Financial crime
Former Latvian governor must face prosecution, court rules
ECJ says Rimšēvičs does not have official immunity over alleged bribe-taking and money laundering
Lebanese president orders central bank to comply with audit
Aoun says repercussions from failure to hand over documents would be negative on all levels
Lebanese governor claims personal audit exonerates him
Judge says court has ordered him to suspend Salameh probe as foreign investigations continue
Chinese governor says CBDC must balance privacy and anti-crime measures
Yi says PBoC will collect “minimum amount of information” as police report first CBDC-related arrests
Luxembourg authorities open investigation into Lebanese governor
Third European country probes finances of Riad Salameh
Tanzanian central bank announces loan crackdown
Central bank says “unscrupulous borrowers and employees” partly responsible for high NPL levels
UAE partly decriminalises passing bad cheques
New law meant to encourage recovery, justice and more modern forms of payment
US regulators call for new stablecoin regulations
Working group wants issuers to be insured and regulated like banks
Financial Stability Benchmarks 2021 report – keeping the sector secure
Benchmark exercise presents responses on AML/CFT, cyber, macro-prudential and other risks
Afghan central bank ‘worsened crisis’, says leaked document
International officials allege “mismanagement” under Ahmady led to loss of dollars
Lebanese central bank audit has not yet started, says outgoing finance minister
Media reports prosecutor probing new prime minister over central bank-backed loans
Sri Lankan president names political ally to lead central bank
President appoints ex-governor Cabraal to role after predecessor resigns amid growing crisis
Former Ecuadorian governor arrested in Miami
US authorities arrest Delgado for immigration violations nine years after he fled Ecuador
Mozambique president reappoints governor
Former IMF official Zandamela has faced inflation, Covid-19 and fallout from alleged fraud
Brazil delays integrating payments into ‘open banking’ project
Phase three of project delayed to October after technical difficulties emerge
US regulators warn Wells Fargo of new penalties, report claims
Bloomberg says OCC and CFPB believe US bank is moving too slowly on compensating scam victims
Philippines central bank calls for urgent reform of secrecy law
Financial industry says current law attracts money launderers as governor demands change
HKMA to hold AML/CFT ‘lab sessions’ for firms
Hong Kong’s central bank wants firms to upgrade AML/CFT technology
New Bafin president takes up role
Ex-Finma head pledges to make heavily criticised German financial regulator “world class”
Russian central bank may sell nationalised lender to ‘strategic investor’
Bank of Russia says it could bring sale of Otkritie forward if right buyer can be found
Bahrain court convicts Iranian central bank of money laundering
Government says case involving CBI was largest money laundering case in Bahrain’s history
Sanctioned disobedience: the challenge of protecting whistleblowers
Most central banks have policies on whistleblowing, but practice and usage vary widely
US court finds Iranian central bank liable in terrorism suit
Plaintiffs sued Iran and Syria in US court for damages in 2015 Hamas attack
Somalia’s governor on rebuilding its central bank
Governor Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi discusses reviving Somalia’s war-damaged economy, re-creating a payments system, and dealing with remittances