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The Morning Risk Report: Former Freepoint Commodities Trader Charged With Bribing Brazilian Officials
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Good morning. A former employee of U.S. oil trader Freepoint Commodities LLC and its Brazilian agent were indicted Friday for their alleged role in a scheme to bribe Brazilian officials to win contracts with the country’s state-owned oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA.
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Glenn Oztemel, 64, of Westport, Conn., and Eduardo Innecco, 73, a dual Brazilian and Italian citizen, were charged with multiple counts of money laundering, bribery and related conspiracy charges in a grand jury indictment unsealed in federal court in Connecticut.
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Links to Operation Car Wash: The case against the two men is linked to a nearly decade-old bribery probe into Petróleo Brasileiro, more commonly known as Petrobras, which began in 2014 and grew to engulf many of the country’s leading businessmen and politicians. The investigation into Petrobras, dubbed Operation Car Wash in Brazil because an early lead in the case involved a money-wiring service at a gas station in the country’s capital of Brasília, has since wound down.
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What's next? Mr. Oztemel, a former senior oil and gas trader for Freepoint, was arrested in Florida on Wednesday and is returning to Connecticut for his arraignment, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut said. Mr. Innecco, who acted as a broker for the firm, remains at large, the spokesman said. A lawyer for Mr. Oztemel said his client denied the allegations. A spokeswoman for Freepoint, which wasn’t named in the indictment, said Mr. Oztemel had retired from the company more than two years ago.
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Content from our Sponsor: DELOITTE
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Risk Disclosures Lengthen as Climate Issues Rise
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As climate-related risk factors climb, an analysis finds many companies have room to improve their reporting of key risks to comply with SEC rules. Read More ›
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An image produced by X-ray scanning equipment in a van made by American Science & Engineering. PHOTO: KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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China’s newest weapon to nab western technology—its courts.
China has striven for years to develop cutting-edge technologies, in part through heavy spending on research. Now, according to Western officials and executives, it also has mobilized its legal system to pry technology from other nations.
Struggle for technological superiority. The battle over China’s acquisition of technology has raged for years. Recently, Beijing has tried to crack down on domestic companies violating the intellectual-property rights of some foreign firms. Officials in the U.S. and EU and executives at some Western companies, however, say Beijing is going the opposite route in some industries.
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Google goes before the U.S. Supreme Court this week to defend what is widely regarded as a pillar of the online economy—and one that is also being blamed for a proliferation of harmful content.
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China’s securities regulator has released its long-awaited rules on international listings, removing a key hurdle to internet companies selling shares overseas after a prolonged crackdown on the sector.
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Hong Kong’s securities regulator said cryptocurrency-trading companies would need to leave the city if they don’t plan on getting licenses and released proposed new rules seeking to better protect investors in the wake of the collapse of FTX.
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Former NBA star Paul Pierce will pay $1.4 million to settle regulatory allegations that he promoted a cryptocurrency to investors without disclosing his financial incentives to do so, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday.
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Any Chinese military support for Ukraine would stir up greater resentment against Xi Jinping’s leadership in the West. PHOTO: SERGEI BOBYLEV/KREMLIN POOL/SHUTTERSTOCK
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In China, worries about a weakened Russia prompt a rethink.
China’s leadership is growing worried that increased Western military support for Ukraine will severely weaken Russia, a key partner for Beijing in its heightened competition with the U.S. and its allies.
Caught in a squeeze: Ukraine’s robust battlefield resistance has prompted a rethink in Beijing, making it more inclined to push for a cease-fire to prevent further Russian setbacks—or even a larger-scale defeat, according to people close to Chinese decision-making.
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Wage growth across advanced economies is plateauing or declining from high levels. For central banks, it is good news. For workers, though, it is less positive.
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The earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria last week are heaping new stresses on the Turkish economy, posing a challenge for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is facing an election this year.
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The death toll rose to six from another strong earthquake that rattled parts of Turkey and Syria on Monday night, just two weeks after a pair of quakes unleashed the worst destruction in the region in decades.
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There is no clear escape hatch to avoid default if Congress doesn’t pass legislation raising the debt ceiling.
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$1.5 Million
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The penalty paid by Packers Sanitation Services Inc., which is accused of hiring at least 102 children to work overnight shifts cleaning meatpacking plants in eight U.S. states, according to the Labor Department.
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The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is facing calls to be the regulator that brings supervision to bear on auditors of cryptocurrency companies. PHOTO: ALYSSA SCHUKAR FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Lack of crypto audit regulation raises questions about PCAOB authority.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is facing calls to be the regulator that brings supervision to bear on auditors of cryptocurrency companies, even as the majority of crypto businesses fall outside its jurisdiction.
Lack of accountability: “It is the Wild West in the sense that nobody is requiring audits of financial statements and no one is specifying the standards that ought to apply to proof-of-reserves reports,” said Douglas Carmichael, a Baruch College accounting professor and former PCAOB chief auditor. “It’s a big concern when investors get a report from an audit firm that seems to provide assurance when it doesn’t.”
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The Commerce Department appointed Todd Fisher, a veteran of private-equity firm KKR & Co., to an important role determining which companies will receive part of $52.7 billion in federal funding intended to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
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President Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.
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The U.S. and its allies are preparing to increase efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia, threatening to hit foreign companies helping Moscow evade economic restrictions.
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The U.S. economy doesn’t look anywhere close to a recession. Investors are starting to worry that may ultimately be bad news for markets.
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The steep decline in Amazon.com Inc.’s stock over the past year is roiling the company’s stock-heavy compensation plan, resulting in employee pay coming in significantly lower than target compensation, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. gave thousands of employees subpar ratings in a recently concluded round of performance reviews, a signal that more job cuts may be on the way, people familiar with the matter said.
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Twitter Inc. said it would soon limit a method of two-factor authentication on its platform to paid subscribers, as the social-media platform looks for ways to boost revenue and lower costs.
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