Month: March 2021

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Article: Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas

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Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas

Karly Williams,  28 March 2021

In a high-profile case that dragged on for years as he avoided arrest by both U.S. and Mexican authorities, the former governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas has pled guilty to one count of money laundering.
More of the unregistered stock offerings were said to be managed by Morgan Stanley, according to people familiar with the matter, on behalf of one or more undisclosed shareholders. Some of the trades exceeded $1 billion in individual companies, calculations based on Bloomberg data show.

Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba entered a guilty plea in court Thursday, eight years after he was hit with a 53-page indictment, as reported by Jason Buch of the San Antonio Express-News.

The U.S. government accused Yarrington of taking bribes from the Zetas drug cartel while he was in office, actively taking part in their drug trafficking operations and laundering bribe money in the United States. Continue reading “Article: Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas”

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Article: Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy”

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Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy”

TYLER DURDEN,  28 March 2021

“At some point on the current path, policy makers will attempt to normalize,” said the CIO. We were discussing sequencing, recognizing its centrality to macro trading, investing. “They will start by attempting to taper Fed purchases,” he said, the US central bank currently creating $120bln per month and using it to purchase debt. “Perhaps they signal that they intend to lower the deficit.” But of course, that would only be after they first lift the deficit to fund America’s coming $3trln Recovery Plan. “And at that point, the clock starts ticking,” he said.

“Even if one thinks the current policy path inevitably leads to a substantial inflation, there are enough orthodox policy makers that we can be confident they’ll try to avert that outcome,” continued the same CIO. “So what we need to figure out is how far they’ll let stocks and inflation run before they’re compelled to taper,” he said. “And then we’ll need to judge how long it will take for the economy and/or market to take a deep dive.” Not long. “When they then quickly pivot and aggressively ease, their predicament will be clear for all to see.” Continue reading “Article: Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy””

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Article: The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing

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The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing

Antoine Gara,  28 March 2021

Up until recently, the website of Archegos Capital Management, the firm behind a reported $30 billion financial firesale that is battering stocks worldwide, contained a giant image of Central Park. The vista displayed on Archegos’ webpage was a fitting homage to the views of its offices atop a Manhattan skyscraper on 57th street, until the site was taken down as the firm gets liquidated.

Archegos was a giant in U.S. financial markets, apparently holding tens of billions of dollars in securities, including massive exposures to companies like ViacomCBS, Discovery Communications and Baidu. It traded with Wall Street’s largest brokerages, and was headquartered at an expensive address housing many powerhouse investment firms. But when it came to routine financial disclosures, Archegos was virtually non-existent.

Forbes searched for a trace of Archegos on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s repository for securities filings, called EDGAR, short for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval. Amazingly, almost nothing came up. Continue reading “Article: The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing”

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Article: Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case

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Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case

Tucker Higgins, 28 March 2021

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments from Goldman Sachs in a long-running case that could have major implications for shareholders seeking to bring securities-fraud lawsuits.

Arguments are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET Monday and will be streamed live as the court continues to meet remotely as a precaution against Covid-19.

The case, which dates to the Great Recession, concerns statements that the investment bank made while it was marketing “Abacus,” an investment known as a synthetic collateralized debt obligation. Continue reading “Article: Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case”

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Article: AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets

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AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets

Gigie Arcilla,  28 March 2021

MANILA – The Anti-Money Laundering Council issued a freeze order on the bank deposits and assets of a religious group’s center allegedly used to finance or support terrorism.

In a Resolution No. TF-36 dated March 12, 2021, the AMLC order covers the three bank accounts of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines’ (UCCP) Haran Center with the Philippine National Bank amounting to more or less PHP600,000, and a real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc.

The freeze order stemmed from the AMLC’s investigation that the assets are used to finance terrorism in violation of Republic Act 10168 otherwise known as The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

The UCCP Haran Center located on Fr. Selga Street, Madapo Hills, Bankerohan, Davao City, Davao del Sur, has become a sanctuary for beleaguered indigenous peoples (IP) in Mindanao. Continue reading “Article: AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets”

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Article: Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client”

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Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client”

TYLER DURDEN,  28 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — Back in May 2016, Japanese mega-bank Nomura, announced that it had suffered its biggest-ever loss in history (of a rather tame by Western standards $40 million) from a single client, and which it then quickly blamed on an “incompetent” bond trader. Fast forward to today, when Nomura just suffered a far, far greater loss from a single client, this one is anything but boring.

Early on Monday local time, Nomura Holdings said it may have incurred a “significant loss” arising from transactions with a U.S. client.

The estimated amount of the claim against the client is about $2 billion based on market prices as of March 26, the Japanese brokerage said in a statement. The estimate is “subject to change depending on unwinding of the transactions and fluctuations in market prices.” Continue reading “Article: Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client””

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Article: Goldman Sold $10.5 Billion of Stocks in Block-Trade Spree

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Goldman Sold $10.5 Billion of Stocks in Block-Trade Spree

Bei Hu, Gillian Tan and Drew Singer,  27 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. liquidated $10.5 billion worth of stocks in block trades on Friday, part of an extraordinary spree of selling that erased $35 billion from the values of bellwether stocks ranging from Chinese technology giants to U.S. media conglomerates.

The Wall Street bank sold $6.6 billion worth of shares of Baidu Inc., Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Vipshop Holdings Ltd. before the market opened in the U.S, according to an email to clients seen by Bloomberg News.

That move was followed by the sale of $3.9 billion of shares in ViacomCBS Inc., Discovery Inc., Farfetch Ltd., iQiyi Inc. and GSX Techedu Inc., the email said.

More of the unregistered stock offerings were said to be managed by Morgan Stanley, according to people familiar with the matter, on behalf of one or more undisclosed shareholders. Some of the trades exceeded $1 billion in individual companies, calculations based on Bloomberg data show. Continue reading “Article: Goldman Sold $10.5 Billion of Stocks in Block-Trade Spree”

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Article: A Fidelity Bitcoin ETF Would Be Everyone’s Gain—But Grayscale’s Pain

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A Fidelity Bitcoin ETF Would Be Everyone’s Gain—But Grayscale’s Pain

Jeff John Roberts,  27 March 2021

This time it’s different.

For years, Bitcoin companies have been banging on the SEC’s door in hopes of launching a Bitcoin ETF—only to have the agency reply with a hard no. But now one of the companies at the door is the mighty Fidelity Investments, and that’s likely to be a game changer.

In case you missed it, the Boston-based financial giant dropped paperwork this week to create an ETF (exchange-traded fund) called the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust—a name some say is derived from the Japanese kanji for Satoshi Nakamoto. If approved, Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund would be traded as shares on public stock exchanges alongside the company’s other ETFs dedicated to bonds, blue-chip stocks and other assets.

If this comes to pass, it would be a huge win not just for Fidelity but for everyone who owns Bitcoin. The approval of a Bitcoin ETF would add another sheen of legitimacy to cryptocurrency and, more importantly, it would lead to a flood of new investment from both retail and institutional clients. All of this would likely cause the price of Bitcoin to moon, as they say. Continue reading “Article: A Fidelity Bitcoin ETF Would Be Everyone’s Gain—But Grayscale’s Pain”

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Article: Shengjin, Former Official Arrested for Alienation of Property

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Shengjin, Former Official Arrested for Alienation of Property

Eduart Halili,  27 March 2021

The head of security in Shengjin Harbor, Agostin Gjini was handcued this Saturday after almost 6 months of investigation, as he is accused of alienation of property. Agostin Gjini is suspected that during the exercise of his duty as head of the Archive and Protocol Sector in the former commune of Shengjin, he falsied documents, alienating a land area on the coast of Shengjin, from the type of sand land to field property.

“Specialists of the Economic and Financial Crime Section in Local Police Directorate of Lezha have executed the security measure ‘Prison arrest’ imposed by the Lezha Judicial District Court for the citizen A. Gj., 56 years old, resident of Lezha Island, for the criminal oense ‘Falsication’ of documents’.

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Article: New Zealand an ‘easy target’ for money launderers

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New Zealand an ‘easy target’ for money launderers

Jenine Colmore-Williams, 27 March 2021

Last week a series of arrests and property seizures across the Auckland region hit the headlines, the culmination of an extensive investigation by the New Zealand Police’s Financial Crime Group into money laundering and related crimes.

Jenine Colmore-Williams is executive director and founder of Dimension GRC, a New Zealand company at the front line of the battle against money laundering. She warns the issue runs far deeper in Aotearoa than many Kiwis realise, and that our celebrated ease of doing business makes us an easy target.

OPINION: Money laundering is the process of making money earned from criminal activities such as fraud, illegal drugs and tax evasion appear to have come from legitimate sources. Most criminal transactions are handled in cash due to its untraceable nature, but as the ill-gotten gains begin to pile up, it can become a liability to those who are accumulating it.

The process of transferring dodgy cash into legitimate finances can involve not just banks but lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, casinos, high-value goods dealers, financial advisers – in fact, every firm in the country through which lumps of money occasionally come and go in the normal course of business. Sounding a bit like an episode of Ozark not our beautiful “clean, green” New Zealand? Continue reading “Article: New Zealand an ‘easy target’ for money launderers”

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Article: Crypto Shadow Banking Explained and Why 12% Yields Are Common

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Crypto Shadow Banking Explained and Why 12% Yields Are Common

Matthew Leising,  27 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — A swathe of shadow banks in the $1.6 trillion cryptocurrency market have figured out how to generate returns of 12% with minimal risk: Lend U.S. dollars to hedge funds so they can buy Bitcoin.

Some of the largest non-bank firms in cryptocurrency including BitGo, BlockFi, Galaxy Digital and Genesis are stepping up to meet investor demand for dollars amid a long-standing weariness by banks to lend to individuals or companies associated with Bitcoin and other digital assets. In this case, they’re lending to hedge funds that need cash to buy Bitcoin for a trade that is almost guaranteed to pay out at annualized returns that have recently hit 20% to 40%.

“The people with all the money — the banks, the brokerages — they’re not in this space yet,” said Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer for Arca Capital Management, which specializes in digital assets. “Everyone wants to borrow dollars, but there’s not enough dollars in the space,” Dorman said. “There is a huge cash shortage.” Continue reading “Article: Crypto Shadow Banking Explained and Why 12% Yields Are Common”

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Article: Money Laundering Might Taint NFTs Too, Prepare For Tighter Controls

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Money Laundering Might Taint NFTs Too, Prepare For Tighter Controls

Simon Chandler,  27 March 2021

While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are certainly the big thing in crypto at the moment, they aren’t without their problems. Aside from accusations of hype and faddishness, NFTs also raise the familiar and thorny issue of money laundering.

Without much in the way of quantitative proof, detractors have linked the burgeoning NFT market with money laundering, with some people describing them as the “best money laundering method in the cryptocurrency world.”

However, industry players speaking with Cryptonews.com suggested that, while NFTs are open to money launderers, there’s currently nothing concrete to indicate that their use for laundering is significantly worse than it is in the traditional art world, or with other types of crypto. At the same time, they attest that the strict introduction of KYC/AML (know your customer / anti-money laundering) standards will help combat this emerging problem. Continue reading “Article: Money Laundering Might Taint NFTs Too, Prepare For Tighter Controls”

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Article: Renee Figueroa And His Wife Were Sent To Trial For Laundering Money And Assets

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Renee Figueroa And His Wife Were Sent To Trial For Laundering Money And Assets

Aygen Marsh,  27 March 2021

Figueroa is accused of laundering $ 3.7 million of public funds in the presidential administration of the convicted Elias Antonio Saca.

The Third Investigative Court in San Salvador referred former Public Security Minister René Figueroa and his wife, Cecilia Alvarenga de Figueroa, to trial on charges of laundering money and assets.

The judge accepted the opinion in its entirety and all civil and criminal evidence presented by the prosecution and approved the precautionary measures for the accused. The public prosecutor of the Anti-Impunity Group of the Office of the Prosecutor General on the decision said that Figueroa will continue with house arrest and alternative measures to the temporary detention of his wife.

The precautionary measures of a hereditary nature possessed by the defendants, such as freezing financial products and precautionary annotations for properties registered with the National Registry (CNR), have also been approved. Continue reading “Article: Renee Figueroa And His Wife Were Sent To Trial For Laundering Money And Assets”

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Article: California Department of Justice Secures $5.3 Million Settlement from Artichoke Joe’s Casino In the San Francisco Bay Area

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California Department of Justice Secures $5.3 Million Settlement from Artichoke Joe’s Casino In the San Francisco Bay Area

Sierra Sun Times,  27 March 2021

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thurday announced a settlement in which Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno agreed to pay a penalty of $5.3 million for misleading gambling regulators and violating the Bank Secrecy Act, a federal law intended to combat money laundering. The casino is a 51-table cardroom with the eighth largest gross gambling revenue in the state. After the cardroom failed to timely or accurately report an investigation by the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), DOJ’s Bureau of Gambling Control (Bureau) initiated a license disciplinary proceeding against the casino and its owners. Today’s settlement includes the largest agreed-upon penalty in the history of California gambling regulation.

Under California’s Gambling Control Act of 1998, casinos are required to make timely, full, and true disclosure to gambling regulators. The Bureau determined that Artichoke Joe’s Casino was in violation of the law when it failed to accurately report, reveal, or disclose in a timely manner that FinCEN or any other federal agency was examining the casino with respect to the Bank Secrecy Act and that the casino and FinCEN were in negotiations that could result in the casino’s admission of Bank Secrecy Act violations. Later, as part of the settlement reached with FinCEN, the casino admitted to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, and the Bureau amended its allegations to include the admission. Continue reading “Article: California Department of Justice Secures $5.3 Million Settlement from Artichoke Joe’s Casino In the San Francisco Bay Area”

THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?