Latest: Corruption and Money Laundering

Corruption Currents: From First Contacts to Gold-Mine Laundering in Romania.

 

Bribery:

Mike Lucas

Rebekah Brooks, a former executive at a U.K. newspaper unit of News Corp ,  allegedly approved a payment to a member of the armed forces for a photo of Prince William in a bikini, a London court heard. She’s on trial for alleged bribery and has denied the charges. News Corp. publishes this page. (BBC)

A deputy prime minister of Bahrain sought to intervene in a British bribery prosecution by writing to the head of the Serious Fraud Office and to the British government’s legal adviser, a London court heard in the trial of businessman Victor Dahdaleh.

Taiwan’s supreme court upheld an eight-year prison sentence on a former minister convicted of bribery. (CNA)

Fake money is an increasingly potent weapon around the world against those seeking bribes. (Economist)

A commission of jurists said bribery is endemic to the Burmese judicial system. (Eleven Myanmar)

The FCPA Blog seeks for Wal-Mart to lead in ethics, not just compliance; it also extols a professor’s new paper. The FCPAProfessor quotes a top SEC official saying FCPA law is underdeveloped. Tom Fox wonders about psychopaths on the board. Thebriberyact.com sees the U.K. deferred prosecution agreements coming up on the horizon. Mike Volkov stresses independence for internal investigators.

Money Laundering:

Romanian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the company that holds the license to the largest open-pit gold mine in Europe, focusing on alleged money laundering and tax evasion. The company’s director declined to comment. (OCCRP)

Jamaica took steps to tighten its anti-money laundering regime. (Carribean360)

China went beyond cautioning on the risks of bitcoin, saying it isn’t even a currency. (WSJ Digits)

Sanctions:

Iran’s prediction that it will increase its oil exports is the latest salvo in a debate over easing sanctions. Its oil tanker fleet started enabling vessel tracking systems in a bid for good faith. Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Italian oil giant Eni SpA, was the first Western CEO to meet publicly with the Iranian oil minister since last month’s interim nuclear deal. Mr. Scaroni said the meeting was “very long and warm.” Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Vitol SA also met with him in Vienna. (Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Wall Street Journal)

Under U.S. sanctions law, companies have to disclose any dealings with Iran, no matter how small. (Washington Post)

Meet UCO Bank, an Indian financial institution that wins only when Iran loses. But can it continue the windfall after the interim nuclear deal? Iranian officials want the removal of banking restrictions with India. (Quartz, Sanction Law, Indian Express)

An Indian regulator issued fresh guidance to check the flow of Iranian funds into the stock market. (PTI)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that its core sanctions on Iran remain in place. (Reuters)

Analysis on the Compass Bank settlement with OFAC is here. (Sanction Law)

Terrorism Finance:

The U.K. is urging the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution calling on all countries not to pay ransom to kidnappers who use the money to finance terrorist groups. (AP)

Transparency:

Kosmos Energy already discloses the payments it makes to foreign governments. (Dallas Morning News)

General Anti-Corruption:

How does Latin America stack up on the Transparency International index? (Christian Science Monitor)