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The Morning Risk Report: Former Rusal Chairman 'Astonished' at U.S. Demand He Leave the Board |
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An aluminum smelting plant owned by United Co. Rusal. PHOTO: DMITRY ROGULIN/TASS
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Good day. When the U.S. lifted sanctions on United Co. Rusal PLC this week, the aluminum producer surprised observers with news of a boardroom shakeup: Chairman Jean-Pierre Thomas, on the job for less than a month, was out. Mr. Thomas resigned following “an imperative request” by the U.S. Treasury Department for him to leave the position, the company said in a statement.
The last-minute nature of the move offers insight into the fluid nature of negotiations between the Treasury and companies seeking to disentangle themselves from blacklisted investors. It came as a surprise to those watching Rusal’s negotiations for the removal of U.S. sanctions, which have drawn accusations of political coziness between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.
Perhaps most perplexed by the ouster: Mr. Thomas himself.
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Mr. Thomas learned of the Treasury’s request only days before the announcement was made, he told Risk & Compliance Journal’s Samuel Rubenfeld. “I’m very disappointed and astonished,” he said.
As of Tuesday, Mr. Thomas didn’t know the reason for his ouster, but he suspects politics in the U.S. played a role.
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Qualcomm wouldn’t say it moved any jobs or investments in conjunction with the tax maneuver. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Qualcomm Inc. will save $570 million in taxes by reclassifying some of its foreign subsidiaries as branches of its domestic U.S. business, reducing its exposure to new tax-code provisions designed to prevent international tax avoidance.
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Malaysia’s securities regulator imposed penalties on Deloitte PLT for four breaches related to an Islamic bond program issued by a unit of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.
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KPMG LLP has been blessing the books of General Electric Co. for 110 years, but the audit currently under way holds significant risks for both companies. GE is under investigation and KPMG faces scrutiny from its regulators.
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A Wells Fargo location in Pasadena, Calif., in 2017. PHOTO: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS
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Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday detailed steps it has taken to address problems following a series of scandals that have resulted in more than $4 billion in fines and settlements since 2016, and tougher scrutiny from regulators.
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U. S. District Judge William Alsup found PG&E Corp. in violation of its criminal probation in a testy hearing in which he questioned the company’s honesty and commitment to safe operations.
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced new rules expanding the amount of medical care provided to military veterans through the private sector, potentially costing billions of dollars and fueling debate over the privatization of the health services under the Trump administration.
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The European Commission is expected to block a planned merger between the rail units of Germany’s Siemens AG and France’s Alstom SA despite them filing last-ditch remedies on Friday to allay concerns about the deal, people familiar with the probe said.
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Police forces blocked Champs Élysées in Paris as they dispersed some of the ‘yellow vest’ protesters in December. PHOTO: ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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The twin engines of the eurozone economy, France and Germany, are cooling, a trend that deepens the economic pain at the root of “yellow-vest” protests and other tensions across the continent.
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The U.S. economy’s brief flirtation with 3% growth is over for now, economists say, cut short by a dimming global outlook, market tremors and sluggish business investment.
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Apple said it revoked Facebook’s permission to maintain a research app that had targeted teens and young adults. PHOTO: DADO RUVIC/REUTERS
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Apple Inc. banned a Facebook Inc. research app for breaking its rules around data collection, in an escalating battle between the tech giants over user privacy.
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New York state launched an investigation into Apple Inc.’s response to a bug in its FaceTime video-chat system that allowed callers to eavesdrop on others using the technology giant’s devices, deepening the scrutiny of a security setback that has undermined the company’s privacy position.
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An Apple Inc. engineer allegedly stole intellectual property related to the company’s autonomous-vehicle program and sought work at a China-based competitor, according to federal law-enforcement officials.
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Then-CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the 2017 Starbucks shareholders meeting in Seattle. PHOTO: ELAINE THOMPSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Just as Starbucks Corp. was turning a corner in its difficult U.S. market, the chain is facing a new worry: Howard Schultz. The man who turned Starbucks from a four-store chain into a global business with more than 28,000 coffee shops has angered many Democrats by saying he might run for president as an independent.
It is a prospect that high-profile Democrats, including Michael Bloomberg, will only split the vote and help President Trump win re-election in 2020. Some Democrats are calling on Starbucks’s large left-leaning customer base to boycott the chain.
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Aircraft at San Francisco International Airport. PHOTO: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES
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General Electric Co.’s lending business has caused deep losses in recent years, but it also contains one of the embattled conglomerate’s best assets: the world’s biggest aircraft-leasing company.
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Elliott Management Corp., one of the biggest and busiest shareholder activists, is making a new push into outright takeovers of companies.
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New York’s top financial regulator is going to allow life insurers to use data from social media and other nontraditional sources when setting premium rates, though the insurers will have to prove the information doesn’t unfairly discriminate against certain customers.
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Drug prices after rebates, known as net prices, are going down. PHOTO: JULIEN BEHAL/ZUMA PRESS
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Drug companies may be raising list prices in the U.S., but discounts mean the actual price of many drugs is falling. Novartis AG on Wednesday said net prices—the sum it gets after discounts to the list price—slipped last year and would continue to fall in 2019.
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Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. has made an approach to buy a majority stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. from the state-run Korea Development Bank, people directly involved in the matter said.
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Carlos Ghosn has said he is innocent of charges that he underreported his compensation and causing Nissan to pay the company of a Saudi Arabian friend who helped him with a personal financial problem. PHOTO: ETIENNE LAURENT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Carlos Ghosn said he was the victim of a plot by Nissan Motor Co. executives who opposed his plans for Nissan’s alliance with Renault SA, according to the Nikkei business daily.
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