On March 17, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force announced the start of a new project “to study and mitigate the unintended consequences resulting from the incorrect implementation of the FATF Standards.”[1]

On March 12, 2021, Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, 34, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, residing in Guadalajara, Mexico, pleaded guilty to willfully engaging in financial transactions with Mexican companies designated as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).[1]

When traveling abroad, either as a foreign national or a dual citizen, the last thing anyone expects is to be wrongfully detained on arbitrary charges and then used as a political bargaining chip. However, this is an ongoing problem. In response to the increased incidence of allegedly arbitrary detentions of foreign nationals, on February 15, 2021, Canada launched the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. [1]

On March 11, 2021, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the settlement of criminal charges with Rahn+Bodmer Co. (R+B), the oldest private bank in Zurich (founded in 1870). R+B agreed to the filing of a criminal information against them with one count of conspiring to assist U.S. account holders evade their U.S. tax obligations, file false federal tax returns, and otherwise defraud the IRS by concealing millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts at R+B.[1]

 On March 9, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or FinCEN issued a notice to financial institutions informing them of (i) the new measures to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the AMLA) regarding the antiquities and art trade, (ii) potential criminal activity associated with art and antiquities trade (iii) and updates to the SAR filing.[1]

On March 5, 2021, the Czech Republic extradited two members of an international organized network that furnish cash-out and money laundering services to persons committing cybercrimes.[1]

In early March 2021, the findings of Suriname’s National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and corruption, as recommended by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), were released. While money laundering is illegal per a 2002 law that was amended in 2016, the NRA indicates that Suriname has some major challenges ahead and has an insufficient awareness of money laundering. Completing the NRA is a significant step in Suriname’s interaction with the global financial system and in controlling transnational crime: the country needs a cleaner slate in recovering from a profound economic downturn, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rescheduling of close to $4 billion debt. Adding to the sense of urgency Suriname sits on the edge of becoming a major oil producer.

On February 16, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court or ECHR), Grand Chamber, delivered its judgment in the case Hanan v. Germany. The ruling concerns the procedural aspects of the responsibility of the government of Germany under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) deriving from the activities of its armed forces in Afghanistan in 2009.

On March 1, 2021, the United States Government extradited Michael Taylor and his son Peter to Japan to answer charges for helping former Nissan head Carlos Ghosn flee Japan for Lebanon.[1]

On March 3, 2021, Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court) Prosecutor announced that her Office (OTP) will open an investigation respecting the Situation in Palestine. The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed in the Situation since June 13, 2014 the date to which reference is made in the Referral of the Situation to the OTP.