Month: November 2019

Swedbank pledged on Wednesday to conclude an internal probe into alleged money laundering at the Swedish lender by early next year, and said it was unaware of any breaches of U.S. sanctions after a broadcaster alleged such a lapse. “If there has been unethical behaviour … we should of course get the bottom of it,” Swedbank CEO Jens Henriksson said in a statement. “The internal investigation is expected to be concluded in early 2020,” he said, adding “conclusions from the investigation will be communicated”. …read more […]

Swedbank said on Wednesday it was not aware of any violations by the bank of U.S. sanctions against Russia but said it continued to investigate money laundering after a Swedish television report that alleged such a breach. Sweden’s public service broadcaster (SVT) reported on Wednesday, in a programme aired on its website, that Swedbank may have violated U.S. sanction against Russia, citing an unnamed source. “The Bank is not aware of any OFAC violations arising out of the continuing internal investigation,” Swedbank said in a statement. …read more […]

Twitter said on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party misled the public by changing the name of one of its Twitter accounts to make it look like a fact checking service during a televised election debate. The Conservative Campaign Headquarters press office account, followed by nearly 76,000 users, changed its name to “factcheckUK” from its usual “CCHQPress” and switched its avatar to a white tick against a purple background. It made the change while Johnson was debating opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party leader, on live television. …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Prince Andrew’s BBC interview about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein was excruciating to watch — especially, no doubt, for the victims of the deceased financier. So bad was it that he may unwittingly have provided the next generation of Britain’s monarchy the justification it needs to streamline.The Duke of York’s effort to explain his friendship with the convicted pedophile came across as insensitive, ignorant, pig-headed and out of touch. He revealed a litany of shortcomings longer than his official title(1), neglecting to express a shred of sympathy for Epstein’s targets. The prince’s strong denial of claims that …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Explore what’s moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.Helicopter money could be both the best and worst options for the European Central Bank if the euro-area slowdown morphed into a recession, according to a Peterson Institute paper.With monetary and fiscal policy limited — the former by a depleted toolbox, the latter by budget rules — handing out cash to the public could be an appealing alternative measure to combat a downturn, former IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard wrote in the paper with Jean Pisani-Ferry.However, such …read more […]

Power supply to about 150,000 California homes and businesses is expected to be shut off on Wednesday, in the latest precautionary outage planned by utility giant PG&E against wildfire risks posed by extremely dry, windy weather. A precautionary outage initiated on Oct. 23 hit an estimated 179,000 customers, while another run in phases from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1 affected a record 941,000 homes and workplaces, according to PG&E. The latest mass shutoff is likely to run through midday Thursday and could ultimately affect 181,000 customers across portions of 16 counties in northern and central California, PG&E spokeswoman …read more […]

Emirates and Boeing were poised on Wednesday to seal a compromise deal that would see the Dubai carrier order around 30 787 Dreamliners, paving the way for a reduced order for delayed 777X jets, people familiar with the matter said. Emirates tentatively ordered 40 Dreamliners in 2017 but “tough” last-minute talks to finalise the order this week have hinged on negotiations over the fate of a massive separate order for 150 777X after the latter ran into delays, they said. A restructuring of the 777X order may, however, not be highlighted officially at the Dubai Airshow, where Emirates …read more […]