News
Huge Trade Volume, Potential ‘Sleeper Cells’ Complicate Efforts to Sanction Iran in Middle East, Says Regional Expert
printOfficials are concerned that Iran may have "sleeper cell" agents in the Arabian Peninsula conducting financial transactions and preparing potential retaliatory action for the Persian country should the United States attempt a military strike on its nuclear facilities, according to Moyara De Moraes Ruehsen, associate professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The suspicion has arisen following the disclosure earlier this year that a top Bahraini official was helping Iran's Revolutionary Guard circumvent U.S. sanctions, said Ruehsen. The investigation, which highlighted some of the tensions in the region's diverse population as well, resulted in arrests of individuals in Kuwait...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
European companies may be lining up at the gate to do business with Iran in the event of a sanctions rollback but don't expect the continent's banks to go rushing in anytime soon.
An expected U.N. plan to tackle illicit financial flows and other global problems could make curbing the manipulation of trade invoices an international priority.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday unanimously approved a measure that would penalize foreign banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
U.S. officials Tuesday charged a blacklisted Chinese national with using shell companies to maintain accounts at American banks and offered five million dollars for information on his whereabouts.
The financial clearing subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG will pay the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions enforcer $152 million for holding money in New York-based accounts on behalf of Iran's central bank.
As early as Monday, banks will be able to do what has become seemingly unthinkable in the sanctions compliance field during recent years: ramp up their ties to Iran.
The chairman of a Senate committee vowed Thursday to block additional sanctions against Iran in an effort to protect last month's multilateral accord to suspend portions of the country's nuclear program.
Western financial institutions won't radically amend their sanctions controls in response to an agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a relaxation of banking restrictions, say former officials.
Despite tightened controls on interbank messaging, some bankers looking to hide the role of their blacklisted clients in international wires need only type a single key on their keyboard, according to experts.
Federal officials will weigh whether financial institutions can bank medical marijuana shops, New York's financial regulators asks two financial consultancies for data and more, in this week's news roundup.
Germany's BaFin is reportedly investigating potential AML violations by Deutsche Bank, a U.K. court could order the British government to pay millions to compensate a blacklisted Iranian bank, and more, in this midweek roundup.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday approved legislation that would limit White House-granted waivers to nations that purchase oil from Iran under a 2011 sanctions law.
Growing economic and political ties between Argentina and Iran are prompting some bank compliance officers to look more closely at their clients in the South American nation, say industry professionals.
The OECD says Portugal needs to better enforce its anti-bribery laws, the U.S. Treasury Department voices concerns about Iranian investments in Georgia, and more, in this week's news roundup.
Trade-based schemes and bulk cash smuggling are among the most common tactics used by international money launderers, according to Joseph Gallion, the deputy assistant director of the Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division for the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
The United Arab Emirates, a key oil producer situated between Iraq and Iran, has failed to adopt a coherent national strategy against money laundering and terrorist financing, despite the country's rapid influx of foreign capital over the past decade, the IMF said Friday.
Marc Hambach, an assistant director of the Dubai Financial Services Authority and head of its AML department, spoke with reporter Brian Orsak about the process of developing regulations for one of the fast growing financial hubs in the world.
It can be difficult to get even the most basic information about customers and their businesses when compliance officers try to assess those customers' risks and determine what level of due diligence they require, according to bankers and consultants doing business in the Middle East.
A study of cross-border transactions in the Middle East issued by a regional task force disappointed anti-money laundering professionals who say it offers few strategies for combating the criminal schemes it identifies.