From Seeking Bribe Reimbursement to Iran Interest

Bribery:

Mike Lucas

GlaxoSmithKlineGSK.LN +0.50% PLC is allegedly facing protests from junior employees who say the company is refusing to reimburse them for bribes they were ordered to pay by their superiors. The company said it encourages employees speaking up if they have concerns. (Financial Times sub req)

The African Development Bank imposed a $5.7 million fine on Dutch firm Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. for its alleged role in bribe payments in a joint venture to build liquefied natural gas projects on Bonny Island in Nigeria. (Vanguard)

PetrobrasPETR4.BR -2.26% will not take bids from Dutch SBM Offshore until an investigation into bribery allegations is complete, CEO Maria das Gracas Foster said. (Petro Global News)

A bribery probe hit an embattled Berlin airport. (The Local)

Should we be encouraging more anti-corruption litigation? (GAB)

Mike Volkov runs a guest post on the perils of corruption in Russia and builds four pillars of anti-money laundering compliance. The FCPAProfessor touches on Wal-MartWMT +0.60% shareholder proposals and continues his series on old FCPA cases. The FCPA Blog asks if China’s attitude on foreign bribery is changing, explains new U.K. sentencing guidelines and flags a whistleblower payout. Tom Fox shows what regulators think an effective compliance program looks like and checks in on GlaxoSmithKline PLC. The FCPAmericas blog lists ways to respond to bribe requests. Richard Bistrong describes plausible deniability in bribery strategies.

Money Laundering:

Thirteen Swiss banks face rising stakes in their own criminal probes after the Credit Suisse Group AGCSGN.VX +0.22% settlement in the U.S. crackdown on offshore tax evasion. (Bloomberg)

An Indian court froze the assets of a Kashmiri businessman over what a report said was the first action against alleged terrorist funds. The new prime minister’s first decision in office was to launch a probe of so-called “black money” stashed abroad. (Kashmir Reader, IANS)

Singapore is mulling changes to its anti-money laundering law that, among other things, would lengthen prison sentences. (CNA)

Australian authorities say they’re making progress in a crackdown against money-laundering by Papua New Guinea within its borders. (ANN)

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty to laundering bribe money received from Afghan contractors in Afghanistan, prosecutors said. (Times Free Press)

Another $15 million in Full Tilt Poker payments will be disbursed next month. (PokerFuse)

An international money-laundering trial in Hong Kong took another dramatic turn. (South China Morning Post)

Sanctions:

For the first time in decades, business people from the U.S. are visiting Iran in significant numbers. Travel to Iran is legal, but business isn’t under sanctions laws. (Washington Post)

Australia will restart live cattle and sheep exports to Iran, the Conservative government said Wednesday, dropping a 30-year ban. (WSJ)

Iran’s foreign minister said progress has been made with European officials in nuclear talks. (AFP, Reuters)

While lifting sanctions on a Syrian bank and a businessman, the EU also renewed its legal authority to impose sanctions on Syria and Ukraine. (WSJ, European Sanctions)

President Barack Obama is facing calls, again, to ease the Cuban embargo. An American delegation visited for the first time in 15 years. (WSJ WashWire, BBC)

Sanctions are biting into the World Cup dreams of Iran’s soccer fans. (The National)

Transparency:

Global Witness said ahead of a Monday deadline that the initial disclosure filings of conflict minerals use lack substance. (press release)

Regulation FD may now be doing more harm than good. (Dealbook)

Terrorism Finance:

The Obama administration has asked the Supreme Court to turn away a case over whether bank secrecy laws protect Arab Bank PLC from supplying documents in lawsuits accusing it of providing services to groups the U.S. brands as terrorist organizations. (Reuters)

Whistleblowers:

A Veterans Affairs hospital in Texas is run like “an organized crime syndicate,” a whistleblower said. (Daily Beast)

General Anti-Corruption:

Graft scandals are threatening to tarnish New Zealand’s clean image. (Washington Post)

Nigeria’s central bank ordered financial institutions to promote their chief compliance officers. (This Day)

A former Goldman Sachs Group trader is now an anti-corruption crusader in the Philippines. (Bloomberg)

SEC officials are frustrated at the lack of progress on finalizing rules for Dodd-Frank and other reform laws. (Financial Times sub req)

The latest in the phone-hacking trial of former News CorpNWSA +0.06%. executives is here. News Corp. publishes this page. (Guardian)

A FIFA biopic ignores the myriad corruption scandals of the past several years. Joana Havelange, who is on the board of the organizing committee for next month’s World Cup, told protesters in Brazil to get over the corruption. (Bloomberg, Bloomberg)