International commercial arbitrator addressing money laundering sua sponte

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the existing legal basis, and its practical application, of an arbitrator’s competence to raise on her own initiative money laundering issues. Design/methodology/approach The research focusses on presenting the essence of the problem through evaluation of the legal basis for the arbitrators to raise money laundering concerns on their own initiative and the examples of so being done in international commercial arbitration. Findings This paper concludes that arbitrators do not presently have a solid legal basis that authorises them to act sua sponte against money laundering. Originality/value The originality and value of this paper lies in its emphasis on theoretical and practical issues related to money laundering in international commercial arbitration. It argues in favour of an explicit recommendation to be incorporated in the 2012 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that international commercial arbitrators address money laundering on their own initiative.

Smuggling report fuels Paraguay corruption concerns

Significance The response from Tabesa and the finance ministry was disproportionately hostile. That may be linked to a much-delayed in-country review of illicit activities that is being conducted by Gafilat, the regional affiliate of the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Impacts The contraband cigarette trade is expanding the influence of Brazilian crime gangs in Paraguay. Reports of tax evasion and money-laundering in the sector will draw renewed scrutiny of high-level corruption. Failure to implement transparency measures will deter legitimate inward investment.

The geopolitics of Pakistan’s 2018 greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force

This article argues that, in addition to the valid reasons for Pakistan’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018, geopolitical dynamics also played a crucial role behind this development. While the United States (US) under the Trump administration pushed Pakistan to seek an end to “the longest war” in Afghanistan, India, hoping to curb cross-border terrorism, capitalized on this momentum to pressure Pakistan. In order to hastily greylist Pakistan, institutional procedures of the FATF were thus disregarded. The case study demonstrates how economic coercion was used to push Pakistan to accept US and FATF demands. This article argues that Pakistan’s greylisting has created a win-for-all scenario for now. But these gains should not be overrated. Pakistan’s implementation of FATF requirements faces significant structural limitations. Still, the consensus between major actors underscores the potential of the FATF to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism globally.

Intelligence and Corruption

The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict, and Warfare is pleased to publish the following thought piece from one of our esteemed Speakers from the 2020 West Coast Security Conference. The author, Mr. Dalip, is a lawyer working in the financial crime and corruption sphere. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Dalip was a chairman at the Steering Group Planning Committee for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF); and from 2014 to 2018, he was a special legal advisor to the Ministry of Attorney General Trinidad and Tobago. The intersection between corruption and intelligence is gaining increased focus. Foreign intelligence services have an anti-corruption role at the strategic level through Intelligence Risk Assessments and at the operational level during post-conflict operations. Intelligence assessments of the effectiveness of non-kinetic tools on target countries also guide implementation and policy changes. The roles of security intelligence and foreign intelligence services are, however, no longer always discrete, particularly in the context of non-state actors. Foreign intelligence services would benefit from the skill sets of security intelligence agencies in detecting corruption related predicate offences, both in performing their core roles and supporting law enforcement operations. This includes the use of financial intelligence as well as other key open source intelligence resulting from anti-money laundering frameworks, the development of which has been driven globally by the Financial Action Task Force. In performing these roles, intelligence agencies must also be mindful of their own vulnerability to corruption.

Dampening corruption and money laundering: emissions from soft laws

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring to the fore that soft laws should be taken very seriously because they have demonstrated their importance in helping to reduce corruption and money laundering. Liberalisation of the markets and globalisation, undoubtedly, enabled the increase in the volume of commercial and economic interactions among natural and legal persons. As a result, the generation of profits and losses are noticeable. However, it became evident that some of the actors involved in corruption endeavour to dock the regulatory radars by way of laundering their illicit wealth. It is as a result of this, that the authorities reacted to checkmate this by way of fashioning out legislations that have cross-border and national characteristics. However, it was as a result of the inadequacies noticeable in the Conventions and their inability to contain the malaise that the soft laws surfaced to fill the lacunae to help dampen the momentum of corruption and money laundering. These significant soft laws include but not limited to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Organisation of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), Wolfsberg Group (WG) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Although reservations were raised as to the composition of their decision-making apparatus, it is evident that countries still adhere to their pronouncements by way of adaptation, and they have made significant contributions in reducing corruption and money laundering. Design/methodology/approach This paper relies on primary legal documentations such as but not limited to the Financial Action Task Force, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Wolfsberg Group, International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Convention on Corruption 2003, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 and the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010. Findings There is undoubtedly glaring indications that soft laws have made very significant impact to slow down the level of corruption and money laundering in many polities. It is evidently clear that most countries usually adapt the nuances of these laws into their domestic legislations in order not to be frozen out from the financial and economic activities of the dominant wider members. Evidentially, some of these countries may have been excluded from the core decision-making apparatus of the organisations with particular reference to mostly the developing countries. On the whole, the soft laws are a welcome relief in view of the impact that they have made. Research limitations/implications This paper is addressed to policy makers who are concerned on the negative implications of the scourge of money laundering and corruption. They should continue to inculcate the emissions that usually come from soft laws when formulating their policies in planning for economic growth. Originality/value The originality of this paper lies on the fact that it is essential that we awaken the importance of soft laws in containing the malaise as it has become evident that excuses have been made that it was forced on some of the recipient participants.

Libra Project: Regulators Act on Global Stablecoins

Governments, regulatory authorities and standard-setting bodies started acting on global stablecoins triggered by the Libra announcement. Among the concerns expressed by the G7 and the G20 are risks to the stability of the financial system. The Financial Stability Board and the Financial Action Task Force have worked on regulatory issues and anti-money laundering ahead of the G20 summit in November 2020. Overall the Libra project has raised many questions on the regulatory front. Facebook had to revise the concept as Libra 2.0 and resubmit it for approval in April 2020. The European Commission announced a new regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) including stablecoins in September 2020 as part of a new Digital Finance Package. This opens the next chapter in a regulatory cat and mouse game.

The role of Forensic accounting in combating money laundering - a field study on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - in light of its accession to Financial Action Task Force (FATF): دور المحاسبة القضائية في مكافحة غسيل الأموال - دراسة ميدانية على المملكة العربية السعودية- في ظل انضمامها لمنظمة العمل المالي (فاتف)

This research aimed to clarify the role of Forensic accounting in the development of accounting work mechanisms to combat money laundering operations, and how to benefit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joining Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in that, the researchers relied on carrying out this research on the descriptive analytical approach and relied on the statistical packages for science program Statistical Package For Social Science (SPSS / Pc +) in hypothesis testing, sample analysis, data compilation, tabulation and analysis. The research found that there is a direct relationship between Forensic accounting services and its components and the accession of Saudi Arabia to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and combating money laundering operations The research recommended to increase the activation of Forensic accounting programs in the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants as well as business colleges of King Khalid University to contribute to the elimination of money laundering operations in line with the Kingdom's current status as a permanent member of Financial Action Task Force (FATF).