Welcome to This Week In Compliance: GAN’s weekly news roundup, where we curate the latest stories on compliance and anti-corruption to keep you informed. This week, crypto companies add compliance rules amidst regulatory pressure. Read the full story and more news below:
Top Story
Crypto Compliance Roles Expand Amidst Regulatory Pressure
Cryptocurrency organizations across the globe are expanding their compliance efforts amidst mounting pressure and scrutiny from regulators. Global recruiting firm Hamlyn Williams, Inc. says it more than doubled the number of searches for chief compliance officers for financial and cryptocurrency businesses in 2021 compared to 2020. The SEC and other regulators have put pressure on crypto companies, which SEC chairman Gary Gensler compared to the “Wild West”.
Government
Panama to Remain on EU Tax-Haven Blacklist
Panama will remain on an EU list of “non-cooperative” tax havens ahead of an October 5th meeting that will remove the countries of Anguilla, Dominica, and Seychelles from the same list. An EU statement said that Panama was not compliant with EU norms and is a “harmful foreign-source income [tax] exemption regime”. Panama’s participation in international money laundering and tax evasion made headlines in 2016 with the release of the “Panama Papers”, which detailed the ways in which wealthy individuals and organizations were avoiding taxes by storing money in Panama banks.
Former French President Sarkozy Found Guilty in Corruption Case
Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty Thursday in the case against illegal campaign financing in the 2012 French election. Sarkozy was found guilty of spending nearly double the amount of allowed campaign spend in his re-election bid, as well as hiring a PR firm to help cover up the spend. Sarkozy has not yet been sentenced and he will likely appeal the sentencing.
Labour Party Launches ‘Dirty Money’ Taskforce in London
The UK Labour Party is setting up a task force to look into “dirty money and ill-gotten gains”. Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary in the UK, told Labour party leaders Thursday that the Taskforce on Illicit Finance aims to make the UK the “most inhospitable place in the world” for dirty money. London has a long reputation as a haven for money laundering, including laundering for foreign governments and organized crime.
Business
JP Morgan Investigated for Oil Bribery in Brazil
JP Morgan Chase & Co may have played part in a bribery and money laundering scheme dating back to 2011, authorities in Brazil say. The accusations involve Petrobas, a state-run oil company that allegedly sold JP Morgan 300,000 barrels of oil in 2011. The sale may have ties to the bribery and money laundering scheme according to documents, email messages, and bank records reviewed by Reuters.
Human Trafficking Cited as Number One Concern for Financial Institutions
Compliance professionals cite human trafficking as one of the largest concerns they face, according to data collected by BAE Systems in their State of Anti-Money Laundering 2021 report. Over three-quarters of compliance professionals say that they are not confident that human trafficking-related money laundering could be stopped. Compliance professionals say that new techniques in money laundering used by criminals, particularly in human trafficking, have made this type of criminal activity harder to spot and prevent.