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The Morning Risk Report: Glencore-Controlled Miner to Pay Canada Fine |
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A worker handles copper sheets at Katanga Mining's copper and cobalt mine in Democratic Republic of Congo. PHOTO: SIMON DAWSON/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Good day. A mining company controlled by Glencore PLC, and some of its current and former executives and directors, agreed to pay more than $22 million to settle Canadian allegations that they hid the risk of doing business with an Israeli businessman close to the Congolese president, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The expected settlement between Canada's biggest stock-market regulator and Toronto-listed Katanga Mining Ltd. is related to the company's business activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the person said. The regulator is expected to focus, at least in part, on Katanga's ties to Dan Gertler, the Israeli businessman who first invested in Katanga alongside Glencore in 2008, the person said. It is also expected to allege that Katanga lacked proper internal financial controls, the person familiar said.
[Continues below...]
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The settlement is expected to be announced as early as this week. It is unclear whether Katanga and the individuals admit to wrongdoing in the settlement. A panel of the regulators have to approve any settlement at a public hearing for it to take effect.
Katanga's settlement represents another reputational hit for Glencore and its African operations. The mining giant, listed in London, said in July it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department relating to its compliance with U.S. antibribery and anti-money-laundering laws in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela. A focus of that probe is Glencore's ties to Mr. Gertler, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
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| From Risk & Compliance Journal |
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U.S. Targets Corporate Networks Amid Sanctions Push in South Sudan |
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The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on three people for their alleged activity in South Sudan. When imposing the sanctions, the U.S. also targeted the corporate networks of two of them.
Focusing on the networks is key to the strength of the sanctions effort, according to The Sentry, a nonprofit investigative organization that tracks corruption and war profiteering in central Africa. The group has produced reports on South Sudanese businessman Obac William Olawo and Gregory Vasili, two of Friday's U.S. sanctions targets.
“Individual sanctions alone are inadequate. Network sanctions, like the ones imposed by the U.S. government [Friday], begin to get at the system of grand corruption that fuels extreme violence in South Sudan, and actually makes war profitable,” said John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry.
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Malaysia Files Criminal Charges Against Goldman Sachs |
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Malaysian authorities on Monday filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. units and a former partner of the bank in connection with the 1MDB financial scandal, the country’s attorney general said in a statement.
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Germany Tightens Foreign Acquisition Rules Amid Chinese
Spree |
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Germany is tightening rules to make it harder for non-European companies to take stakes in German firms without approval. China's plans to purchase assets around the world has forced countries to take steps to screen investments.
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Russian Lawyers Find Niche Counseling Clients Hit by Sanctions
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Russian lawyers are racking up billable hours by helping companies hit by sanctions navigate treacherous legal terrain, and preparing others in case they are targeted next.
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Russians Under Sanctions Can Attend Davos After Moscow
Pressure |
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The World Economic Forum said that Russian businessmen under sanctions may attend the Davos event in January, after Moscow threatened a boycott of the annual gathering.
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Uzbekistan Picks Away at Forced Labor in Its Cotton
Fields |
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Uzbekistan's new leadership says it is working to end forced labor in its cotton fields in the hope of reintegrating one of the world’s largest cotton producers into global markets and allowing its harvest to compete freely.
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XPO Logistics Delivers Roller-Coaster Ride to Wall Street |
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XPO Logistics Inc. has had a smooth ride on Wall Street, but that time may be over: The freight-and-logistics company was roiled by a negative short-seller report and a pullback in its earnings outlook sent its shares into a tailspin.
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Small Banks Brace for Deposit Wars as Interest Rates
Rise |
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Rising interest rates were supposed to help banks. They are hurting many of them instead. Profit margins from lending are still rising overall at banks of all size, but at many small banks, it has started to head the oppositve way.
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U.S., Allies Agreed at Spy Chiefs' Gathering to Contain Huawei |
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Spy chiefs from the "Five Eyes," the West's most powerful intelligence alliance, agreed at a July meeting in Canada they needed to contain Chinese telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei Technologies Co., people familiar with the matter said.
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Facebook Bug Potentially Exposed Unshared Photos of Users
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Facebook Inc. said photos belonging to up to 6.8 million users may have been exposed by a software glitch that granted app developers access to the pictures. Up to 1,500 apps may have had improper access to the photos, the company said Friday on its developers' blog.
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Pushback Derails Company That Thrived on Patent Lawsuits |
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Shipping & Transit LLC sued more than 100 mostly small companies in 2016, making it the largest filer of patent lawsuits that year. But the company's recent demise follows three cases where companies fought back.
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Inside the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Fall River, Mass. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Amazon Targets Unprofitable Items, With a Focus on the Bottom Line
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Amazon.com Inc. is having second thougts about some of the items it sells because they don't make money, and is pushing big brands to change how they use the company's website.
The items, such as bottled beverages or snack foods that are heavy or bulky and difficult to ship, are known inside Amazon as "CRaP," or Can't Realize a Profit. As Amazon focuses more on its bottom line in addition to rapid growth, it is increasingly taking aim at these products, according to brand executives and people familiar with the company's thinking.
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GE Powered the American Century--Then it Burned Out |
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The Fall of the House of Ghosn |
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Accusations of hidden pay and lavish spending on the company dime were intertwined with a deep sense of discontent over the long reign of Carlos Ghosn at the helm of Nissan Motor Co. Renault SA is pressing Nissan to open a discussion into the balance of power atop the automaker following the charges.
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Google Details Major New York Expansion |
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Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced a major real-estate expansion in New York City that will make the company one of the city’s largest commercial tenants and add thousands of jobs in coming years.
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HQ Trivia Co-Founder Dies of Apparent Drug Overdose |
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Colin Kroll, co-founder of the HQ Trivia web app, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose Sunday morning in his Manhattan apartment, authorities said. He was 34.
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