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The metal packaging sector does not only prosper because of its intrinsic self-worth but also because of changes in competing industries such as paper and plastic packaging – and regulation – such as recent single-use plastics bans – can boost the fortunes of can makers and fillers.…

Business computer and phone users know they should not click on links in emails and texts from unknown senders. But malware developers are increasingly hacking into trusted online apps, inserting malicious code, downloaded by the unwary. Keith Nuthall, Raghavendra Verma and Jens Kastner report on this burgeoning threat.…

Packaging firms and brands are preparing for a boom in biomaterial packaging, fuelled by greater consumer demand, regulations to increase sustainability and the maturity of biomaterials. A report by Massachusetts, US-based management consulting firm Arthur D Little (1), released in 2022, said that investment has fuelled production improvements and capacity, easing the mass production of biomaterials derived from plants, animals or bacteria.…

St Kitts & Nevis, the western hemisphere’s smallest sovereign state (by population), has significant work ahead to meet international AML/CFT standards, despite significant reforms being passed in 2020 and 2021. The twin-island state, with just over 47,000 people, is, noted a Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) mutual evaluation report issued January 2022, a “small international financial centre which consists of commercial banking, international banking, domestic insurance, international insurance, securities, money service businesses and credit unions”.…

Antigua & Barbuda has been making steady progress building its AML/CFT system, although mutual evaluation reports and third-party assessments suggest the twin island nation needs to continue forging fresh protections. It has, however, not released conviction and prosecution data since 2016 – making its AML/CFT effectiveness tough to assess.…

The potential benefits and risks posed to AML systems by quantum computing are becoming clearer, as more powerful and efficient quantum computing systems are developed.

Quantum systems draw processing strength from exploiting how quantum states involve superposition (a particle inhabits two or more places at the same time) and entanglement (two or more particles influence each other), to make quicker and larger calculations.…

International clothing brands have been hoping to see major outsourcing centres develop their own sustainable apparel markets, but this year’s choppy global economy has impeded sales to these potentially lucrative consumer bases.

Brazil, the world’s 10th largest economy, with 216 million people, was back in 2011 considered by US-based consultants A.T.…

Given the complexity of supply chains in the knitwear sector, it is no surprise that there are diverse ways in organising production. A key contrast is between the integrated model, where manufacturing stages are undertaken in house, and the cluster approach, where different units undertake several aspects of manufacturing, such as knitting of panels, embroidery, finishing and final assembly.…

A London-based anti-fraud unit which supports vulnerable victims of fraud has been rolled out to all 43 police forces in England and Wales. The Action Fraud National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVCU) has been operated until now by the City of London Police – England and Wales’ lead anti-fraud police force – helping London victims of fraud and cybercrime cope and recover from offences.…

Lawyers are calling for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to increase reward payments made to UK whistleblowers who come forward and identify tax fraud.

Latest figures released by London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) reveal that in the last financial year, HMRC paid out almost GBP510,000 to individuals providing details of tax fraud – up from GBP495,000 the previous year (1).…