Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
ROMANIA PLAYS CATCH UP ON AML LEGISLATION – IMPELMENTIONG 4AMLD TWO YEARS LATE
ROMANIAN politics are rarely a placid affair, although February 5’s no confidence vote downing the National Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban after just three months in office marks a period of particularly intense instability. This collapse comes as the government had hoped to debate implementing the European Union’s (EU) fifth anti-money laundering directive – a task that will not now be undertaken until parliamentarians replace the government, or – as is more likely – snap elections are held.…
EU ROUND UP – PAINT AND COATINGS COMPANIES’ EU ONLINE SALES TO BE PROBED FOR LEGAL ERRORS
PAINT and coatings retailers selling their products via the Internet into the European Union (EU) will be subjected to inspections from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in 2020, amidst concern that online chemical sellers maybe breaching EU safety controls. The EU agency has launched its latest forum enforcement project which will probe online sales direct from paint and coatings companies and broader e-marketplaces, such as Amazon.…
HUNGARY’S AML ACT FALLS SHORT ON 4AMLD COMPLIANCE AND 5AMLD LAW IS NOT PASSED – SAYS BRUSSELS
HUNGARY has been making progress in developing its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation. But the European Commission is unhappy with its progress on implementing the European Union’s (EU) fourth and fifth anti money laundering directives. It sent a formal notice on February 12 that Hungary had failed to pass any legislation writing the AMLD5 law into the Hungarian statute book, and claims Budapest’s compliance with AMLD4 is partial.…
FATF DECIDES IRAN MUST FACE FULL FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS OVER AML FAILURES
THE FINANCIAL Action Task Force (FATF) has said that Iran’s failure to implement AML/CFT controls means that member countries and their financial institutions should consider taking all the precautions mandated by its guidance for high risk ML states.
Its February 19-21 plenary said that Iran still needed to remove an exemption for controls on designated terror groups’ financing when such organisations are “attempting to end foreign occupation, colonialism and racism” – which is taken to include groups opposing Israel.…
EU NEEDS GREATER ENFORCEMENT OF AML LAWS
The European Union (EU) needs to step up enforcement of its anti-money laundering legislation, not just the fourth and fifth directives (AMLD 4 and 5), but earlier provisions from AMLD3 that are still not being applied in the member states, according to speakers at a February 19 breakfast event on ‘Money laundering and financial crime’ staged at the European Parliament in Brussels.…
BULGARIA APPLIES BOTH 4 AND 5AMLD BUT CONCERNS REMAIN OVER EFFECTIVENESS OF ITS AML/CFT APPROACH
IMPROVING on performance in AML/CFT is never a simple process, and that is especially a case with a country such as Bulgaria which has had a long-standing corruption problem, causing this east European country to be under special monitoring by the European Commission from the day it joined the European Union (EU) in 2007.…
FATF SAYS DIGITAL ID SYSTEMS CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL CHECKS
GLOBAL AML body FATF has released technical guidance on how to ensure digital ID solutions, including ePassports, digital driving licences, plus face, iris and fingerprint scans, are secure and reliable. FATF thinks, if installed and operated correctly, using risk-based approaches, “non-face-to-face customer-identification and transactions that rely on reliable, independent digital ID systems with
appropriate risk mitigation measures in place, may present a standard level of risk, and may even be lower-risk” (than traditional ID systems).…
THE PHILIPPINES READIES A TEXTILE-GARMENT INDUSTRY EXPANSION ROADMAP
The Philippines department of trade and industry is finalising a roadmap to revive the textile and garment industry, devised by the government’s Board of Investment.
Latest drafts of this Textile-Garment Industry Roadmap 2020-2029, which has yet to be formally released, lays out the path for an integrated textile-garment industry, strong linkages between industry, government and private sector, as well as a dedicated trade office.…
PERU GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES ROUNDTABLE GROUP TO BOOST DOMESTIC BACKWARD LINKAGES, FOCUSING ON ALPACA
THE PERUVIAN government has created a textile and clothing industry roundtable group that has been charged with forging backward linkages delivering a comprehensive domestic supply chain from fibre to fabric, that will reduce costs for the country’s apparel sector. Currently imports significant volumes of yarn and cotton, increasing expenses for the clothing sector.…
ENGLAND AND WALES LANDOWNERS ASSESS NEW POST-BREXIT COMMERCIAL REALITY WITHOUT FOOD PRODUCITON PAYMENTS
FOR rural landowners in England and Wales, the UK quitting the European Union (EU) on January 31 maybe the most important market driver in 2020. Uncertainty over Brexit has held up investment, sales and purchases, constitutional change is coming, landowners can plan with more clarity.…