criminal law

21
Jul

Anti-money laundering controls need to be tightened, says Mexican regulator British banking giant HSBC for years shipped billions of dollars in cash belonging to the Mexican drug cartels to be deposited in the United States despite warnings from banking regulators in Washington and Mexico City, according to the results of a US Senate investigation released on Monday. The more than 400-page report compiled by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was made public on the eve of a hearing in which officials from HSBC Holdings Plc were called to before the panel to explain how the bank acted as a financier to shady clients in Mexico, Iran and Syria by routing their money to the United States. According to the executive summary of the report, HBMX was "the single largest exporter of US dollars" to the United States between 2006-2007, shipping over $7 billion in cash. "Mexican and US authorities expressed repeated concern that HBMX's bulk cash shipments could reach that volume only if they included illegal drug proceeds," the summary stated "The concern was that drug traffickers unable to deposit large amounts of cash in US banks due to [anti-money laundering] controls, were transporting US dollars to Mexico, ...

20
Jul

More raids on UBS premises in France and a reported crackdown on Credit Suisse clients in Germany German newspaper the Handelsblatt has reported that up to 7,000 Credit Suisse clients are being targeted by a separate tax evasion investigation in Germany. French prosecutors searched UBS offices in Bordeaux on Tuesday, reportedly looking for evidence that the bank had helped wealthy clients to illegally funnel money into Switzerland under the radar of the tax authorities. Switzerland has openly adopted a new "white money" strategy of refusing the assets of tax evaders in recent months, but the government-backed model has not made the problem disappear completely. swissinfo.ch

20

Confiscate and Cut off: that is the approach that the Dutch government has in mind for its nation-wide measures to combat the circulation of illegal money At the request of the House of Representatives, a description has been provided, for the first time ever, of the work that needs to be done at national level to combat the circulation of illegal money and to renew people's faith in a reliable economic system. The intensification of methods to tackle financial-economic crime will include assessing whether authorities and sanctions can be extended. In connection with this, a bill to expand the possibilities for combating financial-economic crime was recently sent to, among others, the Public Prosecution Service and the Council for the Judiciary, so that these bodies could provide advice on the matter. On the basis of this bill, a fine can be imposed on companies that do not observe the rules; a fine of up to a maximum of ten percent of the annual turnover of such companies can be demanded. The bill also includes more severe penalties for money laundering and corruption, and makes the misuse of community money a criminal offence. This proposal is also intended to ensure ...

20

German tax authorities have reportedly purchased a new CD containing client details of some one thousand German tax evaders with accounts at the Zurich branch of Coutts private bank The Financial Times Deutschland reported on Saturday that tax authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany's west had authorised the payment of €3.5 million (SFr4.21 million) for the CD. Coutts is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The paper first reported existence of the CD in November last year. But in an email response to questions from swissinfo.ch, Coutts' head of corporate communications Susan Tether denied there had been a security breach at the bank. "We are aware of the continued media speculation regarding a potential breach of client data secrecy at Coutts," Tether said. "Following thorough investigation, we have no evidence to suggest any such breach has taken place. As we stated to media last year, we take the protection of client data extremely seriously." If confirmed, the purchase of the client data could jeopardise the future of the tax accord between Switzerland and Germany, the online edition of the newspaper said. The agreement, which has still to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries, would impose ...

19
Apr

The European Commission and the Danish EU Council Presidency have not remained deaf to the European Parliament's "call for concrete ways to combat tax fraud and tax evasion": they have agreed to redouble their efforts to break the stalemate on the savings taxation debate MEPs will vote, on 19 April, on a resolution calling for an end to banking secrecy in the EU and early agreement with Switzerland on revision of the 2004 savings taxation agreement between this country and the Union. On 18 April, the European Parliament debated the issue. Before the debate got under way, however, S&D group leader set the tone at a press conference: "The time has come to inject a taxation dimension into the Union's debate" in order to refill the coffers of crisis-plagued member states. "There is a lot of money in bank accounts in Switzerland and in other tax havens. We have to react," he exclaimed, urging the 27 member states to put up a "united front" against Bern, rather than negotiating individual 'Rubik agreements' with it. Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta followed suit: "The Council's progress on Commission proposals is too slow. The 27 finance ministers have to find a way to ...