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The conventional arms trade has a reputation for using side payment sweeteners to secure multi-million dollar deals. But despite allegations of corruption in numerous jurisdictions, the legitimate arms trade is not on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) radar. Should it be?…

Paint markets throughout much of the Middle East are experiencing a downturn due to the region’s political instability and economic slowdown. However, manufacturers are nonetheless betting on a rebound as larger projects re-start and reconstruction begins in certain markets.

In the oil-based economies of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, lower oil prices have hit government budgets, causing state-backed projects to be suspended or delayed, while having a knock-on effect on the wider economy.…

Charities continue to be at risk of being exploited by terrorist groups looking to transfer money and finance their operations, with the Middle East a high-risk area.

These non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are, however, criticising the extra scrutiny the sector is facing from regulators, banks and governments, saying it is driving charity financing into the shadows, actually increasing risks of financing by crime and terror groups.…

*EU member states have been given temporary permission to use so-called reverse charge mechanisms to collect VAT, involving shifting liability to pay from suppliers to customers, to fight fraud. The EU Council of Ministers has approved a directive allowing governments to reverse charge VAT on domestic supplies of goods and services above EUR17,500 per transaction until June 2022, when a country is losing 25% or more of VAT to carousel fraud.…

A SALES and Services Tax (SST), replacing Malaysia’s now abolished goods and services tax (GST), has come into force (from September 1), via the new Sales Tax Act 2018 and the Service Tax Act 2018. The SST is a single-stage tax, a sales and services tax imposed on manufacturers and service providers rather than end customers, as with the 6% GST.…

A SALES and Services Tax (SST), replacing Malaysia’s now abolished goods and services tax (GST), has come into force (from September 1), via the new Sales Tax Act 2018 and the Service Tax Act 2018. The SST is a single-stage tax, a sales and services tax imposed on manufacturers and service providers rather than end customers, as with the 6% GST.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) paint and coating sector will be keeping a close eye on plans to craft a new EUR94.1 billion Horizon Europe research and development programme operating from 2021 to 2027. These major EU research budgets fund innovation in the sector involving companies from different countries within the EU – proposed industry and natural resources priority spending sections in the 2021-27 programme may especially promote paint and coating studies.…

China seems to have given the world nuclear industry back its mojo this summer with two big moves: the signing in June of an order for four Gen 3+ VVER-1200 reactors from Russia’s Rosatom. This certainly got the bubbly flowing at the World Nuclear Exhibition, in Paris, in late June, following two years of sluggish investment in this globalised industry.…

DEBATES are now underway at the European Union (EU) on a proposed revamp of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a programme for 2021 to 2027 that would exclude Brexited Britain. As a result of losing UK contributions to the EU from next March (2019), funding for the CAP would fall by around 5% to EUR365 billion, with EUR265.2 billion spent on direct payments for food producers, EUR20 billion for market price support measures and EUR78.8 billion for rural development.…

PAKISTAN’S law enforcers and regulators are on the front line when it comes to fighting terrorist financing, money laundering and financial crime in general, both within the country and from across its borders, notably conflict-riven Afghanistan. But its government and state agencies often send mixed messages over their commitment to fight terror finance.…