Crime

UnitedHealth tragedy opens deep healthcare wounds

5 Dec 2024

The murder of insurance boss Brian Thompson drew a slew of callous responses, including on a company Facebook post. Industry profit is rising in a nation spending double its peers on healthcare for worse outcomes. Policy ideas are weak, but political risk is amping up.

India’s moment is hurt by interference label

15 Oct 2024

New Delhi called Ottawa linking its agents to homicides "preposterous" as the countries expelled each other's diplomats. A similar US case has higher stakes. If the saga shunts perceptions of India into the same bucket as China, its status as a land of opportunity will suffer.

Tech poster child poses a problem for Korea Inc

23 Jul 2024

Billionaire Brian Kim’s arrest for his role in a K-Pop deal adds to his Kakao empire's mounting legal woes. Its dominance in messaging also is a regulatory headache. Yet a tough crackdown on the company could jeopardise the country’s new breed of promising global businesses.

White-collar crime gets crack at messy due process

27 Jun 2024

The US Supreme Court dealt a blow to securities regulators Thursday by requiring jury trials in cases of fraud. Neither courts nor regulators have resources for that. Plus the ruling opens the door for internal courts at other agencies – from the FTC to FERC – to be weakened.

Trump’s rich backers normalize criminal behavior

30 May 2024

In a historic verdict, the property mogul became the first US president convicted in court. His outlandish behavior hasn’t cost him support from billionaires such as Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, whose money may help Trump get re-elected. Their collective greed is now on trial.

Singapore’s clean reputation gets a timely test

18 Jul 2023

Officials arrested a cabinet minister and a prominent hotel tycoon without saying why. Corruption cases are rare in Singapore. But as the hub becomes a favourite destination for the rich, the investigation is a useful opportunity to burnish its reputation for tough enforcement.

Jho Low could rip scabs off 1MDB wounds

21 Apr 2023

The man at the centre of the sovereign fund scandal could be returned to Malaysia via a deal with China, a respected journalist says. It’s the final piece of the puzzle but given what Low knows, it would be a moment of public cheer and private fear for politicians and bankers.

Jamie Dimon throws Staley off fortress battlements

9 Mar 2023

JPMorgan is seeking to claw back eight years of pay from former executive Jes Staley, over links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Suing former employees isn't a great look. But the bank, and its CEO Dimon, have been on a high. As reputations go, JPMorgan has ever more to defend.

Long arm of China law reaches today from Tomorrow

22 Aug 2022

Xiao Jianhua, the man behind the dismembered investment colossus, has been convicted of graft and illegal use of funds five years after he was snatched from Hong Kong. His fate is a timely reminder that Beijing is determined to show that no company or person is too big to fail.

UK’s Bain ban sets oddly high moral bar

3 Aug 2022

Britain has barred the consultancy from public contracts due to misconduct in South Africa. The nod to ethics is overdue but tricky. Rivals McKinsey and KPMG, hit by related scandals, escaped UK censure. A similar stand against global skulduggery would red-card much of the City.

Casino SPAC is for hardened gamblers only

7 Jun 2022

A legal battle over Okada Manila resort turned physical when its ousted boss seized the property last week. That could scupper its $2.7 bln deal with a U.S. blank-cheque firm. But unfriendly politicians, dubious financial reports and more stack the odds against investors, too.

Allianz’s U.S. wound is not entirely staunched

17 May 2022

Europe’s largest insurer has effectively been kicked out of the U.S. market after admitting fraud and being forced to pay $6 bln in fines and compensation. CEO Oliver Baete will hope these body blows enable closure. But the fiasco raises questions about the rest of the business.

Spending bitcoin is harder than stealing it

9 Feb 2022

Cryptocurrency crime is soaring. But the seizure by U.S. authorities of bitcoin worth $3.6 bln, six years after the theft, shows it’s difficult to turn stolen tokens into cash. Anonymous transactions leave a clear trail. Even if the boom fades, the pursuit of thieves will go on.

EU dirty money watchdog sounds less toothless

21 Jul 2021

Brussels wants to set up a single agency to prevent future Danske Bank-style scandals. The new body will take time to set up and could be watered down by politicians. But direct oversight of the EU’s riskiest financial entities and scope to levy big fines are a step forward.

Capital Calls: GEO meme, United Parcel Service

9 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The meme stock good-vs.-evil fairy tale is wearing thin with the private prison operator; the logistics company is focusing on high-margin deliveries rather than volume, and investors aren't loving it.

Capital Calls: SXSW

19 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: Rolling Stone publisher Penske Media is taking a 50% stake in hipster arts festival South By Southwest.

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.

Money-laundering fight starts with transparency

21 Sep 2020

Bank shares fell after leaks suggested lenders moved allegedly dodgy funds despite red flags. They will keep doing so if they can plead ignorance about where cash ultimately comes from and ends up. Better visibility on company ownership, and cross-border data sharing, will help.

Samsung’s M&A controversy will have a final act

9 Jun 2020

Seoul is stepping up a probe into a 2015 group merger led by scion Jay Y. Lee. That might help U.S. fund Elliott which opposed the $8 bln deal and wants payback. Samsung went to great lengths to only narrowly win the first time around. Pressure on the conglomerate is building.

Barclays 2008 gamble has nuanced investor legacy

28 Feb 2020

A jury acquitted three ex-employees of fraud over a Qatari crisis cash call. The money forestalled a state bailout, allowing Barclays’ shares to beat RBS and Lloyds’. But the government may also have hacked back an investment bank which now drags down the lender’s valuation.