Rabat - Saudi Arabia and Morocco renewed on Tuesday their determination to boost cooperation against shared security threats, including terrorism.

Abdellatif Hammouchi, the head of Morocco’s General Directorates of National Security and Territorial Surveillance (DGSN-DGST), hosted in Rabat today Abdullah Fahad Salih Al-Owais, Vice President of Saudi State Security, who is leading a security delegation to Morocco as part of a working visit.

(Seychelles News Agency) - A national risk assessment that started last year to identify nonprofit organisations (NPOs) at risk of financing terrorism is moving to the second phase to be done through a survey.

The chief executive of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Richard Rampal, told reporters on Tuesday that the exercise is not only to determine if the sector, in general, faces the risk of financing terrorism but to look at mitigating measures in line with international recommendations.

FRANKFURT – The digital version of the euro currency will be free to use and available to all but the European Central Bank does not want to keep any personal data on its users, ECB board member Fabio Panetta said on Monday.

The ECB is working on a digital version of its currency and is in the process of outlining the broader design, also hoping to alleviate concerns that the digital currency could disrupt the financial system and give the central bank too much data on citizens.

STRASBOURG 

On 7-9 December 2022 MONEYVAL held its 64th Plenary meeting. It was opened by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mr Bjørn Berge. In his speech Mr Berge underlined the expanding role of MONEYVAL as a part of the Council of Europe and congratulated Committee on its 25 year anniversary.

The Executive secretary of the FATF Ms Violaine Clerc addressed the Plenary highlighting the high-level of cooperation between FATF and MONEYVAL and commending MONEYVAL for the quality of its mutual evaluations. 

The Eritrean national had been on INTERPOL’s radar since 2019

LYON, France – A notorious people smuggler, known for his particularly cruel and violent treatment of migrants, has been arrested in Sudan thanks to swift action by the United Arab Emirates, based on information shared via INTERPOL.

Bulgarian authorities targeted a number of criminal networks active along the Balkan route

On 16 January, Europol supported Bulgarian authorities during a large-scale action day against organised crime groups involved in migrant smuggling. The activities, coordinated by the Bulgarian Public Prosecutor and involving the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime, the National Police and the Border Police, targeted criminal networks active along the Balkan route.

Securing Rwanda’s borders through STOP operational exercise and capacity building

KIGALI, Rwanda – Efforts to boost border security in Rwanda through operational training and the enhanced use of INTERPOL policing tools saw thousands of checks carried out against its global databases.

The criminal organisations lured German victims to invest over EUR 2 million in bogus crypto investment websites

Law enforcement and judicial authorities from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany and Serbia, supported by Europol and Eurojust, have teamed up against organised crime groups involved in online investment fraud.

Rome/Milan (CNN) — Mon January 16, 2023

Matteo Messina Denaro, one of the bosses of the Cosa Nostra Mafia in Sicily and Italy’s most wanted man, has been arrested by police while being treated in a private health clinic in Palermo, prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia said Monday.

He had been a fugitive since 1993 and was considered by Europol one of the most wanted men in Europe, de Lucia told CNN.

MANILA, Philippines — Designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) that failed to register on time are facing sanctions from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

In an advisory, the country’s sole financial intelligence unit reminded DNFBPs to register with the AMLC as covered persons under Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended.