Banks did not do enough to police FIFA transactions, says global agency

From Business Insider –

“A global group of government anti-money-laundering agencies said that financial institutions have not done enough to police suspicious financial activity by officials at soccer’s global governing body FIFA, and cautioned banks to step up scrutiny.

The warning from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force came in the wake of last month’s indictment by the U.S. of nine current and former FIFA officials and five business executives on a series of corruption charges, including bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.

With the U.S. investigation continuing to widen, and a separate Swiss probe gearing up into whether there was corruption involved in FIFA’s awarding of the hosting rights to Russia and Qatar for the next soccer World Cups in 2018 and 2022, the warning will add to banks’ concern about handling certain soccer accounts for organizations and individuals.”

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Bank calls in auditors over FIFA scandal

From Cayman News Service –

“Fidelity Bank has called in auditors in the wake of allegations made by the US authorities that it may have played a part in the possible laundering of the alleged bribes and kickbacks at the centre of the FIFA scandal. Officials from Fidelity said they had “engaged Deloitte Cayman to conduct an independent review of the Bank’s internal processes and policies to confirm that they are in line with regulatory requirements.”

In a press release issued on Monday, the bank said it has consulted with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) regarding the internal review and the regulator will contribute to the preparation of the Terms of Reference for the work “to ensure that the review covers any questions that CIMA may have”, the bank stated.”

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The FIFA Corruption Scandal: What Companies Should Take Away

From Risk Management & Crisis Response –

“What can companies take away from the United States Department of Justice’s arrest of several senior FIFA officials last week, and ongoing investigation into corruption in soccer? Indictments were issued against 14 individuals and seven were arrested last Wednesday on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other charges; the DOJ has also indicated more indictments are likely.”

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