Money Laundering Bulletin

Personally, writes Sue Grossey, I blame the boom in management consultancy in the 1990s: whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, I tie myself in all kinds of knots to explain my work without using the word “consultant”.Although..

Insurance, notably the life sector, is vulnerable to criminal abuse according to the latest Financial Action Task Force Typologies but reporting by the industry is low. Alan Osborn investigates.

The definition of realizable property is a nice issue across the spectrum of restraint actions as David Corker of Corker Binning Solicitors explains with reference to case law that covers corporates, trusts and personal insolvency.

Critics of European political institutions have unkindly described the Council of Europe as little more than a talking shop. Although it may lack the power to impose sanctions, including substantial fines, on member governments, which European Union (EU) bodies enjoy (and from which it is completely independent), it is still an active agent of change, notably in the area of anti-money laundering, discovers Keith Nuthall .

The ink may be dry on the Third EU Directive but there is still plenty to play for in the comitology discussions and at national level as Timon Molloy reports in his second instalment from Money Laundering Alert’s Second Annual European Money Laundering Conference in Barcelona.

by Patrick Jost and Cliff Knuckey, Terrorist Information Partnership

The courts consider letters of credit and certain other means of payment, notably CHAPS transfers, to be almost as good as cash. A bank’s obligation to pay or process payment is independent of any underlying trading between the bank’s customer and the payee, and can only be upset if there is clear evidence of fraud or illegality by the payee. But the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) requires the banks not only to report suspicious transactions, but to refuse to process them if there are reasonable grounds for suspicion. Paul Morris , a solicitor at Denton Wilde Sapte who specialises in financial services dispute resolution, examines a recent case that suggests the second principle will predominate in any conflict.

Signs of hope: SARs under SOCA A lot is riding on SOCA (the Serious Organised Crime Agency), HM Government’s 4,500 person-strong response to the top level crime threats to the UK, which begins life officially on 1 April next year.This..