On November 29, 2023, U.S. law enforcement officials announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment of murder-for-hire charges against Indian national Nikhil Gupta in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  On June 30, 2023, Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta pursuant to the U.S.-Czech extradition treaty.

On November 20, 2023, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides announced he asked an unnamed “third country” to dispatch an experienced group of financial crime experts to help with investigations into old and new allegations that Cypriot financial service providers helped Russian oligarchs evade international sanctions.[1]

 On November 21, 2023, Binance Holdings Limited (Binance), which operates the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.com, pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $4 billion in penalties to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), failure to register as a money transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

  On October 31, 2023, the French Financial Prosecutors’ (PNF) office announced it detained for questioning Russian oligarch and billionaire Alexey Kuzimichev in connection with alleged tax evasion, money laundering and violating international sanctions. 

 On November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court) delivered its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by Armenia in the case concerning the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan).

On November 16, 2023. The International Court of Justice delivered its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the case concerning Application of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Canada and the Netherlands v. Syrian Arab Republic).

 On November 15, 2023, French judicial authorities granted international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother, and two army generals for alleged conspiracy in war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Besides President Assad, the court issued arrest warrants against his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4^th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam a-Hassan.

On October 31, 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released a draft Risk-Based Guidance on Beneficial Ownership and Transparency of Legal Arrangements with respect to FATF Recommendation 25.  FATF explains that countries should assess the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks of misuse of legal arrangements and take preventive measures. 

Recent reports indicate that wildlife smugglers are taking advantage of ineffective enforcement of wildlife protection treaties to smuggle protected species through South and Southeast Asian airports. Research by TRAFFIC found that wildlife traffickers often use Indian airports to smuggle protected species internationally. 

On October 11, 2023, the OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann welcomed the announcement that 48 countries and jurisdictions have agreed to implement the OECD’s global tax transparency framework for the reporting and exchanging of information with respect to crypto assets by 2027.