India braces for further US tariffs over trade ties with Russia
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Straits Times
3 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Brazilian banks scramble to understand scope of US sanctions on Supreme Court justice
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox BRASILIA - Brazilian banks are scrambling to assess the domestic fallout from sweeping U.S. sanctions against a Supreme Court justice who oversees a criminal trial against an ally of President Donald Trump, as legal teams weigh how the move to isolate the judge financially could ripple through Brazil's financial system. Justice Alexandre de Moraes is presiding over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who is accused of plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral loss. Bolsonaro has denied attempting to overthrow the government, but said he attended meetings aimed at reversing the vote. Trump, who has called the trial a "witch hunt" and revoked Moraes' U.S. visa, on Wednesday sanctioned the justice under the Global Magnitsky Act, accusing him of authorizing arbitrary detentions and suppressing free speech. The act allows the U.S. to impose economic penalties against foreigners it considers to have a record of corruption or human rights abuses. The U.S. sanctions were accompanied by an executive order imposing steeper tariffs on Brazilian goods that also cited the case against Bolsonaro. Sanctions under the Magnitsky Act freeze assets under U.S. jurisdiction and bar U.S. firms from doing business with designated individuals. While Moraes holds no assets in the United States, according to Brazil's Supreme Court, the sanctions could prevent him from using payment cards backed by U.S. financial companies such as Visa and Mastercard. The global reach of the U.S. financial system often leads foreign banks to restrict a wider range of transactions by sanctioned individuals to avoid secondary sanctions, raising questions of how far Brazilian financial institutions need to go to comply with the new orders. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 'For one last time, let's go home': Tears, laughs as last scheduled Jetstar Asia flight touches down Singapore Over half of job applications by retrenched Jetstar Asia staff led to offers or interviews: CEO Singapore No entry: ICA to bar high-risk, undesirable travellers from boarding S'pore-bound ships, flights Singapore 5 foreign women suspected of trafficking 27kg of cocaine nabbed in Changi Airport Singapore Fallen tree branch damages two Yishun flats, showering one home owner in shattered glass Singapore Man accused of raping woman who hired him to fix lights in her flat claims she made first move Singapore 1 ticket wins $12.8 million Toto jackpot draw Singapore 'Switching careers just as I became a dad was risky, but I had to do it for my family' Bradesco CEO Marcelo Noronha told analysts on Thursday the bank was awaiting legal opinions from law firms it hired to assess the sanctions' reach. A source at another top-five bank in Brazil said its initial view is that domestic operations are unaffected, but international and foreign exchange transactions could breach U.S. rules. "So far, the consensus is that the safest ground is limited to transactions in local currency," the source said on condition of anonymity because the bank's analysis is private. Brazil's central bank did not immediately comment on whether it had issued guidance to financial institutions on the matter. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president's son and a lawmaker who is in the U.S. lobbying for his father and for amnesty for rioters who stormed government buildings following the election loss, praised the sanctions online, saying the cost of supporting Moraes "will be unbearable" and would be closely monitored by U.S. authorities. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the sanctions as unacceptable interference in Brazil's judiciary, while Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said that the Magnitsky Act should not punish judges for doing their job. In a statement on Wednesday, Brazil's Supreme Court said it "will not deviate from its role of upholding the constitution and the country's laws." On Wednesday night, Moraes was seen waving and smiling to fans at a soccer match. A picture of him making a rude gesture during the match circulated widely on social media and the local press. REUTERS
CNA
3 minutes ago
- CNA
US securities regulator lays out sweeping crypto-friendly agenda
The head of the U.S. securities regulator unveiled sweeping plans to overhaul capital markets regulations on Thursday to accommodate for cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based trading, in a major win for the digital asset industry which has long pushed for tailored rules. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said in remarks that he has directed commission staff to craft guidelines to determine when a crypto token is a security as well as proposals for a wide range of disclosures and exemptions.
Straits Times
33 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump wants deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine by Aug 8, US tells UN
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox US President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with tariffs and other measures if Moscow fails to show progress towards ending its war in Ukraine. UNITED NATIONS, United States - US President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine by Aug 8, the United States told the United Nations Security Council on July 31. 'Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal. President Trump has made clear this must be done by Aug 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace,' senior US diplomat John Kelley told the 15-member council. Mr Trump said on July 29 that the United States would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia '10 days from today' if Moscow showed no progress towards ending its war in Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow have held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year that yielded exchanges of prisoners and bodies, but no breakthrough to defuse the more than three-year conflict. 'We intend to continue the negotiations in Istanbul,' Russia's deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council, but he added: 'Despite the meetings in Istanbul, in the West, the war party did not go away... We continue hearing voices of those who think that diplomacy is just a way of criticising Russia and exerting pressure on it.' Ukraine's deputy UN Ambassador, Ms Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, said Russia must be confronted with 'unity, resolve and action.' 'We seek a comprehensive, just and lasting peace grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and nothing less. We repeat - a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is essential. It is the first step to halting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,' she told the council. REUTERS
