Oman’s VAT executive regulations were released (in Arabic) on 14 March, with the Oman Tax Authority (OTA) releasing an unofficial English translation on 24 March 2021. In this alert, based on the unofficial English translation, we summarise the regulations, arranged on the basis of important VAT concepts and areas often overlooked by taxpayers.
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) issued circular OG/124/2021 on 8 April 2021. Read more about CRS & FATCA reporting windows!
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), as Bahrain’s capital market regulator, requires capital market service providers (CMSPs) to identify and assess money-laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) risks within their businesses and implement anti-money laundering and combatting financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks. For more information read our brief.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recognises misuse of trade as one way criminal organisations and terrorist financiers disguise the proceeds of illegal activities, using trade transactions to launder illicit origins or finance activities. Trade-based money laundering (TBML) generally involves the exploitation of complex cross-border financial instruments used to export and import goods and we have more information included in our spotlight.
With an increased focus on anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) risks in financial institutions, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) requires financial institutions to independently review the quality of their AML/CFT procedures, systems and controls – as well as compliance with the AML law and the CBB’s financial crime (FC) module. Annual reviews must conform with the agreed upon procedures (AUP) template introduced by the CBB.
For more details about Agreed Upon Procedures (AUPs) for AML/CFT annual reviews, please refer to our flyer!
