Month: May 2021

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Article: Vietnam seeks avoidance as currency manipulator in future

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Vietnam seeks avoidance as currency manipulator in future

Saigon Investment, 06 May 2021

Professor Eswar Prasad at Cornell University believes that the US Treasury report this time includes more intensive analysis and shows a less overtly political approach than previous reports during the Trump Administration. However, to avoid being labeled as a currency manipulator again in the future, Vietnam needs to do much more concerning trade and currency issues, rather than just tackling short term problems.

Subjective decision Continue reading “Article: Vietnam seeks avoidance as currency manipulator in future”

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Article: FOCUS-Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power sellers

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FOCUS-Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power sellers

Devika Krishna Kumar, Scott DiSavino and Jessica Resnick-Ault, 06 May 2021

Natural gas suppliers, pipeline companies and banks that trade commodities have emerged as the biggest market winners from February’s U.S. winter blast that roiled gas and power markets, according to more than two dozen interviews and quarterly earnings reports.

The deep freeze caught Texas’s utilities off-guard, killed more than 100 people and left 4.5 million without power. Demand for heat pushed wholesale power costs to 400 times the usual amount and propelled natural gas prices to record highs, forcing utilities and consumers to pay exorbitant bills. Continue reading “Article: FOCUS-Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power sellers”

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Article: US regulator probing China’s role in container shortage

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US regulator probing China’s role in container shortage/strong>

John Gallagher, 06 May 2021

A top maritime official has started an informal investigation into whether China is using its market power to monopolize containers and other equipment crucial to international supply chains to pump up rates paid by American exporters.

Carl Bentzel, a U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner (FMC), told attendees at a virtual business meeting hosted by the Intermodal Association of North America that he is looking into the availability of containers, intermodal chassis and railroad equipment, and whether the U.S. has become overly dependent on such equipment owned and managed by China. Continue reading “Article: US regulator probing China’s role in container shortage”

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Article: Hun Sen Ally Buys London ‘Private Bank’ With Shady Ties

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Hun Sen Ally Buys London ‘Private Bank’ With Shady Ties

Jack Davies and Sovannarith, 06 May 2021

One of Cambodia’s wealthiest families with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen late last year acquired a British payment services provider, Connectum Limited. That company generates millions of dollars in revenue each year, serving as an intermediary between small businesses and major credit card firms like Visa and MasterCard.

Heng Sokha, wife of former Transport Ministry secretary of state Ing Bun Hoaw, took ownership of Connectum in November 2020. Experts say that should raise red flags for British financial regulators. Continue reading “Article: Hun Sen Ally Buys London ‘Private Bank’ With Shady Ties”

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Article: Dummy WallStreetBets Crypto Pumps Telegram Group Dupe Investors In $2 Million Scam

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Dummy WallStreetBets Crypto Pumps Telegram Group Dupe Investors In $2 Million Scam

Bhushan Akolkar, 05 May 2021

The altcoins market is bustling with new all-time highs and crypto scammers are once again round the corner. Members of the popular WallStreetBets Reddit forum were recently targeted by a spammy and dummy Telegram group duping investors of $2 million in losses.

In the latest crypto scam, a dummy Telegram account dubbed ‘WallStreetBets Crypto Pumps’ swayed investors on buying the new token called WSB Finance even before its listing on the exchange. This Telegram account is in no way linked to the infamous Reddit stock board WallStreetBets responsible for the GameStop (NYSE: GME) earlier this year on Wall Street. Continue reading “Article: Dummy WallStreetBets Crypto Pumps Telegram Group Dupe Investors In $2 Million Scam”

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Article: Westpac Probed by Regulator on Insider Trading Allegations

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Westpac Probed by Regulator on Insider Trading Allegations

Nabila Ahmed, 05 May 2021

Australia’s securities regulator is probing Westpac Banking Corp. on allegations of insider trading, just months after the country’s second-biggest lender paid a record fine to settle breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

The allegations relate to Westpac’s role in executing a A$12 billion ($9.3 billion) interest-rate swap transaction with a consortium of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd. and a group of IFM entities in October 2016, according to a statement on Wednesday from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. Continue reading “Article: Westpac Probed by Regulator on Insider Trading Allegations”

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Article: Asic accuses Westpac of insider trading over $12bn Ausgrid privatisation deal

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Asic accuses Westpac of insider trading over $12bn Ausgrid privatisation deal

Ben Butler, 05 May 2021

The corporate regulator has taken legal action accusing Westpac of insider trading over a $12bn interest rate swap linked to the part-privatisation in 2016 of New South Wales’s electricity distribution network, Ausgrid.

In a federal court lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission accused Westpac of using inside information to trade in interest rate derivatives during the two hours before it executed the swap, which was the largest in Australian history.

It is the latest regulatory blow for the big bank, which in September last year agreed to pay a record $1.3bn fine to settle legal action over money laundering and child exploitation allegations levelled against it by the financial intelligence agency, Austrac.

Westpac also has recent form in the area of market manipulation – in 2018, the federal court found it had engaged in “serious and unacceptable” conduct by attempting to fix an interest rate benchmark, and fined it $3.3m, which was the maximum available under the law at the time.

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Article: Swedbank Fined $5.5 million by Nasdaq Stockholm

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Swedbank Fined $5.5 million by Nasdaq Stockholm

Dominic Chopping, 05 May 2021

STOCKHOLM–Swedbank AB said Wednesday that it has been ordered to pay 46.6 million Swedish kronor ($5.5 million) by Nasdaq Stockholm’s disciplinary committee for anti-money laundering shortcomings.

“The disciplinary committee states that Swedbank over a long period of time had shortcomings in its AML processes and routines and that the shortcomings were known to the bank’s former top management for a long period of time,” the bank said.

The fine, for breaching Nasdaq rules on disclosure of information, relates to the period between December 2016 and February 2019. Continue reading “Article: Swedbank Fined $5.5 million by Nasdaq Stockholm”

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Article: Hedge Funds Bet On Higher Oil Prices

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Hedge Funds Bet On Higher Oil Prices

Tsvetana Paraskova, 05 May 2021

Money managers intimate a growing confidence that oil prices have room to run higher this year, thanks to expectations of a robust economic rebound and rising global demand for crude.

Last week, hedge funds added the most bullish positions in the oil complex in more than two and a half months, with the net long in crude oil futures jumping to the highest in six weeks. Continue reading “Article: Hedge Funds Bet On Higher Oil Prices”

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Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden

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Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden

Don’t be fooled by Joe Biden. He knows his infrastructure and education bills have as much chance at becoming law as the $15-dollar minimum wage or the $2,000 stimulus checks he promised us as a candidate. He knows his American Jobs Plan will never create “millions of good paying jobs – jobs Americans can raise their families on” any more than NAFTA, which he supported, would, as was also promised, create millions of good paying jobs. His mantra of “buy American” is worthless. He knows the vast majority of our consumer electronics, apparel, furniture and industrial supplies are made in China by workers who earn an average of one or two dollars an hour and lack unions and basic labor rights. He knows his call to lower deductibles and prescription drug costs in the Affordable Care Act will never be permitted by the corporations that profit from health care. He knows the corporate donors that fund the Democratic Party will ensure their lobbyists will continue to write Continue reading “Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden”

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Joseph Farrell: Another Mysterious Banker Death…

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Another Mysterious Banker Death…

There has been another mysterious banker suicide, and if you’ve been following that story over the last few years, this one will interest you; the story was spotted and passed along by A.S. (to whom a big thank you). I’ve written a great number of blogs about this theme, which you can access on the website by searching for “banker deaths”. Continue reading “Joseph Farrell: Another Mysterious Banker Death…”

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Article: Canada Says Hizbullah, Iran Involved in Money Laundering

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Canada Says Hizbullah, Iran Involved in Money Laundering

Naharnet Newsdesk, 04 May 2021

The Canadain federal government has tasked a committee with investigating money laundering, gambling and drug smuggling operations through casinos in Vancouver, in which a network reportedly affiliated with the Iranian regime and Hizbullah are involved, al-Arabiya network revealed on Tuesday.

The committee provided Al-Arabiya channel with part of the investigation, which was conducted last March, in which an officer revealed the involvement of Iran and Hizbullah in the money laundering process.

A former Canadian Royal Mounted Police officer said:”We have seen their continuing affinity (Iranian regime network and Hizbullah) with Chinese network active in illegal activities in Canada,” he said, pointing out to “phone calls” between the two parties. Continue reading “Article: Canada Says Hizbullah, Iran Involved in Money Laundering”

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Article: Mediaset, Vivendi Settle Five-Year Legal Dispute

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Mediaset, Vivendi Settle Five-Year Legal Dispute

Elsa Keslassy, 04 May 2021

Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset, Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Vivendi, the parent company of Universal Music Group and Canal Plus Group, have reached an agreement to settle their legal spat over their failed pay-TV deal.

Both companies, along with Fininvest, Berlusconi’s holding company, have agreed to waive all ongoing disputes between them. Under the pact, Vivendi will sell its 19.19% stake in Mediaset over a five-year period through a trust called Simon Fiduciaria. Continue reading “Article: Mediaset, Vivendi Settle Five-Year Legal Dispute”

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Article: Revisiting the Northern Bank robbery – the biggest heist in British history

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Revisiting the Northern Bank robbery – the biggest heist in British history

Steven Moore, 04 May 2021

The BBC is taking a fresh look at the biggest heist in British history – the Northern Bank Robbery.

Broadcast on BBC One NI on Monday (May 3) at 9pm, it tells the story of how the multi-million pound robbery played out in the days before Christmas 2004. In a sophisticated operation, the gang took two families hostage for 24 hours, forcing two bank employees to rob £26.5 million from the Belfast cash centre.

With exclusive access to new source material – including police 999 calls along with internal bank CCTV and court documents – they piece together what could have happened.

Through interviews with key players – in politics, policing and financial crime – they uncover what happened to the main suspects in the cross-border police investigation and ask whether the robbery may, inadvertently, have helped the peace process.

The film includes interviews with Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach; Michael McDowell, former Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Sir Hugh Orde, former Chief Constable PSNI; Dr Mitchell Reiss, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland under the Bush administration; Tom Kelly, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesperson between 2001-7); and Peter Robinson, former leader of DUP and First Minister of NI.

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