Posted on

Article: Being ‘tough on China’ can’t mean harming our own interests

Article - Media, Publications

Being ‘tough on China’ can’t mean harming our own interests

DANIEL L DAVIS, 11 April 2021

Being “tough on China” is politically popular in Washington these days, and Biden has come out of the gate swinging against Beijing. But “being tough” isn’t a policy and reflexively applying it to China doesn’t serve U.S. interests. A logical and realistic approach to Beijing, however, can.

Obama’s “pivot to Asia” in 2011 opened a new chapter in Sino-American relations and turned an always challenging relationship even more tense. From the beginning of his administration, Trump characterized China in starkly adversarial terms, calculating domestic political advantage in starting a trade war. In the early months of the Biden term, it appears the new president has chosen to accelerate this deterioration in relations. Continue reading “Article: Being ‘tough on China’ can’t mean harming our own interests”

Posted on

Article: JPMORGAN EYEING BITCOIN’S CONTANGO, RELEASES BULLISH REPORT

Article - Media, Publications

JPMORGAN EYEING BITCOIN’S CONTANGO, RELEASES BULLISH REPORT

DYLAN LECLAIR, 10 April 2021

In a report titled “Why Is The Bitcoin Futures Curve So Steep?” JPMorgan Chase analysts examined the growing futures and derivatives market surrounding bitcoin, provided insights as to why the contango is so steep and explored what the future holds for the monetary asset as it becomes increasingly financialized.

Here are some of the highlights from the report. Continue reading “Article: JPMORGAN EYEING BITCOIN’S CONTANGO, RELEASES BULLISH REPORT”

Posted on

Article: Corruption series sparked calls for change at SC Statehouse, but progress has been slow

Article - Media, Publications

Corruption series sparked calls for change at SC Statehouse, but progress has been slow

Avery G. Wilks, 10 April 2021

COLUMBIA — With time running out on their 2021 calendar, South Carolina lawmakers have made little progress toward closing ethics loopholes for big-spending special government district leaders. Nor have they given the state’s top law enforcement agency the money it says it needs to better investigate public corruption.

But influential legislators say they remain committed to tackling those concerns, which were highlighted earlier this year in The Post and Courier’s Uncovered series, a yearlong project with community newspapers aimed at unearthing corruption and abuses of power in small-town South Carolina. Continue reading “Article: Corruption series sparked calls for change at SC Statehouse, but progress has been slow”

Posted on

Article: China Hits Alibaba With Huge $2.78 Billion Fine For Market Abuse: Report

Article - Media, Publications

China Hits Alibaba With Huge $2.78 Billion Fine For Market Abuse: Report

Agence France-Presse, 10 April 2021

Shanghai, China: Chinese regulators have hit e-commerce giant Alibaba with a massive 18.2 billion yuan ($2.78 billion) fine over practices deemed to be an abuse of the company’s dominant market position, state-run media reported on Saturday.

Xinhua news agency said the State Administration for Market Regulation had assessed the fine after concluding an investigation into Alibaba that began in December. Continue reading “Article: China Hits Alibaba With Huge $2.78 Billion Fine For Market Abuse: Report”

Posted on

Article: Archegos Exposes SEC Blind Spots, Dithering on Market Oversight

Article - Media, Publications

Archegos Exposes SEC Blind Spots, Dithering on Market Oversight

Robert Schmidt and Benjamin Bainx, 10 April 2021

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was supposed to be able to spot a whale like Bill Hwang by now. As the financial world knows, it didn’t. Will the agency be able to catch the next one?

The collapse of Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management represents one of the most spectacular failures of risk-management and oversight in recent memory. For the SEC, it caps a decade of foot-dragging on protections that were meant to avert, or at least minimize, just such a blowup. Continue reading “Article: Archegos Exposes SEC Blind Spots, Dithering on Market Oversight”

Posted on

Article: South Korean Government Announces Crackdown on Illicit Crypto-Related Transactions in an ‘Overheated Market’

Article - Media, Publications

South Korean Government Announces Crackdown on Illicit Crypto-Related Transactions in an ‘Overheated Market’

Felipe Erazo, 10 April 2021

According to Chosun, the South Korean Government met with politicians, law enforcement, and financial watchdog authorities to take down illicit transactions from what they named an “overheated market.”

The meeting was led by the Second Deputy Secretary of State Moon Seung-wook, who called authorities from the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the National Police Agency. Continue reading “Article: South Korean Government Announces Crackdown on Illicit Crypto-Related Transactions in an ‘Overheated Market’”

Posted on

Article: U.S. Spy Agencies Warn of Threats From Digital Currency to AI

Article - Media, Publications

U.S. Spy Agencies Warn of Threats From Digital Currency to AI

Joen Coronel, 10 April 2021

The U.S. intelligence community predicts an increasingly leaderless and unstable world in the coming decades as trends such as artificial intelligence, digital currencies and climate change reshape the global arena, according to the National Intelligence Council.

The coming decades will be characterized by a mismatch between global challenges and “the ability of institutions and system to respond,” according to “Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World.” The result will be “greater contestation at every level” — especially between the U.S. and China. Continue reading “Article: U.S. Spy Agencies Warn of Threats From Digital Currency to AI”

Posted on

Article: Can the US compete?

Article - Media, Publications

Can the US compete?

Rod Kapunan, 10 April 2021

Many are speculating whether the US has the budget to sustain the cost for the long-delayed rehabilitation of America’s infrastructure. It was announced it will cost the Biden administration a whopping $2 trillion to undertake the repairs of the country’s mostly aging infrastructure.

As observed, the US economy is saddled with great contradictions. It is deeply mired in debt that it cannot just do all things at the same time. Some say the problem is for the US economy to undergo some kind of economic metamorphoses, similar to what China did to overcome the obstacle inherent in the US system.

One must remember that the greatest enemy of the US is the contradiction from within its own system. The US is hampered in what Marx says “internal contradictions” – that the interest of the various pressure groups could stymie most of its objectives. Continue reading “Article: Can the US compete?”

Posted on

Article: Money laundering gang sentenced to over 100 years, have SR465 million confiscated from them

Article - Media, Publications

Money laundering gang sentenced to over 100 years, have SR465 million confiscated from them

ARAB NEWS, 10 April 2021

RIYADH: A money laundering gang in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to a total of 106 years in prison and issued a fine of SR1.08 million ($288,000).

Around SR5 million was seized from the gang and nearly SR2 million was confiscated from their bank accounts, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Five citizens obtained seven commercial registers to import foodstuffs, opened bank accounts, and handed them over to 16 residents of Arab nationality with the aim of depositing illegal sums of money and transferring them abroad, the Public Prosecution said. Continue reading “Article: Money laundering gang sentenced to over 100 years, have SR465 million confiscated from them”

Posted on

Article: Boat-Buying Ponzi Schemer Admits Luring Investors

Article - Media, Publications

Boat-Buying Ponzi Schemer Admits Luring Investors

Brian Dowling, 09 April 2021

A self-professed venture capitalist from Boston admitted Thursday to duping investors with promises of easy, no-risk profits as part of a Ponzi-like fraud scheme that prosecutors say netted him a powerboat.

Tanmaya Kabra pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper under a deal with prosecutors, who have agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the federal guidelines. Judge Casper scheduled Kabra’s sentencing for Aug. 30. Continue reading “Article: Boat-Buying Ponzi Schemer Admits Luring Investors”

Posted on

Article: Robinhood Faces 458% Spike in Crypto Customers–Massive Increase from 1.7 Million to 9.5 Million in Q1 of 2021

Article - Media, Publications

Robinhood Faces 458% Spike in Crypto Customers–Massive Increase from 1.7 Million to 9.5 Million in Q1 of 2021

Joen Coronel, 09 April 2021

On Thursday, Apr. 8, Robinhood announced a staggering surge in the number of its customers who engage in cryptocurrency trading. The financial services company which was founded on Apr. 18, 2013, has recorded that 9.5 million people have used the platform during the first quarter of this year.

The said number shoots up to a stupendous 458% increase in users, which only accounts for 1.7 million in 2020’s Q4.

How Robinhood Sudden Became Popular in Crypto Trading Continue reading “Article: Robinhood Faces 458% Spike in Crypto Customers–Massive Increase from 1.7 Million to 9.5 Million in Q1 of 2021”

Posted on

Article: Robinhood Says 9.5 Million People Traded Crypto on Its App in Q1

Article - Media, Publications

Robinhood Says 9.5 Million People Traded Crypto on Its App in Q1

Will Gottsegen, 09 April 2021

The online brokerage service Robinhood said on Thursday that 9.5 million of its customers traded cryptocurrency on its platform in Q1 of 2021.

That’s up from just 1.7 million in Q4 of last year, a 458% spike.

In a blog post, the company chalked up the numbers to crypto’s growing “popularity”: the global market cap of all cryptocurrencies has doubled in the past three months to over $2 trillion. Continue reading “Article: Robinhood Says 9.5 Million People Traded Crypto on Its App in Q1”

Posted on

Article: Financial Tyranny: Footing The Tax Bill For The Government’s Fiscal Insanity

Article - Media, Publications

Financial Tyranny: Footing The Tax Bill For The Government’s Fiscal Insanity

TYLER DURDEN, 09 April 2021

“We are now speeding down the road of wasteful spending and debt, and unless we can escape we will be smashed in inflation.”- Herbert Hoover

We’re not living the American dream. We’re living a financial nightmare.. Continue reading “Article: Financial Tyranny: Footing The Tax Bill For The Government’s Fiscal Insanity”

Posted on

Article: Rich Coleman’s dismissal of money laundering warning was baseless: Mountie

Article - Media, Publications

Rich Coleman’s dismissal of money laundering warning was baseless: Mountie

Graeme Wood, 09 April 2021

RCMP’s failure to earmark adequate resources against financial crime was compounded by government officials downplaying problem, inquiry hears.

The senior Mountie in charge of a B.C. money laundering unit in January 2011 says he was “taken aback” by then minister of public safety and solicitor general Rich Coleman’s dismissal of his assessment of money laundering activity in government-regulated casinos. Continue reading “Article: Rich Coleman’s dismissal of money laundering warning was baseless: Mountie”

Posted on

Article: Portugal ex-PM to stand trial for money laundering, forgery

Article - Media, Publications

Portugal ex-PM to stand trial for money laundering, forgery

BARRY HATTON, 09 April 2021

A Lisbon judge ruled Friday to put former Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates on trial for alleged money-laundering and forgery but said the statute of limitations had expired on more than a dozen corruption allegations.

Judge Ivo Rosa said that 1.7 million euros ($2 million), much of it in cash, given to Sócrates by a childhood friend who was working for a Portuguese construction company amounted to an attempt to gain influence over the prime minister and win contracts. Continue reading “Article: Portugal ex-PM to stand trial for money laundering, forgery”