Category: Business

Australia's Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay a $530 million fine for breaching anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws. The scandal relates to more than 53,000 suspect transactions that the bank did not immediately report to authorities. If approved by the Federal Court, this will be the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history. At the heart of the case were so-called smart cash machines that allowed customers to anonymously deposit and transfer money. Thousands of suspect transactions of more than $7,600 each were not referred to the authorities as required by law. An investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), the federal financial intelligence agency, along with state and federal police found the machines were being used to launder the proceeds of crime.  Australian Treasurer Scott…

Pope Francis has told the world's oil executives that a transition to less-polluting energy sources "is a challenge of epochal proportions." On the last day of a two-day conference Saturday, the Roman Catholic leader urged the executives to provide electricity to the one billion people who are without it, but said that process must be done in a way that avoids "creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution gravely harmful to our human family, both now and in the future." Reuters reports the unprecedented conference was held behind closed doors at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The news agency says the oil executives, investors and Vatican experts who attended the summit, believe, like the pope does, that science supports the notion that climate change is caused by human activity…

Emotions were on display when U.S. President Donald Trump met other G-7 leaders at their annual summit in Canada on Friday, but the discussions were civilized and diplomatic, according to sources.  Trump held firm on asserting the United States is disadvantaged when it comes to trade with its European allies.  “The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his,” a G-7 official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency. “As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons.” At a bilateral meeting later with the summit's host, Justin Trudeau, the U.S. president joked that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to “cut all tariffs.”  Despite the two leaders exchanging criticism of each other’s trade…

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Friday released a bipartisan farm bill that makes mostly modest adjustments to existing programs and, unlike the House version of the bill, doesn't pick a fight over food stamps. The Senate bill, dubbed the “Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,” is budget-neutral and aims to renew subsidy, conservation, nutrition, rural development and commodity programs set to expire on Sept. 30. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill also includes a measure to legalize industrial hemp. In April, McConnell introduced a hemp legalization bill, which he said in a news release has garnered support of 24 other senators. The farm bill will go to the committee for a vote next week and sets up a possible confrontation with the House, whose bill went after the Supplemental…

An Ohio gardening company where immigration agents arrested 114 workers this week in one of the largest workplace raids in the U.S. in recent years says it doesn't know if workers used fake documents to get jobs. Corso's Flower & Garden Center said Friday in a statement that it demands proper documentation from employees and ensures they pay taxes. The arrests had occurred Tuesday at the company's northern Ohio locations in Sandusky and nearby Castalia. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they expect to charge workers for crimes including identity theft and tax evasion. Authorities say Corso's is under investigation. No criminal charges have been filed against the company. Corso's says if mistakes were made or fake identification documents were used by workers, it wasn't aware. ...

Ukraine's parliament has voted to establish an anti-corruption court in an effort to meet the criteria to receive $17.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund.   Before the IMF releases the funds needed to shore up Ukraine's struggling economy, it will have make sure the court's laws are IMF compliant. The West has repeatedly called on Ukraine to reform it political system and establish an independent body to fight corruption.   "What we'll be looking to see is that it ensures the establishment of an independent and trustworthy anti-corruption court that meets the expectation of the Ukrainian people," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing Thursday.   President Petrol Poroshenko said the court was in line with Western recommendations and Ukrainian law.     Last year Poroshenko rejected the…

The Trump administration said Thursday it would spend $4 million on construction projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in preparation for oil drilling in the nation’s biggest wildlife park. In an announcement that touted planned improvements to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visitor facilities, the Department of the Interior said it has approved spending on projects for “Oil Exploration Readiness” in the coastal plain of the Arctic refuge. The Trump administration is pushing for an oil lease sale in the refuge as early as next year. The tax-overhaul bill passed by the U.S. Congress last December includes a provision mandating two oil lease sales, each offering at least 400,000 acres (161,874.26 hectares), within seven years. True wilderness refuge The 19-million-acre (7.7 million-hectare) Arctic refuge, the largest in the U.S.…

Argentina and the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that they had reached an agreement for a three-year, $50 billion standby lending arrangement, which the government said it sought to provide a safety net and avoid the frequent crises of the country's past. Argentina requested IMF assistance on May 8 after its peso currency weakened sharply in an investor exodus from emerging markets. As part of the deal, which is subject to IMF board approval, the government pledged to speed up plans to reduce the fiscal deficit even as authorities now foresee lower growth and higher inflation in the coming years. The deal marks a turning point for Argentina, which for years shunned the IMF after a devastating 2001-02 economic crisis that many Argentines blamed on IMF-imposed austerity measures. President Mauricio Macri's turn to the lender has led to protests in…

President Donald Trump’s tariff on imported solar panels has led U.S. renewable energy companies to cancel or freeze investments of more than $2.5 billion in large installation projects, along with thousands of jobs, the developers told Reuters. That’s more than double the about $1 billion in new spending plans announced by firms building or expanding U.S. solar panel factories to take advantage of the tax on imports. The tariff’s bifurcated impact on the solar industry underscores how protectionist trade measures almost invariably hurt one or more domestic industries for every one they shield from foreign competition.  Trump announced the tariff in January over protests from most of the solar industry that the move would chill one of America’s fastest-growing sectors. ​Utility-scale projects Solar developers completed utility-scale installations costing a total…

India's central bank raised its benchmark lending rate Wednesday to tamp down rising inflation following an increase in oil prices. The increase of one-quarter percentage point to 6.25 percent is the first since January 2014 and comes at a time when consumer inflation is at a four-year high. The Reserve Bank of India said it expects inflation of 4.8 to 4.9 percent in the first half of the 2018-19 financial year, which started April 1. More rate hikes are likely in coming months, said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics in a report. The bank said crude oil prices have been volatile, causing uncertainty to the inflation outlook. There was a 12 percent increase in the price of Indian crude basket, which was sharper than expected. The bank forecast GDP growth…

 Britain, France and Germany have joined forces to urge the United States to exempt European companies from any sanctions the U.S. will slap on Iran after pulling out of an international nuclear agreement.   In a letter made public Wednesday, ministers from the three European countries told U.S. officials they "strongly regret" President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran deal to which their nations also were signatories.   The agreement was meant to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump argued that it was insufficiently tough and has said sanctions will be imposed on any company doing business with Tehran.   The ministers — British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Finance Minister Olaf…

Arms control experts estimate that the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program could take a decade to complete, and cost $20 billion, if a nuclear agreement is reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when they meet in Singapore on June 12. “The hard work has not yet begun, and it is gong to take sustained energy on the part of the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and North Korea. It’s going to be a multiyear long process,” said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. President Trump has said he expects a "very positive result" from the North Korea nuclear summit, but he also said it will likely be the beginning of a process to resolve differences…

Mexico put tariffs on American products ranging from steel to pork and bourbon on Tuesday, retaliating against import duties on metals imposed by President Donald Trump and taking aim at Republican strongholds ahead of U.S. congressional elections in November. Mexico's response further raises trade tensions between the two countries and adds a new complication to efforts to renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico. American pork producers, for whom Mexico is the largest export market, were dismayed by the move. Trump last week rattled some of the closest U.S. allies by removing an exemption to tariffs on imported steel and aluminum that his administration had granted to Mexico, Canada and the European Union. Meanwhile, Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow revived the possibility on Tuesday that…

U.S. President Donald Trump is "seriously contemplating" trying to reach separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico instead of reshaping the more than two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement with both neighbors, a White House economic adviser said Tuesday. Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News, "He prefers bilateral negotiations, and he is looking at two much different countries." The U.S., Canada and Mexico have for months engaged in talks to revise NAFTA, which has been in force since 1994. But Kudlow said separate deals "might be able to happen more rapidly." However, Kudlow said Trump does not plan to withdraw from the three-nation agreement. "He is seriously contemplating a shift in the NAFTA negotiations ... [and] he asked me to convey this," Kudlow said. The adviser said Trump…

Starbucks Corp, the world’s biggest coffee chain, said on Monday Executive Chairman Howard Schultz is stepping down, effective June 26. Schultz, who has been with Starbucks for nearly four decades, is credited with turning the company into a popular household name and growing it from 11 stores to more than 28,000 in 77 countries. Last year, Schultz stepped down as chief executive officer to become executive chairman, handing the top job to Kevin Johnson. Most recently, he was involved in steering the company through an anti-bias training program that was kickstarted after a Philadelphia cafe manager’s call to police resulted in the arrests of two black men who were waiting for a friend. Starbucks’ board named Myron Ullman, who was previously chairman and CEO of struggling retailer J.C. Penney Co,…

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer will discard the name Monsanto when it takes over the controversial US seeds and pesticides producer this week, it said Monday. But Bayer executives insisted Monsanto practices rejected by many environmentalists, including genetic modification of seeds and deployment of "crop protection" technologies like pesticides, were vital to help feed a growing world population. "The company name is and will remain Bayer. Monsanto will no longer be a company name," chief executive Werner Baumann told journalists during a telephone conference. Bayer's $63 billion (54 billion euro) buyout of Monsanto — one of the largest in German corporate history — is set to close Thursday, birthing a global giant with 115,000 employees and revenues of some 45 billion euros. Bosses plan to name the merged agrichemical division Bayer…

Institutional investors with $26 trillion in assets under management called on Group of Seven leaders on Monday to phase out the use of coal in power generation to help limit climate change, despite strong opposition from Washington. Government plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions were too weak to limit warming as agreed by world leaders at a Paris summit in 2015, they wrote. U.S. President Donald Trump announced a year ago that he was pulling out of the pact. "The global shift to clean energy is under way, but much more needs to be done by governments," the group of 288 investors wrote in a statement before the G7 summit in Canada on June 8-9. Signatories included Allianz Global Investors, Aviva Investors, DWS, HSBC Global Asset Management, Nomura Asset Management,…

British civil servants have warned of shortages of food, fuel and medicines within weeks if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times said government officials have modeled three potential scenarios for a "no deal" Brexit: mild, severe and "Armageddon." It said under the "severe" scenario, the English Channel ferry port of Dover would "collapse on day one" and supermarkets and hospitals would soon run short of supplies.   Britain wants to strike a deal on future trade relations with the EU before it officially leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, but officials are also drawing up plans for negotiations ending without an agreement.   The U.K.'s Department for Exiting the European Union rejected the downbeat scenario, saying it was…

China is warning the United States any trade and business agreements between the two countries will be void if President Donald Trump carries out his threats to impose tariff hikes and other trade measures. The warning came after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He ended a new round of talks Sunday in Beijing aimed at settling a simmering trade dispute, in which Beijing pledged to buy more American products to narrow its trade surplus with the United States.  The Chinese trade surplus reached $375 billion last year. No joint statement was issued and neither side released details. "Our meetings so far have been friendly and frank," Ross said at the start of the talks, "and covered some useful topics about specific export items" China…

Britain will not sign a trade agreement with the United States that is not in the country's best interests, Trade Minister Liam Fox said Saturday after European Union officials filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over stiff U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. "If we can't come to an agreement that we believe is in the interests of the United Kingdom, then we wouldn't be signing any trade agreement," Fox said Saturday in an interview with BBC radio. Fox's comments came one day after European Union officials submitted a formal complaint to the WTO, the first in a series of retaliatory actions, including possible tariffs, against the U.S. Fox said the tariffs are "illegal" and that British Prime Minister Theresa May would raise the issue at the…

An anonymous bidder offered more than $3.3 million Friday for a private lunch with Warren Buffett, an amount just short of the record paid in 2016 and 2012 for the chance to pick the brain of the renowned investor and philanthropist. An online auction that raises money for the Glide Foundation’s work to help the homeless in San Francisco ended Friday night on eBay with a winning bid of $3,300,100. The winner wished to remain anonymous. Third highest price paid The price was the third highest in the 18 years Buffett has offered the lunch. Winners paid $3,456,789 in 2012 and 2016, which remain the most expensive charity items ever sold on eBay. Buffett has raised more than $26 million for the Glide Foundation through the annual auctions. Bidders continue…

The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, sending the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says hourly wages also grew, bumping average worker pay up 2.7 percent from this time last year. And yet, despite the improving job picture, economists say there may be dark clouds forming on the horizon. Mil Arcega reports. ...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in Beijing on Saturday for talks on China’s promise to buy more American goods after Washington revived tensions by renewing its threat of tariff hikes on Chinese high-tech exports. The talks focus on adding details to China’s May 19 promise to narrow its politically volatile surplus in trade in goods with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year. President Donald Trump threw the status of the talks into doubt this week by renewing a threat to hike tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Compromise on surplus Private sector analysts say that while Beijing is willing to compromise on its trade surplus, it will resist changes that might…

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Monday amid souring relations between the NATO allies and trading partners over economic and other issues. The talks come as Turkish sectors, such as the major steel industry, reel from the higher tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration on Turkey and other nations. "Huge, huge effect, steel producers are desperate, the psychology is terrible among producers," said Tayfun Senturk, a Turkey-based international steel trader. "For the last three months, there have been no new U.S. orders, and the U.S. is a major market for Turkish producers, especially in piping. If it continues for a few years, there will be closures." In March, President Donald Trump introduced 25 percent tariffs on steel…

Some U.S. trading partners are vowing to retaliate against U.S interests over President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico beginning on Friday. ...

U.S. employers are thought to have hired at a solid pace in May and helped extend the economy’s nearly nine-year expansion, the second-longest on record, despite uncertainty caused by trade disputes. Economists have forecast that employers added 190,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 3.9 percent, according to data provider FactSet. The Labor Department’s May jobs report will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT Friday. Economy firm footing Solid hiring data would coincide with other evidence that the economy is on firm footing after a brief slowdown in the first three months of the year. The economy grew at a modest 2.2 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, after three quarters that had averaged roughly 3 percent annually. Some economists remain…

The United States' allies in the G-7 vowed Thursday to push back against Washington's decision to impose tariffs on their steel and aluminum exports, saying as they gathered for a meeting that the move threatens global growth. The escalating trade conflict between the United States and many key allies will dominate the three-day meeting in Canada of financial leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations that began Thursday, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin the top target for their complaints and lobbying. The United States said it was moving ahead to impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, starting at midnight (0400 GMT Friday), ending months of uncertainty about potential exemptions and sending a chill through financial markets. French Finance Minister Bruno Le…

The United States is escalating trans-Atlantic and North American trade tensions, imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico that will go into effect on Friday.   The move is prompting immediate retaliatory tariffs from the Europeans – expected to target such iconic American products as Harley Davidson motorcycles and Levi’s jeans, as well as Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. “We look forward to continued negotiations, both with Canada and Mexico on the one hand, and with the European Commission on the other hand, because there are other issues that we also need to get resolved,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters in a telephone briefing on Thursday. “This is a bad day for…