April 23 - The European Union’s justice commissioner said on Monday she will visit Malta in the coming weeks to look at its anti-money laundering moves and check on how an investigation is going into the murder of an investigative journalist. Her visit will increase pressure on the EU member after the European Parliament expressed “serious concerns” about police independence and international money-laundering on the island in a resolution adopted last year.

April 23 - Despite tougher rules against money laundering, there are still many shortcomings among member states, the European Central Bank and the Commission. EURACTIV.fr reports. The series of terrorist attacks in Europe from 2015 to 2016 and the Panama Papers scandal have intensified the combat against money laundering. MEPs adopted the fifth revision of the EU’s anti-money laundering directive, on 19 April.

April 23 - Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Miftah Ismail says Pakistan will never allow its soil to be used for money-laundering and terror-financing, reported Radio Pakistan. In an interview with Bloomberg TV in Washington, he said Pakistan is committed to fulfill its international obligations in this regard.

April 21 - Taiwanese Minister of Justice, Chiu Tai-san, said that the country will roll out new regulations for virtual currencies later this year, Taiwan Central News Agency reported April 20. Today, at a conference dedicated to anti-money laundering (AML) in the financial industry held by the Taiwan Financial Services Coalition, Chiu Tai-san said that the country will develop and launch new regulations on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The regulations will aim to prevent cryptocurrencies from becoming instruments for money laundering and reportedly will take effect in November.

April 20 - Opposition leaders in Malta have filed an application to court asking for a formal inquiry into the offshore activities of prime minister Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff and one of his leading ministers. The opposition, in their application, want a magistrate to determine whether there have been any potential breaches of the criminal code, including money laundering.

April 19 - B.C.’s attorney general is clear-eyed about the magnitude of the money laundering problem the province and Canada are facing. David Eby said as much on CKNW’s The Jon McComb Show Thursday morning, in response to a Global News investigation that detailed shocking links between Chinese gangs, street drugs like fentanyl, B.C. casinos and the province’s high-priced real estate market.

April 19 - Criminal syndicates that control chemical factories in China’s booming Guangdong province are shipping narcotics, including fentanyl, to Vancouver, washing the drug sales in British Columbia’s casinos and high-priced real estate, and transferring laundered funds back to Chinese factories to repeat this deadly trade cycle, a Global News investigation shows. The flow of narcotics and chemical precursors — and a rising death count in western Canada caused by synthetic opioids — is driven by sophisticated organized crime groups known as Triads.