Hello Thursday!  It’s February 15, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Deutsche Bank under renewed pressure to clean up its AML act, Ukraine refuses to remove Raiffeisen Bank from Russia war blacklist, Swiss prosecutors probe Russia sanctions compliance, Park Avenue bank ran Chinese Communist cell, and much more...

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🎯 Deutsche Bank Told by Regulator to Fix Money Laundering Controls. Germany’s financial regulator again refreshed its criticism of the slow progress DB has made on addressing deficiencies in its prevention of money laundering. Bloomberg

Top Stories

🌎 Ukraine refuses to take Raiffeisen off Russia war blacklist. Austrian officials believe Raiffeisen has been unfairly singled out. Other banks, such as Italy's UniCredit, which remains active in Russia, does not appear on the list. Reuters

🌎 Swiss Prosecutors Have Begun Probes into Russia Sanctions. Switzerland, long a magnet for Russian oligarch riches and a commodity-trading hub, has faced criticism for not being tough enough in enforcing EU sanctions. Bloomberg

🌎 Park Avenue bank ran Chinese Communist cell, ordered workers to follow party rules. China International Capital Corporation, the US branch of the Beijing-based multinational investment firm, required allegiance to the CCP and “adherence to the Party beliefs”. NYP

🌎 VW Cars Blocked By U.S. Customs Over Part From China. The U.S. has banned most imports from Xinjiang unless companies offer verifiable proof that production did not involve forced labor. AFP

🌎 Russians use Chinese partner to produce Citroen cars at idled Stellantis plant. It isn’t clear if the kits from China contained parts that fall under the scope of Western sanctions on Russia. Reuters

🌎 U.S. sanctions Iran Central Bank subsidiary for U.S. tech procurement and violating export rules. The U.S. imposed sanctions on three people and four firms — across Iran, the UAE and Turkey. AP

🚩 Fact Sheet: Treasury Actions to Enhance Financial Transparency and Combat Illicit Finance U.S. Treasury

🌎 EU Proposes Sanctioning North Korea for Sending Russia Missiles. The bloc has proposed listing North Korea’s defense minister and the Missile General Bureau. Bloomberg

🚩 Publication of Regulatory Amendment to the North Korea Sanctions Regulations U.S. Treasury

🌎 Jeffrey Epstein victims sue FBI, allege coverup. 12 women sue FBI over alleged failure to protect them from Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse. CNN

🌎 I was head of the NSA. In a world of threats, this is my biggest worry: I worry that we could make ourselves blind to external threats if Congress allows a critical intelligence collection authority to expire in April. WaPo

🌎 New ‘Gold Pickaxe’ Android, iOS malware steals your face for fraud. 'GoldPickaxe' employs a social engineering scheme to trick victims into scanning their faces and ID documents to generate deepfakes for unauthorized banking access. Bleepingcomputer

🌎 U.S. Treasury Debunks Narrative That Hamas Relied on Crypto to Fund Terrorism. The Treasury's top official on terrorism said Hamas still prefers traditional financing, and crypto isn't figuring into their funding in a big way. CoinDesk

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IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 The Baltic border loophole in EU's Russia sanctions Politico

🇷🇺 US, EU discuss Russia sanctions ahead of Ukraine war's second anniversary Reuters

🇷🇺 Why Hungary is again blocking the latest round of Russia sanctions FT

🇷🇺 Mercedes-Benz sells stake in Russian truck maker Kamaz Reuters

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China

🇨🇳 US ‘very concerned’ about China’s hold on mineral supply chain Hill

🇨🇳 China seeks revision of AML law to address risks related to cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets SCMP

🇨🇳 Elon Musk Woos Chinese Suppliers to Set Up Right Next Door to US Bloomberg

🇨🇳 BASF’s exit from Xinjiang ventures may prompt more to follow RFA

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Fake CIA agent dupes wealthy Texans out of nearly $20M, leaving them reeling from the ‘lies and destruction’ NYP

💸 ‘It has really gotten out of hand’: wage theft rampant in US construction Guardian

💸 CFPB’s proposed rule would cripple government fraud prevention efforts Hill

💸 National Guard urged to check migrants arriving in NYC for ‘Tren de Aragua’ tattoos as gang’s numbers grow stateside NYP

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MENA

💥 PA Security Forces Behind Dozens of Recent Attacks on Israelis Free Beacon

💥 U.S. Centcom says its forces seized Iranian arms shipment bound for Houthis AFP

💥 Academics in US, UK and Australia collaborated on drone research with Iranian university close to regime Guardian

💥 Malaysia court slaps 164 charges on heads of pro-Palestinian NGO over $17M in misused funds SCMP

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 U.S. Cyber Authorities Investigate 'Binance Trust Wallet' iOS App for Vulnerabilities CoinDesk

🔐 Fulton County faces ransomware attack by ‘financially motivated actors,’ but county elections still on track CNN

🔐 Ransom hackers are hitting climate data Semafor

🔐 US military notifies 20,000 of data breach after cloud email leak TechCrunch

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