05 April 2022  

Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) – by Marijo Samneh

What are the Financial Intelligence Units (FIU)?

FIUs are the national center for the receipt and analysis of:
a- suspicious transaction reports; and
b- other information relevant to money laundering.

All FIUs of the world are connected. Lebanon’s FIU is called the “Special Investigation Commission” or هيئة التحقيق الخاصة

#fiu #aml #amlcompliance #amlcft #compliance #absl #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj
05 April 2022  

Turkey on the Grey List of FATF – by Marijo Samneh

Why Turkey was put on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)?

The FATF, which is the global financial watchdog considered Turkey a facilitator of money laundering and terrorism financing, and put it on notice in December 2019.

FATF’s assessment on Turkey showed the below four concerns:
1- Turkish prosecutors give low priority to charges related to ML and TF
2- No national strategy to deprive criminals the proceeds of their crimes
3- Turkey’s ability to freeze assets linked to TF and ML is weak
4- The Turkish banking sector has less understanding of their exposure to TF.

Turkey was given almost two years to fix these problem, but failed.

Therefore it was put on the grey list by the FATF in 2021, accelerating the crisis it is witnessing today.

Not only this… This decision taken by the FATF will eventually push countries such as the EU to take similar decisions…

 #turkey #aml #amlcompliance #amlcft
#terroristfinancing #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj
05 April 2022  

Don’t be a Mule! – by Marijo Samneh

DON’T BE A MULE!

The FBI launched an awareness campaign few time ago called “Don’t be a Mule”.

People who move money for Money Launderers (ML) or Terrorist Financers (TF) are called “Money Mules”.

ML and TF can send you an email, message or contact you by any other mean to:
– Move money;
– Open a bank or cryptocurrency account; or
– Receive a package.

Their purpose is to transfer the money from one account to the other in the “layering process” (which is the second phase of money laundering). They can incentivize you by promising an amount of money. Don’t fall into this trap!
Because while you might not realize you are part of the scheme, and think that you are only a messenger, you become a target for the authorities, and clearly part of the Money Laundering process.

Therefore, when you face such situation you must:
– Immediately stop communicating with the person; and
– Report to the authorities such message.

#cryptocurrency #ml #aml #moneymules #amlcompliance #amlcft #dontbeamule #fbi #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj
05 April 2022  

The Automatic Exchange of Information between Lebanon & Switzerland – by Marijo Samneh

The Status of the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) between Lebanon and Switzerland

The AEOI was established in July 2014 to fight tax evasion.

The Lebanese parliament issued law No 55 on October 2016 for the exchange of information.

In January 2017, Switzerland has agreed to participate in the AEOI. However, it opted for the bilateral agreements with certain countries due to concerns related to confidentiality and privacy of the shared information.

Switzerland and Lebanon have signed in December 2019 on a bilateral agreement to exchange information.

This measure entails Switzerland to provide Lebanon with details of bank accounts held by Lebanese residents at Swiss Banks and vice-versa.

However, Lebanon had to meet several conditions, notably in terms of data security and confidentiality prior to starting the exchange, which did not happen.

Therefore, today the situation is as follows:
– Banks in Lebanon share details of bank account held by Swiss residents at Lebanese banks; whereas

– Banks in Switzerland DO NOT share details of bank account held by Lebanese residents at Swiss Banks.

#aeoi #automaticexchangeofinformation #gatca #crs #tax #bank #banks #datasecurity #privacy #absl #inanutshwll #inanutshellbymj
05 April 2022  

EU Sanctions on Russia – by Marijo Samneh

Sanctions on Russia are increasing by the hour!
This is a quick recap for the EU sanctions:

EU adopted the first package of new sanctions on February 23rd, 2022 further to Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk’s People Republics as independent states.

1- It froze the assets of 351 members of the Russian State Duma, individuals, entities, banks, and senior military officers;
2- It restricted the trade with the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, banning the imports of goods, export for certain goods and technologies, tourism services;
3- It prohibited Russia to access the EU capital and financial markets.

On 25 February 2022, the EU imposed broad sanctions targeting the Russian aviation sector. It imposed a full ban on export of dual-use items, as well as restrictions on supply of various strategic goods and services, including semiconductors, aircraft, and items used in the oil refinery and high-tech sectors. Also, EU added President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov to their asset freeze list. 

On 28 February 2022, the EU adopted its third package of sanctions, imposing asset freezes on various Russian businesspersons active in the oil, banking and finance sectors, while closing off the EU’s airspace for Russian air carriers and preventing Russia’s Central Bank from accessing its foreign reserves in the EU.

On March 1, 2022 EU ambassadors agreed to ban seven Russian banks from using SWIFT financial messaging system.

#markets #banks #oil #tech #aircraft #sanctions #sanctionscompliance #sanctionsonrussia #russia #russiaukraine #ukraine #ukrainewar #ukraineconflict
05 April 2022  

Russia’s Counter Sanctions – by Marijo Samneh

On 28 February 2022 Russia issued the first round of economic measures, to respond to recent international sanctions pressure on the Russian ruble, in connection with the current situation in Ukraine.
 
Measures are:
1- Russian exporters must sell 80% of the foreign currency proceeds, earned from foreign counterparties.
Each Russian resident generating income in foreign currency from the sale of goods, service rendering, performance of work, or transfer of intellectual property to non-resident, must exchange 80% of the proceeds into ruble within three business days of crediting the account.

2- Capital Control restrictions:
–  Russian Banks can no longer grant loans to non-residents in foreign currency;
– Transfer of foreign currencies from Russian banks outside Russia.
– Transfer of money outside Russia through electronic means (equivalent to OMT in Lebanon).

3- Buy back of a Russian Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC):
Till December 31, 2022 all Russian PJSC must buy back their shares if some conditions are met.

#russiaukrainecrisis #russiaukraine #russia #ukraine #countersanctions #sanctions #sanctionscompliance
05 April 2022  

Sanctions on Russia – by Marijo Samneh

US Sanctions on Russia

Further to Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states, Russia has been sanctioned by the US, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan!

In this post we will only focus on the US Sanctions.

On 22 February 2022, the Office Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions on Russia by:

1- Blocking the property of two major Russian banks, namely Vnesheconombank (VTB) and PromSvyazBank (PSB);
2- Blocking the property of 42 of their subsidiaries (if they are owned 50% or more by one or more blocked person);
3- Blocking the property of five individuals, namely:

■Denis Aleksandrovich Bortnikov, a Deputy President of Russian state-owned financial institution VTB Bank;
■His father, Aleksandr Vasilievich Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russia;
■Petr Mikhailovich Fradkov, Chairman and CEO of PSB;
■Vladimir Sergeevich Kiriyenko CEO of VK Group, the parent company of Russia’s top social media platform;
■His father, Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Office; and

4- Imposing additional restrictions on dealings in Russia’s sovereign debt. The prohibited the participation in the secondary as well as in the primary market for ruble or non-ruble issued by the following entities:
■The Central Bank of Russia;
■National Wealth Fund of Russia;
■Ministry of Finance of Russia.

On 23 February 2022, the OFAC imposed sanctions on Nord Stream 2 (the natural gas pipeline under the Baltic sea, running from Russia to Germany’s Baltic coast), and its CEO.

These sanctions are subject to escalation. The up-coming days will be decisive in that regard.

#sanctions #sanctionscompliance #sanction #sanctionsonrussia #ukraine #russia #ukrainerussia #ussanctions #ofac #inanutshell #inautshellbymj
05 April 2022  

FATF Grey List – by Marijo Samneh

ack in April 2020, the FATF issued a report on the UAE, identifying a number of deficiencies in the nation’s framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

It appeared that approximately 2 to 5% of global GDP is laundered on an annual basis, equivalent to US$ 800 billion – US$ 2 trillion.

Since the report, the UAE has taken significant steps to improve its situation, promulgating new legislations in that regard.

Friday March 4, 2022 FATF concluded their six plenary meeting, and based on April 2020’s report decided to add the UAE on the FATF’s Grey List.

#fatf #greylist #uae #moneylaundering #amlcompliance #amlcft #compliance #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj
05 April 2022  

De-risking – by Marijo Samneh

De-risking is dangerous for the Financial Institution itself!

Following up on our “de-risking” video shared last week, this is a slide showing how de-risking is being practiced.

In this case, the compliance officer should look into the sanctions of Syria, and understand, what is exactly sanctioned under the OFAC and Cesar’s Act, instead of directly rejecting the account.

If the concerned person is not related in any case to the Syrian Government or the Assad family, rejecting the account would be practicing “de-risking”.

#compliance #derisking #aml #amlcft #amlcompliance #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj

24 March 2022  

De-risking in the Financial Sector – by Marijo Samneh

With the Sanctions on Russia, it is important to read and understand the content of these sanctions.

Going to the extreme of stopping any relation with Russia or Russians is a bad practice, because Banks might be looking valid business.
Not only this, they will be pushing good people outside the financial sector leaving them no choice but to go to unregulated and unofficial channel.

You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch videos related to legal compliance HR and corporate governance topics
https://lnkd.in/dCimghW

This video is in collaboration with Arab Bank (Switzerland) Lebanon S.A.L.

#banks #derisking #sanctions #compliance #risk #aml #amlcft #amlcompliance #Russia #inanutshell #inanutshellbymj