Featured Story
🎯 Vatican prosecutor seeks 7 years in jail for cardinal, confiscation of $460 million from 10 people. The Vatican prosecutor asked a court to convict 10 people, including a cardinal, of a range of financial crimes, sentence them to three to 13 years in prison and order the confiscation of some $460 million. AP
Top Stories
🌎 Bolivia says it is interested in obtaining Iranian drone technology to protect its borders. The deal raised particular concern in Argentina, where Iranian officials used the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to carry out the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. AP
🌎 OCC fines American Express $15 million for third-party noncompliance. The OCC said American Express insufficiently collected and housed essential consumer data and records required to be in its customer identification program. American Banker
🌎 How the Ultrawealthy Use Private Foundations to Bank Millions in Tax Deductions While Giving the Public Little in Return. It’s a simple bargain: The rich get huge tax breaks by donating art, property and company shares to benefit the public. But some donors collect millions while offering little or no public access. ProPublica
🌎 US Senate backs measure requiring reporting on China tech investments. The desire for a hard line on China is one of the few truly bipartisan sentiments in the divided U.S. Congress, and lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills seeking to address competition with China's communist government and industries. Reuters
🌎 Iran helping Russia build drone stockpile that is expected to be ‘orders of magnitude larger’ than previous arsenal. US intelligence officials have warned that Russia is building a drone-manufacturing facility in country with Iran’s help that could have a significant impact on the war in Ukraine. CNN
🌎 Virginia Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Conspiring to Violate Iranian Sanctions. Mokhtari engaged in a conspiracy lasting from March 2018 until September 2020 in which he conducted numerous business activities on behalf of Iranian entities without obtaining the required licenses from OFAC. U.S. DOJ
🌎 China Probed Covid-19 Policy Leaks by Ex-Government Officials. National-security personnel questioned expert consulting firms last year when information about China’s pandemic policies was moving markets. WSJ
🌎 Puerto Rican bank sues NY Fed for suspending account in Venezuela-linked crackdown. The New York Fed in 2019 said it would stop approving master accounts for some Puerto Rican banks due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela aimed at ousting socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Reuters
🌎 NatWest boss resigns over Nigel Farage bank account leak. Bank bosses have made a commitment to free speech in the wake of the Nigel Farage de-banking row that claimed the scalp of NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose. Sky News
🌎 Decades in prison for 3 sentenced in North Dakota fentanyl trafficking probe. Authorities say Ceron and Berry used a cellphone from inside a Quebec prison to arrange shipments of fentanyl from China to Canada and the U.S. as part of the criminal enterprise. AP
🌎 British billionaire Joe Lewis charged in U.S. over 'brazen insider trading scheme'. Lewis, who owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team, is accused of providing inside information to romantic partners and associates. CNBC
🌎 Our ESG Act protects investors, limits your financial risks from left-wing activism. For several years, wealthy progressives have quietly pushed America’s most powerful firms to adopt ESG investing standards to achieve the social change in corporations that Democrats can’t pass in Congress. Fox News
🌎 We Audit the Auditors, and We Found Trouble. PCAOB inspectors are turning up an increasing number of deficiencies. That’s bad for investors. WSJ
.png?upscale=true&width=800&upscale=true&name=ILLICIT%20EDGE%20(1200%20%C3%97%20200%20px).png)
