Crime

EU dirty money watchdog sounds less toothless

21 Jul 2021

Brussels wants to set up a single agency to prevent future Danske Bank-style scandals. The new body will take time to set up and could be watered down by politicians. But direct oversight of the EU’s riskiest financial entities and scope to levy big fines are a step forward.

Capital Calls: GEO meme, United Parcel Service

9 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The meme stock good-vs.-evil fairy tale is wearing thin with the private prison operator; the logistics company is focusing on high-margin deliveries rather than volume, and investors aren't loving it.

Capital Calls: SXSW

19 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: Rolling Stone publisher Penske Media is taking a 50% stake in hipster arts festival South By Southwest.

Review: London is global corruption’s top offender

2 Oct 2020

“Kleptopia” catalogues the corporate crooks who sanitise their ill-gotten gains. Though the problem is global, the British capital plays a central role. Tom Burgis shows how banks, stock markets and real estate are all complicit. But the flow of cash also erodes London’s appeal.

Money-laundering fight starts with transparency

21 Sep 2020

Bank shares fell after leaks suggested lenders moved allegedly dodgy funds despite red flags. They will keep doing so if they can plead ignorance about where cash ultimately comes from and ends up. Better visibility on company ownership, and cross-border data sharing, will help.

Samsung’s M&A controversy will have a final act

9 Jun 2020

Seoul is stepping up a probe into a 2015 group merger led by scion Jay Y. Lee. That might help U.S. fund Elliott which opposed the $8 bln deal and wants payback. Samsung went to great lengths to only narrowly win the first time around. Pressure on the conglomerate is building.

Barclays 2008 gamble has nuanced investor legacy

28 Feb 2020

A jury acquitted three ex-employees of fraud over a Qatari crisis cash call. The money forestalled a state bailout, allowing Barclays’ shares to beat RBS and Lloyds’. But the government may also have hacked back an investment bank which now drags down the lender’s valuation.

Julius Baer gets off lightly for dirty money sins

20 Feb 2020

The Swiss finance watchdog demanded better controls and barred the bank from embarking on major deals for now. That’s mild punishment given the systematic failings that were uncovered but reflects limits on what the supervisor can do. The regulator could really use sharper teeth.

Viewsroom: Carlos Ghosn’s great escape

16 Jan 2020

The international car boss who fled Japanese authorities is now lambasting Nissan and suing Renault for money due. Breakingviews columnists discuss why the latest twists overshadow the fraying global alliance of three automakers. Also, why China’s Geely wants Aston Martin.

Hadas: Ghosn caught in non-prisoner dilemma

15 Jan 2020

The self-liberated former Nissan boss dodged Japanese justice, but took his conscience with him to Lebanon. His decision to flee would be hard to justify without insistent claims of total innocence. Still, the moral and practical case for showing some contrition is strong.

GM takes FCA to task over past and future slights

21 Nov 2019

Detroit’s top carmaker claims Fiat Chrysler bribed union officials to get a better deal than GM in contract talks. CEO Mary Barra’s crew even called out her almost-merger partner posthumously. The lawsuit smacks of payback, but its goal must be to gum up Fiat’s deal with Peugeot.

U.S. hits Turkey where it hurts with bank charges

16 Oct 2019

The Justice Department accused Halkbank of helping evade sanctions against Iran. A big fine would erode the state-owned lender’s already weak capital position. Ankara can act to contain the damage but a ban on shorting bank shares signals the government sees systemic risk.

Ghosn’s power would get lost in translation

24 Sep 2019

The SEC claims the former Nissan boss hid half his salary to avoid public opprobrium, and was able to do so because of lax controls. It’s a stark contrast to the United States, where governance is strong but social pressure over pay is weak. Both systems fail in different ways.

Nordic banks’ soft regulators invite U.S. wrath

19 Jun 2019

Shares in Danske and Swedbank have fallen sharply due to concerns about American probes into money laundering. A $900 million fine by Dutch regulators helped ING escape U.S. ire for similar breaches. Laws limiting penalties in Scandinavia mean banks there may not be so lucky.

Oligarchs take U.S. sanctions risk in their stride

8 Apr 2019

The Russian owners of Evraz recently cut their stake below 50 pct, which offsets potential heat over their Kremlin links. That doesn’t mean fellow metal groups like Severstal need to follow suit. Still, Oleg Deripaska’s recent travails imply little cause for complacency.

France’s $1.5 bln reason to put Renault over Ghosn

4 Apr 2019

That’s how much more the state’s stake in the carmarker could be worth if the discount at which the company is trading disappears. Mending Nissan relations is a precondition. Paris may only do the minimum to help former CEO Carlos Ghosn, who has called for the government’s help.

Hong Kong fumbles its China extradition fix

21 Mar 2019

The city may exclude white-collar crimes from a mooted deal to exchange suspects with the mainland, to assuage the business community’s concerns. Unfortunately, such an awkward compromise would only confirm the tension between the financial hub’s needs and Beijing’s ambitions.

Arrests give investors new reason to avoid Russia

26 Feb 2019

Sanctions imposed on some well-connected oligarchs have already spooked foreign money managers. The detention of Baring Vostok executives including founder Michael Calvey highlights domestic dangers. Less capital will be willing to navigate the risks.

EU banks keep stepping on old landmines

20 Feb 2019

A French court fined UBS a record $5.1 bln for helping clients evade taxes in the past, while Swedbank faces allegations about old dodgy transactions linked to Danske Bank’s money-laundering scandal. European lenders seem unable to avoid the damage from past compliance bungles.

Wirecard shows fintech stars share banking ills

4 Feb 2019

The payments group denied an FT report alleging false accounting. Yet shares are down 25 pct since last week. Soothing investors will mean bulking up in compliance and boosting transparency. They’re the kind of problems associated with rickety banks, not disruptors.