Hello, and welcome to episode 103 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast, I’m Chris Kirkbride. The busy weeks for financial crime continue this week. Some good news on sanctions from the EU for two designated oligarchs, as well as research on the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy. There is a little money laundering news from the FATF and comments from Janet Yellen following a bilateral meeting between the US and China. From the US, there is interesting Covid-19 news with updates on fraud enforcement, together with a staggering story from Vietnam. However, the week’s big news comes from cyber with major reports from the IMF and the UK government on the threat posed by cyber to the global economy, and the results of a cyber survey, respectively. Let’s crack on.

As usual, I have linked the main stories flagged in the podcast in the description. These are:

Adyen, Adyen finds the global retail sector lost $429 billion to payments fraud last year.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Western Sanctions on Russia Should Be More Pragmatic and Less Punitive.

Carnegie Mellon University, Leveraging Human Psychology to Thwart Cyber Attacks.

Center for European Policy Analysis, Russia Squeezed as Sanctions Bite.

Court of Justice of the European Union, War in Ukraine: the General Court annuls the inclusion of Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman on the lists of persons subject to restrictive measures between February 2022 and March 2023 (press release).

Court of Justice of the European Union, Fridman v Council (application and judgment).

Court of Justice of the European Union, Aven v Council (application and judgment).

Department of Justice, COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force Releases 2024 Report.

Department of Justice, Plymouth Man Arrested for Paycheck Protection Program Fraud.

Department of Justice, Cincinnati woman sentenced to 7 years in prison for crimes related to COVID-19 relief fraud.

Financial Action Task Force, Private Sector Consultative Forum, April 2024.

International Monetary Fund, Global Financial Stability Report, April 2024.

International Monetary Fund, Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, General Licence – Active Denizcilik and Beks Ships Transit to Port and Wind Down INT/2024/4576632.

The White House, FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Sweeping Proposals to Crack Down on Pandemic Fraud and Help Victims Recover Introduced in Congress.

UK Government, Cyber security breaches survey 2024.

US Department of the Treasury, READOUT: Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen’s Bilateral Meetings with Vice Premier He Lifeng of the People’s Republic of China in Guangzhou, China.

US Department of the Treasury, Statement from Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on Announcement of New U.S.-China Initiatives Following Meeting with Vice Premier He Lifeng of the People’s Republic of China.