Prosecutors in Germany have concluded their investigation into allegations that chemicals had been shipped to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.
Prosecutors in Duisburg have confirmed that they do not intend to prosecute Brenntag AG over the allegations.
The Dutch authorities have obtained a further conviction for transfers of small sums of money in breach of the EU’s ISIS sanctions.
The transfers in this instance were of €500 and €950.
The man was given a suspended 5 month sentence with a 2 year probation period.
The Luxembourg financial services regulator, the CSSF, has today fined Banque Puilaetco Dewaay Luxembourg SA €15,000 for AML and sanctions compliance failings.
The penalty notice noted that the failing was “a temporary deficiency of the ongoing screening system of the client database against sanction lists”, and noted that the deficiency had since been remediated.
After press reports alleging that German company Brenntag AG was involved in the indirect export of chemicals to Syria potentially in breach of the EU’s sanctions, prosecutors in Essen, where Brenntag AG is located, have confirmed that they have initiated legal proceedings and are probing whether to open a formal investigation.
Three NGOs have already filed criminal charges over the chemical exports, including the Berlin-based Syrian Archive, the Switzerland-based organization Trial International, and the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative.
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has today published details of a compound penalty of £10,234.26 imposed on a UK exporter/trader.
The penalty was in relation to unlicensed trading of body armour. The goods were not exported from the UK, but the transaction involved a UK national.
The Notice to Exporters noted that the Export Control Order 2008 requires a trade control licence when certain goods are exported from a country other than the UK, and that exporters should be aware that trafficking and brokering military goods outside the UK will need a trade control licence, even if the goods do not pass through the UK.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has issued a Decision Notice against Standard Chartered Bank including a fine of £102,163,200.
The fine related to KYC failings in general, with a focus on failure to conduct customer due diligence even in situations where sanctions red flags were evident. The FCA noted a lack of financial crime risk, and concerns as to the quality of the advice being given.
A particular focus were the UAE branches of the bank, and also export financing in relation to the export of military goods.
The Sanctions Commission of the French Banking Regulator (the ACPR) has published its decision from disciplinary proceedings against Raguram International.
Between 2015 and 2017, Raguram had failed to conduct KYC on its customers and failed to incorporate the lists of Eu sanctioned persons into its systems and controls framework.
At the time Raguram had not recognised that its controls environment was defective, but it had subsequently implemented stricter policies and procedures and purchased a compliance solution.
As a result of these steps no fine was imposed.
The UK’s HMRC has today announced that it has fined a UK exporter £82,152.33 for the unlicensed exports of military goods.
The identity of the exporter, and of the destination for the goods, were not published.
Three managers of Sig Sauer, the arms manufacturer have been convicted (after guilty pleas) of the unlicensed export of small arms to Colombia. See our earlier post.
One manager was fined €600,000 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. Another was fined given a 10-month suspended sentence and also fined €600,000. A third was fined €60,000 and given a 10-month suspended sentence.
The company itself was fined €11 million.
The Dutch authorities have obtained the conviction of an individual for making financial transfers to two family members in breach of the EU’s sanctions against ISIS.
Five transfers were made in total with the largest being €3,500.
The man was given a suspended 100 day prison sentence with a 2 year probation period and 240 hours of community service.
