur's most racially and religiously integrated suburbs, two men in dark, full face, helmets sat on a rare, high-powered, motorcycle for some twenty minutes. As Palestinian FADI Mohammad al Batsh, 35, passed by on his way from his home to lead dawn prayers in his role as imam, the man on the back of the bike shot him. Police reports say that he was shot four times with a high degree of accuracy: there were only two stray bullets found out of evidence that ten shots were fired. Two men nearby were not harmed. This was not a simple murder, the circumstances suggest.
When Barnaby Joyce admits he was wrong, as he has done recently over his previous comments that a Royal Commission was appropriate to inquire into the management and practices of Australia's banks, it's obvious how things are going. It's starting to look as if the sector is going to get a huge shake-up - and the removal of many senior officers. One hopes they are replaced with competent bankers, not more recruits from consulting companies - or from the revolving door with government and quasi-government jobs.
We're delighted to say that the very first issue of World Money Laundering Report is now available to subscribers to the Financial Crime Group of publications.
This is more than a little bit scary. A criminal, exactly what kind isn't clear, has been reading the major Australian employment website Seek.com.au - and then he (it's almost always a "he") is sending invitations to become involved in money laundering or, possibly, to be a victim of a long-established scheme to defraud his victims. The scam letter is a collection of so many currently trendy phrases that it might be convincing - especially to someone who is in awe of cryptocurrencies, blockchain (as they call it) and so many other trigger words. Oh, and there's an interesting twist to the old version of this crime.
We can do no more than post the content of three spams that arrived in five minutes and urge readers to block the domain trixologyvapors.com to prevent this hyperactive spammer's material reaching staff.
Australian banks are getting a justifiable kicking in the media. and to a degree by regulators, after year after year of bad management, bad conduct and failure to put in place effective risk management and compliance policies and procedures especially in relation to money laundering, etc. But it would be wrong to read the headline that a consultant to Macquarie Bank has been convicted of money laundering means the bank made errors in law, although arguably there may have been an error in judgement.
There is suspicion, belief and knowledge. Then there is wilful blindness and, finally, sheer bloody mindedness aka stupidity. A solicitor was warned that her client should be the subject of proper KYC / CDD and her research showed a clear connection to alleged criminal conduct. She went ahead with the multi-million deal anyway and made no suspicious activity report. The fine might seem small and some would argue she should have been jailed but, as the first solicitor to be prosecuted for this conduct, the importance of the case comes not from the penalty but from the fact that it was brought at all, and that it was successful.
Ah, Shreveport. It's one of those picture postcard towns that seems more suited to a Nicholas Sparks novel or a Hallmark TV romance than to intrigue and dirty dealings. But...
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