The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat  Florida Airport has been attacked by a gunman and eight people have died so far. Incident happened in the b aggage area of the airport and so far it has not been made public who was behind it.  First guesses will be made soon to suggest that it was a Muslim inspired by a Jihadi Ideology and soon someone in ISIS will claim responsibility. Fox news will tell us how many ways Trump will punish Muslims  and CNN will try to find motives other than Jihadi ideology. This sorry saga happens after every such attack and this time will be no different.  The sick t wisted logic of brainwashed so called jihadist will be used to tarnish all Muslims as it has been used in the past.  There is a good chance that this and previous attacks will allow T rump goodwill among majority of  Americans to ban Muslims from coming to America. That is exactly what jihadists want as they see Muslims who live in West as a hindrance to the pure fight they are looking for.  Extre

Tens of billions of dollars every year move through opaque law-firm bank accounts that create a gap in U.S. money-laundering defences , according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. These accounts were used by suspects in a multibillion-dollar scandal involving a Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB , according to a Justice Department description of events. They also played a part in  a Florida Ponzi scheme , in a case related to an  official of Equatorial Guinea  and in a dozen other U.S. money-laundering cases over the past decade, case records show. Law firms lump together client money they are holding for short periods, such as while real-estate sales are pending, into pooled bank accounts , and the law firms face no requirement to disclose whose cash is in the accounts. Banks say they generally see only a law firm’s name. Money often stays in the accounts for only a few days or weeks. At the request of law firms’ clients, funds can be sent from the ac

By Sikander Hayat  Before we start to have a look at the KYC requirements for a Trust, we need to understand some basics about this entity type. 1.       What kind of legal entity is a Trust 2.       How many kinds of common Trusts structures are there 3.       Who normally use Trust entities and 4.       From Money Laundering point of view, what are the major risks From money laundering point of view, Trusts can be a very tricky type of entity as it can be structured in such a way to avoid detection of real beneficiaries . Trusts can also be used as avehicle for tax evasion . Trusts can be set up in jurisdictions which are very opaque and make it difficult for any law enforcement agencies or counterparties to be sure of who is actually behind the trust.  We also need to watch out for situations where: 1.       The client establishes a trust when there seems to be little reason to do so 2.       The trust is established in a jurisdictionwhich has