The  reported killing of 157 opposition demonstrators by the Guinean army, in the capital, Conakry, together with other alleged atrocities, has led the African Union to express grave concern, and to threaten sanctions. Reputedly, businesses are closed in the capital. The EU has also condemned the violence,

The damages and loss of life that occurred this week in Southeast Asia will certainly result in attention from the world's charitable organisations. Remember well, terrorist financiers will seek to divert some of the donations to designated terrorist groups operating in the region. They may also form charities with names deceptively similar to recognised entities. Do  not let your good intentions in sending funds to the afflicted area result in a terrorist financing charge against your bank. Watch for the red flags. Have you vetted the charity? Where are the funds going, and for what purpose? Who are the principal officers?

I am at the Bermuda annual compliance conference sponsored by ABCO. More articles to follow on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

The leaders of the G20, at this week's Pittsburgh Summit, reportedly will be taking action against the worlds's tax havens in the near future. In their Leaders' Statement, they have  called upon the Financial Action Task Force [FATF] to "issue a public list of high risk jurisdictions by February 2010," and they want their Financial Stability Board to initiate a peer review process by that date. What effect this statement will have upon the actions of global money launderers who are hiding criminal wealth in the tax havens is unknown, but we had best begun preparations early on, in order to ensure that movement of exiting illicit capital does not transit US and EU financial institutions.

The Government of Slovenia, which had blocked Croatia's European Union discussions regarding membership,due to a border dispute pending since 1991, has lifted it opposition to EU Accession talks.  Though there are issues regarding alleged discrimination against foreign investors in Croatia, and involving reforms in public administration, this act allows Croatia to move forward with its efforts to join the European Union.

A prominent Florida banker has charged, in a civil suit* in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, that the US Department of Justice and American Express Bank International [AEBI], where he was chairman, entered into a "secret" termination agreement, during an BSA/AML Deferred Prosecution**, which not only resulted in his firing, but implied wrongdoing on his part. He is seeking to clear his good name through a Declaratory Judgment action, which seeks injunctive relief against the DOJ, and $7.5m from American Express for ruining his career. Sergio Masvidal, who is from well-known Cuban exile family, claims that the "secret" letter, which was not disclosed to him during a Deferred Prosecution Agreement* that resulted in a $65m fine assessed upon the bank,  prevented him from remaining with the bank when it was sold. Another senior bank officer was also named in the letter, which was reportedly not disclosed to the District Judge in the Deferred Prosecution case.

The detention of two Swiss businessmen in Libya, alegedly in retaliation for the arrest, in Switzerland, of the son* of the Libyan President, Hannibal Gaddafi, for allegedly beating their servants, is disturbing. Unfortunately, it appears to be only one of series of reportedly retailiatory measures undertaken by the Libyan Government, including a freeze on Swiss flights to Tripoli, the suspension of maritime commerce, the alleged withdrawal of $5bn Libyan funds from banks in Switzerland, and a disruption of petroleum deliveries to a Swiss refinery. The two Swiss detainees are reportedly being held on what are said to be bogus immigration charges, in an undisclosed location. Swiss media further claim that they are simply hostages, illegally detained in a diplomatic ploy, intended to force an apology by Switzerland, for Hannibal's arrest.

The American Secretary of the Treasury and Switzerland's Ambassador to the United States have executed the new Protocol on information exchange. Readers who wish to review the entire text may find it here:

We read about it all the time: a large donation to a candidate for elected office was accepted, notwithstanding the fact that the donor is later discovered  to have a number of criminal convictions and/or is presently under indictment. Then, grudgingly, the candidate's money managers announce that they have "unaccepted" the donation, and it is now going back to the donor. Or consider this scenario; a major charitable organisation takes money from a well-known narcotics trafficker. When he is arrested, the receipt is found during a search of his residence. What's wrong with this picture?

The United States District Court in Houston, Texas has sentenced a businessman who specialised in remittances to Vietnam to 22 years in Federal Prison, plus a forfeiture of $24m, on several money laundering counts. The defendant, Dong Dang Huynh*, used his money remitting business to move drug profits overseas. His sentence should be noted, as it is much more severe than those generally handed down in Federal Court to defendants convicted of money laundering. Are the courts moving in the direction of long sentences for those who are instrumental in laundering the proceeds of drug crime?