Search Results for: Russian

While Ukraine battles an invading Russian enemy currently occupying approximately 18% of Ukrainian territory (1), it is also focused on its battle with the ‘enemy within’, namely elevated levels of corruption and other commercial crime. 

Since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Ukraine’s pro-Western authorities have worked tirelessly to align themselves with European Union (EU) anti-corruption and anti-fraud efforts, notably establishing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in 2014, which prepares corruption cases for prosecution by a Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.…

The European Union (EU) has banned imports of diamonds from Russia, which amounted to EUR1.3 billion in 2022, because of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Most of these precious stones are sold to Belgium, a key diamond trader – under EUR500,000 go to other EU member states, according to the European Commission (1).…

The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has predicted that the chocolate industry will continue to face cocoa supply deficits, with its latest quarterly assessment predicting that for 2022/3, there will be 99,000 tonnes more grindings than cocoa production. As a result, global stocks will fall to 1.744 million tonnes, amidst declines in output from key production hubs Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.…

The increasing risks posed by creative high-tech crime have been highlighted in the first European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment released by European Union (EU) police agency Europol. It concluded criminals have weaponised the drift to digital finance, work and business.…

Signatory universities of the Magna Charta Universitatum declaration are meeting in Poland to assess how research and teaching can help reconstruct cities harmed by war, environmental pressures and socio-economic change.

This conference chimes with the aims of the declaration, which highlights the value of academic freedom, institutional autonomy and community collaboration, and which has been signed by 960 universities from 94 countries worldwide.…

The Great Lakes region in cenztral and eastern Africa is exceedingly resource rich, and being beset by instability and conflict, it is highly attractive for illicit trade and financial crime fuelling money laundering. A new European Union (EU) Great Lakes Strategy is trying to promote the rule of law in the region – notably Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – but faces major challenges.…

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has sparked an unprecedented level of international sanctions. However, it has also caused an unprecedented wave of sanctions evasion.

June’s (2023) plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had a clear message for the global anti-money laundering community, which includes organisations fighting sanctions evasion: “FATF reiterates that all jurisdictions should be vigilant to current and emerging risks from the circumvention of measures taken against the Russian Federation in order to protect the international financial system.”…

Anti-money laundering fines worldwide are expanding fast, say researchers, but assessments of whether this reduces and deters money laundering or just feed government coffers are not yet conclusive. According to Ireland-based international compliance firm Fenergo, AML/CFT fines worldwide – levied on organisations failing to operate legally mandated AML/CFT controls – increased 52% year-on-year in 2022, totalling USD4.1 billion, compared to USD2.7 billion in 2021.…

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has forced 6.2 million people from the country (UN figures) (1) and caused more than USD151 billion in infrastructure damage, says the Kiev Schol of Economics (2), Ukraine’s fashion retail market has been transformed.

While energy price rises have started levelling off after 2022 steep inflation, the need to boost sustainable electricity capacity in Europe, carried by strengthened transmission networks, boosting security of supply against unreliable partners such as Russia and further reduce carbon emissions, is becoming ever more pressing.…