Aurelia Butler

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -One of the two Republicans on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) who has dissented in several antitrust actions filed against social media companies said on Monday that he will resign later this year.FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips said in a statement he had written to President Joe Biden announcing his intent to resign this fall. Phillips, a former chief counsel for Republican Senator John Cornyn, dissented in December 2020 in an FTC antitrust case filed against Facebook (NASDAQ:META), which is now known as Meta Platforms. He also dissented last month when the FTC sought a court order to block Meta from buying virtual reality (VR) content maker Within Unlimited.Democrats hold a 3-2 majority on the commission and only three can be from one political party. The FTC works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law and investigates allegations of deceptive behavior by companies.In April, Phillips said the Biden administration is “as hostile to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as any in my lifetime.”He argued that since President Joe Biden took over antitrust enforcement “has been anything but vigorous—indeed, it has been sclerotic. By that I mean not just fewer cases being brought, but a longer process with fewer decisions being made.The White House has made fostering competition a top priority. National Economic Council director Brian Deese said last month Biden believes that “driving structural change to promote competition across the economy” will “generate more innovation, greater productivity, more opportunity in the country while lowering prices.”Phillips and fellow Republican FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson last year asked the White House to disclose any “evidence” of wrongdoing behind high retail gasoline prices after Biden urged the agency to dig deeper into possible “illegal conduct.” He said in January he had received no response. He said “an antitrust investigation predicated on fumes would have wasted resources.” More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cyber crimes.A senior Treasury Department official said Tornado Cash, one of the largest mixers identified as problematic by the Treasury, has reportedly laundered more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.Monday’s move freezes any U.S. assets of the mixer and generally bars Americans from dealing with it.The Lazarus Group, a well-known North Korean government-backed hacking group that has conducted numerous data breaches, both politically and sometimes financially motivated, has laundered at least $455 million through Tornado Cash, the Treasury said. The Lazarus Group is already under U.S. sanctions. The group has conducted numerous significant data breaches historically, including an intrusion into Sony (NYSE:SONY) Pictures in late 2014. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea controls thousands of hackers that steal funds, including cryptocurrencies, to finance its weapons programs. Pyongyang has denied the accusations. Tornado Cash and the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Tornado Cash was also used to launder about $100 million from a hack into virtual currency firm Harmony in June and as recently as last week in the theft of Nomad, a virtual currency technology company, the Treasury said.Despite prior requests for Tornado Cash to make changes, the criminal activity continued, the Treasury official said, leading to the decision to designate the mixer.In May, the U.S. Treasury also targeted virtual currency mixer Blender, imposing sanctions for the first time on a mixer – a software tool that pools and scrambles cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses.Hacks have long plagued crypto platforms. And experts say Tornado Cash has played a role in these crimes. “Tornado is a popular and important tool for cybercriminals and state-backed hacking groups,” said Dr Tom Robinson, cofounder of Elliptic, a cryptocurrency analytics firm. “In total, Elliptic’s analysis shows that at least $1.3 billion in proceeds of crime such as ransomware, hacks and fraud have been laundered through Tornado Cash.” More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Northrop Grumman is partnering with rocket startup Firefly Aerospace to build a new version of its workhorse Antares rocket without Russian-made engines that were cut off from the United States after the invasion of Ukraine, the company said on Monday.The new version of Antares, a rocket which NASA uses to ferry cargo to the International Space Station, will use seven Miranda engines under development by Firefly, Northrop (NYSE:NOC) said in a statement, adding that the two companies will later work on an entirely new launch vehicle.Northrop’s partnership with Firefly comes months after Russia halted deliveries of Antares’ original RD-181 engines in retaliation for sanctions the U.S. levied on Moscow over its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. The delivery halt left Northrop with just two remaining Antares rockets despite several more under contract with NASA.The Antares rocket launches Northrop’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the space station. The company’s final launch using Russian engines is slated for early next year.A Northrop spokeswoman told Reuters that the company purchased three Falcon 9 launches from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch Cygnus capsules to the space station while Antares 330 is under development. Those Falcon 9 missions will launch in late 2023 and 2024.Northrop’s statement did not specify the value of the Firefly partnership or when it expects to launch the new Antares 330 rocket.”Through our collaboration, we will first develop a fully domestic version of our Antares rocket, the Antares 330, for Cygnus space station commercial resupply services, followed by an entirely new medium class launch vehicle,” Scott Lehr, vice president of Northrop’s launch and missile defense unit, said in a press release.A pair of RD-181 engines have long powered the Antares rocket. Northrop previously said it was exploring other rockets for Cygnus after Russia’s decision to cut off engine deliveries. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday proposed new rules aimed at preventing conflicts of interest in management and governance of clearing houses.Clearing houses provide essential plumbing for financial markets, ensuring that securities or derivatives trades are completed, even if one side of a transaction goes bust.Under the SEC’s proposal, registered clearing houses would be required to disclose more details on board composition, independent directors, and nominating and risk management committees, among other details, the agency said.”I think these rules would help to build more transparent and reliable clearing houses, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.”This in turn would help ensure our markets are more resilient, protecting investors and building trust in our markets,” Gensler said.The plan would replace two related measures proposed following the 2009-2010 global financial crisis, but which were never adopted.Specifically, the SEC’s plan would require clearing houses identify, mitigate or eliminate conflicts of interest involving directors or senior managers, and also to document such actions.It would also require such firms to implement policies and procedures that obligate directors to report conflicts of interest, among other details.The SEC’s move comes as part of efforts by the Biden administration to see all aspects of the financial industry boost environmental, social and governance disclosures. More

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s new leftist government on Monday formally proposed a tax reform bill to lawmakers which would raise some 25 trillion pesos ($5.76 billion) in 2023, equivalent to some 1.72% of gross domestic product, in an effort to increase revenue for anti-poverty programs.Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo said the bill would eventually add some $11.53 billion annually to government coffers, with revenue gradually climbing as the legislation comes into force.The funds, raised by levying more charges on high-earning individuals and exports of coal and oil, will be directed toward an ambitious agenda of social programs — including anti-hunger efforts, free public universities, and aid for elderly people without pensions.”We’re seeking to contribute to equality and social justice with a more progressive tax system and also to assign the corresponding resources to government social programs and consolidate the fiscal adjustment that is clearly incomplete,” Ocampo told journalists.”Although there have been advances this year the fiscal deficit remains considerable.” The reform seeks to levy higher taxes on people who earn more than 10 million pesos (some $2,300) monthly – about 2% of Colombia’s population. It would instate a permanent wealth tax, and charge a duty on earnings from the sale of shares in companies listed on the stock exchange.The reform would also levy a 10% tax on exports of coal, oil and gold on income earned when each commodity exceeds a certain price threshold, Ocampo said.The threshold for oil would be $48 per barrel, while coal exports would see the duty levied when prices exceed $87 per tonne. The threshold for gold shipments would be $400 per troy ounce.The payment of royalties by commodity companies would no longer be deductible from their income tax payments under the bill, Ocampo added.Oil and coal are the country’s top exports and source of royalties. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has promised to bar all new oil development and move the country away from coal production.The country’s mining association said it would comment on the proposal later this week, while the head of the private oil producers’ association said it would analyze the bill.Petro’s promises worry some in the market, but Ocampo – a long-time official – has made efforts to assuage those fears, telling Reuters in an interview last week that he will “not do crazy things or allow crazy things.”The reform would also tax sugary drinks, highly-processed foods and single-use plastics.The bill should be presented with an urgency request by the ministry to facilitate its quick passage, said Senate President Roy Barreras, a member of Petro’s coalition. ($1 = 4,337.28 Colombian pesos) More

LONDON (Reuters) – A global standard setter for company climate disclosures should align with European and U.S. alternatives for easier implementation across jurisdictions and to avoid fragmenting information to investors, the European Central Bank and IMF have said.The Frankfurt-based International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has proposed global “baseline” reporting standards, which attracted over 1,300 responses just published.The aim is for more rigorous reporting to make ‘greenwashing’ or inflated climate-friendly claims, harder.While widely backing the creation of global norms, many call for better definitions of key concepts, a longer phase-in, and stress the need for them to be ‘interoperable’ with standards being written by the European Union and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.For example, the basic term ‘climate-related’ is not sufficiently clear, said EY, one of the world’s Big Four accountants who will audit the ISSB disclosures.Business says that without interoperability, it will be harder for jurisdictions to accept disclosures from companies using different norms to them, meaning costly duplication of reporting.”Therefore, interoperability between the forthcoming ISSB standards and jurisdictional requirements remains one of the largest challenges that harmonization work ultimately faces… it is important to avoid further fragmentation,” the International Monetary Fund said.The London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSEG), whose listings will comply with ISSB disclosures, said multiple standards and approaches being developed at the same time risk fragmentation.LSEG said it too has identified several key differences in definitions used by the EU and ISSB.EU norms cover enviromental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures, as well as reporting on a company’s impact on the environment, known as double materiality.ISSB rules focus largely on climate change’s impact on a company.The ECB said that to meet users’ expectations, any international standard should comprise double materiality.It urged the ISSB and other standard setters to “iron out” differences and come up with baseline standards which are widely implemented globally.The clock is ticking as the EU aims to finalise its first batch of ESG disclosure rules by November, with the ISSB expected to finalise its own rules by year end. More