News & Article


UK STRUGGLES TO GET A HANDLE ON ONLINE FRAUD

Online investment fraud in the U.K. might as well be legal, and the crooks know it. With authorities losing hope of curbing the rising incidence of fraud through policing, activists, the finance industry and market supervisors are calling for new laws imposing responsibility on online giants such as Google to choke off scammers. But the U.K. government is equivocating on additional regulations for internet platforms, and the impact of existing controls remains limited. In the meantime, online scams involving fake firms touting unrealistic riches have skyrocketed during the pandemic as people remain stuck......

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed the failings of asset managers and data analytics firms in their assessment of environmental, social and governance risks, according to a senior sustainable finance executive. Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has prompted some asset managers to stop new investments in Russia, while others have said they will divest from the country when they are able to do so. However, Sasja Beslik, a sustainable finance expert, said the war showed that ESG investors “have failed” by not managing risks associated with Russian investments before the latest invasion. Beslik......

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NORTH CAROLINA MAN USED GAME OF THRONES-THEMED COMPANIES — WHITE WALKER, KHALEESI AND THE NIGHT’S WATCH — IN $1.7 MILLION COVID-19 RELIEF FRAUD

Winter is coming for this guy. A North Carolina man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for fraudulently taking $1.7 million in Covid-19 relief loans for fake companies he created, including some which had “Game of Thrones”-themed names. Tristan Bishop Pan, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud last August for submitting at least 14 applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans, seeking over $6.1 million. Pan, who ran an insurance agency in the Raleigh-Durham area, ultimately received more than $1.7 million in benefits. Pan’s attorney didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. Among......

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OVER 60% OF ALL SCAMS ARE RELATED TO DIGITAL CURRENCIES: AUSTRIAN REGULATOR

Austria’s financial watchdog has revealed that cryptocurrency-related scams have skyrocketed in the central European country. According to authorities, they accounted for about two-thirds of all financial frauds last year. The Financial Market Authority (FMA) said 2020 saw a record high in whistleblower reports of potential fraud. As Bloomberg reports, digital currencies have been the focus of most reports. More than 60% of all financial frauds in Austria last year were related to digital currencies. They were mainly aimed at users of social media. They promoted their scams on WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and TikTok,......

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AS CHINESE STOCKS SURGE, U.S. SIGNALS HARD LINE ON DELISTINGS

The U.S. accounting watchdog is insisting that Beijing provide complete access to audits of Chinese companies that trade in New York, setting a high bar for any deal that allows the firms to maintain their American listings. Public Company Accountability Oversight Board inspectors must have the same visibility into Chinese audit work papers as they get for businesses based in other countries, the watchdog said in a statement Wednesday. The PCAOB added that it remains “actively engaged” in seeking to resolve a long-running standoff with Chinese officials over the inspection requirement, which applies......

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