Category: banks

EU foreign ministers approve decision to transfer profits from Russian assets to Ukraine

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. BRUSSELS, June 24. /TASS/. At a regular meeting of the EU Council foreign ministers of 27 EU countries approved the decision to transfer 1.4 billion euros of profits from Russia’s frozen assets to the European Peace Facility for military assistance to Ukraine, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a press conference following the results of the meeting. “The ministers today agreed on…

Russia, China find payments workaround as US sanctions net widens, sources say

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia-China trade options have narrowed since the U.S. imposed sanctions last week on the only Russian bank branch in China, but President Vladimir Putin’s Chinese visit last month has helped ensure the two countries have payment alternatives for now, three sources said. Since Putin’s visit, specially authorised banks have been set up in border regions which allow Russian firms to open non-resident accounts (NRA) with Chinese banks, a step that has become more important since VTB’s Shanghai branch…

US sends submarine to Cuba after Russian ships arrive

USS Helena, a Los Angeles-class boat, arrived on Thursday for a “routine port visit,” the US Southern Command said in a statement.  “The vessel’s location and transit were previously planned,” SOUTHCOM added, noting that the Helena is “conducting its global maritime security and national defense mission.” AP described the submarine’s arrival as “a show of force” by Washington, in response to the presence of Russian ships so close to US shores. A four-vessel task force of the Russian Navy’s Northern…

US and Poland set up center to fight ‘Russian disinformation’ 

The Warsaw-based facility will detect “deceptive narratives” on the Ukraine conflict, the US State Department has said. The United States and Poland have launched an international group based in Warsaw to counter what they describe as Russian disinformation on the Ukraine conflict, the US State Department has announced. The Ukraine Communications Group (UCG) is designed to detect “deceptive narratives” from Russia targeting Kiev and “amplify Ukrainian voices,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday. James Rubin, the head…

The Latest | Jury finds Trump guilty on all charges in hush money trial

It was the first time a former U.S. president was ever tried or convicted in a criminal case, and was the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial. Prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to bury stories that might torpedo his 2016 White House bid. At the heart of the charges were reimbursements paid to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment…

Ukraine’s farm minister is the latest corruption suspect as Kyiv aims to undo recent Russian gains

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia. Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi…

South Korean police raid office of incoming head of doctors’ group over protracted strikes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police said Friday they searched the office of the hard-line incoming leader of an association of doctors and confiscated his mobile phone as he faces accusations that he incited the protracted walkouts by thousands of medical interns and residents. The development could further dim prospects for an early end to the strikes. The office of Lim Hyun-taek, who is to be inaugurated as head of the Korean Medical Association next week, called the…

China investigates senior executive at top defence group, China Electronics Technology

Chinese anti-corruption authorities are investigating a senior executive at one of the country’s top military equipment suppliers, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, in a new sign of turmoil in the country’s defence establishment. The probe into He Wenzhong, deputy general manager of CETC, a company subject to US sanctions, follows a shake-up of the armed forces last year, when the two generals in command of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force were replaced. The force controls China’s land-based nuclear missiles….

Amazon pours an additional $2.75 billion into AI startup Anthropic

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Wednesday it is pouring an additional $2.75 billion into Anthropic, bringing its total investment in the artificial intelligence startup to $4 billion. Amazon will maintain a minority stake in San Francisco-based Anthropic, a rival of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. “Generative AI is poised to be the most transformational technology of our time, and we believe our strategic collaboration with Anthropic will further improve our customers’ experiences, and look forward to what’s next,” said Swami Sivasubramanian,…

UK farmers in tractors head to Parliament to protest rules they say threaten livelihoods

LONDON (AP) — Farmers drove dozens of tractors in a slow-motion convoy towards Britain’s Parliament on Monday to protest post- Brexit rules and trade deals that they say are endangering livelihoods and food security. Supporters of the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent drove from southeast England and through southern districts of the capital, bound for Parliament Square, where dozens of supporters waited to welcome them. Britain has so far not seen large-scale farmers’ protests…

JPMorgan fined almost $350M for issues with trade surveillance program

JPMorgan is facing nearly $350 million in fines from bank regulators due to issues with its trade surveillance program. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday that it was assessing a $250 million civil penalty against JPMorgan Chase Bank because it found that the company “operated with gaps in trading venue coverage and without adequate data controls required to maintain an effective trade surveillance program.” The OCC said it found that JPMorgan failed to monitor billions of…

Barclays sells credit card debt to Blackstone: Profiting from Poverty

Barclays (BARC.L), opens new tab has agreed to sell about $1.1 billion of credit card debt in the United States to Blackstone. Banks globally have been making greater use of credit risk transfers to shed risk from loan portfolios, Reuters has reported, with investors sharing the risk of losses. (See Corporate home buyouts: homelessness, mortgage & rent crisis rising) Barclays’ investment bank acted as an advisor to Blackstone on the transaction. (Reuters)  Blackstone’s investment has been made through insurance accounts managed…

US Indicts Japanese Crime Boss Takeshi Ebisawa and assiciate Somphop Singhasiri for Alleged Trafficking of Nuclear Materials to Iran

In a significant legal move, authorities in the United States have brought charges against the head of a prominent Japanese criminal organization, accusing him of orchestrating a scheme to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar, with the intended destination being Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Takeshi Ebisawa, aged 60, stands accused alongside his associate, Somphop Singhasiri, aged 61, of engaging in a range of illicit activities, including drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and the illicit trade of nuclear substances. Anne Milgram, Director of…

Canada Starts Inquiry Into Election Interference by China, Others

Vancouver, British Columbia — An official commission is about to get underway in Ottawa as Canada tries to determine to what extent China and other countries interfered in its last two elections. The investigation also will examine whether Russia and India interfered as well. All three countries have denied the allegations. Former Conservative Member of Parliament Kenny Chiu (Canadian House of Commons) Justice Marie-Josee Hogue will oversee the commission, which is the latest attempt to find out how countries — predominately…

Morgan Stanley and exec Pawan Passi avoid criminal misconduct prosecution for the price of $249 million

Morgan Stanley will pay $249 million to settle a criminal investigation, as well as a related Securities and Exchange Commission probe. The SEC said the bank generated more than $100 million in illicit profits as a result of misconduct by Pawan Passi, the bank’s former head of its US equity syndicate desk, and another employee.  Morgan Stanley has been under investigation by the SEC since 2019 over its handling of block trades (a business that the bank dominates), and the…

German Scientists Met Openly With Wuhan “Batwoman”

Perfectly timed to coincide with Anthony Fauci’s closed-door testimony before the US Congress, a recent bombshell report suggested, based on FOIA’d emails, that Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology met with Fauci at his National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), outside Washington, in June 2017.  According to the most popular version of the “lab-leak” theory, it is, of course, Shi’s research on coronaviruses in bats which is supposed to have given rise to the SARS-CoV-2 virus which…