Financial Intelligence

At least one lawmaker seems to want the Securities and Exchange Commission to become irrelevant. The regulator has had its problems. But a Republican bid to reshape it seems meant to hinder, not help. There’s room for improvement, but with its duties growing, the watchdog needs more staff, more money and a buffer against Congress. The New York Times, Thursday, August 4, 2011

A Manhattan federal judge has frozen the assets of three Swiss asset managers accused of illegally profiting from trades made ahead of the $1.2 billion sale of Arch Chemicals to the Lonza Group, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday. The S.E.C.

After surviving an early attempt to blunt the legislation, the soon-to-be-released European Order for the Preservation of Assets and its sister law, the European Order for the Disclosure of Assets, could be effective in the cross-border fight to take back assets, if they are enacted.

Switzerland has blocked Syrian assets worth 27 million Swiss francs ($32 million), Swiss news agency SDA reported on Sunday, citing a Swiss newspaper report that the Swiss Secretariat for Economics (SECO) confirmed. The news agency said SECO declined to comment on whether the assets of President Bashar al-Assad had been frozen. Reuters, Sunday, July 3, 2011

Gwent Police have seized enoug cash and assets from criminals in the past five years to fund five new jobs. Each year police forces receive a proportion of the money they confiscate from career criminals, to fight crimes that blight communities. This year Gwent seized £1.6m, £400,000 of which will fund one new post and tackle drug dealers and paedophiles. BBC, Friday, May 13, 2011

Tax day 2011 has come and gone, but for thousands of Americans the most critical financial reporting is still to be done, when overseas deposits must be reported. How can asset recovery^* professionals use those reports to do their jobs?