On December 22, 2022, just hours before an address to the Congress by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Congress approved a bill to enlarge the U.S. government’s authority to prosecute international war crimes suspects who are in the United States, permitting their trial in a federal court regardless of the nationality of the victim or the perpetrator, or where the crime occurred.[1]

On December 19, 2022, UOP LLC, doing business as Honeywell UOP, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., has reach a joint settlement to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil arising out of the bribe payments offered to a high-ranking official at Brazil’s state-owned oil company.  The settlement requires Honeywell UOP to pay more than $160 million and agree to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Department of Justice[1] in connection with a criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Texas, charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).[2]

On December 15, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the  United States Department of Treasury issued in the Federal Register its second set of proposed beneficial ownership regulations (Notice of Proposed Rule Making or NPRM) with respect to furnishing access to the information it receives pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and safeguards for protecting the confidentiality of such information.

On November 18, federal judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) for the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, citing head of state immunity.  The suit was brought forth by Khashoggi’s widow, and a non-profit organization he helped found, seeking relief under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). 

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) held its 82^nd plenary session on November 28-30, 2022.^[1]

On December 7, 2022, United States law enforcement announced the unsealing of a seven-count indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging Andrii Derkach, 55, of Ukraine, with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of money laundering in connection with the purchase and maintenance of two condominiums in Beverly Hills, California.  The indictment alleges Derkach hid his interest in the transactions and violated sanctions imposed in 2020.  Derkach is at large.  The charges and forfeiture action are the first use of criminal and forfeiture powers targeting the concealment of ownership by senior foreign political officials, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021.[1]

On December 7, 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its report on killings of civilians, encompassing both summary executions and attacks on individual civilians, committed in parts of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions of Ukraine between February 24 and April 6, 2022.[1]

On December 14, 2022, Europol and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a joint analysis report shedding light on the involvement of Mexican criminal actors in the EU drug market.

On December 15, 2022, the European Parliament adopted a much awaited resolution, which is a swift reaction and a follow-up to serious allegations of corruption involving some top officials at this body. This seems to be a jump-start towards broader and far-reaching reforms in the area of transparency and accountability in the European institutions.

On December 8, 2022, the Grand Chamber of the  Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held in the case of the Flemish Bar Association and others v. Belgium, C-694/20 (CJEU 2020) that the European Union directive on administrative cooperation  that requires attorneys serving as intermediaries in cross-border tax planning arrangements to notify other intermediaries of their reporting obligation (commonly known as DAC6) violates article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU concerning the right to legal professional privilege.  The Court issued a press release summarizing its judgment.