The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today issued a circular setting out the expected controls for account opening and maintenance of client relationships. The circular follows the SFC’s review of the account opening practices of 12 securities brokers. The review identified significant deficiencies, including inadequate due diligence on account opening documentation, the acceptance of questionable or forged documents during the account opening process, and weaknesses i

The EU’s new anti-money laundering authority is facing pressure to settle a growing compliance question: can group companies share AML-relevant information without breaching GDPR? The short answer emerging from the debate is yes, because EU AML law is designed to require meaningful information exchange inside corporate groups, while privacy rules still apply through safeguards such as necessity, proportionality and purpose limitation. The issue matters for banks, payment firm

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened fewer enforcement cases in the first half of fiscal year 2026 than at any comparable point in at least 16 years, according to independent empirical analyses of the agency’s docket. The slowdown follows a broader retreat in SEC enforcement that began in late FY 2025 and reflects a self‑described “recentering” of the regulator’s priorities under new leadership. Scale of the decline A Brattle‑led analysis of SEC enforc

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a landmark settlement in a high‑profile civil securities fraud case involving Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his Adani Group, marking a critical juncture in a years‑long transnational bribery probe. The case, which centered on allegations of fraud, bribery, and misrepresentations tied to U.S. bond offerings and government‑related energy contracts in India, has now been resolved through a consent‑based agreemen

AUSTRAC has ordered Bankstown District Sports Club Ltd to appoint an external auditor amid concerns its anti-money‑laundering (AML) controls may not be strong enough to stop organised crime exploiting poker machines and gambling venues. AUSTRAC Acting CEO Katie Miller said clubs and pubs sit on the frontline of Australia’s fight against money laundering, particularly where large volumes of cash and poker machines are involved. “Poker machines can be exploited by criminals

UK financial firms can adopt tokenisation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) with greater confidence, as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England set out a shared vision and seek industry views on the future of UK wholesale markets. Tokenisation is the process of creating a digital representation of a real-world asset – such as a share, bond or unit of currency – on a digital ledger. It has the potential to streamline wholesale markets, making everyt

The Government published in the Gazette today (May 22) the following pieces of subsidiary legislation made by the Insurance Authority (IA) under the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41) to implement public disclosure requirements under Pillar 3 of the risk-based capital (RBC) regime and to introduce enhancements following the IA's review of the regime: (i) Insurance (Public Disclosure) Rules; (ii) Insurance (Valuation and Capital) (Amendment) Rules 2026; and (iii) Insurance (Mainte

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) urges the investing public to stay highly vigilant against sophisticated fraudulent schemes that exploit the name of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) to target investors who have already suffered losses, often defrauding them a second time (Note 1). In recent cases reported to the SFC, fraudsters targeted individuals who had previously suffered investment losses – often from schemes orchestrated by the same syndicates – and fals

A U.S. federal court has handed down a significant prison term to Charles Nnamdi Emesim, a 53-year-old Nigerian national residing in Newark, New Jersey, for his involvement in a prolonged money laundering operation tied to various scams. The sentencing occurred in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, highlighting ongoing U.S. efforts to combat transnational financial fraud. Judge Robert Wier imposed 115 months—nine years and seven months—in prison on