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.
CORRUPTION GUIDE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is promoting a set of guidelines it has drawn up with anti-corruption groups Transparency International and Social Accountability International to help businesses confront bribery in their operations and commercial dealings. These Business Principles for Countering Bribery are, said Jermyn Brooks, Transparency International’s Executive Director, “essentially an anti-bribery framework based on best practice.”…
ADVANCE FEE FRAUD
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRAUDSTERS have developed two new twists on the ever-popular advance fee scam. The International Chamber of Commerce has warned of a Nigerian oil fraud particularly featuring Bonny Light oil, where fake oil traders offer up to 1 million barrels at below market rates, following the payment of cash fees of around US$50,000.…
DUE DILIGENCE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINANCIAL institutions are increasingly checking the honesty of their potential business partners, claims the International Chamber of Commerce. The number of banks requesting due diligence checks from its Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) in 2002, went up 51 per cent over the previous year.…
EUROPOL-US DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPOL has signed an operational agreement with the United States which will improve cooperation between the EU police agency and the various US law enforcement authorities. The deal promotes the exchange of personal data, an agreement that has been approved by the Joint Supervisory Body, the independent authority monitoring and controlling the use of such information by Europol.…
EURO COUNTERFEITING
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Central Bank has reported that the number of counterfeit Euro banknotes removed from circulation rose to 145,153 in the second half of 2002, compared with just 21,965. The Euro 50 note was the most popular for counterfeiters, with 121,826 fake notes being discovered, compared with 11,522 Euro 20 notes and 8,046 Euro 100 notes.…
WITHHOLDING TAX
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is moving towards a deal with Switzerland over the payment of a withholding tax to avoid releasing information about EU citizens owning Swiss bank savings accounts. It wants to protect these clients from tax demands from their home countries.…
ICC BOOK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce has published a guide alerting financial services businesses about how to avoid falling victim to fraud. Preventing Financial Instrument Fraud describes danger signals, explaining how frauds are mounted and the psychological manipulation upon which they are based.…
ICC FRAUD GUIDE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce has published a guide alerting financial services businesses about how to avoid falling victim to fraud. Preventing Financial Instrument Fraud describes danger signals, explaining how frauds are mounted and the psychological manipulation upon which they are based.…
DEFICIT GUIDELINES
Keith Nuthall
COMPREHENSIVE guidelines on the reporting of government deficits within the European Union (EU) have been approved by the EU Council of Ministers, which wants to avoid statistical disputes over whether Member States have not complied with debt commitments made before adopting the Euro.…
OLAF - EASTERN EUROPE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ESTABLISHMENT of special anti-fraud coordinators in all eastern and southern European countries applying to join the European Union (EU) has been welcomed by OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud office.
In a memorandum on the fight against fraud in an enlarged EU, OLAF said: “By putting Anti Fraud Co-ordinating Service offices in place, the candidate countries have demonstrated in concrete terms their commitment to fighting fraud.…