Financial Crime Weekly Podcast

Welcome to episode 265 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, significant global developments in sanctions enforcement, regulatory assessments, and the evolving technological landscape of financial crime. In sanctions enforcement, both the European Union and the United Kingdom implemented restrictive measures targeting Russian military scientists and entities...

Welcome to episode 264 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, coordinated international enforcement actions, strategic regulatory frameworks, and high-level institutional transitions highlight this week's global efforts to combat illicit finance. The United States Department of the Treasury designated a Brazilian financial network for allegedly laundering...

Welcome to episode 263 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, International regulatory and enforcement bodies are intensifying their focus on illicit finance, marked this week by coordinated US sanctions targeting Sudanese procurement networks and cartel-linked fuel smuggling, alongside the UK's landmark public settlement with Petrofac Facilities Manageme...

Welcome to episode 262 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, global law enforcement and financial watchdogs are increasing pressure on illicit networks, led by "Operation Endgame," which is a coordinated international sweep which successfully disrupted critical infrastructure supporting major malware distribution networks. In the United States, feder...

Welcome to episode 261 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, there is the formalisation of joint operational priorities between Europol and INTERPOL, alongside concerted efforts by the US and UK to harmonise their respective sanctions regimes. The Financial Action Task Force has also revised global standards to protect humanitarian aid, and published the out...

Welcome to episode 260 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, a ship’s captain is charged for allegedly breaching Russian sanctions, and there are the US Treasury’s latest designations against Hizballah-linked officials. In the UK, Nigeria's former oil minister has been acquitted in a bribery case, while the High Court has imposed reporting restrictions i...

Welcome to episode 259 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the UK announces the conviction of an international arms-trafficking network, and the European Union announces its latest sanctions package targeting Russia’s "shadow fleet" and military-industrial capacity. UK Finance publishes a report designating the country’s £1.3 billion fraud losses a...

Welcome to episode 258 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, new US sanctions targeting Iranian military procurement networks and Cuba's state-owned oil company, alongside a High Court ruling clarifying the scope of UK sanctions and contractual obligations. Europol has dismantled a €336 million cryptocurrency laundering service and the sentencing of a ba...

Welcome to episode 257 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US designates a shadow fleet network moving Iranian petroleum through front companies, and the European Union announces its 21st sanctions package against Russia. There is a $21.3 million settlement for contract fraud, alongside a prison sentence for a $100 million international investment sche...

Welcome to this special edition of the financial crime weekly podcast. If you’ve been paying attention to the news this week, or at any time in the last two years, you can’t have failed to notice the cybersecurity landscape has officially crossed a terrifying new threshold. Google’s Threat Intelligence Group released a report confirming that generative AI has moved from a shiny new toy to a routin...

Welcome to episode 256 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, an Iran-based tech executive is arrested for alleged procurement of U.S. equipment for military sectors, and the results of "Disruption Week" have been published. In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service has published its 2030 strategy, while in Sri Lanka there is a nationwide campaign to b...

Welcome to episode 255 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the U.S. Treasury has modernised its sanctions lists, and settled with FTI Consulting for dealings in prohibited Russian debt. In the UK, the Public Accounts Committee reports on the Ministry of Defence fraud risk, and the government warns offshore financial hubs about transparency. We also look at...

Welcome to episode 254 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the expansion of US sanctions against Iran, and a FCA report flagging systemic weaknesses in the management of £37 billion in frozen assets. There is a new international framework between major economies and tech firms to address online fraud, as well as OECD data showing that coordinated settlemen...

Welcome to episode 253 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the UK imposes sanctions targeting Russian evasion networks, and the US designates Lebanese officials linked to Hizballah. From the UK, a report is published highlighting the estimated £325 billion in illicit funds which move through the UK annually, and the dismissal of a "circular" fraud...

Welcome to episode 252 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US Treasury lifts sanctions on a UN expert following a free-speech ruling, and there is a designation of Sinaloa Cartel networks. A former investment company CEO has been sentenced for breaching an SFO restraint order, alongside multiple enforcement actions related to COVID-19 relief fraud in t...

Welcome to episode 251 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, OFSI fines Deutsche Bank for Russia sanctions breaches, and the US reaches a settlement with Adani Enterprises over prohibited transactions involving Iranian cargo. There is a $1 billion US federal crackdown on nationwide fraud schemes, alongside the arrest of a former Venezuelan minister for large...

Welcome to episode 250 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the European Union has extended its cyber-attack sanctions, and the UK has made administrative updates to its Iran, Russia, and Afghanistan regimes. In the US, a $1 billion Medicare fraud leads to a conviction, and a sentence has been handed down in a decade-long money laundering conspiracy. Furthe...

Welcome to episode 249 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US and UK have expanded various of their sanctions regimes, while on fraud, the US has had heightened activity including the conviction of Bradley Heppner in a $150 million securities fraud scheme and the sentencing of a ringleader whose multinational network defrauded the elderly and vulnerabl...

Welcome to episode 248 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US expands sanctions targeting officials in Iraq and military-controlled conglomerates in Cuba. We look at a report on the rise in insider fraud threats and, on market abuse, the SEC prosecutes a global insider-trading ring. Additionally, the IMF has assessed governance vulnerabilities in Nepal...

Welcome to episode 247 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, new UK sanctions target Russian drone manufacturing supply chains and migrant exploitation, and the FATF has published its mutual evaluation of Singapore. In the US, two individuals are sentenced for a genetic testing fraud, and in the UK Ultra Electronics has agreed a Deferred Prosecution Agreemen...

Welcome to episode 246 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US sanctions a former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On fraud, a €50 million pan-European fraud network has been dismantled, and a range of counter-fraud operations in the US including one targeting cryptocurrency "pig-butchering" scam centres, and the successful pro...

Welcome to episode 245 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the US Treasury’s extensive sanctions targeting Iran’s "shadow banking" network and its global oil revenue streams, alongside the UK’s announcement of upcoming sanctions updates and revised trade licensing procedures. A French national has been sentenced for laundering nearly half a billion...

Welcome to episode 244 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, the EU has adopted its 20th sanctions package against Russia, and US Treasury designations have targeted a Cambodian network linked to scam operations and human trafficking. In the UK, Serious Fraud Office is investigating an energy efficiency scheme fraud, and a former RBS manager has been sentenc...

Welcome to episode 243 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, new US sanctions targeting Iraqi militia commanders, procurement networks for Iranian missile technology, and facilitators of the conflict in Sudan. Deutsche Bank has self-disclosed potential breaches of Russian sanctions, and the EU has adopted a new directive aimed at standardising corruption off...

Welcome to episode 242 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast. I am Chris Kirkbride. In this episode, an Iranian oil-smuggling network linked to Hizballah is addressed, alongside the UK National Crime Agency charging a shipping financier for Russia-related sanctions breaches and money laundering. There is the sentencing of two US nationals for facilitating a multi-million dollar fraud, and the FCA’...