Episode 150

24th March – 30th March 2025

Sanctions

This week’s sanctions news starts in the United States, where the Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has delisted Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash was sanctioned in August 2022 for what was understood to be its role in laundering virtual currency since its formation in 2019. This included almost half a billion dollars laundered on behalf of the Lazarus Group, the state-sponsored hacking group working for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (‘DPRK’). Well, notwithstanding that, following the US administration’s review ‘of the novel legal and policy issues raised by use of financial sanctions against financial and commercial activity occurring within evolving technology and legal environments’ it has exercised its discretion to delist the company. Nevertheless, almost without taking breath, the administration remains ‘deeply concerned about the significant state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaign aimed at stealing, acquiring, and deploying digital assets for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Kim regime.’

OFAC has also imposed sanctions ‘on three Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) officials who were involved in the abduction, detention, and probable death of former FBI Special Agent Robert A. “Bob” Levinson. The individuals designated today, Reza Amiri Moghadam, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and Taqi Daneshvar, all played a role in Mr. Levinson’s abduction, probable death, and Iran’s efforts to cover up or obfuscate their responsibility. This action follows the December 2020 OFAC designations of two Iranian MOIS officers, Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, who acted in their capacity as MOIS officers in Mr. Levinson’s abduction, detention, and probable death.’

Away from the principal targets for US sanctions, the Department of Justice has announced that a ‘Latin music conglomerate and his talent agency [have] found guilty … of conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by conducting business with a Guadalajara-based concert promoter with ties to Mexican drug cartels. José Ángel Del Villar, 44, of Huntington Beach, the CEO of Del Records and its related talent agency Del Entertainment Inc., was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to transact in property of specially designated narcotics traffickers in violation of the Kingpin Act and 10 counts of violating the Kingpin Act. Co-defendant Del Entertainment also was found guilty of all 11 counts of which Del Villar was convicted.’

Finally in news from the US, a civil forfeiture complaint has been made in respect of $47m in proceeds from the sale of approximately one million barrels of oil sourced from Iran which were held at the Janaf Storage Facility in Croatia. The documentation provides that the claim is for ‘forfeiture in a civil action in rem against the defendant property, namely approximately $47,000,000 in proceeds from the sale of 996,726 barrels of petroleum-product previously stored at the Jadranski naftovod (“Janaf”) storage facility in Omišalj, Croatia.’

In the UK, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (‘OFSI’) has made amendments to four licences. First, General Licence (Humanitarian Activity) INT/2022/1947936 ‘was amended to remove Rosbank PJSC and Tinkoff Bank from Annex I; and add TBank to Annex I.’ The Notice is here. Secondly, a similar amendment – the removal of Rosbank PJSC and the addition of TBank to the definition of Sanctioned Banks – only this time it is to the Mongolia Energy Payments General Licence (INT/2022/2085212). The Notice is here. Thirdly, an amendment to the Lithuania Rail licence (INT/2023/2883496). Finally, amendments to the General Licence (INT/2022/1280976) on Prudential Supervision, Financial Stability, Protection of Consumers or Integrity of the UK Financial System. In terms of designations amendments, two have been made to the Russia Financial Sanctions regime to ‘ensure that the entries accurately reflect the Statement of Reasons for these designations,’ and one entry has been corrected on the Global Human Rights regime.

In new designations from the UK, OFSI has made four additions to the Global Human Rights Financial Sanctions regime. The individuals concerned are ‘former Sri Lankan commanders and an ex–Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commander responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses during the civil war.’ The Notice is here. OFSI has also made an amendment to the Russia Financial Sanctions regime. Tigran Khudaverdyan remains subject to an asset freeze. The Notice is here.

One more thing from OFSI, and it has added FAQ Q.145 to its Guidance UK Financial Sanctions FAQs ‘which addresses the internal movement of funds regarding regulation 11.’

And finally on sanctions news this week, first, an article by Simeon Djankov on the asymmetry of sanctions against Russian individuals. This asymmetry ‘may be a manifestation of biases in the procedure for imposing sanctions. Sanction algorithms likely include the ‘local content’ of candidates and thus take into account characteristics other than the purported one – the contribution to the war in Ukraine.’ Secondly, law firm Osborne Clarke has published its UK Regulatory Outlook on Sanctions and Export Control for March 2025. Thirdly, Amnesty International has asked the question what the Trump administration’s sanctions on the ICC mean for justice and human rights.

Money Laundering

This week’s money laundering news starts in the UK, where His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) has launched a campaign to get businesses which offer informal money transfer networks ‘to register for anti-money laundering supervision to protect themselves from criminal exploitation.’ A common example of such services is Hawala, which ‘lets people send money abroad without cash physically crossing borders. Instead, operators (Hawaladars) use an informal trust-based network to ensure the money reaches family members in countries where regular banking is limited.’ Such businesses should register with HMRC to operate within the law.

In terms of global money laundering news, the Financial Action Task Force (‘FATF’) has announced the conclusion of the 2025 Private Sector Collaborative Forum which has ‘reinforced the importance of Public-Private Partnership to step up global defences against financial crime…. Over three days (25-27 March), more than 200 participants, including representatives from international banking groups, Fintech companies, gatekeepers and civil society exchanged knowledge on the key challenges and ways forward in the fight against financial crimes. Participants agreed that public-private partnership should pave the way for the development of common roadmaps.’ This theme of collaboration was echoed by the Bank for International Settlements this week at the BIS Innovation Hub’s 2025 Analytics Showcase in London. The remarks, by Cecilia Skingsley, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, indicate that a range of parties need to come together to ‘tackle a pressing challenge for regulators, businesses and consumers - financial crime. And since financial crime does not respect borders, we believe there is a clear need for deeper global collaboration.’

And finally on money laundering news this week, ‘Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective rank property markets on their frameworks’ strength to prevent and detect dirty money in real estate…. Property markets are vulnerable to abuse because real estate can be held anonymously and avoid meaningful third-party control in many places. Moreover, law enforcement and public watchdogs are limited in their ability to detect suspicious cases because data is inaccessible or not comprehensive enough. These are the conclusions of the first edition of the Opacity in Real Estate Ownership (OREO) Index, by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) and Transparency International….’ These are the links to the press release and the report.

Bribery and Corruption

On bribery and corruption news this week, a ‘team of European Union officials conducted a monitoring visit in Uzbekistan from 14 to 20 March 2025 to review Uzbekistan’s progress in the implementation of 27 UN conventions applicable under the Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance under the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+).’ In terms, specifically, of the anti-corruption elements of the visit, the officials welcomed the plans which the Uzbek authorities have to address corruption across all parts of society.

In other bribery and corruption news this week, first, the United Nations Development Programme has reported on its collaborative efforts to strengthen anti-corruption capabilities in Samoa following a three-day workshop held in Apia, Samoa. The ‘agenda included a training of trainers session focusing on the Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology (CRAM) tool with Samoa’s Public Service Commission and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, capacity-building for the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit, and training on corruption and financial investigations. Additionally, the Samoa International Finance Authority (SIFA) received support in reviewing and finalising Beneficial Ownership guidelines, ensuring alignment with international standards, and mentoring support to strengthen SIFA’s compliance teams in line with Mutual Evaluation Report recommendations, as well as a renewed focus on strengthening inter-agency coordination and fostering cooperation between Samoan anti-corruption authorities.’

In other news this week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (‘OECD’) has reported on phase four of Belgium’s implementation of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The evaluation notes that ‘only three foreign bribery cases have been successfully completed since the Phase 3 evaluation in 2013, resulting in the conviction of five individuals. No companies have been sanctioned in this period.’ Further, that there are ‘several gaps in Belgium’s policy to fight foreign bribery. A lack of financial and human resources at every stage of the enforcement process is a key obstacle to the successful conclusion of cases. Further, Belgian companies are not sufficiently incentivised to implement anti-corruption compliance programmes. Finally, the lack of measures to encourage voluntary disclosure, as well as non-publication of foreign bribery resolutions, also limit effective implementation of the Convention.’ Notwithstanding these negative aspects, there are some positives since phase three in 2013, ‘notably the 2024 law that extended the statute of limitations for alleged bribery offences and provided for its interruption upon referral to the trial court. This reform should enable a greater number of foreign bribery cases to be concluded. The Working Group also welcomed reforms ensuring that the liability of companies in Belgium is no longer conditional on the prosecution or conviction of natural persons.’

And finally on bribery and corruption this week, a blog post from the OECD on the application of behavioural insights to the OECD public integrity indicators. ‘Understanding the real-life decisions that drive corruption at the individual level is key to designing effective anti-corruption measures. Comparing results from bribery experiments to data from the OECD Public Integrity Indicators provides new insights into how behaviour correlates to certain anti-corruption measures.’

Market Abuse

In the UK, the Supreme Court (‘UKSC’) has this week been hearing the appeal against conviction of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo. ‘They are former bankers. On 3 August 2015, Mr Hayes was convicted of conspiracy to defraud for manipulating LIBOR rates. In 2019, Mr Palombo was similarly convicted of having conspired to manipulate EURIBOR rates.’ The UKSC is being asked to determine two legal questions. First, ‘Is a LIBOR or EURIBOR submission automatically dishonest if it is influenced by a trading advantage?’ Secondly, ‘Must a LIBOR or EURIBOR submission be of the single cheapest rate at which the panel or prime bank could borrow at the time of the submissions or can it be a rate selected from within a range of potential borrowing rates?’ The recordings of the submissions are on YouTube and linked on the UKSC website.

Other Financial Crime News

In other financial crime news this week, it has been announced that the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime will host an intergovernmental meeting on enhancing the use of beneficial ownership information to strengthen asset recovery. The event will take place over two days on the 14th and 15th April.

In the US, the Department of Justice has announced that it will authorise the ‘sixth-round payments for all eligible claims in the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (‘the Fund’) by Jan. 1, 2026. The Fund, which continues to collect deposits, anticipates that the sixth distribution will be at least $2 billion.’

And finally on other financial crime news this week, research from consultancy firm, Kroll, has indicated that senior figures in financial services expect financial crime to increase in the coming year. This is an echo of the warning from the publication last week of Europol’s EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2025, which identified an increasing threat from technology.

Cybercrime

The cybercrime news this week starts in Belgium, where it is reported that Russian hackers have attacked Belgian government websites. The government portal, mygov.be, was taken offline by the pro-Russian cybercrime group NoName057. This is a reminder flagged by a series of reports in recent months that government websites remain especially vulnerable to cybercrime because of outdated frameworks and limited funds being made available for preventative measures.

In news from France, it is reported that Interpol has coordinated an operation against cyber threats which has resulted in the arrest of 306 individuals and the seizure of 1,842 devices. ‘The arrests were made as part of Operation Red Card (November 2024 – February 2025) which aims to disrupt and dismantle cross-border criminal networks which cause significant harm to individuals and businesses. In particular, the operation targeted mobile banking, investment and messaging app scams. The cases uncovered during the operation involved more than 5,000 victims.’