On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally recognized the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Eastern Ukraine (Covered Regions) as independent states. Thereafter, Mr. Putin authorized a full-scale invasion...more
In a significant step, on Saturday, February 26, 2022, the United States and leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada announced additional sanctions against key Russian...more
For months, the Biden administration and the governments of U.S. allies around the world have raised concerns about Russian actions in the region. In the same breath, those governments have warned of massive, coordinated...more
As widely reported, the Spanish police raided last year the Madrid offices of the Chinese state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (“ICBC”), the world’s biggest bank by assets. In the nearly 18 months following that...more
We know that China’s Didi Chuxing is powerful enough to have driven Uber out of China altogether. So what happens when Didi sets its sights outside of Chinese borders? Flush with $5.5 billion in new funding, Didi is likely...more
In an effort to combat an increasing number of fraudulent transfers carried out using its network, SWIFT, the international bank transfer network, announced this month that it is adding new tools and controls designed to...more
As cyber-attacks involving the global payment system SWIFT increase in frequency abroad, U.S. regulators are discussing steps designed to protect against similar attacks on U.S. financial institutions. The Federal Reserve,...more
US regulators are “ramping up oversight” of Swift—the financial messaging system used throughout global finance that’s been a key conduit for hackers in recent attacks of Bangladeshi and Ecuadorian banks....more
In February 2016, attackers stole $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve Bank by hacking into the Bangladesh bank’s computer network and sending fraudulent messages through the...more
An unnamed bank in Ukraine is the most recent victim in a series of cyber-attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in the international banking communications system. According to an independent IT monitoring organization, hackers...more
Although poor, out-of-touch Dr. Evil of the Austin Powers series had to resort to the threat of using a giant laser beam to decimate various cities to try to obtain his one million billion dollars in ransom, Kim Jong-un1...more
Following a series of thefts from international banks utilizing the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) communication system, the Chief Executive Officer of SWIFT announced a sweeping five part...more
Everyone has been in a movie theater when one of the actors approaches that door to the basement behind which strange noises are coming. They reach out to turn the knob and in unison the audience is thinking “Fool, haven’t...more
On Dec. 19, 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13685, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine,” to impose sanctions relating to the...more
On July 14, 2015, after two years of sometimes intense negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China (known as the “P5+1” countries), along with the European Union, signed a Joint...more