Three women have been appointed to top jobs in Saudi Arabia’s male-dominated financial sector in the space of just one week, in what marks a historical moment for both the industry and wider society.
Sarah Al-Suhaimi is now the chair of Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, the Tadawul; Rania Nashar became the CEO of Samba Financial Group; and on Tuesday it emerged that Latifa Al-Sabhan has been appointed chief financial officer of Arab National Bank (ANB).
Polyp
www.w-t-w.org/en/cartoon/polyp/
In October 2016, Andreas Frank*, an expert on money laundering, visited the Bahamas to take a look behind the scenes of the offshore world. Mr Frank was kind enough to share his field report with us, which you can scroll through below and download here.
Some introductory words on the report by Mr Frank:
“When it comes to offshore companies, the novel aspect we see here is that banks created these companies with the purpose of letting third parties use them to disguise financial transactions. The point here is that these banks do not simply facilitate tax evasion and money laundering – they actively initiate, promote and support the criminal activities of their clients.
In our case here a bank in the Bahamas established an International Business Company (IBC). The ICB’s directors were directors of a Swiss bank in Geneva, which in turn was the mother of the bank in the Bahamas.
An IBC has no employees, offices, telephones, or e-mail. An IBC has no bookkeeping nor is it required to produce an annual report, nor is it being audited. An ICB does not have to pay any taxes. With a nominal capital of below $ 50 000 only an annual government fee of $ 350 has to be paid. An IBC is not subject to any minimum capital requirements. $ 100, as in the case of Ms Kroes, suffices.
The IBC we are concerned with here, controlled by a Swiss bank, was ordered by a third party, a Swiss wealth manager from Geneva, to transfer several million euros to a Swiss fiduciary. Following the order, the Swiss bank transferred the requested amount to the account of the fiduciary. From there, the fiduciary had the money transferred, via a German bank, to a company in Cologne, Germany.” New insights into the offshore world
*Andreas Frank: Former banker with Goldman Sachs and HSBC,with in-depth knowledge of the financial sector. Internationally recognized independent expert in the field of Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Currently serving as an advisor to the Bundestag and the Council of Europe.
2017-02-Report-Government-of-The-Bahamas
See also: Frauen und Kinder leiden unter Korruption/ Woher stammt das Geld?
Deutsche Bank has been fined $630m (£504m) by US and UK regulators in connection with a Russian money laundering plan. Authorities in US and UK issue fine after saying bank used offices in Moscow and London to move $10bn out of country.
Under the scheme, clients illegally moved $10bn out of Russia via shares bought and sold through the bank’s Moscow, London and New York offices.
Authorities said Deutsche had missed “numerous opportunities” to detect, investigate and stop the scheme. Deutsche Bank said it was co-operating with regulators. It also said it had put aside money to cover the cost of the settlement.
During the investigation, New York authorities and Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that so called “mirror” trades had been carried out through the bank between 2011 and 2015. Clients would purchase stocks in roubles in Moscow before their counterparts sold the same stock at the same price through the bank’s London branch.
The Financial Conduct Authority imposed its largest ever fine – £163m – for potential money laundering offences on Germany’s biggest bank, which it said had missed several opportunities to clamp down on the activities of its Russian operations as a result of weak systems to detect financial crime between 2012 and 2015.
The US regulator, the New York Department of Financial Services, also fined the bank $425m as it listed problems at Deutsche including one senior compliance officer stating he had to “beg, borrow, and steal” to receive appropriate resources to combat money laundering. It has imposed a monitor inside the bank for two years.
Harm Bengen
www.w-t-w.org/en/harm-bengen
www.harmbengen.de
Let’s get straight to the point: No country gets close to a perfect score in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
Over two-thirds of the 176 countries and territories in this year’s index fall below the midpoint of our scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The global average score is a paltry 43, indicating endemic corruption in a country’s public sector. Top-scoring countries (yellow in the map below) are far outnumbered by orange and red countries where citizens face the tangible impact of corruption on a daily basis.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2016
Corruption and inequality: How Populists Mislead People
Marilena Nardi
www.w-t-w.org/en/cartoon/marilena-nardi
Over 13% of the world’s youth are unemployed and, in many countries, this figure easily goes beyond 40%. What innovative approaches in education and employment can political and business leaders pursue to help get youth off the streets and realize their full potential? Connecting live to the following cities: – Baku on putting peer-to-peer learning into practice – Bangalore on moving beyond menial jobs – Budapest on combating the drivers of brain drain – Monterrey on improving access to and reach of education This session was developed with the Global Shapers Community, focusing on global issues and local solutions. It is part of a series of live events connecting to 16 cities worldwide.
Dagmar Frank announces the winner of W-T-W.org Women and Finance Cartoon of the Year. Congratulations to Marilena Nardi for fighting corruption with “Mani in Tasca” Hands in the pocket. On a website dedicated in part to the definition and exploration of corruption, Nardi’s subtle, portrayal of corruption’s insidious role in society highlights the problem with a cruel grace.
Second prize to Silvan Wegmann for the wonderful cartoon on “Women’s Day”
It’s A Man’s World.
Third prize to ZUNAR-Zulkiflee Anwar Haque for his self portrait “Cartooning in Malaysia”.
A Malaysian Political Cartoonist on Facing His Fears, and Prison, for Art.
In an interview, Mr. Zulkiflee, 54, discussed how social media has become an increasingly important channel for political dissents, and why he continues to use his art to investigate corruption and injustice.
With interest rates diverging, how can central banks safely land monetary policy? This session was developed in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.
Carmen M. Reinhart
Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Oxfam highlights world inequality ahead of WEF Davos summit.
The eight richest businessmen own as much as half the world’s population, 3.6 billion people, according to the Oxfam Inequality is “more shocking than ever before” the aid group said. In its Report, Oxfam called for an overhaul of what it described as a “warped” economy which allowed eight billionaires to own as much wealth as half of the world’s population, or 3.6 billion people.
The report was published on Monday, a day ahead of the start of the World Economic Forum WEF for the world’s politicians and business leaders in the ski resort of Davos in the Swiss Alps.
But how big the inequality gap is it? Check it by the numbers:
Waldemar Mandzel
www.w-t-w.org/en/waldemar-mandzel
www.w-mandzel.de
2016 saw a crystallization of political risks that have led to the election of populist leaders, a loss of faith in institutions and increased strain on international cooperation. We should not be surprised by this: for the past decade, the Global Risks Report has been drawing attention to persistent economic, social and political factors that have been shaping our risks landscape.
This year’s report will examine the five greatest priorities facing the world in 2017, their interconnections and the actions necessary to avoid their harshest fall-out. weforum
The List of Top 20 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2017 highlights CEOs from medtech, edtech, spacetech, VR and fashion technology.
Every year, female entrepreneurs take their ideas and change the world around us and 2017 is going to be no different. CIO’s Top 20 list of female entrepreneurs to watch in 2017 employs thousands of workers and collectively have raised tens of millions of dollars for their companies. After the jump: CIO’s list of 20 female entrepreneurs you’ll want to watch in 2017:
Julia Taylor Cheek isn’t new to business but the Harvard Business grad’s new company is literally changing the way we live. Cheek’s company, EverlyWell (of which she is both co-founder and CEO) is simplifying health testing and putting it into words and charts that everybody can understand.
Embracing the selfie movement, Esosa Ighodaro’s simple yet creative app COSIGN allows people to tag product information in their picture. This helps online shoppers cut corners while looking for the style they want, giving them almost immediate access to clothing, accessories, products and more.
If you haven’t heard of Techweek yet, you’re bound to at some point in 2017. Amanda Signorelli, CEO of Techweek, is building tech-based entrepreneurial communities in major cities across North America, helping local business break through.
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