On November 27, 2020, senior law enforcement officials from the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras announced the filing of criminal charges against 700 members of transnational criminal organizations (TOC), mainly MS-13 and 18^th Street gangs. The charges came from a one-week coordinated law enforcement action under Operation Regional Shield (ORS).[1]

On December 1, 2020, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) issued notice of requests by the United States Internal Revenue Service, based on its tax treaty, for the FTA to transmit to the IRS information concerning accounts identified as U.S. accounts.[1]

On December 7, 2020, the EU Council adopted a decision and a regulation establishing a Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR).[1] For the first time, the EU is equipping itself with a framework that will allow it to target individuals, entities and bodies – including state and non-state actors – responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occurred.

                On December 7, 2020, the United States Department of Justice unsealed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburg a criminal complaint, charging Desmond Fodje Bobga, 27, with crimes related to an alleged online “puppy scam.” Bobga is a citizen of Cameroon who is attending a university in Romania.[1]

On October 27, 2020, the Swiss government returned to Italy 26 Etruscan artifacts that were illegally acquired by a private Swiss collector between 1965 and 1968 and stored for 15 years in the Geneva free port.[1]

On November 19, 2020, Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian Defense Force (ADF), ”unreservedly apologized” to the Afghan people in a press conference regarding the release of a 531-report[1] on alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other wrongdoing committed by Australian special forces during the Afghan war.

On December 2, 2020, the United States[1] and European Union law enforcement agencies acted to crack down against money mules. Money mules are individuals who help fraudsters by receiving money from victims of fraud and forwarding it to the fraud organizers, many of whom are located abroad. 

On November 18, 2020, Italy extradited to the United States Ramon Santoyo-Cristobal, aka Dr. Wagner, a former officer of the Mexican Federal Police and alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficker.[1]

On November 17, 2020, the Attorney General of the United States William P. Barr and Fiscalía General of Mexico Alejandro Gertz Manero issued a joint statement[1] announcing that the U.S. government has decided to seek dismissal of the U.S. criminal charges against former Mexican Secretary of National Defense General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda. Within one day, the charges were dismissed and Cienfuegos was returned to Mexico.

On October 19, 2020, after seven months of negotiations,[1] officials from the United States and Brazil announced the conclusion of a protocol on a limited trade deal that will facilitate commerce between the countries, strengthen regulatory practices, and strengthen anti- corruption measures. The new Protocol concerns Trade Rules and Transparency. The Protocol updates the 2011 Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation (ATEC) with three new annexes consisting of state-of-the-art provisions on Customs Administration and Trade Facilitation, Good Regulatory Practices, and Anticorruption.[2]  This article discusses Annex III on anti-corruption and some of its implications in the U.S. and Brazil.