|
|
The Morning Risk Report: U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Central Bank, Says It Will Send Military Forces to Saudi Arabia
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says Iran’s central bank and the National Development Fund have been used by the regime to finance its proxies fighting in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. PHOTO: EVAN VUCCI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
|
|
|
|
Good morning. The U.S. said it would send military forces and hardware to Gulf allies and moved to sever some of Iran’s last ties to world markets on Friday, while preparing to outline a case for international action next week when world leaders gather at the United Nations.
The sanctions on Iran’s central bank and two other major state financial institutions were punishment for attacks on critical oil supplies in Saudi Arabia. They came as the administration sought to steer clear of a military response, instead bolstering efforts to persuade the U.N. and European allies to join its sanctions campaign.
[Continued below…]
|
|
|
|
|
Iran’s central bank had already been sanctioned by the administration, but Friday’s designation marks the first time a monetary authority has ever been blacklisted by the U.S. for ties to terror and is expected to further isolate the country both financially and politically.
The sanctions also hit the National Development Fund of Iran and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co., an Iranian firm controlled by the government.
Meanwhile, President Trump is likely to face an uphill battle in mobilizing international pressure against Iran at the United Nations over Tehran’s alleged attack on Saudi oil facilities, Western diplomats and experts said. And Aramco's repairs could take months longer than company anticipates, contractors say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.K. Finance Watchdog Names Risk and Compliance Oversight Chief
|
|
|
A key U.K. financial regulator has named a new head of its risk management office.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which oversees banks and other financial services firms, appointed Sheree Howard as executive director of risk and compliance oversight. Ms. Howard has served as interim director since the departure earlier this year of Barbara Frohn.
In her new role, Ms. Howard will be in charge of the agency’s internal compliance with financial services laws and its management of internal and external risks.
Ms. Howard joined the FCA two years ago as a special adviser. Before that, she worked for more than two decades in financial services, most recently as head of compliance and conduct advisory within the commercial and private banking division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.
—Kristin Broughton
|
|
|
|
From Risk & Compliance Journal
|
|
|
|
|
The U.S. House of Representatives proposes to offer cash bounties to people who voluntarily provide original information on potential audit-related violations to the U.S. regulator of audit firms. PHOTO: AL DRAGO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
|
|
|
|
A new Congressional bill proposes to offer cash bounties to people who voluntarily provide original information on potential audit-related violations to the U.S. regulator of audit firms.
The bill, called “PCAOB Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019,” proposes to establish a whistleblower program at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that will be similar to the whistleblower program at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The collapse of a mine-waste dam in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, in January killed 270 people. PHOTO: DOUGLAS MAGNO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
-
Brazilian police announced criminal charges against Vale SA and its German safety auditor, TÜV SÜD, over the miner’s dam collapse in January, the world’s deadliest in more than half a century. In the first charges following the tragedy, police formally accused seven individuals from Vale and six employees from TÜV SÜD, for covering up structural dangers at the dam during safety audits last year, only months before it ruptured, killing 270 people.
-
Joe Biden’s involvement with Ukraine and his son’s work in the country, which President Trump has repeatedly said should be investigated, began when the former vice president was serving as the Obama administration’s point man on relations with Ukraine and rooting out bureaucratic corruption.
-
Walmart will stop selling all e-cigarettes in its U.S. stores, citing regulatory uncertainty around the vaping devices after the White House announced plans to ban most flavors.
-
Juul pursued a strategy to win over Washington. But the e-cigarette maker wound up further alienating regulators, helping to thrust the once-soaring startup into a crisis that threatens its business.
-
Indonesian investigators have determined that design and oversight lapses played a central role in the fatal crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet in October, according to people familiar with what is expected to be the first formal government finding that the design and U.S. regulatory approval were flawed.
-
California, joined by 22 other states and the District of Columbia, sued the Trump administration in a bid to preserve the state’s power to set tougher vehicle-emissions standards for the country’s auto industry. California’s rules got some industry support earlier this year. In July, four car companies— Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW—voluntarily signed an agreement with California to meet tougher emission requirements than those proposed by the Trump administration.
-
Graduate students, who often teach the bulk of university classes, would lose their status as employees and their rights to join a union, under a proposed rule approved by the National Labor Relations Board. If the rule passes a final vote as expected, graduate students won’t be covered by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and therefore won’t have the right to unionize. A-60 day public comment period must pass before the board can take a final vote.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oil prices have been volatile this year. PHOTO: REGIS DUVIGNAU/REUTERS
|
|
|
-
Japan’s Mitsubishi said a subsidiary has lost about $320 million on energy derivatives, after a rogue employee in Singapore entered into secret unauthorized trades and then lost money as crude prices fell.
-
Investors are starting to demand profits, or at least profits in the near future, from richly valued tech companies when they go public. That has put a spotlight on claims of profitability from companies including Peloton Interactive Inc., WeWork parent We Co. and Lyft.
Also...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adam Neumann still has allies among the directors and the ability to fire the entire board thanks to shares he controls that carry extra votes. PHOTO: EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS
|
|
|
-
A bloc of WeWork directors is planning to push Adam Neumann to step down as chief executive after a tumultuous week in which his eccentric behavior and drug use came to light, and the startup delayed its much-anticipated stock-market listing. A group including officials tied to SoftBank, the company’s largest investor, wants Mr. Neumann to relinquish his title of CEO of We Co., the parent of the office-sharing company, people familiar with the matter said.
-
AT&T’s chief executive met this week with the activist investor who is pressing the company to rethink its strategy and sell off more assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Facebook said the suspended apps are associated with about 400 developers, though many were still in test phases. PHOTO: ALASTAIR PIKE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
|
Facebook said it suspended tens of thousands of apps for violating its rules around accessing and sharing information and for failing to respond to company requests, a disclosure that comes after the social-networking company was hit with a record $5 billion fine in July for failing to protect its users.
In a blog post, Facebook said the suspended apps are associated with about 400 developers, though many were still in test phases. The company said it also banned some apps permanently and that it recently filed lawsuits against some developers for fraud or for failing to cooperate with an internal investigation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Workers and their supporters picket outside the General Motors plant in Bowling Green. Ky., on Friday. PHOTO: BRYAN WOOLSTON/REUTERS
|
|
|
|
General Motors has furloughed roughly 2,000 hourly workers at a plant in Oshawa, Ontario, near Toronto, as the impact of a strike by the United Auto Workers in the U.S. ripples north. The company halted production of 1,200 workers on a truck assembly line earlier this week but expanded the furloughs to include workers making Chevrolet Impalas and Cadillacs on Friday. The workers will continue to get paid, said Mr. Flores.
Also...
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHOTO: MICHAEL GLENWOOD
|
|
|
|
About 18 months ago a new nonprofit group called Free and Fair Markets Initiative launched a national campaign criticizing the business practices of one powerful company: Amazon.
Free and Fair Markets accused Amazon of stifling competition and innovation, inhibiting consumer choice, gorging on government subsidies, endangering its warehouse workers and exposing consumer data to privacy breaches. It claimed to have grass-roots support from average citizens across the U.S, citing a labor union, a Boston management professor and a California businessman.
What the group did not say is that it received backing from some of Amazon’s chief corporate rivals. They include shopping mall owner Simon Property Group Inc., retailer Walmart and software giant Oracle, according to people involved with and briefed on the project.
The creation of a group aimed solely at Amazon is an indication of the degree to which competing companies have coalesced to counter the growing and accumulated power of Amazon and how far competitors are increasingly willing to go to counter-strike.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
