Weekly Compliance News - Around the World

GCSG's Weekly Compliance News feature is a compilation of some of the previous weeks interesting trade compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud, and due diligence news bites, from around the world.

The Cost of Dirty Money | Bloomberg

“Since the financial crisis, dozens of crackdowns have targeted money launderers who effectively rely on banks, shell companies, and other mechanisms to cover their tracks. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, shady transactions continue to reach as much as $2 trillion a year.” (Click here for the article) - Global

Trump Secures Another Major Trade Victory | Daily Caller

"The European Commission approved U.S. soybeans to be used in the production of biofuels, a decision that will fulfill President Donald Trump’s demand that the European Union buy more of the product.“  (Click here for the article) - US, Europe

US Blocks Venezuela Oil Deals Using its Financial System | Bloomberg

"Venezuela’s state oil company and its customers will be blocked from using the U.S. financial system by late April, as the Trump administration ratchets up the pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to step aside and allow an opposition leader to take his place.“  (Click here for the article) - US, Venezuela

Fake Eyelash Kits Sourced from N. Korea Put Cosmetics Firm in US Crosshairs | Wall Street Journal

"A California cosmetics company agreed to pay about $1 million to settle allegations it violated U.S. sanctions regulations by importing fake eyelash kits from China-based suppliers that had sourced materials from North Korea.“  (Click here for the article) - US, North Korea

Potential Disaster at St. James Waste Pile | The Advocate

"Hundreds of trucks a day will be traveling this week through a mushy cane field north of Mosaic Fertilizer's huge phosphogypsum waste pile in St. James Parish to dump 150,000 cubic yards of earth in hopes of blunting a slow-moving, potential environmental disaster.“  (Click here for the article) - US

Money Laundering: Arrest in Oxford Over Cryptocurrency Theft | KYC360

"A man has been arrested over allegations of fraud and money laundering at an address in Oxford, UK, following the theft of around €10 million in the IOTA cryptocurrency from over 85 victims worldwide since January 2018.“  (Click here for the article) - Global

Correction: United Nations - Periodic Table Story | New York Times

"In a story Jan. 30 about the periodic table, The Associated Press erroneously reported the year it was first published. The periodic table was first published in 1869, not 1969.“  (Click here for the article) - Global

US Slips Out of Top 20 in Global Corruption Index | Time

"The U.S. has plummeted in an annual corruption index, falling out of the top 20 countries for the first time since 2011, watchdog Transparency International said in a new report that links the global erosion of democracy and tidal wave of autocrats to an uptick in graft. “  (Click here for the article) - Global