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12/08/2025

Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit has imposed a total of LKR 6.5 million in penalties on Bally’s and Bellagio casinos and the state-owned National Savings Bank, citing serious lapses in anti-money laundering controls. Regulators said the cases highlight fundamental weaknesses in threshold reporting, sanctions screening, enforcement of account suspension orders, and recordkeeping, particularly in cash-intensive gaming operations and major financial institutions. Authorities stressed that “robust compliance is mandatory not optional in sectors vulnerable to rapid flows of funds.”

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) this week called on businesses in Cyprus to take part in the European Commission’s ongoing public consultation on the review of EU merger rules, underlining the importance of ensuring that future regulations reflect the realities faced by smaller ...

12/08/2025

Cyprus is facing mounting cybersecurity concerns amid a sharp global rise in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, with national infrastructure under renewed pressure and fresh investment being directed toward digital defences. A new report from Qrator Labs has revealed that application-layer DDoS attacks surged by 74 per cent worldwide in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. These attacks specifically target web applications, flooding them with malicious traffic that imitates legitimate user requests, making them especially challenging to detect and mitigate.

Cyprus is facing mounting cybersecurity concerns amid a sharp global rise in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, with national infrastructure under renewed pressure and fresh investment being directed toward digital defences. A new report from Qrator Labs has revealed that application-laye...

11/08/2025

Crypto firms are facing a fast-changing anti-money-laundering (AML) environment shaped by traditional regulatory expectations, and the latest action by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) underscores just how far those expectations now extend. In a landmark enforcement case, the NYDFS targeted Paxos Trust Company over what it described as significant failures in AML and due diligence controls. The case not only intensifies the regulatory spotlight on stablecoin issuers but also demonstrates the stringent standards state regulators are now imposing on crypto service providers, offering pointed lessons for risk professionals, compliance officers, and regulators worldwide.

Crypto firms are facing a fast-changing anti-money-laundering (AML) environment shaped by traditional regulatory expectations, and the latest action by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) underscores just how far those expectations now extend. In a landmark enforcement case, the NY...

08/08/2025

JP Morgan has firmly placed Greece in the spotlight, identifying the country as one of the top choices for investors seeking to reposition themselves in emerging markets. In its most recent earnings review, the American investment banking giant described Greece as a standout performer, noting that while the broader emerging markets landscape remained muted in the second quarter of 2025, Greece defied the trend with strong and consistent results.

JP Morgan has firmly placed Greece in the spotlight, identifying the country as one of the top choices for investors seeking to reposition themselves in emerging markets. In its most recent earnings review, the American investment banking giant described Greece as a standout performer, noting that w...

07/08/2025

Money laundering and fraud are increasingly creeping into everyday life through Bitcoin ATMs and other digital currency kiosks, and it’s all happening right in plain sight. These machines—once considered fringe tech curiosities—are now common fixtures in gas stations, convenience stores, and shopping centers. But as they’ve become more mainstream, they’ve also become ideal tools for scam payments and illicit financial activity. With criminals exploiting glaring weaknesses in oversight, banks and regulators are struggling to contain the collateral damage. The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an urgent warning: convertible virtual currency (CVC) kiosks are at the heart of a dangerous surge in money laundering, placing both financial institutions and ordinary people at escalating risk.

Money laundering and fraud are increasingly creeping into everyday life through Bitcoin ATMs and other digital currency kiosks, and it’s all happening right in plain sight. These machines—once considered fringe tech curiosities—are now common fixtures in gas stations, convenience stores, and s...

07/08/2025

The industrial turnover index in Cyprus posted an annual increase both for the month of May and across the first five months of 2025, according to the latest figures released by the Statistical Service.

The industrial turnover index in Cyprus posted an annual increase both for the month of May and across the first five months of 2025, according to the latest figures released by the Statistical Service.In May 2025, the index rose to 140.1 units, using 2021 as the base year set at 100 units. This rep...

06/08/2025

Brazilian banks are moving quickly to determine the domestic implications of sweeping U.S. sanctions imposed on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing a criminal trial against a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Legal departments across Brazil’s financial sector are urgently analyzing how Washington’s move to financially isolate the judge could reverberate through the country’s financial system.

Brazilian banks are moving quickly to determine the domestic implications of sweeping U.S. sanctions imposed on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing a criminal trial against a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Legal departments across Brazil’s financial sect...

06/08/2025

The cryptocurrency market kicked off the week on a cautiously optimistic note, with XRP leading the gains and bitcoin hovering just below $115,000, despite broader macroeconomic pressures.

The cryptocurrency market kicked off the week on a cautiously optimistic note, with XRP leading the gains and bitcoin hovering just below $115,000, despite broader macroeconomic pressures. The weekend was marked by heightened volatility stemming from massive spot ETF outflows, compounded by fresh ta...

05/08/2025

The €4.96 million administrative fine imposed by Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) against Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État (Spuerkeess) has sent ripples through the local financial sector and the wider European compliance community. Far from being a mere regulatory reprimand, the enforcement action is directly linked to AML shortcomings that allowed the large-scale Caritas Luxembourg embezzlement to take place. For financial crime professionals, this case lays bare how blind spots in charity and non-profit financial flows can create serious vulnerabilities, and why standard AML controls are no longer sufficient in a changing threat landscape.

The €4.96 million administrative fine imposed by Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) against Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État (Spuerkeess) has sent ripples through the local financial sector and the wider European compliance community. Far from being a m...

05/08/2025

The global PC market saw a notable upswing in the second quarter of 2025, with shipments of desktops, notebooks, and workstations climbing 7.4% year-over-year to reach 67.6 million units, according to new data released by Canalys, now part of Omdia.

The global PC market saw a notable upswing in the second quarter of 2025, with shipments of desktops, notebooks, and workstations climbing 7.4% year-over-year to reach 67.6 million units, according to new data released by Canalys, now part of Omdia.Driving this growth was a surge in commercial deman...

05/08/2025

Slovenia is positioning itself as the latest European destination for remote professionals with the official launch of a Digital Nomad Visa set for November 21, 2025, as part of a wider strategy to attract international talent and stimulate long-term tourism.

Slovenia is positioning itself as the latest European destination for remote professionals with the official launch of a Digital Nomad Visa set for November 21, 2025, as part of a wider strategy to attract international talent and stimulate long-term tourism.According to Travel Tomorrow, the new vis...

04/08/2025

The guilty plea in a massive $2 billion crypto mixing case could see Samourai Wallet’s co-founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, sentenced to as many as 25 years behind bars—signaling one of the most consequential legal reckonings for privacy-centric cryptocurrency tools to date. As prosecutors accuse the two developers of enabling illicit financial flows on a global scale, their prosecution has become a focal point in the intensifying crackdown on crypto mixing platforms, highlighting the rapidly shifting compliance landscape in the digital asset sector.

The guilty plea in a massive $2 billion crypto mixing case could see Samourai Wallet’s co-founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, sentenced to as many as 25 years behind bars—signaling one of the most consequential legal reckonings for privacy-centric cryptocurrency tools to date. ...