Purpose
This paper aims to examine the current situation in Afghanistan after the rapid withdrawal of US troops and the Taliban takeover of the country, and how this has shed new light on the ...financing of terrorism.
Design/methodology/approach
Informal interviews were conducted with alleged perpetrators as well as formal interviews with compliance experts to further investigate the subject of terrorist financing in the wake of the latest changes in Afghanistan and terrorist financing through hawala banking. The interviewees were analysed through a qualitative analysis.
Findings
Based on the interviews, it was concluded that both illegal and legal sources of income could be used by terrorist financiers. This study also shows why hawala represents a significant challenge for counter-terrorist financing policies.
Originality/value
While existing literature sufficiently links parallel banking systems, such as hawala, to terrorist financing, this study shows the implications for Switzerland’s perceived commitment against financial crime in light of current changes in Afghanistan, and in addition, certain dogmatic weaknesses of Article 260quinquies of the Swiss Penal Code are critically analysed.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the Wirecard scandal has highlighted the need for further reforms in Germany and Europe, exposing institutional and market oversight weaknesses, ...particularly in terms of market integrity and investor protection.
Design/methodology/approach
To provide a comprehensive picture of the situation, this paper is based only on relevant studies, which focus on the topic of interest, namely, the context of the Wirecard collapse in June 2020. It also examines how internal and external governance and monitoring mechanisms failed to uncover major fraud within the German payments group earlier.
Findings
This study shows that this is by no means an isolated or unpredictable incident, and the allegations of accounting fraud had been known for several years, thanks to warnings from the
Financial Times
. In addition, the paper reviews the serious shortcomings revealed in the Wambach report. The report provided private details of the Wirecard audit and documents on the relationship between Wirecard management and the auditor. All of this can serve as a reference point for institutional and market oversight architecture in Germany and Europe and pave the way for future research.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature by highlighting the implications of the Wirecard scandal and the lessons that can be learned from what was one of Germany’s biggest corporate scandals especially at a time when many are already affected by the impact of COVID-19 on the entire financial services industry.
Purpose
This study aims to highlight the risks and threats posed by crowdfunding. It also looks at the new European Union regulation on crowdfunding, which is intended to give participants confidence ...that there will be specific minimum regulatory standards to protect parties against mis-selling issues affecting some platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based upon a thorough literature review.
Findings
Crowdfunding is an essential alternative for financing commercial and non-commercial projects. Although it is a fast-growing digital financial tool, it can also be considered extremely risky. It can be an ideal platform for money laundering and can facilitate the financing of terrorism and fraud.
Originality/value
Crowdfunding is still in its infancy, so the literature has not yet sufficiently addressed the compliance risks of crowdfunding. As a result, there is a significant research gap. Thus, this study aims to analyse and propose suggestions to mitigate the risks that all crowdfunding stakeholders may face when deciding to participate in a crowdfunding activity or when they want to set one up.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a firsthand perspective on the challenges and risks that can arise in arbitration proceedings.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate the concrete ...methods money launderers use, a qualitative study was conducted with 10 alleged money launderers and 18 prevention experts. The results were then tested quantitatively, and it was concluded that among money launderers, the highly regulated financial sector is less popular than other sectors.
Findings
Money launderers relocate to unregulated sectors or offshore banks to avoid being questioned by compliance officers. Therefore, it is necessary for arbitrators involved in commercial or investor–state arbitration to have the expertise to readily identify the issues raised by these criminal law concepts and provide answers.
Originality/value
This paper examines the intersection between the areas of international commercial arbitration and money laundering, bribery, as well as embezzlement. At the same time, it draws attention to the need to analyze compliance issues in arbitration proceedings.
Purpose
This study aims to illustrate how bribery and fake news in Eastern European countries can affect businesses across Europe. Countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Hungary represent ...sizeable and potential markets. Thanks to their European Union membership and low labor costs, these markets could offer many investment opportunities to international managers. Consequently, this study focuses on the challenge of corruption encountered by international managers and the necessary precautions before committing financial resources to these countries.
Design/methodology/approach
For this study, 10 informal interviews with presumed providers of illegal services were used to investigate the previously unexplored innovative research question. Informal interviews were conducted with individuals who can be assumed to have experience or knowledge in the field of corruption in multinational corporations.
Findings
The results show the potential impact of corruption on international managers in Eastern Europe.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by examining two forms of corruption: bribing journalists to publish fake news to harm commercial rivals and bribing public officials to manufacture legal proceedings against business competitors. The following will also highlight how a corrupt judicial system can have implications abroad and what problems this may raise for mutual legal assistance.
Purpose This study aims to analyze the relationship between financial sustainability and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms. Design/methodology/approach To do so, an extensive literature review on ...sustainability, FinTech, P2P lending and their associated risks was conducted using a fundamentally theoretical and descriptive methodology. Findings In addition, this study shows that finance can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon circular economy by allocating investments in sustainable projects and businesses. Moreover, FinTech P2P lending platforms can help to vitalize green digital finance by using the internet and information technology in the lending market. Nevertheless, anonymous lending and borrowing ventures can produce potential risks such as money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud risk and information asymmetry. Originality/value Sustainable finance remains an emerging and relevant area; however, the literature has not sufficiently addressed compliance concerns. To address this gap, this study aims to contribute to the literature by analyzing the link between sustainable finance and P2P platforms and drawing attention to the compliance risks listed above.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence that the occurrence of greenwashing has on the consumer perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Design/methodology/approach ...This paper observed the market indication that a consistent undermining of authentic commitment to CSR taints consumer perception. Investigating how the motivations behind greenwashing contribute to the presentation of CSR was the first means of examining the market forces. Consumer orientation was used as a guiding principle to consider the short- and long-term perspective of a greenwasher. Findings Individual instances of greenwashing contribute to a collective deterioration of marketplace trust in the promises of CSR. The negative influence on CSR is not isolated to the greenwashing perpetrator but casts a wider effect. The consequences of greenwashing are not isolated but widely dispersed. Originality/value Whilst much of the literature focuses on the stigmatisation of individual firms, it is crucial to note how marketplace trust is eroded. In addition, the perception of CSR-related regulations is for example influenced but rarely recognised as a consequence of greenwashing behaviour.
Purpose
This study aims to review the current EU approach to regulating crypto assets. It highlights the key points, opportunities and risks of the MiCA regulation, which is designed to provide a ...comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the EU.
Design/methodology/approach
To do so, the authors extensively reviewed the literature and reports from several advisory and watchdog bodies and international organizations.
Findings
Although MiCA is an ambitious piece of legislation, there are still many unresolved issues and questions that the new regulation raises. Controversially several items have also been excluded from the MiCA regulations, including decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens unless they qualify under the existing cryptocurrency categories, as well as central bank digital currencies.
Originality/value
This study also addresses the Liechtenstein Token Act Regulation, which is considered to have served as a model for the EU MiCA Directive and the regulation of cryptocurrencies at the European level.
