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Article: Share buybacks roar back – but how good an idea are they?

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Share buybacks roar back – but how good an idea are they?

Adrian Holliday, 13 May 2021

Spurred by the speed of global vaccination roll-outs, stimulus boosts and a white-hot US first-quarter earnings period, some US companies have upped dividend payments to their shareholders. Alternatively, they’re buying back their own shares in ‘buybacks’. So what are share buybacks? Is the UK seeing a similar wave – and how good an idea are share buybacks for investors? Continue reading “Article: Share buybacks roar back – but how good an idea are they?”

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Article: European police bust major online investment fraud ring

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European police bust major online investment fraud ring

Amer Owaida, 13 May 2021

Europol and several national law enforcement agencies have teamed up to take down an investment fraud and money laundering ring that caused losses of approximately €30 million (US$36 million) to hundreds of victims, according to a press release by the European Union’s law enforcement agency.

The investigation led to the arrest of 11 suspects and involved the search of dozens of locations across Europe and Israel with law enforcement officers seizing a range of ill-gotten gains including jewels, real estate, high-end vehicles and some €2 million (US$2.4 million) in cash. The effort was spearheaded by German law enforcement authorities and supported by their peers from Bulgaria, Israel, Latvia, North-Macedonia, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. Continue reading “Article: European police bust major online investment fraud ring”

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Article: Inflation: going stag

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Inflation: going stag

Gary Tanashian, 13 May 2021

Stagflation in the offing, unless it’s not different this time…

As corporations continue to raise wages, market participants fear the Fed is wrong about supposedly “transitory” inflation, long-term Treasury bond yields resume the rally (bonds decline) manufacturers’ (ISM) costs keep rising, the Fed’s inflationary operation – a desperate monetary kick save if ever there was one – labors on.

The Fed has manipulated bonds and flooded the markets and economy with funny munny created out of nowhere, as if by magic. As if by MMT (modern monetary theory) TMM (total market manipulation). So far, so good. Jerome Powell stands to be the first non-Bernanke winner of the Ben Bernanke Award for Heroism in the line of inflating a debt ridden economy. Continue reading “Article: Inflation: going stag”

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Article: Citibank Taiwan, DBS Bank Taiwan hit for AML failings

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Citibank Taiwan, DBS Bank Taiwan hit for AML failings

Kao Shih-ching, 13 May 2021

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) NT$10 million (US$357,194) and DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) NT$6 million for breaches of the nation’s anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

The NT$10 million fine is the highest penalty that it has imposed on a domestic bank, the commission said.

Citibank Taiwan failed to set up a sound mechanism for evaluating clients’ risk of money laundering and for detecting suspicious transactions, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Huang Kuang-hsi (黃光熙) told a news conference in New Taipei City Continue reading “Article: Citibank Taiwan, DBS Bank Taiwan hit for AML failings”

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Article: Libor Replacement Race Heats Up

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Libor Replacement Race Heats Up

Julia-Ambra Verlaine, 13 May 2021

New contenders are emerging in the race to get rid of the London interbank offered rate by year-end.

Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. traded the first complex derivative using a Bloomberg index crafted to replace Libor, exchanging $250 million worth of an interest-rate swap earlier this month. The Bloomberg Short Term Bank Yield Index competes with the alternative preferred by regulators including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Continue reading “Article: Libor Replacement Race Heats Up”

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Article: N26 faces BaFin scrutiny over money laundering failures

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N26 faces BaFin scrutiny over money laundering failures

Finextra, 12 May 2021

German financial regulator BaFin has ordered mobile bank N26 to fix problems with its IT monitoring and customer due diligence to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The watchdog is appointing a special commissioner to monitor the fintech giant’s compliance with the order to implement appropriate internal controls and safeguards and comply with general due diligence requirements.

N26 has also been told to ensure that it has the adequate personnel, technical and organisational resources to comply with its obligations under anti-money laundering law.The order comes two years after BaFin first reprimanded N26 for lax anti-money laundering controls.

It also comes as BaFin tightens up oversight in the wake of the Wirecard scandal, which cost the regulator’s head, Felix Hufeld, his job. N26 says that online criminal activity has soared around the world since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and that it is working closely with the appointed commissioner.

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Article: SEC fines broker-dealer $1.5M for SARs filing failures

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SEC fines broker-dealer $1.5M for SARs filing failures

Kyle Brasseur, 12 May 2021

A Colorado-based broker-dealer will pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday for lapses in the filing of suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to the threat of cyber-breaches.

GWFS Equities, an affiliate of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, provides services to employer-sponsored retirement plans. The company was allegedly the victim of multiple attempts by bad actors to access the retirement accounts of individual plan participants. GWFS failed to file approximately 130 SARs related to these incidents as required, according to the SEC. Continue reading “Article: SEC fines broker-dealer $1.5M for SARs filing failures”

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Article: SEC Calls Bitcoin “Highly Speculative” With “Potential For Fraud”

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SEC Calls Bitcoin “Highly Speculative” With “Potential For Fraud”

DAVID DIERKING, 12 May 2021

It was thought that with the installation of the Biden administration we’d be looking at a more regulatory-friendly environment for cryptocurrencies. Multiple appointees to his staff have openly expressed at least a willingness to allow for greater acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

It looks like we may not be any closer after all. On Tuesday, the SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued a statement regarding mutual funds taking positions in bitcoin futures. Keep in mind that this is the same bitcoin futures market that many thought was going to clear the path for an eventual bitcoin ETF approval since dozens of ETFs already invest in futures contracts. Continue reading “Article: SEC Calls Bitcoin “Highly Speculative” With “Potential For Fraud””

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Article: Is There A Huge Naked Short on Helium Explorer Avanti Energy?

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Is There A Huge Naked Short on Helium Explorer Avanti Energy?

Editor OilPrice.com, 12 May 2021

Aggressive short sellers, now being targeted by Canadian regulators, are believed to have shorted a shocking 11 million shares of helium miner Avanti Energy in Canada since 2019, most of it in the past two months alone.

That makes Avanti Energy a large target of short-sellers seeking to enrich themselves by destroying companies, even as Canadian regulators are about to tighten the screws on these out-of-control—and naked—shorts. Continue reading “Article: Is There A Huge Naked Short on Helium Explorer Avanti Energy?”

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Article: Uprooting Corruption: Lessons from China

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Uprooting Corruption: Lessons from China

Dr. Ikramul Haq, 12 May 2021

After taking oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan on August 18, 2018, Imran Khan has visited China three times (2018-2020, once every year) during his 33 months in power. After the first visit to Saudi Arabia, which is customary for all new entrants, the Prime Minister showed the importance Pakistan attaches to its most trusted friend, China, by visiting it next.

The much talked about issues in his speeches in China and elsewhere has been his “firm” (but without any roadmap) commitment (verbally) to uprooting corruption and alleviating poverty. On both issues, he vowed to learn from China. Continue reading “Article: Uprooting Corruption: Lessons from China”

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Article: Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK

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Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK

Hannah Brockhaus, 12 May 2021

Gianluigi Torzi, the Italian businessman who brokered the final part of the Secretariat of State’s purchase of a London investment property, has been arrested in the United Kingdom.

The arrest, which took place May 11 in London, was requested by an Italian judge in Rome in April. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Service said: “Officers from the National Extradition Unit attended an address on Campden Hill Road, W8, on Tuesday, May 11.”

“Gianluigi Torzi, 42 (16.01.79), was identified and arrested on a Trade and Cooperation Act (TACA) warrant issued in Italy on Wednesday, May 5 and certified by the National Crime Agency on Thursday, May 6.” Continue reading “Article: Italian broker for Vatican’s London property arrested in UK”

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Article: Government omits financial scams from Online Safety Bill

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Government omits financial scams from Online Safety Bill

FHope William-Smith, 12 May 2021

It comes after the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) called on the government to legislate against online investment fraud in March after it pledged its Online Safety Bill last December.

The WPC’s report recommended the introduction of a regulatory framework for financial promotions to create parity between traditional media such as newspapers and TV, and new media including social media and paid-for advertising.

The Online Safety Bill was given the green light yesterday (11 May) in the Queen’s Speech; despite the parliamentary focus on rebuilding the nation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the soaring number of financial scams harnessing coronavirus to their benefit will remain largely unchecked.

Opening the parliamentary year, the Queen said the government “will lead the way in ensuring internet safety for all” while looking to retain “the benefits of a free, open and secure internet”.

WPC chair and MP Stephen Timms has said the government had been “repeatedly told by countless consumer groups and public bodies” about the financial and emotional harm caused by “online free-for-alls”.

“The government has so far failed to act,” he said. “Every day that goes by without proper regulation of online adverts gives scammers a free pass to prey on people on the internet.”

Timms said ministers had to work to ensure the Online Safety Bill would “live up to its name” and clearly lay out how it will cover scams before it was presented to the House of Commons.

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Article: $153m, 80 assets recovered from Diezani, says EFCC boss Bawa

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$153m, 80 assets recovered from Diezani, says EFCC boss Bawa

Featured, News Update, 12 May 2021

If the words of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, are anything to go by, former Pertoleum Resources Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke would soon be repatriated.

He said several cases surround the one-time minister, who has been living in the United Kingdom (UK) since 2014. According to the anti-graft agency boss, $153 million and 80 properties have so far being seized from her. Continue reading “Article: $153m, 80 assets recovered from Diezani, says EFCC boss Bawa”

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Article: $100 million New Jersey deli: Ex-Trump tax lawyer owned shell company created by mystery investors

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$100 million New Jersey deli: Ex-Trump tax lawyer owned shell company created by mystery investors

Dan Mangan, 11 May 2021

Shell companies sure make strange bedfellows.

A New York real estate tax lawyer — who did work for former President Donald Trump decades ago — in 2011 purchased a shell company whose creators later became key investors in a mystery $100 million company that owns just a small New Jersey deli, records show.

The shell company — Europa Acquisition I Inc. — was one of eight shell entities set up in 2010 by Peter Reichard and Peter Coker Sr., the North Carolina-based investors in deli owner Hometown International. Continue reading “Article: $100 million New Jersey deli: Ex-Trump tax lawyer owned shell company created by mystery investors”

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Article: CFTC Whistleblower Program in Peril Over Potential $100 Million-Plus Payout

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CFTC Whistleblower Program in Peril Over Potential $100 Million-Plus Payout

Alexandra Berzon, 11 May 2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s whistleblower program is in turmoil over a potential payout exceeding $100 million to a former Deutsche Bank AG executive—one so large it would deplete the agency’s whistleblower funds and has led it to seek congressional action.

The executive had provided information that helped CFTC and Justice Department investigations that led to roughly $2.5 billion in settlements with Deutsche Bank in 2015, including $800 million with the CFTC. They alleged that the bank manipulated the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, a benchmark interest rate used to set short-term loans for global banks. Continue reading “Article: CFTC Whistleblower Program in Peril Over Potential $100 Million-Plus Payout”