Jurisdictions have been under pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness in the Fourth Round of Financial Action Task Force Mutual Evaluations, and this will be intensified during the Fifth Round, due to commence in 2024. Mutual Evaluations assess the level of a jurisdiction’s compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti Terrorist Financing, Counter Proliferation Financing and Targeted Financial Sanctions framework laid down by the FATF as the global standard setter. The assessment consists of two parts, technical compliance (whether the jurisdiction has the legal framework in place) and effectiveness (how well the jurisdiction is implementing this framework). There are particularly dire consequences for those jurisdictions that receive poor Mutual Evaluation results[1] and meet the M3[2] financial threshold, as these countries, following an observation period[3], if they fail to demonstrate ‘positive and tangible’ progress will be placed on the FATF list of ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’. Following the February 2023 FATF Plenary, 26 countries feature on this so called ‘grey list’, which can result in adverse economic consequences for the grey-listed countries.

On April 20, 2023, the European Parliament approved the first common EU rules on anti-money laundering with respect to crypto-assets, tracing crypto-asset transfers, and supervision and consumer protection.[1]

On May 8, 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered the appointment of a commission to secure a subpoena for bank records to be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Foreign Litigation.  In turn, the DOJ will transmit the information to the National Tax Court in Buenos Aires for use in a tax dispute.[1]

On May 2, 2023, the United States Department of Justice and its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team, Europol, and its international partners announced the results of Operation Spector.  In particular, the operation resulted in 288 arrests, the most ever for any JCODE operation and approximately twice as many of the prior operation.  In addition, law enforcement made more seizures than any prior operation, including 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs that include 64 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics, and $53.4 million in cash and virtual currencies.[1]

On April 24, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed two federal indictments against a representative for the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) for his role in a money laundering conspiracy through cryptocurrency.  The indictments allege that North Korean operatives evaded sanctions, conspiring with over-the-counter cryptocurrency traders to launder stolen funds to buy stolen goods previously unavailable to North Korea due to U.S. sanctions.^[1]  This case also relates to a settlement by a British Tobacco Company for selling tobacco to North Korea despite previously exclaiming that they were ceasing these illicit operations.

In this article, its author, based on his experience as an expert witness in the asylum cases of victims of INTERPOL abuse, puts forward the reasons that, in his opinion, often force such individuals not to seek relief from INTERPOL prior to applying for asylum and thereby risk suspicious treatment from immigration authorities, prolonged detention and deportation

On April 26, 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and The Kingdom Trust Company (Kingdom Trust) entered into a consent order, imposing a civil money penalty and requiring Kingdom Trust to take actions to remediate its deficiencies.[1]

On April 26, 2023, Frank’s  International, which is now Expro Group Holdings N.V., entered into  a cease-and-desist order and agreed to pay disgorgement of $4,176,858, prejudgment interest of $821,863, and a civil money penalty in the amount of $3 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission in settlement of the administrative charges against it.  The matter concerns violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) by Frank’s.[1]

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, who served in that role from 2001 to 2006, has been extradited from the U.S. to Peru due to his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal relating to public works contracts for Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.  Peruvian authorities allege that Toledo received millions of dollars in kickbacks from Odebrecht in exchange for awarding them a public works contract.

On April 18, 2023, at the end of a two-day meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on crime, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government agreed to enact legislation in their countries to forbid the presence and use of assault-style weapons.  The bulk of these weapons originate in the United States.[1]  This article discusses the initiative of the CARICOM heads of government, efforts to hold U.S. gun manufacturers and distributors accountable, and the initiative of the Government of Mexico in the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.