November 18 - Officers of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) have arrested the chairman of the state-owned Ukreximbank, Oleksandr Hrytsenko, on suspicion of creating an organized crime group, embezzlement, and money laundering. SBU spokeswoman Olena Hitlyanska said on November 16 that the suspect was being held in a temporary detention center on charges that involve complicity in laundering stolen assets connected to the inner circle of former President Viktor Yanukovych.

November 18 - Bank of Valletta has been fined a total of €57,500 in two cases involving breaches of its anti-money laundering obligations. A notice published on the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit’s (FIAU) website says that, in the first case, BOV failed to flag how a factory worker who was later unemployed continued to make “significant deposits” of uneven amounts in cash, coins and cheques.

November 15 - The U.S. government will strictly enforce a rule that requires cryptocurrency firms engaged in money service businesses such as digital asset exchanges and wallet service providers to share information about their customers, Kenneth Blanco, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), said on Friday Part of anti-money laundering regulations, the “travel rule” requires cryptocurrency exchanges to verify their customers’ identities, identify the original parties and beneficiaries of transfers $3,000 or higher, and transmit that information to counterparties if they exist.

November 14 - Russia’s security services moved money through Estonia to finance operations overseas, the Baltic country’s finance minister, who is leading a clean up after a money laundering scandal, told Reuters. Martin Helme said that Estonian authorities are also investigating whether individuals under U.S. sanctions benefited from the movement of money through Estonia, which is undertaking reforms after 200 billion euros ($220 billion) in suspect transactions flowed through Danske Bank’s branch in the country.

November 14 - Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) is under US federal investigation for possible wire fraud, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions to the local governor. Last week, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents descended on Saipan to stage multiple raids on the offices of IPI and an IPI lobbyist, as well as the office and home of Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Gov. Ralph Torres, a law firm run by Torres’ brothers and a local real estate firm.

November 13 - Creating a single regulator for B.C.’s real estate sector was a key recommendation of several reports aimed at cracking down on money laundering in the sector, including the Maureen Maloney report released in May. Getting there is going to take more time, however, as Finance Minister Carole James on Tuesday unveiled plans to table legislation for the new regulator to be in place under the newly created B.C. Financial Services Authority by the spring of 2021.

November 12 - British Columbia plans to create a single real estate regulator to better combat money-laundering in markets like Vancouver, where the government says dirty money has helped drive up housing prices. The provincial government intends to introduce legislation late next year that would establish a joint financial-services and real estate watchdog by the spring of 2021, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.