Hello Thursday!  It's January 18, and we’re tracking the new beneficial ownership database under fire, Biden's watered down Houthi sanctions, Mexico's illicit animal trade, Qatari court's conviction of ex-finance minister, and much more...

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🎯 New U.S. company ownership database faces continued political attacks weeks after launch. Criticism and challenges from business groups and their political allies are sowing confusion and fear among business owners. ICIJ 

Top Stories

💥 'Bait and Switch': Biden Decision To Water Down Houthi Terror Designation Draws Outrage. The designation is significantly weaker than the one applied by the Trump administration, which labeled the Houthis as an FTO. Free Beacon

💥 Inside the world of the ultra-wealthy Mexicans who own exotic animals. It’s illegal in Mexico to own spider monkeys, which are endangered and trafficked in the country’s south. LAT

💥 Qatari court convicts ex-finance minister of laundering $5.6B. Judges found a high-ranking member of Qatar's ruling family guilty of misuse of public funds. Reuters

🚀 The State of Financial Crime 2024. 600 senior compliance decision-makers evaluate changing attitudes toward financial crime, sanctions, and more. ComplyAdvantage

💥 Grabbing $300B of Russian assets is no panacea. G7 countries are discussing confiscating frozen Russian assets though some have concerns about the mechanism and impact. Reuters

💥 Singaporean Transport Minister Hit With Corruption Charges. S. Iswaran resigned after being charged with corruption in the biggest political scandal in four decades. Bloomberg

💥 At Art Fraud Trial, Sotheby’s Is Pressed on Role in Sales to Russian Oligarch. The auction house is accused of helping an art dealer who the oligarch says defrauded him in several sales. NYT

💥 Laundromats and VPNs: How China’s Crypto Traders Are Evading the Rules. Small investors in China are using an underground network of brokers to skirt the country’s strict crypto rules. WSJ

💥 Russia’s Sberbank Posts Record $17B Profit in 2023. Sberbank was among the first Russian companies sanctioned over Moscow's invasion, leading to its withdrawal from Europe. Moscow Times

🚩 Anti-money laundering: Council and Parliament strike deal on stricter rules EU

💥 How a 27-Year-Old Codebreaker Busted the Myth of Bitcoin’s Anonymity. Once, drug dealers and money launderers saw crypto as perfectly untraceable, until a student set the stage for a decade-long crackdown. Wired

💥 Higher penalties coming for export control violations. Biden administration will crack down on companies that violate U.S. export rules, with stiffer penalties to deter future violations. Reuters

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 How Russia Won the Sanctions War With the West Newsweek

🇷🇺 Russia got components worth $2.9B from West despite sanctions Reuters

🇷🇺 Dual-use exports to Russia await action by Finland’s next leader Defense News

🇷🇺 Kaliningrad’s Economy Buckles Under Sanctions Jamestown

MORE TOP STORIES...

China

🇨🇳 China widens South America trade highway with Silk Road mega port Reuters

🇨🇳 FBI and CISA warn of national security threat posed by Chinese drones Record

🇨🇳 Republican lawmakers criticize lifting of US sanctions to gain China’s help on fentanyl SCMP

🇨🇳 US sanctions over China's military use of Baidu chatbot could spell bad news for AI industry Cointelegraph

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 How Walmart’s Financial Services Became a Fraud Magnet ProPublica

💸 Ecuador prosecutor investigating gang attack on TV station shot and killed Guardian

💸 Former Kansas City banking executive pleads guilty to evading AML regulations ABC

💸 The Electric-Vehicle Cheating Scandal WSJ

Crypto & Cyber

🔓 The worst scam of all: How Binance got away with a slap-on-the-wrist Hill

🔓 Iranian hackers targeting ‘high-profile’ experts on Middle East Record

🔓 Researcher uncovers one of the biggest password breaches in recent history Ars

🔓 JPMorgan fights off 45 billion hacking attempts each day CNN

Trafficking

🚚 Texas defies federal demand that it abandon border area, setting up legal showdown CBS

🚚 Amid a national shortage, the US Adderall black market is booming Guardian

🚚 $5M reward offered for info on ‘drug kingpin’ and his operations in Colorado CBS

🚚 Griselda Blanco and the female drug barons of Latin America BBC

MORE TOP STORIES...

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