Uplifting sanctions/export controls and breaking anonymity

Matt_Long

A Canadian national and a New York resident pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to commit export control violations for their roles in a global procurement scheme on behalf of sanctioned Russian companies. Some of the electronic components shipped by the defendants were later found in seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine.

According to the court documents, the defendants allegedly conspired to ship more than $7 million in dual-use US electronics to sanctioned Russian companies, shipping the components through front companies in several countries, including Turkey, India, China, and the United Arab Emirate, from where they were subsequently rerouted to Russia.

As this and other similar cases highlight, sanctioned parties and organized criminal networks are growing more sophisticated and aligned in their techniques every day.

🔦 Breaking anonymity and overcoming obfuscation remains critical

The illicit usage of Shell/Front Companies, transactions and shipments to non-sanctioned countries and entities, the presence of underlying collusion etc. have all made risk management in this space increasingly difficult. This has put an unnecessary burden on frequently separate investigation and analyst teams within financial institutions to gather data and make the connections.

However, by bringing together internal and external KYC, AML and Sanctions data, intelligence and processes, Quantexa enables the comprehensive contextual monitoring of customers and counterparties throughout their entire lifecycle. This allows institutions to better identify and manage holisticrisk, inclusive of sanctions and the presence of evasion techniques, including the illicit usage of shell companies, professional enablers and gatekeepers.

To see how technology, combined with better data sources and focused typologies have changed the way institutions can break through the anonymity so essential for sanctions risk management, please reach out or take a look at the below.

➡Breaking Anonymity Through AI: Sanctions, Shell Companies and Scandals (webinar on-demand)

➡Navigating Secondary Sanctions Risk: The Heightened Need to Mitigate Indirect Exposure (blog)

➡New FinCEN Advisory: Counter the Financing of Iran-Backed Terrorist Organizations (blog)

➡Navigating Global Sanctions: Technology Solutions for Asia-Pacific Compliance Challenges (blog)