Good morning. European Union officials have proposed a far-reaching ban on the sale of goods made with forced labor, a move that follows tough U.S. action that could spur companies of all sizes to increase scrutiny of their supply chains, Risk & Compliance Journal's Richard Vanderford reports.

The proposal from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, would block goods made with forced labor from being imported into the EU, or stop them from being sold if they are found inside the bloc. The European Commission, which released its proposed regulation in September, is soliciting feedback on its proposal through November.

The plan is in early days and could take years to come into force, but could if adopted ultimately require companies to undertake tougher due-diligence efforts to continue selling into the world’s largest market.

“If the law passes as written, there’s going to be significant new due-diligence requirements for industry,” said Kit Conklin, a vice president at risk data and software company Kharon. Forced-labor issues should be a “C-suite level” discussion for most businesses, he added.

Speakers at the WSJ Risk & Compliance Forum on Nov. 16 include Brian Nelson from the U.S. Treasury Department and Robert Silvers from the Department of Homeland Security, along with multiple experts on corporate risk and compliance. Sign up here for discussions on economic sanctions, forced labor, climate change regulation, whistleblowers and cybersecurity.

Under Biden administration, Wall Street watchdog’s fines surge. Wall Street’s top watchdog this year collected some of its highest fines ever from firms accused of wrongdoing, underscoring the Biden administration’s tougher regulatory stance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed 13 fines greater than $100 million on public companies during its latest fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up from the prior year’s three cases at that level. In some other recent years, the SEC didn’t levy any fines that large.

In its 2022 fiscal year, the SEC levied $2.2 billion in fines against exchange-listed companies, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. That amount dwarfs what the commission imposed in recent years, according to data from the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business and Cornerstone Research.

EU official's warning to Elon Musk: ‘The bird will fly by our rules.’ A top European Union official fired off a fresh warning to Elon Musk about complying with the bloc’s new rules on social-media moderation after the billionaire completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter Inc.

Mr. Musk has said that he views Twitter as an important platform for free speech. After closing the deal and firing some of Twitter’s top executives Thursday, Mr. Musk tweeted that “the bird is freed”—a reference to the company, whose logo is a blue bird.

• Twitter Is Drafting Broad Job Cuts, Days After Elon Musk’s Takeover

The shift is being led by the new chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Erica Williams, who said, “When people cheat, you need to…make sure that there are serious consequences.”

This month, the PCAOB announced its biggest-ever fine against an individual, pledged more sweeps to root out wrongdoing by audit firms, and vowed to boot out bad actors from the profession.

• New York City employers are starting to comply with a new salary transparency law taking effect this week that will require nearly all job listings to include a pay range, a move expected to reshape workplaces and how companies hire.
   
• The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday levied sanctions against an Iranian foundation that has sponsored a bounty on the writer Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed in August on a stage in New York.
   
• TuSimple Holdings Inc., a U.S.-based self-driving trucking company, faces federal investigations into whether it improperly financed and transferred technology to a Chinese startup, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
   
• The Biden administration is nearing completion of its long-awaited proposal to curb methane gas emissions, setting the stage for a fight over how strictly the government should regulate low-producing oil and gas wells.
   
• The Securities and Exchange Commission’s planned overhaul of stock-trading rules seeks to ensure that small investors get better prices when buying or selling stocks.

Dr. Willig taught at Princeton University for 43 years and in 2003 co-founded what is now Compass Lexecon, which employs nearly 200 Ph.D-level economists and advises clients on antitrust and other regulatory matters. As a senior Justice Department official from 1989 to 1991, he led a team producing new guidelines for assessing whether proposed mergers should be allowed.

Dr. Willig died Oct. 21 of anaplastic thyroid cancer. He was 75 years old.

Google case before high court could reshape internet economy. The liability shield and other legal protections that fueled the fortunes of Google, Facebook and other internet giants are facing a long-anticipated day of reckoning—but it is the Supreme Court, and not Congress, that will be calling the shots.

That has the tech industry worried that an unfavorable ruling by the high court could shake the foundations of the internet economy by imposing a new set of ground rules.

The federal shield law, known as Section 230, generally protects internet platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Yelp from being sued for harmful content posted by third parties on their sites. The Supreme Court agreed this month to hear a lawsuit against Google in which the plaintiffs contend Section 230 shouldn’t protect platforms that steer people to harmful content, such as terrorist videos.

• Tech Companies From Amazon to Meta Adjust to Turbulent Times

Russian economy expected to shrink under weight of sanctions. Russia is set for the deepest recession of any large economy this year, according to new forecasts from its central bank—and economists forecast a gloomy future as the windfall from high energy prices fades, sanctions tighten and the country struggles to replace Europe as the main buyer of its oil and gas.

The Russian economy is suffering from the impact of sanctions and the withdrawal of Western businesses in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in February. While Russia has benefited from soaring energy prices this year, economists expect revenue to fall sharply as the global economy slows and the West finds substitutes for Russian energy.

• U.N. and Turkey Race to Save Ukraine Grain Deal
• Russia’s Hobbled Auto Industry Struggles to Reboot

Beijing has few good options to retaliate for chip bans. Beijing so far hasn’t retaliated against the Biden administration’s extensive semiconductor export controls targeting China. That might be set to change, however, now that the 20th Party Congress has formally confirmed President Xi Jinping as party leader for a third consecutive term.

There are no easy options for China, but the way in which the country responds will be a key signal on how the two superpowers’ fencing match will evolve in the new era of Biden and Xi.

• Foxconn Technology Group is scrambling to contain a weekslong Covid-19 outbreak at an iPhone factory in central China, trying to appease frightened and frustrated workers during a crucial period for smartphone orders.
   
• A drive to unionize new Starbucks Corp. cafes is slowing as the coffee chain doles out more pay and expanded benefits to nonunionized cafes. Only 12 stores petitioned for representation in September after a peak of 71 in March.

Brazil’s leftist former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat conservative incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the country’s closest presidential race in history Sunday, cementing Latin America’s shift to the left and marking an extraordinary comeback for a man in jail for corruption three years ago.

Adidas ends Kanye West partnership, Gap pulls Yeezy products over rapper’s anti-Semitic remarks. Adidas AG said it would end its partnership with Kanye West and Gap Inc. said it would pull apparel he helped design from its stores, after a string of controversies including a recent anti-Semitic outburst from the musician and fashion-brand owner.

Adidas’s decision, which ends a lucrative arrangement that has produced the popular Yeezy collection of sneakers, comes after weeks of pressure on the German sportswear company from human-rights advocates and after other businesses severed their ties with Mr. West, who goes by Ye.

• Kanye West’s Partners Flee, Putting His Future in Business in Doubt