Article: Groundbreaking research provides insight into operations of Italian mafias across Europe

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Groundbreaking research provides insight into operations of Italian mafias across Europe

Michael Steward, 24 May 2021

A groundbreaking new report by researchers in Essex has provided the first analysis into the expansion of Italian mafias across Europe. The report, published by the University of Essex, highlights how criminal groups embed themselves in countries and operate across borders, and the challenges of policing mafia-type crime.

Using Italy as a starting point, the research focused on seven countries – the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Romania, and Switzerland. For mafia groups, territories outside Italy are places where they can consolidate certain business or venture into new ones. The report revealed how mafia groups operate very differently in each country. Continue reading “Article: Groundbreaking research provides insight into operations of Italian mafias across Europe”

Article: Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK

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Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK

Hannah Brockhaus, 12 May 2021

Gianluigi Torzi, the Italian businessman who brokered the final part of the Secretariat of State’s purchase of a London investment property, has been arrested in the United Kingdom.

The arrest, which took place May 11 in London, was requested by an Italian judge in Rome in April. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Service said: “Officers from the National Extradition Unit attended an address on Campden Hill Road, W8, on Tuesday, May 11.”

“Gianluigi Torzi, 42 (16.01.79), was identified and arrested on a Trade and Cooperation Act (TACA) warrant issued in Italy on Wednesday, May 5 and certified by the National Crime Agency on Thursday, May 6.” Continue reading “Article: Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK”

Article: UK to come under scrutiny in Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades

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UK to come under scrutiny in Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades

Lorenzo Tondo, 27 April 2021

In a high-security, 1,000-capacity courtroom converted from a call centre, Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades is under way in Lamezia Terme, Calabria. About 900 witnesses are set to testify against more than 350 defendants, including politicians and officials charged with being members of the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful criminal group.

Several of the defendants will be asked to respond to charges of money laundering over establishing companies in the UK with the alleged purpose of simulating legitimate economic activity. Continue reading “Article: UK to come under scrutiny in Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades”

Article: Swiss court convicts German financier Homm in long-running fraud case

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Swiss court convicts German financier Homm in long-running fraud case

Michael Shields, 23 April 2021

German financier Florian Homm was convicted by a Swiss court on Friday of breach of trust and multiple forgery of documents in a fraud case that had led to millions of dollars in losses for investors. The 61-year-old former hedge fund manager was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 36 months in jail, of which half was suspended, the court said.

Authorities had accused Homm of orchestrating a market manipulation scheme to artificially improve the performance of his funds, a fraud that led to at least $170 million in losses for investors. Continue reading “Article: Swiss court convicts German financier Homm in long-running fraud case”

Article: UPDATE 1-Italian court sentences Popolare Vicenza managers to jail over bank’s collapse

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UPDATE 1-Italian court sentences Popolare Vicenza managers to jail over bank’s collapse

Reuters Staff, 19 March 2021

VICENZA, Italy, March 19 (Reuters) – An Italian judge on Friday sentenced four executives of former cooperative bank Popolare di Vicenza to jail for market manipulation and obstruction of regulators following the 2017 collapse of the Veneto-based lender.

Reading out the sentences at the end of a trial lasting some two years, judge Debora De Stefani said the court had sentenced former President Gianni Zonin to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Former executive Emanuele Giustini was given a jail term of six years and three months, while former managers Paolo Marin and Andrea Piazzetta were both given six-year prison terms.

Lawyers of the four convicted managers could not be reached for comment.

Italy liquidated Popolare di Vicenza and regional peer Veneto Bank in June 2017, selling their good assets for 1 euro to Intesa Sanpaolo, while state-owned loan manager AMCO took on 18 billion euros ($21.42 billion) in troubled debts from the two regional banks.

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Article: Deutsche Bank Strikes a Deal on Bribery

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Deutsche Bank Strikes a Deal on Bribery

finews.asia, 11 January 2021

Deutsche Bank will look to avoid U.S. charges of bribery and manipulation of precious metals markets by making a payment totaling nearly $125 million.

Almost the entire payout relates to charges against the German lender over its dealings in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, China and Italy, according to court papers, with a criminal fine making up two-thirds of the total sum, according to a court hearing in New York.

Prosecutors claim that Deutsche Bank violated the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) which prohibits firms with U.S. operations from paying bribes elsewhere. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank Strikes a Deal on Bribery”

Article: Deutsche Bank to pay nearly $125 million to resolve U.S. bribery, metals charges

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Deutsche Bank to pay nearly $125 million to resolve U.S. bribery, metals charges

Jonathan Stempel, Noor Zainab Hussain, 08 January 2021

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank AG will pay nearly $125 million to avoid U.S. prosecution on charges it engaged in foreign bribery schemes and manipulated precious metals markets, the latest blow for the bank as it tries to rebound from a series of scandals.

Germany’s largest lender agreed to the payout as it entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, and a related civil settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Almost all of the payout relates to charges Deutsche Bank violated the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over its dealings in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, China and Italy, court papers show. Nearly two-thirds of the payout is a criminal fine. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank to pay nearly $125 million to resolve U.S. bribery, metals charges”

Article: U.S. Treasury labels Switzerland, Vietnam as currency manipulators

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U.S. Treasury labels Switzerland, Vietnam as currency manipulators

Reuters Staff, 16 December 2020

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury labeled Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators on Wednesday and added three new names to a watch list of countries it suspects of taking measures to devalue their currencies against the dollar.

In what may be one of the final broadsides to international trading partners delivered by the departing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Treasury said that through June 2020 both Switzerland and Vietnam had intervened in currency markets to prevent effective balance of payments adjustments.

Furthermore, in its semi-annual currency manipulation report, the Treasury said Vietnam had acted to gain “unfair competitive advantage in international trade as well.” Continue reading “Article: U.S. Treasury labels Switzerland, Vietnam as currency manipulators”

Article: Swiss franc climbs after US adds it to ‘manipulation’ watchlist

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Swiss franc climbs after US adds it to ‘manipulation’ watchlist

Sam Jones in Zurich and Eva Szalay in London , 15 January 2020

The Swiss franc nudged up to a near three-year high against the euro on Tuesday as markets anticipated the move would limit the Swiss National Bank’s appetite for aggressive action to try to hold down its currency in future.

“The report is a warning shot to the SNB,” said George Saravelos, global co-head of currency research at Deutsche Bank, adding that the franc is likely to push higher from here. It now trades around CHF1.08 against the euro.

The US called on Bern on Monday to “more forcefully support domestic economic activity” by spending money and reducing the country’s already low tax burden, in what was an unusual swipe at a sovereign nation’s financial affairs. “Despite borrowing costs for the Swiss government being among the lowest in the world, fiscal policy remains underutilised, even within the constraints of Switzerland’s existing fiscal rules,” the US Treasury said in its assessment.

The SNB said on Tuesday that its interventions were transparent, and “motivated purely by monetary policy . . . aimed at addressing the negative consequence for inflation and the economy through a highly valued franc.”

“They are not aimed at giving Switzerland advantages by undervaluing the Swiss franc,” it added.

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Article: A big short growing in Italian debt

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A big short growing in Italian debt

Abhinav Ramnarayan, Saikat Chatterjee, 09 November 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – A surge of interest in Italian bond futures may be a sign of a substantial short position building up in the derivatives market as tensions rise over budget negotiations between Rome and Brussels.

The big short in the futures market reflects a buildup in speculative and hedging activity after a tumultuous summer in the Italian markets and also indicates rising concerns of capital outflows. Continue reading “Article: A big short growing in Italian debt”

Article: Deutsche Bank Charged By Italy For Market Manipulation, Creating False Accounts | Zero Hedge

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Deutsche Bank Charged By Italy For Market Manipulation, Creating False Accounts | Zero Hedge

Tyler Durden, 01 October 2016

For Deutsche Bank, when it rains, it pours, even when everyone tries to come to its rescue.

One day after its stock soared from all time lows, following what so far appears to have been a fabricated report sourced by AFP which relied on Twitter as a source that the DOJ would reduce its RMBS settlement amount with Deutsche Bank from $14 billion to below $6 billion (and which neither the DOJ nor Deutsche Bank have confirmed for obvious reasons), moments ago Bloomberg reported that six current and former managers of Deutsche Bank, including Michele Faissola, Michele Foresti and Ivor Dunbar, were charged in Milan for colluding to falsify the accounts of Italy’s third-biggest bank, Monte Paschi (which itself is so insolvent it is currently scrambling to finalize a private sector bailout) and manipulate the market. Two former executives at Nomura Holdings Inc. and five at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena were also charged. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank Charged By Italy For Market Manipulation, Creating False Accounts | Zero Hedge”

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