Due Diligence

BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security), Department of Commerce of the U.S. removed 33 companies, including 27 Chinese companies from Unverified List with effect from 22 August 2023. The Unverified List is part of the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR). BIS may place a company on the Unverified List when it is unable to complete an “end-use check” to verify certain information. Unlike BIS’s Entity List, the Unverified List does not prohibit exporting US-origin goods to a listed company. Instead, exporters must obtain a certification called a “UVL statement” from the company before providing them items that are subject to the EAR. The...

The UK is planning to launch 2 pilot projects by October 2023 that will involve sharing of data and intelligence among banks on major financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorism financing. The first pilot will involve around 6 banks and Britian’s NCA (National Crime Agency). It allows banks to share data if they identify multiple flags about potential serious financial crime. The second pilot will involve 8 banks, UK Home Office, UK Finance, the Information Commissioner’s Office, and technology firm Cifas. It will inovle the launch of a database for suspected economic crime, similar to the UK’s national fraud database. Lloyds and NatWest are...

The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”), published the following documents on 23 June 2023:(1) FATF Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action (a) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) and Iran Since February 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF has paused the review process for DPRK and Iran given that they are already subject to the FATF's call for countermeasures. The FATF therefore asks member jurisdictions to refer to the Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions adopted in...

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) launches the Financial Intelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST), a bank-to-bank information sharing platform. This initiative helps increase banks’ability to share information for detecting and disrupting fraud and mule account networks more effectively, thereby giving the public greater protection from fraud and financial crimes and enhancing the integrity of the banking system. FINEST also enables banks to look up entities with previous reports of suspicious activity and have alerting features. FINEST will be rolled out in phases. The pilot phase...

When the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring. This list is often externally referred to as the “grey list". As of 23 June 2023, the countries under grey list are as follows: Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gibraltar Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Arica, South Sudan, Tanzania, Turkiye, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen You are suggested to...

The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”), published the following documents on 24 February 2022: (1) FATF Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action : (a) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) and Iran Since February 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF has paused the review process for DPRK and Iran given that they are already subject to the FATF’s call for countermeasures. The FATF therefore asks member jurisdictions to refer to the Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions...

The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”), published the following documents on 21 October 2022: (1) FATF Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action : (a) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) and Iran Since February 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF has paused the review process for DPRK and Iran given that they are already subject to the FATF’s call for countermeasures. The FATF therefore asks member jurisdictions to refer to the Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions...

Intershores provides the following due diligence services, namely: 1. Business Credit (standard and premium) 2. Business Verification (business verification, certificate verification, qualification verification, bank account verification, business partner verification 3. Enhanced Due Diligence (M&A DD, Director DD, UBO DD and Supplier/Customer DD) 4. Asset Search/Ownership Verification 1. BUSINESS CREDIT – the service integrates the most updated and precise information from different aspects. The standard scope includes standard scope and premium: Standard scope: - Credit Report - Company Search - Registration Report - Business Financial Report - Site...