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U.K. leaders intend to review whether facilitation should be legal again, CFATF warns countries about the risks of Belize, Guyana and Dominica, and more, in this week's news roundup.
The U.S. Justice Department's long-awaited guidance for businesses complying with a foreign anti-bribery law will do little to change its enforcement even as it sets some minds at ease, say attorneys.
As global efforts to crack down on bribery grow, financial institutions need to more closely scrutinize the accounts they maintain for politically-tied figures, according to a former senior assistant U.S. attorney.
U.S. Justice Department investigations of foreign bribery will likely end up snaring financial institutions, according to the former head of the government's anti-corruption unit.
The departure Friday of the Justice Department's top enforcer of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will mark an end to an era, not a slowdown in penalties against violators, say analysts.
The rise in U.S. prosecutions of companies that bribe foreign officials won't likely plateau for another four or five years, when European countries are expected to further clamp down on the crime, according to the former assistant chief for the Fraud Section of the Justice Department.
A British anti-bribery bill expected to pass this month could increase the likelihood that U.S. financial institutions and other companies will face sizable monetary penalties for overseas deals, say consultants.
The U.S. Justice Department nets 22 suspects in its largest ever investigation into individuals for FCPA violations, and FinCEN issues a ruling on whether domestic bill payment services companies are MSBs, in this week's roundup.
Banks and other companies around the world are delaying deals in developing markets, in some cases canceling projects altogether, because they are afraid of being snared by anti-corruption laws, according to a private survey released today.
The number and size of fines levied annually against financial institutions and other corporations for bribery is likely to continue to rise as the global recession fuels corruption, say analysts.
Financial institutions are increasingly renegotiating or dropping planned business deals over concerns that they might violate U.S. anti-bribery laws, according to a survey released Monday.
Financial institutions would be wise to make use of a recently published list of individuals and companies restricted from doing business with the World Bank, say compliance professionals.
With an increased focus on fraud and corruption investigations, financial institutions can't afford to silo their separate compliance efforts, according to Jane Wexton, president of Wexton Advisors, a New York-based consultancy.
Defendants in an international bribery case have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case that could alter the way that the U.S. Justice Department enforces an international anti-corruption law, according to legal analysts.
The United States is likely to ramp up penalties against financial institutions and other companies that have bribed Chinese officials to gain entry into the Asian market, including business involving the Olympics, say consultants.
U.S. financial regulators slapped Nigeria's largest bank with $15 million in penalties for anti-money laundering violations, the fourth AML-related action against the bank in 16 months.
By targeting Sigue Corp. rather than the affiliated agents where alleged money laundering took place, the Justice Department "squandered a golden opportunity" to go after the element of the MSB industry that presents the greatest laundering risks, an AML consultant says.
Sigue, based in San Fernando, Calif., will forfeit $15 million and spend $9.7 million to upgrade its AML program as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department. Fortent Inform first reported the record penalty on January 11.
The bank will forfeit $21.6 million in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department and pay a $10 million penalty for failing to adequately monitor a Mexican money transfer business that moved millions of dollars in illegal drug proceeds through the bank.
The penalty, the largest against a U.S. institution for AML violations, resulted from a four-year investigation of a Colombian narcotics and money laundering operation.
