Good morning. Two years into the process of building a corporate-ownership database to tamp down on the use of anonymous shell companies, U.S. Treasury Department officials are facing mounting concerns about what supporters of the database view as potential loopholes in plans for collecting and managing the information it will eventually hold, Risk & Compliance Journal's Dylan Tokar reports. 

Lawmakers, bankers and advocacy groups have written to the Treasury about several recent proposals related to the database that they say would defeat the purposes of creating it. In letters this week, the various groups criticized a proposed reporting form that would give companies the option to say that they were unable to identify their owners, and to mark “unknown” with respect to key information about any owners.

• What do the letters say? Letters criticizing the reporting form created by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which were sent by groups as diverse as the American Bankers Association and the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, come a month after many of the same groups expressed dismay at a proposed rule that they said would make it too difficult to access the ownership database and in turn undermine its utility.
   
• The bigger picture: Concerns about the implementation of the database come as the Biden administration is preparing to highlight its commitment to fighting corruption and fostering democracy at an event hosted by the White House next week. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who has faced questions about the recent proposals, is slated to speak at the event, billed as a Summit for Democracy.
   
• FinCEN in a tough spot: The slew of criticism around FinCEN’s proposals puts the Treasury bureau in a tough spot. With a staff that represents less than 1% of the Treasury’s entire workforce, FinCEN has struggled to implement the law in the time frame laid out by Congress. FinCEN’s acting director has said the bureau lacks the resources needed to meet the deadlines.

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U.S. Charges Crypto Fugitive With Fraud.

The Justice Department charged South Korean crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon with fraud on Thursday as officials in Montenegro arrested the creator of the failed TerraUSD stablecoin.

In an indictment unsealed in a New York federal court, Mr. Kwon was charged with eight criminal counts of fraud and is accused of conspiring with an unnamed U.S.-based investment firm to use trading strategies to alter the price of the stablecoin in May 2021. That month, TerraUSD fell beneath its $1 peg but recovered, a rebound that Mr. Kwon later cited as evidence of its stability.

In other crypto news: 

• Crypto Promoter Justin Sun Draws Spotlight From Regulators
• FTX Agrees to Sell Back Stake in Crypto Startup Mysten for $95 Million

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has appointed two joint executive directors to co-lead its enforcement and market oversight division, the agency said. Therese Chambers, who served as the FCA's director of consumer investments, and Steve Smart, a former director of intelligence at the National Crime Agency, will assume the roles later this year. The FCA in October announced the planned departure of Mark Steward, the current leader.

• U.S.-China relations were dealt another blow as House lawmakers pummeled TikTok’s chief executive over the popular app’s ties to China, and as Beijing said it would fight any U.S. attempt to force the company’s sale by its Chinese owners.
   
• The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a new rule requiring companies to offer an easy click-to-cancel option for subscriptions.
   
• Pentagon officials are scrutinizing why Boeing Co. employees worked on current and future Air Force One planes without security credentials required for the highly classified jets.
   
• Shares of the payments company formerly known as Square fell about 15% on Thursday after a short seller questioned the company’s user numbers and accused it of predatory tactics.

A year into war, Ukraine faces challenges mobilizing troops. 

After a year of war, Ukraine is facing increasing challenges in raising the troops it needs to resist Russian forces and eject them from its territory.

When Russia invaded in February last year, thousands of volunteers lined up outside military recruitment centers. With many of them now dead or injured, Ukrainian authorities are scrambling to recruit replacements, often drafting those who have neither the desire nor the training to serve. The result is a growing number of fighting-age men who are attempting to evade service.

Also: China’s Economic Lifeline to Russia Gives Beijing Upper Hand

• Chief risk officer is the most thankless job in banking. Silicon Valley Bank didn’t fill it for months.
   
• The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point Thursday, a fresh sign that policy makers around the world are determined to press down on inflation despite strains in the banking system.
   
• Executives at UBS, which until recently competed with rival Credit Suisse to win business from Asia’s biggest companies and richest people, must now tackle the thorny question of how to combine the two banks in the region.
   
• Saudi Arabia and Syria are nearing an agreement to restore diplomatic ties after negotiations mediated by Russia, according to Saudi and Syrian officials familiar with the discussions, as the geopolitics of the Middle East shift.

• The Fed may have seen raising rates as necessary to work toward price stability, but it didn’t help calm fears about financial stability. 
   
• Some bank executives and investors are reviving calls for changes to U.S. accounting rules around held-to-maturity securities in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. 
   
• TMI? Companies are hoovering up more data than ever before,  but are drowning in a sea of terabytes they don’t know how to make sense of.
   
• Electric vehicles are taking General Motors’s cyber chief into new territory of monitoring power-grid security. 

• Ernst & Young’s renegade U.S. auditors are demanding that the firm examine the financial health of its potential offspring as they block a breakup of the global accounting firm.
   
• Worker filings for unemployment benefits held nearly steady last week, showing that the broader labor market remains robust despite large companies announcing layoffs.
   
• Countries are competing to lure manufacturers from China. 
   
• New Starbucks Corp. Chief Executive Laxman Narasimhan plans to be in regular contact with departing CEO Howard Schultz—but it will be clear who is in charge, both men said.