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The Morning Risk Report: Justice Department to Open Broad, New Antitrust Review of Big Tech Companies
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Attorney General William Barr has asked how some big technology companies took shape ‘under the nose of the antitrust enforcers.’ PHOTO: ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
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Good morning. The Justice Department is opening a broad antitrust review into whether dominant technology firms are unlawfully stifling competition, adding a new Washington threat for companies such as Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.
The review is geared toward examining the practices of online platforms that dominate internet search, social media and retail services, the department said. The review is designed to go above and beyond recent plans for scrutinizing the tech sector that were crafted by the department and the Federal Trade Commission.
[Continued below...]
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The new antitrust inquiry is the strongest signal yet of Attorney General William Barr’s deep interest in the tech sector, and it could ratchet up the already considerable regulatory pressures facing the top U.S. tech firms.
In a speech Tuesday, Mr. Barr also sought to reopen a debate over whether technology companies such as Apple and Facebook should be required to provide law-enforcement agencies a way to break the encryption on devices and apps used by terrorists, drug cartels and other criminal suspects.
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From Risk & Compliance Journal
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De La Rue has printed bank notes since 1860. PHOTO: DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI/REUTERS
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The U.K.’s antifraud watchdog has opened a probe into possible corruption in South Sudan by a company that provides governments across the world with bank notes and cash-supply services. The Serious Fraud Office said Tuesday it has opened an investigation into De La Rue PLC, which is based outside of London, Risk & Compliance Journal’s Kristin Broughton reports.
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The U.S. on Tuesday warned companies against dealing with Iranian airlines, alleging that many of them support Iran in regional violence by transporting fighters and weapons to international locations.
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Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Settlements between Facebook and the SEC and FTC are expected this week. PHOTO: BERTRAND GUAY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to announce a settlement with Facebook Inc. on Wednesday related to claims it inadequately disclosed risks involving its privacy practices. Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to have to personally certify that the company is taking steps to protect consumer privacy under a settlement expected to be announced with the Federal Trade Commission.
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The U.S. Department of Justice gained a key advantage in its prosecution of an alleged global corruption ring involving $2 billion of Mozambican government-debt deals. Prosecutors working on the case got a guilty plea from the former banker at Credit Suisse AG who designed the loans. Now, they seem poised to win custody of Mozambique’s former Finance Minister, Manuel Chang, due to a change of stance by authorities in South Africa, where he is awaiting extradition.
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Deutsche Bank AG played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein’s financial dealings in recent years, helping the accused sex-trafficker move millions of dollars in cash and securities through dozens of private-banking accounts with the German bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
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China’s push to gain a bigger foothold in U.S. public transit systems could derail in Congress, which is moving to bar use of federal funds to buy Chinese buses and railcars. The effort threatens to further fray trade talks with China, which wants to become a global player in transport and is already fuming over the U.S. decision to blacklist telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co.
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American Express Co. is terminating foreign-exchange employees and refunding money to nearly 200 customers after it found salespeople misrepresented pricing to customers.
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Small businesses would have an easier time banding together to create joint 401(k) retirement plans for workers under a rule the Labor Department is set to finish soon, according to an administration official.
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A business partner of former White House national-security adviser Mike Flynn was found guilty Tuesday of not properly disclosing consulting work prosecutors alleged was done on behalf of the Turkish government, a milestone in the U.S. government’s newly aggressive enforcement of foreign-lobbying laws.
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NSA’s headquarters in Maryland. The Trump administration is seeking to be more persistently engaged against foreign adversaries. PHOTO: LARRY DOWNING/REUTERS
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The National Security Agency will create a cybersecurity directorate later this year as part of a wider effort to more closely align the agency’s offensive and defensive operations, U.S. officials said. Anne Neuberger has been tapped to lead the new directorate, slated to become operational Oct. 1.
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A technical error recently allowed children on a Facebook Inc. messaging app to interact with users who weren’t approved by their parents, the latest misstep that further dents the company’s track record on privacy and security.
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Equifax Inc. on Monday agreed to revamp its cybersecurity practices and fund a study to explore how U.S. consumers could be identified, as part of a settlement with state prosecutors over its 2017 data breach.
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Andrew Dunham harvesting turnips at his Grinnell, Iowa, farm on June 10. Like farmers throughout the Midwest, torrential spring rains hindered his ability to plant crops. PHOTO: CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Unchecked climate change could mean that the weather conditions hurting farmers this year will become increasingly common and result in higher costs for the federal government, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
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A sharp deceleration of global trade driven by ongoing trade tensions is slowing the global economy more than earlier projections, according to the latest forecasts of the International Monetary Fund. Real global economic growth will slow to 3.2% this year, 0.1 percentage point slower than forecast in April, and down from 3.6% last year and 3.8% in 2017, according to the quarterly update to the IMF’s flagship World Economic Outlook, released Tuesday.
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A worker assembles Mercedes-Benz E-Class automobiles on the production line at a plant in Moscow. PHOTO: ANDREY RUDAKOV/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, said Wednesday that it would step up cost-cutting efforts in the second half of the year after reporting the company’s first quarterly loss in a decade.
Like other leading German auto makers, Daimler is caught between a slowdown in sales and an increase in investment to develop electric and self-driving cars.
This was made worse by an array of one-off issues including recalls of vehicles related to faulty Takata air bags, and criminal investigations into the company’s business and emissions systems that prompted €4.2 billion ($4.7 billion) in extraordinary expenses in the second quarter.
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Shoppers browse during the launch of Rent the Runway’s San Francisco store in May 2019. PHOTO: KELLY SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES FOR RENT THE RUNWAY
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Rent the Runway, the clothing rental startup that earned a $1 billion valuation earlier this year, is suffering from growing pains.
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United Parcel Service Inc. is seeking U.S. authorization to operate commercial drone flights, signaling the delivery giant’s intent to compete in a developing but increasingly crowded sector.
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