News
UK Justice Calls Anti-Terror Laws That Freeze Assets Unlawful
By Brian Orsakk
printA UK High Court Justice said Thursday that terror laws that allow for the freezing of assets of suspected terrorists are unlawful. The judgment stems from an appeal brought by five individuals whose assets were frozen under a United Nations measure targeting terrorists. The individuals, who have not been charged with a crime, have said that sanctions were implemented without presenting evidence against them, thus impeding their ability to effectively appeal. UK Justice Andrew Collin agreed and, in an 18-page finding, said that the designations were unlawful because they were enacted without the consent of the UK Parliament. What's more,...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
The Supreme Court nears a ruling on the long-running Arab Bank case, FATF spares Afghanistan from its blacklist, and more, in this week's news roundup.
One out of every three British banks is unwilling to turn away customers with an "unacceptable" level of risk for money laundering, the United Kingdom's chief financial regulator said in a report Wednesday.
Estimates on how much money is laundered in the United Kingdom are, at best, mere speculation, says Jacqueline Harvey, a professor at Newcastle upon Tyne, England-based Newcastle Business School.
The United Kingdom's chief financial services regulator Wednesday fined a London-based corporate advisory firm and its anti-money laundering officer, a first for the governmental agency.
A convicted drug dealer was found guilty Monday of failing to disclose the existence of a bank account he held in Spain while serving an eight year sentence for drug trafficking and mortgage fraud offenses.
American lawyers headed across the Atlantic to handle international cases find the must quickly get up to speed a number of unfamiliar anti-money laundering program requirements.
Whether political figures like Augusto Pinochet require extra scrutiny from financial institutions that serve them long after they leave office may change in European Union nations under a 2004 AML directive expected to be implemented union-wide this year, according to analysts.
The designation would officially block all or part of Iran's 125,000-strong Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's elite military unit, from dealing with U.S. financial institutions.
The new AML regulations authorize law enforcement agents to search a business if they have reasonable cause to believe the entity is subject to AML rules but hasn't registered with the government.
The new law extends anti-money laundering program requirements to industries including real estate companies, company formation agents and consumer credit businesses. They also set guidelines for determining beneficial ownership of various entities.
Over the past nine months U.S. officials have met with more than 40 banks to push for stronger international sanctions against Iran.
The sanctions put pressure on U.S. banks to conduct greater due diligence on correspondent accounts to determine if they are linked to the Middle Eastern nation. That will likely continue a trend of foreign institutions dropping business dealings with the country.