Training: The Financial Crime Forum - US Sanctions and the Global Shipping Industry

July 13, 2012 - PRLog -- The Financial Crime Forum, part of The Anti Money Laundering Network is to hold seminars in Singapore and Hong Kong to address the issues caused by global application of US sanctions to an industry which, by definition, is international.

The US Treasury has the power to block all dealings with persons it considers harmful to its national interests. In theory, this power is limited to the US citizens and US registered corporations wherever they are in the world, plus anyone in the USA either as a resident of visitor. It also includes foreign businesses doing business in the USA.

However, a complex series of laws creates a layering effect which means that almost all businesses, anywhere in the world, that do business with those persons faces presumptive and extra-judicial sanctions in the USA. Those sanctions can be sufficiently serious as to drive a business into immediate liquidation.

In addition to listing persons (both individuals and "entities") the US Treasury lists ships. And that means that ports, bunkering companies and even those transporting goods on those ships fall within the range of those laws and the threats they create.

But there is more: in addition to the US Treasury list, there are other US sanctions that also affect those in the shipping industry from ports owners and operators to trading companies and providers of trade finance including banks issuing letters of credit. Through a different system of laws, the USA is able to bring criminal prosecutions against foreign companies that have, either directly or through group operations, any "touch point" within the USA. And these sanctions are entirely political and have nothing to do with the safety or security of the USA.

This seminar details the nature of the risks, how they arise and how to manage them.

The seminar will benefit

- Shipping agents
- Freight forwarders
- Operators of ports
- Trade finance officers
- Providers of letters of credit
- Remittance services providers
- Payment card services providers
- Ship registrars
- Providers of bunkering facilities
- Bankers for the above
- Insurers for the above

For full information see http://www.financialcrimeforum.com