The financial role of the United Kingdom - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1207 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The United Kingdom (UK) plays a leading role in European and world finance and remains attractive to money launderers because of the size, sophistication, and reputation of its financial markets. Although narcotics are still a major source of illegal proceeds for money laundering, the proceeds of other offenses, such as financial fraud and the smuggling of people and goods, have become increasingly important. The past few years have witnessed the movement of cash placement away from banks and mainstream financial institutions as these entities have tightened their controls and increased their vigilance. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The financial role of the United Kingdom" essay for you Create order The use of bureaux de change, cash smugglers (into and out of the UK), and traditional gatekeepers (including solicitors and accountants) to move and launder criminal proceeds has been increasing. Also on the rise are credit/debit card fraud and the purchasing of high-value assets to disguise illegally obtained money. Additionally, the Internet increasingly provides criminals with a variety of money making opportunities and methods to launder funds. 218 Money Laundering and Financial Crimes The UK Threat Assessment conducted by the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) estimated the annual proceeds from crime were between pound;19 billion (approximately $32 billion) and pound;48 billion (approximately $80 billion) with pound;25 billion (approximately $42 billion) representing a realistic figure for the amount laundered each year. Offshore center: No Free trade zones: Yes The UK has five designated Free Zones in which non-European Union (EU) goods are treated as outside the customs territory of the EU for the purposes of import duties until the goods are released for free circulation. Import VAT and excise duty are also suspended until the goods are removed to the UK market or used or consumed within the Free Zone. The Free Zones are located in Liverpool, Prestwick, Port of Sheerness, Southampton, and Port of Tilbury. Criminalizes narcotics money laundering: Yes Criminalizes other money laundering, including terrorism-related: Yes The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) of 2002 consolidates and expands pre-existing legislation criminalizing money laundering. POCA covers all crimes as predicate offenses. It also creates a new criminal offense, applicable to all regulated sectors, of failing to disclose suspicious transactions. Criminalizes terrorist financing: Yes (Please refer to the Department of States Country Reports on Terrorism, which can be found here: https://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/) The Terrorism Act of 2000 criminalizes ter rorist financing. Additionally, the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 and the Al-Qaida and the Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 provide the Treasury with designation authority. The Counter-Terrorism Act of 2008 (CTA) came into effect on November 27, 2008. Schedule 7 of the CTA gives the Treasury additional powers to act against terrorist financing and money laundering. Know-your-customer rules: Yes The Money Laundering Regulations of 2007 implement in part the EUs Third Money Laundering Directive and include an obligation to establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures relating to customer due diligence measures and ongoing monitoring, reporting, record keeping, and risk assessment. Covered entities include credit and financial institutions, auditors, accountants, tax advisers and insolvency practitioners, independent legal professionals, trust or company service providers, estate agents, high value dealers, and casinos . Bank records retention: Yes Pursuant to the Money Laundering Regulations of 2007, relevant persons must retain transaction records and identity verification documents for at least five years. Suspicious transaction reporting: Yes Business sectors subject to formal suspicious transaction reporting (STR) requirements include attorneys, solicitors, accountants, real estate agents, and dealers in high-value goods, such as cars and jewelry. Sectors of the betting and gaming industry that are not currently regulated are being encouraged to establish their own codes of practice, including a requirement to disclose suspicious transactions. In fiscal year 2008, 210,524 STRs were filed with the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UK FIU). Large currency transaction reporting: The UK government considered the feasibility of a fixed threshold currency transaction reporting system, but made a policy decision not to introduce such a system. Narcotics asset seizure and forfeiture: UK legislation, most notably the Serious Crime Act of 2007 which consolidates existing laws on forfeiture and money laundering, provides for the confiscation of laundered property which represents proceeds from, instrumentalities used in, and instrumentalities intended for use in the commission of money laundering, terrorist financing, or other predicate offenses, and property of corresponding value. The UK has in place four different schemes for confiscation and recovery with regard to proceeds of crime: confiscation following a criminal conviction, civil recovery, taxation, and seizure-forfeiture of cash. Narcotics asset sharing authority: The UK is able to share confiscated and forfeited assets with other countries that have assisted operations to bring the confiscation to fruition. The UK has authority to share up to 50% of the proceeds of confiscation, net of costs. The UK can share with other countries on an ad hoc case-by-case basis. Cross-border currency transportation requirements: Yes The Control of Cash (Penalties) Regulations of 2007 provides for penalties for failing to declare movement of cash amounting to â‚ ¬10,000 (approximately $14,500) or more into and out of the European Community. Cooperation with foreign governments: Yes The UK cooperates with international anti-money laundering authorities on regulatory and criminal matters. U.S. or international sanctions or penalties: No. Enforcement and implementation issues and comments: Businesses in the UK that are particularly attractive to money launderers are those with high cash turnovers and those involved in overseas trading. Illicit cash is consolidated in the UK, and then moved overseas where it can enter the legitimate financial system, either directly or by other means such as purchasing property or trade goods. Because cash is the mainstay of the illicit narcotics trade, traffickers make extensive use of money transmission agents (MTA), cash smuggling, and alternative remittance systems such as hawala to transfer money and value from the UK. U.S.-related currency transactions: No information available. Records exchange mechanism with U.S.: A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between the US and the UK has been in force since 1996, and the two countries signed a reciprocal asset sharing agreement in 2003. There is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in force between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and HM Revenue and Customs. The U.S. Department of Treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also signed a MOU with the UK in 1995 and regularly exchanges information with the UK FIU. International agreements: The UK is a party to various information exchange agreements with countries in addition to the United States. Authorities can share information or provide assistance to foreign jurisdictions in matters relating to money laundering or other financial crimes without need for a treaty. While the UK legislative framework does not require MLATS, the UK has signed treaties with over 30 countries in order to execute requests. The UK is a party to: 220 Money Laundering and Financial Crimes †¢ the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Yes †¢ the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime Yes †¢ the 1988 UN Drug Convention Yes †¢ the UN Convention against Corruption Yes The UK is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Its most recent mutual evaluation can be found here: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/55/29/39064399.pdf Recommendations: The United Kingdom has a comprehensive AML/CFT regime. The UK should continue its active participation in international fora and its efforts to provide assistance to jurisdictions with nascent or developing anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing regimes.

The Current Practice Of Classroom Assessment - 1479 Words

As defined by Florez (1999), (cited in Sakale 2012 p.1103) speaking is â€Å"an interactive process of constructing meaning both its form and meaning depend on the context, the participants, their experiences, the environment and the purpose for speaking† Assessment is generally defined as â€Å"a process of monitoring or keeping track of the learner’s progress† (Rea-Dickins, 2000, p.376). For good assessment, teacher has to be assessment literate means that they should have knowledge about the assessment strategies, techniques and concepts (Rogier, 2014). According to Lee (2010) quantitative method to collect data concerning the practices of 51 Korean teacher to assess student’s skills. The questionnaire provides details about the current†¦show more content†¦The frequently used speaking tasks by teachers are: interview, picture description and oral presentation. All three tasks have certain similarities that according to Lee (2004) they are close to everyday life situations; enable the students to use as much L2 as possible. On the other hand, Sook (2003) research in Korean schools shows that teachers opt for such speaking assessment tasks that gave less psychological burden to students, were less time consuming and did not demand the teacher to take the role of interviewer etc. Teachers function as a rater only, scoring students responses, therefore they mostly used activities such as answering questions and describing a realia to assess the students speaking ability. Recently Xiaole, Meng and Manli (2012) utilize d questionnaire to conduct a nation-wide survey in China, a quantitative approach to explore the ways and methods of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) assessment in English programs at the tertiary level. Thirty English teachers randomly selected from 39 universities China through PPS (probability proportional to size) preferred oral presentation, role play and paper test to assess students’ ICC. The findings suggested that the teachers were confined to traditional methods of assessment. In addition to the above study Yang (2001) explored 734 EFL Taiwanese teacher’s classroom assessment practices of young language learners through quantitative

My Most Valuable Possessions free essay sample

Through the years, I have learned that our culture places a great deal of emphasis on owning things such as cars, jewelry, clothes, and shoes. But our most valuable possessions in life may not be things we own. These items are very different from person to person. For me, my most valuable possessions are my family and friends, love, and my memories. Each one has a unique quality that helps me to manage the distractions and stresses that life presents to me. My family and friends are so important to me because they are the closest people in my life. They know me better than anyone else and of course they will be there for me when I need them. Because of that, I make them the priority in all I do. It is easy for me to always choose my family before work or any other activities I am involved in. We will write a custom essay sample on My Most Valuable Possessions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, I also make time in my busy life to spend time with friends and family members. My family is the only family I have and I value them because they cannot be replaced. When I am dealing with work, school, and all the other distractions that stress my life, it is nice to escape with a group of friends and does something that is very productive such as go to eat, watch movie, or relax a little at a bar. My friends and family really help me reduce stress in life which helps me stay healthy. Memories are my second most important possession. I can never replace memories and photos that I have taken over the years. I take pictures to remember things such as parties, family gatherings, and trips. I enjoy going back and looking at them and remember what happened. I have a lot of pictures that have been in the family for many of years. There are pictures that could never be replaced such as my mother, father and the rest of my family that have passed away. While I was in the Navy I always took pictures of what I was doing, the places I have been, and all the good times I had with my friends. Memories mean everything to me, and that is all I have. You cannot turn back the hands of time and relive those moments. Love is my third valued possession because of ones natural desire to be desirable. When a person possesses anothers love, it is understood that he or she possesses it only because the other person wills it so. Therefore, because someone must be give love to have love, it makes it much more difficult to obtain and all the more valuable. Because love is so much more difficult to obtain than material possessions, it is much more important to most. Without security, one could never really enjoy all the love they have obtained. This is because they would constantly be worrying that it would be taken away. People need to be told and shown that they are loved when they are in love. It is not enough to just have love. In our society, everyone has different things that they value. Some people value materialistic things and some value things that are not own. Through the years, I have valued everything in my life. But there are something’s I value more than others and that is my family, love, and my memories. With these values, I am who I am today.

Justin Horn Essays - Abortion, Pro-choice Movement, Fertility

Justin Horn FCS 151-03 Dr. Josee Forell November 19, 2000 Problem Solving Project Summary Every year, throughout the world, there are an estimated 36 to 53 million abortions performed. Of these, only about 26 to 31 million are legal (King 158). Further, in the U.S. alone, nearly one-third of all pregnancies end in abortion. Abortion, to say the least, is a controversial topic in today's society and has been for the last two decades. Two opposing sides emerge from this problem: Those opposed to abortion, "Pro-life", have concerns about protecting human life. On the other hand, those in favor of abortion, "Pro-choice", feel it is the right of the individual to make the decision for themselves. A 1996 Gallup poll showed that 83% of Americans were in favor of a woman's right to choose. However, in 1998, a similar poll showed that while the majority of Americans were still pro-choice, they felt that an abortion should be harder to get. Problem In the last 2 decades, abortion has become a growing target for criticism as well as acceptance in today's changing society. There has been much controversy as to what abortion should be considered as- life or death. Should it be a choice, or should it be the equivalent of murder? In the context of defining abortion, there has been many stipulations as to what constitutes abortion- when does life inside the whom actually begin? Valued Ends When dealing with such a sensitive topic as abortion, in which there are in fact two extremely diverse viewpoints, it is difficult to present a sensible answer to the way it should be. In the "best of all possible worlds" women should be able to live their lives in the way that suits them best. Society places heavy opinions on women who have had or are planning to have abortions; this in turn has an impact on the well being of the woman. Secondly, women are placed in a very difficult situation when they become pregnant and are not expecting it. Society should be supportive and willing to help emotionally and/or financially in her time of need. Possible Solutions and Consequences *Provide society with a positive understanding of the purpose of abortion through the use of government action. --Many people would remain unchanged in their ways, especially as it pertains to religious views. However, with knowledge comes wisdom. If people were better informed, they might not assume a false truth in the matter. *Make it illegal for people to take negative action against women having an abortion. --This would make a woman feel better about her decision. Many women, after having an abortion feel emotional distress, mainly due to societal opinions. *Provide women with a greater understanding of the decision they are about to make. --After being informed of possible consequences of their actions, woman may then make a more educated decision, which would in turn alleviate public tensions. One Workable Solution As it was said previously, when dealing with such a sensitive topic as abortion, in which there are two extremely diverse viewpoints, it is difficult to present a sensible answer to the way it should be. This being said, the most sensible and practical solution to this problem would be to provide society with a positive understanding of the purpose of abortion and hope people will make a positive change in their view about abortion. If I was the one involved in this type of situation I would feel better knowing that people are trying to help others realize the hardships I am facing. Others would benefit from this solution as well because it is the most sensible solution for such a difficult problem. Government has already made it legal for abortions to take place, now we just need to work on the negative opinions of society. This solution does fit my personal moral beliefs because I strongly feel that a woman should have the right, and the confidence to make her own choice in the matter. Action Plan In order to accomplish my solution, government would have to set up a national fund for the production of information in the form of pamphlets, television and radio commercials, endorsements from celebrities, and speeches by the president. I personally should present my beliefs in a positive, constructive way so that it may catch on with people within