- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Jeff Dale2023-08-15T20:59:00
Freedom Holding Corp. was accused of “brazen sanctions evasion,” along with openly flouting anti-money laundering and know your customer regulations, as part of an investigative report published by short seller Hindenburg Research on Tuesday.
Founded in 2008, Freedom was previously based in Russia until it moved its headquarters to Kazakhstan. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the financial services firm in October 2022 sold its Russian business to Maxim Povalishin, its deputy general counsel and member of the board, for approximately $140 million.
However, Freedom’s founder and chief executive, Russian-born billionaire Timur Turlov, still secretly controlled its Russian entities, according to Hindenburg’s report.
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Data center owner Equinix disclosed it launched an independent investigation to review matters referenced in a recent short seller report that also caught the attention of the Department of Justice.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against New York-based Concord Management and its owner for operating as an unregistered investment adviser to a lone client: a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
U.K.-based foreign exchange service Wise Payments was cited for breaching the country’s sanctions levied against Russia as part of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s first use of its disclosure enforcement powers acquired last year.
The EU and U.K. have rushed to commit themselves to intensifying action on sanctions evasion after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, but any compliance managers who believe Trump will make global sanctions compliance easier in 2025 are likely to be disappointed.
With a new political regime ready to take over in the U.S., the effectiveness of sanctions against malign foreign actors like Russia, North Korea, and Iran have come into question. While the European Union and U.K. have increased sanctions pressure, critics have publicly asked: Is it enough?
The U.K. has issued 56 new sanctions against entities and individuals involved with Russia’s war effort, including several private mercenary groups operating in Africa that are connected to the Kremlin.
