Good morning. The U.S. on Thursday sanctioned more than 150 foreign companies and individuals accused of aiding Russia, including by shipping American or other Western technology for Moscow, marking an expanding Western effort to cut off the flow of goods the Kremlin needs to prosecute its war against Ukraine.

The U.S. and its allies over the past year have largely focused their finance-and-trade war against Russian firms. But as the Kremlin and its agents seek to sidestep Western sanctions and export controls by channeling the flow of prohibited goods through intermediary nations, officials say they are ramping up a campaign to target companies and individuals in countries acting as transit hubs for Russia.

• Disrupting supply chains: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the punitive measures target Russia’s military supply chains, and warned that individuals and entities who profit from the invasion and their proximity to the Kremlin will be held accountable.
   
• Growing sanctions net: Russia has been able to continue importing many products by buying them through countries such as China, Turkey, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates. The action Thursday targets entities in several nations, including Turkey and even Finland, a new NATO member. U.S. officials say Siberica and Luminor shipped electronics to Russian firms that supply its military.
   
• Hobbling production: While Russia has successfully circumvented some Western sanctions to increase weapons production, it struggles to produce weapons at the pace required by the war and its weapons production is showing signs of deteriorating quality, according to a paper published Wednesday by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business Forum

The WSJ Pro Sustainable Business Forum on Oct. 12 will include a discussion about risk and resilience in corporate sustainability programs with Maryam Golnaraghi, director of climate change and environment at The Geneva Association, and Torolf Hamm, head of physical catastrophe and climate risk management at Willis Towers Watson. Other sessions will cover reporting to U.S. and European standards, the role of artificial intelligence and what corporate decarbonization measures are proving effective. Register here.

European powers choose to maintain Iran sanctions.

European powers will keep in place sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and trade in ballistic missiles with Tehran—restrictions that were due to expire next month under the 2015 nuclear deal, European officials said Thursday.

The decision, which has already been communicated to Tehran, is based on the charge by France, the U.K. and Germany that Iran has failed to comply with large parts of the 2015 deal. However, the move won’t prevent the lifting of United Nations sanctions on ballistic-missiles trade with Iran, potentially freeing Russia and China to deepen their military cooperation with Tehran.

Public understanding of term ‘politically exposed person’ is low.

Around 45% of the general public worldwide understands what a politically exposed person is before being provided a definition, according to a survey by Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s, which partnered with research consulting firm Censuswide on the survey, polled more than 7,500 members of the general public across Europe, the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region in July and August.

Moody’s defines a politically exposed person as being in a “prominent public position,” which puts them at a higher risk of being compromised “due to their position of power and influence, and their authority over public funds.”

The publication of the survey results comes amid a recent announcement from the Financial Conduct Authority, the U.K.’s financial regulator, that it is reviewing whether the country’s institutions are being too tough on individuals with political exposure amid a controversial decision by a private bank to drop Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as a customer.

• A U.S. House committee has asked top Hawaii energy officials, including the chief executive of utility Hawaiian Electric, to testify at a hearing on the causes of the wildfire that destroyed the town of Lahaina and killed at least 115 people.
   
• Key risk and legal executives are leaving Binance.US at the same time the crypto exchange is under intense pressure from regulators.
   
• Exxon is now a defendant in dozens of lawsuits around the U.S. that accuse it and other oil companies of deception over climate change. Behind closed doors its executives strategized over how to diminish concerns about warming temperatures, and they sought to muddle scientific findings that might hurt its oil-and-gas business, according to internal Exxon documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with former executives.

Fuel prices rocket up.

Diesel, jet and marine fuel prices are soaring, pressuring the construction companies, transportation businesses and farmers that are the biggest users. Behind the rise: Production cuts made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which have propelled crude prices to 10-month highs and boosted the premiums refiners can charge for making the heavy fuels that power trucks, planes and ships.

A growing global thirst for fuel, fading fears of a U.S. recession and last week’s extension of Saudi and Russian cuts have propelled Brent crude above $90 a barrel. Higher gasoline prices accounted for more than half of August’s 0.6% increase in U.S. goods and services prices from July, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday.

Many boards are playing catch-up on ESG and green issues.

Many corporate board directors aren’t confident about their ability—or their board’s—to oversee sustainability and social impact issues, even as companies pursue such goals and regulators want more disclosures on environmental, social and governance impact.

Eighty-three percent of directors surveyed said ESG topics were critical knowledge for directors, but less than half considered themselves to have “advanced” or “expert” level knowledge, according to a survey of board directors conducted in July by WSJ Pro in collaboration with the National Association of Corporate Directors. Directors of larger firms and listed companies expressed higher confidence, as did those in the energy industry. Respondents relied on external advisers to build their knowledge.

• The European Central Bank raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point to a record high but signaled that eurozone borrowing costs may have peaked, sending the euro tumbling.
   
• The resurgent dollar is hitting earnings for U.S. companies doing business overseas.
   
• The United Auto Workers union for the first time ever went on strike at all three Detroit car companies, with about 12,700 workers hitting the picket lines shortly after midnight Friday in targeted work stoppages at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri.
   
• Hurricane Lee is expected to make landfall Saturday near the U.S.-Canada border, but its effects are being felt from Florida to Maine as it hammers coastal communities with storm surges, big waves and deadly riptides.
   
• Most shoplifting isn’t violent, but several retailers have reported an increase in organized theft rings and violent incidents that are complicating the task of stopping thieves while keeping workers safe.
   
• As the U.S. and Russia vie for greater influence in Africa, Moscow is seeking access for its warships to a Mediterranean port in Libya that could expand its naval footprint in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s backyard.
   
• Russia said it would expel two U.S. diplomats. The expulsions come as diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted to their lowest level since the Cold War.

• Sponsors of the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers are putting on a brave face after the star quarterback’s season-ending injury.
   
• Flexport founder Ryan Petersen is back at the top of the digital freight startup, but the hard part of executing on the Silicon Valley-style disruption he promised is still ahead.
   
• 🎧 Listen to the Tillamook County Creamery Association’s Paul Snyder discuss why ESG is fundamental to the way the farmer-owned cooperative manages long-term risks.

• A cyberattack sent Las Vegas back in time.
   
• Can companies attract more women by wording job postings a certain way? Probaby not.
   
• Ukrainian forces destroyed one of Russia’s most advanced air-defense systems in Crimea, a Ukrainian security official said, striking a fresh blow to Russia’s military on the occupied peninsula.
   
• Some travelers do ‘workcations’ right. Here are there tips.
   
• A CEO with a pay package worth $110 million is suddenly out.
   
• Is your home office layout sabotaging your productivity?

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Follow Risk & Compliance editor David Smagalla @DSmagalla_DJ and reporters Mengqi Sun @_MengqiSun, Dylan Tokar @dgtokar and Richard Vanderford @VanderfordRich.

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