Switzerland to vote on neutrality after accepting Russia sanctions

Switzerland is in the midst of a new debate following the country’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The public wants a referendum on neutrality, which they see as a break with the country’s long-standing neutrality. Activists and the right-wing People’s Party, the largest party in parliament, want to enshrine […]

Yellen to Chinese banks: We’ll sanction them if they help Russian war machines

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the US could impose sanctions on Chinese banks and companies as well as the Beijing government if they help the Russian military. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave an interview to CNBC’s Sara Eisen and said, “We are prepared to take action if we see significant violations, particularly […]

UN expert to EU: Sanction Israel, not individuals

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese compared the West’s outrage over aid workers in Gaza to its reaction to murdered Palestinians and accused the West of racism. Albanese says the EU should sanction the state of Israel, not just extremist settlers. “Settlers operate as part of Israel’s expansionism over what is left of historic Palestine,” Francesca […]

China sanctions 2 US companies over Taiwan

China has sanctioned two US defense companies for supporting arms sales to Taiwan, which China says it can take back by force if necessary. This is a rare development. It includes freezing the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems in China. It also bans company management from entering the country. […]

2 Russian billionaires win the case: They got EU sanctions canceled

Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven were sanctioned by the European Union for their alleged role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They won their lawsuit and succeeded in having the sanctions against them annulled. The EU General Court ruled that the evidence was insufficient. It upheld their request to be removed from the list […]

Embezzlement sanctions in Alberta: Pay $3.4 million

More than 200 people had invested in Summerside Plaza, which opened in 2015 south of Edmonton, Canada. The Alberta securities watchdog found that a Calgary man violated the province’s laws and ordered him to pay $3.4 million. Last year, a panel from Alberta’s Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) found that Ali Ghani and five entities he […]

India digitizes sanctions and approvals

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is making the sanctioning and approval process of national highways paperless. A new standard operating procedure (SoP) has been finalized to speed up the process. The new procedure has been made mandatory for all work carried out through the National Highways Authority of India, state governments, Border […]

He’s now a billionaire criminal

87-year-old Joe Lewis has been sentenced to three years of probation for leaking information. With a fortune of $7.3 billion, Lewis joins the ranks of billionaires who have been convicted of a crime but managed to protect their fortunes. The 87-year-old founder of the Tavistock Group was spared prison time by a federal judge in […]

Grant Thornton UK LLP sanctioned over pension fund

13 Grant Thornton UK LLP has been sanctioned for failing to comply with the Regulatory Framework for Auditing in its audit of a local authority pension fund for the year ending March 2021. The FRC’s enforcement committee said it found a significant departure from the standards expected of the Registered Auditor and identified failings that […]