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The Morning Risk Report: Nordic, Baltic Regulators Agree to Share Info on Money-Laundering Threats
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Financial regulators in Nordic and Baltic countries have agreed to share more information about money-laundering threats. PHOTO: MIGUEL MEDINA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Good morning. Financial regulators in eight Nordic and Baltic countries have agreed to share more information about money-laundering threats in an effort to fight financial crimes, Risk & Compliance Journal’s Kristin Broughton reports. Regulators said they plan to develop a coordinated process for exchanging information across Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.
The measures come as banks in the region face questions about safeguards for spotting financial crimes. The questions have had a significant impact, prompting some banks to reshuffle management. The move is the latest joint effort by financial regulators and banks across the globe to improve their anti-money-laundering compliance.
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Financial regulators in Nordic countries have a long track record of sharing information with each other, according to Monique Melis, a managing director in Duff & Phelps LLC’s compliance and regulatory consulting practice. The effort to include Baltic regulators highlights concerns about transactions with links to Russia, she said.
Financial information-sharing efforts have taken hold elsewhere in the world. Several of the biggest U.S. banks, for instance, have been working together to share data, such as the names of potentially suspicious account holders and dates of financial transactions. Such efforts, which also have been launched in Australia, Singapore and the U.K., have attracted pushback from consumer privacy advocates.
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Executive Sentenced on Charge of Conspiracy to Violate FCPA
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A U.S. executive was sentenced to 30 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to violate the antibribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to commit federal program fraud, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Frank James Lyon, 53 years old, owner of a Hawaii-based engineering and consulting company, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty in January, prosecutors said. Mr. Lyon admitted that he and co-conspirators paid bribes to Micronesian and Hawaiian officials in exchange for help securing contracts valued at more than $10 million between 2006 and 2016, according to a plea agreement.
The bribes included cash, vehicles, and gifts and entertainment, among other things, prosecutors said. A lawyer representing Mr. Lyon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Lyon’s sentencing came after Master Halbert, 44, a Micronesian official who allegedly received bribes from Mr. Lyon’s company, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering last month, the Justice Department said. Mr. Halbert is scheduled to be sentenced in July, the Justice Department said.
—Mengqi Sun
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The FAA’s findings won’t be the definitive word on the approval process for Boeing’s beleaguered 737 MAX fleet. Shown, a Boeing 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash., in March. PHOTO: TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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An internal Federal Aviation Administration review has tentatively determined that senior agency officials didn’t participate in or monitor crucial safety assessments of a flight-control system for Boeing Co.’s 737 MAX jet later implicated in two fatal crashes, according to industry and government officials. The preliminary conclusion, which hasn’t been reported before, may be discussed at a House Transportation subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
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The U.S. has readied sanctions against associates of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán amid worries the Central European state is a growing liability for Western interests, people familiar with the matter said.
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North Korea demanded the return of a ship that the U.S. seized for allegedly violating sanctions, and accused the U.S. of breaching the “underlying spirit” of the countries’ pledge to forge new ties, Pyongyang’s state media said.
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Payday lenders have been mobilizing their customers to push the federal government to ease Obama-era regulations of the industry, according to research by a consumer advocacy group that favors the rules.
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San Francisco became the first U.S. city to pass a ban on the use of facial recognition by local agencies, adding to a broad push to regulate a technology that critics argue can perpetuate police bias and give authorities excessive surveillance powers.
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Professional groups have asked the Financial Accounting Standards Board to delay the private company implementation date for new lease accounting rules by one year. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants says FASB should consider delaying adoption by a year as private companies are grappling with many complex new accounting rules that are all coming into effect in quick succession.
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Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif denied Iran was involved in the attacks in the Persian Gulf. PHOTO: ANUSHREE FADNAVIS/REUTERS
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The U.S. ordered all its nonemergency staff to leave Iraq immediately, amid heightened tensions with Iran over recent attacks against oil tankers and facilities in the Persian Gulf region. The decision comes amid fears that Iran-allied militia in Iraq could target U.S. citizens and soldiers in the country. Iranian officials on Tuesday accused officials in the Trump administration of trying to pull it into a war. Meanwhile, likely increases in the cost of insuring and securing crude shipments in the Persian Gulf could push up oil prices.
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Escalating volleys of tariffs by the U.S. and China stand to pile pressure on already stressed supply chains, potentially pinching technology companies and consumers on both sides of the Pacific. Proposed tariffs by the U.S., released Monday, would hit finished technology products such as smartphones and smartwatches, as well as videogame consoles and other consumer products.
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China’s economic activity cooled across the board last month, undoing a brief surge earlier in the year and raising questions about the economy’s vitality even before higher U.S. tariffs start to bite. Factory production, retail sales and investment in fixed assets all slowed in April, coming in below market expectations, according to government data released Wednesday.
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The Trump administration’s swift-moving plan to promote 5G networks is running into resistance from the weather-forecasting community. The dispute centers around ultrahigh radio frequencies that the Federal Communications Commission recently auctioned off for use in the country’s next-generation wireless networks. Officials at other agencies, including the Department of Commerce and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, warn that those airwaves—specifically those above 24 gigahertz—could scramble nearby readings from the federal weather satellites that meteorologists use to make storm predictions.
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PHOTO: MARK KAUZLARICH/BLOOMBERG
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Microsoft Corp. took the unusual step of warning that a computer bug it has now patched could be used by a cyber weapon similar to the WannaCry worm, which spread across the globe two years ago.
The bug is one of several high-profile computer-security issues to emerge this week, though the impact isn’t yet clear.
Microsoft said that it hasn’t seen anyone take advantage of the flaw, which affects older versions of its Windows operating system, but that it believes it is “highly likely” the flaw will wind up being exploited by malicious software, now it has been publicly disclosed.
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PHOTO: NASIR KACHROO/ZUMA PRESS
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Facebook Inc. said it would stop people who have recently posted or shared terrorist propaganda from broadcasting live video on its service, the company’s most concrete response so far to pressure to dial back the feature after it was used to broadcast the deadly attack on 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Duke Energy Corp. Chief Financial Officer Steve Young says software is reducing the number of labor hours needed. But, he says, the remaining work is more rewarding. Technological change is necessary across the company to stay competitive in an industry that faces challenges on multiple fronts. The goal in his own department, Mr. Young says, is to free up his staff from repetitive, menial tasks and redirect their efforts to more meaningful, forward-looking work.
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Rapid growth of big technology companies is pushing demand for San Francisco office space to new heights, leading firms to go to unusual extremes to grab workspace. Some tech companies are leasing major portions of new buildings months before developers break ground, or before they even get the necessary government permits.
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McDonald’s Corp. said it would let franchisees decide which breakfast items to serve all day, part of an effort to simplify operations as wait times have grown and traffic has stalled.
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Hiroto Saikawa, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co., said Tuesday U.S. sales are expected to fall for a second straight year this year as Nissan chooses to sell fewer vehicles and trims production of pickup trucks. PHOTO: AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa laid out his vision for the company without Carlos Ghosn, its ousted former chairman, including a grim outlook for the current year. U.S. sales are expected to fall sharply for the second year in a row as Nissan chooses to sell fewer vehicles and trim production of pickup trucks in the U.S., although that is one of the hottest-selling vehicle segments in the U.S.
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Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp. have struck a wide-ranging deal that turns operational control of Hulu over to Disney and gives Comcast the option to sell Disney its stake in the streaming-video service. The deal has a real Hollywood ending for both companies, The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Winkler writes. Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Disney’s ESPN are making a joint effort to create sports-betting content.
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Walmart Inc. will offer next-day delivery to more U.S. homes, seeking to boost shipping speeds as rival Amazon.com Inc. said it plans to invest $800 million to expand one-day delivery.
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