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The Morning Risk Report: Anti-Money-Laundering Whistleblower Program Struggles to Get Off Ground
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A new cash-for-tips program aims to offer rewards to people who voluntarily provide original information to the Treasury Department or the Justice Department on possible violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. PHOTO: STEFANI REYNOLDS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Good morning. A new U.S. program to reward those who report possible violations of anti-money-laundering laws has gotten off to a slow start, as some lawyers say the lack of a minimum reward and delays in establishing the systems for receiving and investigating tips have made them reluctant to take on whistleblowers as clients.
The new anti-money-laundering program offered further business opportunities to lawyers who have set up practices to guide corporate whistleblowers through government investigations, with a share of any reward windfall as their compensation.
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The cash-for-tips program, included in the annual defense-spending bill passed into law in January, aims to offer rewards to people who voluntarily provide original information to the Treasury Department or the Justice Department on possible violations of the Bank Secrecy Act when their tips lead to enforcement actions where monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
The provision of the National Defense Authorization Act said tipsters can receive up to 30% of the monetary penalties collected in an enforcement action brought by the Treasury Department or attorney general and from related actions. But the bill didn’t set a deadline for the implementation of the whistleblower regulatory framework, designate an agency to implement it or set a floor for rewards.
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China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers. PHOTO: ROY LIU/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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China Mobile Ltd. said it plans to sell billions of dollars’ worth of shares in Shanghai, days after learning it would definitely be ejected from U.S. markets under a Trump-era investment blacklist.
On May 6, China Mobile and its two smaller rivals, China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. , lost appeals against being kicked off the New York Stock Exchange. The Big Board is moving to delist them to comply with an investment ban introduced by former President Donald Trump.
China Mobile didn’t say the Shanghai offering was linked to the U.S. delisting. Chinese authorities and investors have more broadly wanted to make it easier for domestic investors to invest in more of China’s corporate champions and its fast-growing technology companies.
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Deutsche Bank AG has appointed its U.S. general counsel to head its global anti-financial-crime unit, according to a memo to employees released Tuesday. Joe Salama will split his time between the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt and the U.S., part of the bank’s efforts to keep a close relationship with U.S. authorities following a series of investigations and fines.
Mr. Salama has been responsible for negotiating recent settlements between the bank and U.S. authorities, including over failings to properly monitor its dealings with late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has also been a key contact for outside monitors checking implementation of money-laundering controls and for regulators around the world, according to the memo.
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The New York attorney general’s office’s investigation of former President Donald Trump’s business now has a criminal component, a spokesman said Tuesday night, joining the Manhattan district attorney’s office probe and expanding a monthslong inquiry that until now had been focused on civil fraud.
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AbbVie Inc.’s pricing practices for some of its top-selling medicines faced fresh scrutiny from federal lawmakers Tuesday, the latest effort by members of Congress probing the cost of prescription drugs. Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform have been investigating how AbbVie sets the prices of some of its products, including its top-selling immunology drug, Humira.
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Jennifer Piepszak and Marianne Lake are taking over JPMorgan Chase’s consumer and community bank effective immediately. PHOTO: JPMORGAN CHASE
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. is putting two of the contenders to succeed Chief Executive Jamie Dimon in charge of its sprawling consumer-banking operation. The bank on Tuesday said consumer-lending chief Marianne Lake and Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Piepszak are taking the reins of its consumer and community bank from Gordon Smith, who will retire at the end of the year. Jeremy Barnum, the bank’s head of global research, will become finance chief. The changes take effect immediately.
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Pinterest Inc. has set new targets for increasing the number of women in leadership and improving racial and ethnic diversity throughout its workforce, a move that comes after the social-media company was roiled last year by claims of discrimination.
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A small group of conservative money managers is trying to catch up to investment funds that for years have catered to those concerned about climate change, diversity or animal rights. The nascent effort, which has attracted some prominent names, seeks to woo investors disgruntled by increased involvement by some companies in political and social issues.
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Hong Kong’s M+ Museum, set to open this year, is viewed by some as Asia’s answer to New York’s Museum of Modern Art. PHOTO: KIN CHEUNG/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Emboldened by last year’s national-security law, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing politicians want art they say insults China kept out of a new museum in the city.
But a Swiss art collector who donated around 1,500 works valued at $163 million in 2012 says he hopes the city will uphold the assurances he received then that freedom of expression would be protected.
Authorities’ broad new powers under the national security law imposed by Beijing last June include criminalizing acts deemed to provoke hatred of China’s central government.
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Israel said Tuesday it was focusing on targeted killings of Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip as it tries to quell the militant group’s operations there, defying growing calls for a cease-fire amid a rising civilian toll.
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In March 2020, Bank of America Corp. raised its minimum hourly wage to $20, a year ahead of plan. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday said it plans to raise its hourly minimum wage to $25 by 2025, putting it on track to surpass its big-bank peers during a time of worker shortages across the country.
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Travelers this summer could notice something they may not have seen before: The person who checked them in is the same person who helps clean their room. Hotels say they are struggling to hire enough housekeepers, kitchen staff and other hourly workers—including the ones they laid off early in the Covid-19 pandemic—ahead of an anticipated upswing in leisure travel.
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Cargo ships have been delivering their loads later than ever this year, adding to the supply-chain woes that are undercutting efforts by retailers and manufacturers to capitalize on resurgent economic demand.
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Fidelity’s service won’t charge account fees or commissions for online trading. PHOTO: JOHN NACION/NURPHOTO/ZUMA PRESS
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Fidelity Investments Inc. plans to open the door to a new generation of investors who will be able to trade stocks even before they learn how to drive or head to college.
Fidelity said Tuesday it will issue debit cards and offer investing and savings accounts to 13- to 17-year-olds whose parents or guardians also invest with the firm. The accounts will let teens buy and sell U.S. stocks, Fidelity mutual funds and many exchange-traded funds. Similar to how it works for adults, the service won’t charge account fees or commissions for online trading.
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