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The Morning Risk Report: New U.S. Sanctions Target Russian Arms Deals |
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Russian defense companies and weapon manufacturers displayed military equipment at an exposition near Moscow in August. PHOTO: SERGEI ILNITSKY/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUT/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Good day. New sanctions on Russia, announced last week by the U.S., are meant as messages to other countries to curtail their purchases of Russian weapons, experts tell Risk & Compliance Journal’s Samuel Rubenfeld.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a Chinese military-research unit and its director for purchasing jet fighters and missiles from Russia. The move could be viewed as an implied threat to Turkey and India, both of which have entered arms deals with Russia, said Richard Nephew, a former sanctions policy official at the U.S. State Department.
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Meanhwhile, 33 Russian agents and entities added to the State Department’s List of Specified Persons warns those who conduct a significant transaction with listed parties that they could face sanctions. “Anyone with any sense of risk management is not going to have anything to do with these individuals,” said Judith Lee, a partner at the firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, whose practice focuses on international trade, sanctions and export controls.
Moscow and Beijing condemned the sanctions. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that the sanctions “seriously violated the basic norms of international relations,” and called for Washington to cancel the designations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the measures “another manifestation of unfair competition.”
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| From Risk & Compliance Journal |
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U.S. Again Extends Deadline on EN+, Rusal Divestment |
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The U.S. Treasury Department again extended a deadline on divestment for aluminum giant United Co. Rusal. PHOTO: ILYA NAYMUSHIN/REUTERS
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The U.S. Treasury Department again extended a deadline to divest or transfer shares in certain blacklisted Russian companies.
The department said Friday that it would allow until Nov. 12 for the sale or transfer of shares of EN+ Group PLC and United Co. Rusal from people under U.S. sanctions to those not on the list. The firms previously had until Oct. 23 to complete the authorized transfers.
EN+ owns a 48% stake in Rusal. Both firms are controlled by blacklisted oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has said he would reduce his stakes to get the companies off the U.S. sanctions list.
The companies “approached the U.S. government about substantial corporate governance changes” that could result in significant control changes, a Treasury representative said in a statement, adding that the extension allowed sufficient time to review them.
—Samuel Rubenfeld
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FAA Bill Leaves Out Change Fee Oversight |
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Congressional lawmakers have left a proposal to regulate airline “change fees” out of a bill authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration’s operations.
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Danske Bank Money-Laundering Case Spreads to U.K. |
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The U.K. National Crime Agency is probing British ties to a money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank AS. Investigators are focusing on the destination of some of the $230 billion that washed through a bank branch in Estonia.
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U.S. Probes Drugmakers Over Free Services |
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Federal prosecutors are probing whether big drugmakers including Sanofi SA, Gilead Sciences Inc. and Biogen Inc. violated laws by providing free services to doctors and patients.
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Google CEO Warns Staff: Stay Nonpartisan |
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The chief executive of Alaphabet Inc.'s Google warned employees against letting their personal politics affect their work as the internet giant fends off criticism that its widely used products could be biased.
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FreshDirect Delivers Apologies as Grocery Shipments Stumble |
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FreshDirect LLC is shipping out apologies to customers for delivery problems that have plagued the online grocery company while it has moved operations to a new distribution center.
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How Amazon’s Two-Day Shipping Is Disrupting Retail |
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Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime program has triggered an arms race among the largest retailers, and turned many smaller sellers into remoras who cling for life to the bigger fish, The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims reports.
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Singapore Imposes Fines, Restrictions Over Uber-Grab Deal |
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Regulators in Singapore fined ride-hailing firms Grab Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. and imposed operating restrictions on the former after ruling that a merger earlier this year was anticompetitive.
The Competition and Consumer Commission said Monday it would fine Uber 6.6 million Singapore dollars (US$4.8 million) and Grab S$6.4 million. Restrictions on Grab will include a ban on exclusivity agreements with drivers.
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Flood Shuts Down N.C. Power Plant, Sweeps Waste Into River |
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River flooding caused the shutdown of a Duke Energy Corp. natural-gas plant near Wilmington, N.C., after several breaches in a cooling lake were discovered.
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