Bulgaria Real Estate
Money Laundering and Financial Crimes
Iran's real estate market is widely used as an alternative remittance system. For example, real estate transactions take place in Iran, but no funds change hands there; rather, payment is made overseas. This typically is done because of the difficulty in transferring funds out of Iran and the weakness of Iran's currency, the rial. The real estate market, in at least one instance, has been used to launder narcotics-related funds. ... Macau's free port, offshore financial services, lack of foreign exchange controls, disaggregated law enforcement agencies, problematic (albeit improving) law and order situation, and nascent anticorruption efforts create an environment conducive to money laundering. Macau serves as a gateway to China, and can be used as a transit point to remit funds and criminal proceeds to and from China, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries. Organized crime groups based in Macau are believed to launder their proceeds through joint ventures and real estate purchases in China, or through cross border cash transfers, front companies, real estate purchases, currency exchanges, and alternative remittance systems. Gaming and related services play a critical role in the Macau economy. They account for approximately 40 percent of GDP. Direct taxes from gambling accounted for 43 percent of government revenue in 1999. Organized crime groups are associated with the gambling industry through such activities as ... [Read More]
Austria
The Austrian legal system protects secured interests in property, both movable and real. Mortgages are recognized, if they are registered in the land register and the underlying contracts are valid. The law recognizes mortgages, if they are registered in the land register and the underlying contracts are valid. The land register provides a reliable system for recording interests in property. For any real estate agreement to be effective, the agreement must be entered with the land register. This requires approval of the land transfer commission or the office of the provincial governor. Any interested party has access to the land register. ... [Read More]
Country Reports: G-M
Gabon Gabon is not a regional financial center. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) supervises Gabon’s banking system. BEAC is a regional Central Bank that serves six countries of Central Africa. According to a 2003 letter from the Government of Gabon (GOG) to the UN Counter Terrorism Committee, in matters concerning suspicious financial transactions, banks are bound by the instructions of the Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs. The actual monitoring of financial transactions is conducted by the Economic Intervention Service that harmonizes the regulation of currency exchanges in the member States of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). On November 20, 2002, the BEAC Board of Directors approved draft anti-money laundering a ... [Read More]
Summary of Property Restitution in Central and Eastern Europe
Following an agreement reached in the inaugural meeting, experts reported that heirless Jewish movable property and real estate, excluding agricultural lands, was valued at approximately 8.5 billion Slovak Crowns ($185 million). The Slovak Jewish community agreed to accept ten percent of this amount, equal to 850 million Slovak crowns ($18.5 million), as payment for the unrestituted property. ... Hungary’s restitution process began in 1991 with the enactment of a law enabling religious organizations to apply for compensation for real estate nationalized after January 1, 1946. Twelve major religious groups submitted 8026 property restitution claims; 1383 claimants received property, 2670 claims were denied, 1731 claimants received cash payments (totaling $271.3 million or HUF 67.843 billion) and 968 cases were settled without government intervention. As of December 31, 2001, there were 1274 claims, valued at $187 million (HUF 46.770 billion), awaiting adjudication. The final adjudication deadline is in 2011. ... [Read More]
International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports
INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT, APRIL 1993US DEPARTMENT OF STATEBUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS MATTERSDEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 10047RELEASED APRIL 1993The Report is for sale by the Government Printing Office, Superindendent of Documents. Stock No.: 044-000-02370-9THIS SEGMENT OF THE INCSR REPRESENTS INDIVIDUAL REPORTS FOR THE EUROPEAN NATIONSEUROPE Albania Austria The Baltics Estonia Latvia Lithuania Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech and Slovak Federal Republics Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Luxembourg Malta Moldova The Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Yugoslavia Central Asian States Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Turkmenistan Tajikistan Uzbekistan Transcaucasia Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia[EDITOR'S NOTE: Charts referenced to in brackets [ ] are available only in hard copy of r ... [Read More]
International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports
US DEPARTMENT OF STATEBUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS MATTERSINTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRAGEGY REPORTAPRIL 1994EUROPE 303 Albania 305 Austria 307 The Baltics 309 Estonia 309 Latvia 310 Lithuania 311 Belgium 313 Bulgaria 315 Cyprus 319 Czech Republic 322 Denmark 325 Finland 327 France 329 Germany 332 Greece 335 Hungary 338 Iceland ... [Read More]
International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports
FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERINGMONEY LAUNDERINGOVERVIEWIn 1992, the major trends affecting money laundering policy were: (1) further sophistication of money laundering practices; (2) greater investment of drug and other illicit proceeds into established businesses, both to conceal money movements and to capitalize on illicit profits; (3) the internationalization of money laundering networks whose operations involve an ever larger number of countries and territories, regardless of their importance as financial centers or as drug producing or transit countries; and (4) the intensified involvement of the Sicilian Mafia and other criminal organizations in Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere who comingle proceeds from many crimes to confound investigators, and are now acting as brokers for funds unrelated to their own trafficking activities. These trends have made it more difficult to differentiate between drug-related money laundering and other forms of illegal money m ... [Read More]
M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes
Iran’s real estate market is widely used as an alternative remittance system. For example, real estate transactions take place in Iran, but no funds change hands there; rather, payment is made overseas. This typically is done because of the difficulty in transferring funds out of Iran and the weakness of Iran’s currency, the rial. The real estate market, in at least one instance, has been used to launder narcotics-related funds. ... Member states shall ensure that the obligations laid down in this Directive are imposed on the following institutions: credit institutions (as defined previously); financial institutions (as defined previously); and on the following legal or natural persons acting in the exercise of their professional activities: auditors, external accountants and tax advisors; real estate agents notaries and other independent legal professionals, when they participate, whether: (a) by assisting in the planning or execution of transactions for their client concerning the (i) buying and selling of real property or business entities; (ii) managing of client money, securities or other assets; (iii) opening or management of bank, savings or securities accounts; (iv) organization of contributions necessary for the creation, operation or management of companies (v) creation, operation or management of trusts, companies or similar structures; (b) or by acting on behalf of and for their client in any financial ... [Read More]
Cyprus (07/05)
Services and tourism (76.2% of GDP): Trade, restaurants, and hotels 20.4%; transport 10.9%; finance, real estate, and business 23.8%; government, education, and health 16.1%; and community and other services 4.9%. ... Work force: Government-controlled area (2004), 333,100: agriculture and mining--5.3%; manufacturing and utilities--12.0%; construction--10.7%; trade, hotels, and restaurants--27.1%; transport--5.3%; finance, real estate, and business--11.9%; government, education, and health--18.4%; community and other services--9.3%. Turkish Cypriot-administered area (2003), 95,000: agriculture--14.5%; manufacturing and utilities--9.3%; construction--19.7%; trade, and tourism--11.2%; transport and communication--8.7%; finance--2.5%; business and personal services--15.3%; public services--18.8%. ... [Read More]
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