Corruption

China’s graft probe heightens food security worry

22 May 2024

A probe into the agricultural minister spotlights Beijing's self-sufficiency concerns. Worsening geopolitics and trade tensions are spurring China to diversify imports, boost crop output and increase stockpiles. All of these will reshape global supply chains.

Viewsroom: Russia and Ukraine, Credit Suisse woes

24 Feb 2022

As President Vladimir Putin launches the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two and the West prepares its response, Dasha Afanasieva and Gina Chon discuss what comes next. And Liam Proud explains how an embarrassing data leak is the Swiss bank’s latest headache.

Big Oil’s Nigeria win only partly hits graft fight

17 Mar 2021

A Milan court cleared Eni and Royal Dutch Shell of corruption in a $1.3 bln oilfield deal. Yet a three-year trial and big write-offs imply their victory is pyrrhic. With U.S. sanctions an ever-present threat, commodity bosses will still think twice about risking a graft charge.

Review: London is global corruption’s top offender

2 Oct 2020

“Kleptopia” catalogues the corporate crooks who sanitise their ill-gotten gains. Though the problem is global, the British capital plays a central role. Tom Burgis shows how banks, stock markets and real estate are all complicit. But the flow of cash also erodes London’s appeal.

Kremlin foe’s illness benefits Russian kleptocrats

21 Aug 2020

Allies of Alexei Navalny say the politician-investigator has been poisoned. In a country with few independent voices, his damaging exposés of leading figures’ corruption and cronyism have been popular - and embarrassing. Any would-be emulators are now likely to be more cautious.

Clashes are facet of U.S. “exorbitant privilege”

1 Jun 2020

Unrest over racial injustice does nothing for a country already divided and struggling with disease. Yet it takes more to unseat a superpower. America is no longer the only one, but it still has unrivaled heft. The downside: limited pressure to tackle economic or social problems.

Viewsroom: Vices and more

9 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists in Ireland, New York and Lantau check in with Editor Rob Cox to discuss Jamie Dimon’s annual letter and coming earnings onslaught, fraud at Luckin Coffee and, everybody’s favorite coronavirus obsession: a boom in sales of porn, weed, booze and junk food.

Senate stock trades add to post-virus reform list

20 Mar 2020

Several U.S. lawmakers sold shares after briefings on Covid-19. One is even married to the New York Stock Exchange chairman and downplayed the disease. It looks like another case of the powerful benefiting during the outbreak. Congress can tackle it by banning stock ownership.

Goldman set for show of guilt without tears

19 Dec 2019

The Wall Street firm may pay $2 bln for its role in the 1MDB bribery scandal and offer a rare admission of wrongdoing. Neither fine nor mea culpa would carry much sting. As often happens in the cat-and-mouse game of enforcement, the end result looks half-baked.

Tariff strain will outlast Trump, impeached or not

18 Dec 2019

The U.S. president will likely be the third to be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors. Whatever the Senate decides on his fate, he’s made another historic mark: normalizing trade tactics as punishment. It will long be a part of the economic toolkit in America and elsewhere.

Glencore’s new probe applies shove to succession

5 Dec 2019

British police are investigating possible bribery at the commodity giant. Two days ago 62-year-old boss Ivan Glasenberg, whose firm also faces a U.S. probe, said he could retire next year. Having to fight a legal war on two fronts may help him make up his mind.

Hadas: Autocrats learning “just-enough” economics

4 Dec 2019

Growth may be faster and fairer in democracies, but oppressive governments aren’t threatened. Globalisation and ever-cheaper technology have made it easier to scrape out enough gains to preserve their popularity. It takes Venezuelan-scale mismanagement to foment massive unrest.

India gets stuck in anti-corruption crossfire

23 Aug 2019

After tycoons, authorities are turning to politicians, arresting opposition veteran and former finance minister P. Chidambaram. The move, months after Narendra Modi's big win, fuels fears of factionalism; it also raises concerns about the unwanted consequences of a cleanup.

Nordic banks’ soft regulators invite U.S. wrath

19 Jun 2019

Shares in Danske and Swedbank have fallen sharply due to concerns about American probes into money laundering. A $900 million fine by Dutch regulators helped ING escape U.S. ire for similar breaches. Laws limiting penalties in Scandinavia mean banks there may not be so lucky.

Swedbank CEO exit still leaves iceberg of problems

28 Mar 2019

The Swedish lender has dismissed CEO Birgitte Bonnesen shortly before its annual meeting. That was almost inevitable given allegations that the lender was involved in money laundering in the Baltics. The problem for investors is that the scandal will last longer than her tenure.

College-bribe scandal is manna for progressives

13 Mar 2019

TPG’s Bill McGlashan and actor Felicity Huffman are among the big names charged in an alleged scam to get their kids into top U.S. universities. The admissions process is anyway tilted toward the rich. This case, and the entitlement on show, should put the whole system on trial.

Bond markets shrug off Danske dirty-money risks

11 Jan 2019

The bank at the centre of a money-laundering scandal saw its cost of issuing risky debt more than double. Still, its yields are far below those of Italy’s UniCredit. The troubles at the Danish lender may have further to run, and are harder to predict, than Rome’s political drama.

U.S. will find a way to make Danske Bank suffer

4 Jan 2019

Congress has made banks’ anti-money laundering a key concern. That bodes ill for Danske Bank, embroiled in a 200 billion euro suspicious funds scandal. The Danish lender is hardly a household name in the U.S. That gives politicians who wish to make an example of it free reign.

Wall Street could use remedial lectures on culture

17 Dec 2018

The New York Fed’s push to improve industry behavior deserves top watchdog billing. Goldman’s 1MDB mess is only one reminder the message hasn’t totally sunk in. Slower economic growth in 2019 could expose more lapses. It’s a good time for boss John Williams to badger his charges.

Deutsche Bank’s new dark clouds have silver lining

29 Nov 2018

The lender has been hit by police raids linked to clients’ alleged tax evasion and speculation its investment bank head could leave. Yet Panama Papers issues have thus far not meaningfully hit European banks. And Deutsche’s traders should have a decent 2019 – whoever’s in charge.