The COVID-19 Pandemic as an Opportunity for a Permanent Reduction in Civil Rights

<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects, which are primarily being felt in the functioning of the health service, the organization of social life, and the state of the national economy. It is also worth paying attention to the legal and political consequences which are less obvious and noticeable for average citizens. One of the most important is the change in legislation which entails limiting civil liberties and rights. This article is on empirical proof of how Polish legislation is reducing fundamental rights. The authorities in combatting the pandemic are not using the solutions that appear in the Polish Constitution, but use the non-constitutional form of special laws. The authors, therefore, when discussing the problem refer to US legislation and policy which has the notable example of the Patriot Act which can be interpreted as being a pretext for limiting civil liberties in the name of combating terrorism. As stated, such emergencies as the current pandemic or the threat of terrorism, are used to permanently and significantly reduce civil rights.</p>

The anti-money laundering act of 2020

Purpose The purpose of this article is to inform stakeholders about the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA), explain its impact on the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regime, and highlight critical updates for financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach The article provides an overview of the AMLA, and specifically addresses three key components: (1) the development of uniform beneficial ownership requirements and the creation of a beneficial ownership registry at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN); (2) the expansion of FinCEN’s powers and the Bank Secrecy Act/AML program requirements; and (3) new subpoena powers with potential extraterritorial effect granted to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Attorney General for documents located at foreign banks that have a correspondent banking account in the U.S. The article also notes the purpose and goals of the AMLA. Findings The AMLA is the first major overhaul of the U.S. AML regime since the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act, and is designed to strengthen national security, protect the financial system, and simplify compliance obligations. The beneficial ownership reporting requirements represent an effort to combat illicit financial activity conducted by shell companies formed and registered in the U.S. Originality/value The article provides financial institutions with a brief overview of a lengthy new law that will impact their AML compliance obligations. Financial institutions should be on alert for forthcoming regulations.

The impact of blacklists on external deposits: one size does not fit all

Purpose This study aims to measure the impact of the Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and US PATRIOT Act Section 311 blacklists on external deposits from blacklisted jurisdictions into BIS reporting countries in 1996–2008, a period when anti-money laundering-related actions were consistently less stringent than post-2010, to see whether they had an effect even absent the threat of sizable financial fines. Design/methodology/approach The study uses descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate regressions to analyze the probable impact from blacklists on non-bank external deposits. The country sample is divided into offshore financial centers (OFCs) and non-OFCs and includes 158 non-listed countries. The impact of the blacklists is tested both jointly and individually for the respective blacklists. Findings The authors find mixed impact from jurisdictions being blacklisted on the growth rate of stocks of deposits into BIS reporting countries. Effects are often zero, negative in several cases and positive in some cases. This is consistent with the “stigma effect” and the “stigma paradox” in the literature. An overall impact from blacklisting is difficult to discern. Different blacklists had different effects, and the same blacklist impacted countries differently, illustrating the importance of disaggregating the analysis by individual countries. Research limitations/implications Interpretation of these data is limited by the absence of comparable data on non-resident deposits in blacklisted jurisdictions. Practical implications The impact of a blacklist depends in part on the structure of the listed jurisdictions’ economies, implying that country-specific sanctions may be more effective than blacklists. Originality/value This is one of the very few papers to date to rigorously test the impact of blacklists on external deposits.

From the Patriot Act to the “Muslim Ban”

This chapter examines counterterrorism policy as one of the major sites through which American Muslims are framed as an out-group against which American identity can be measured and defined. It cites the reading of the War on Terror that presents hate crimes, bias incidents, and discriminatory state policy as a productive discourse through which certain groups are constituted as outside the boundaries of the national community. It looks at the rise of Muslim American advocacy organizations and the domestic and foreign policy issues at the core of their lobbying efforts. The chapter covers surveillance and profiling, protection of religious freedom, Islamophobia, countering violent extremism, the Palestinian—Israeli conflict, the Arab Spring, and human rights in the Muslim-majority world. It also clarifies how US Muslim organizations navigate their entry into the policy process while negotiating their community's place in the American mosaic.

O processo de veridicção e governamentalidade planetária no combate ao terrorismo durante o governo George W. Bush

O imediato pós-Guerra Fria inaugurou um período repleto de novos conflitos em âmbito global, os quais se estruturavam em uma lógica diferente da perspectiva tradicional de embates interestatais. Estes atritos têm, dentre suas características principais, a atuação de atores não-estatais e o caráter transterritorial das novas ameaças à governança global, como é possível observar no terrorismo contemporâneo. Atentos a essa dinâmica e tendo como base as contribuições analítico-metodológicas de Michel Foucault à análise do discurso, nesse artigo propomos examinar em que medida o processo de veridicção – enquanto construção de “regimes de verdade” – embasou as ações do governo norte-americano de George W. Bush contra grupos definidos como terroristas fundamentalistas. Tendo como hipótese que os novos dispositivos de segurança são formulados com o intuito de instaurar um policiamento que não se restringe ao âmbito interno de certos Estados, apropriamo-nos das noções de “governamentalidade” de Foucault (2016) e de “dispositivo diplomático-policial” de Rodrigues (2013) para indicar a transterritorialidade das políticas de segurança voltadas ao terrorismo. De forma específica, investigamos, a partir do Patriot Act (2001) e da National Security Strategy (2002), em que medida os discursos contribuem para a formulação das políticas de segurança estadunidense, favorecendo o estabelecimento de uma governamentalidade planetária ancorada em ações de repressão, prevenção e controle sob determinados grupos e populações comumente associados ao terrorismo. Nesse sentido, observamos como o fortalecimento do status de verdade para determinados discursos sobre o terrorismo contemporâneo permite a materialização de práticas de policiamento de condutas (dispositivo diplomático-policial) em prol de uma segurança planetária.Palavras-Chave: Terrorismo; Regimes de Verdade; Dispositivo diplomático-policial; Governo Bush; Governamentalidade Planetária.