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Wall Street Fined in Asia's $3B Money-Laundering Bombshell
Singapore just sent a clear message to the global banking world: money laundering lapses won't go unpunished. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) handed out S$27.5 million (US$21.5 million) in fines to nine financial institutionsincluding some of the world's most powerful banksafter a two-year probe into the country's largest-ever money laundering case. Credit Suisse's Singapore branch took the biggest hit at S$5.8 million, followed by penalties against UBS (NYSE:UBS), Citigroup (NYSE:C), United Overseas Bank, and others. The case, which surfaced in August 2023, saw authorities seize over S$3 billion worth of assets, from luxury condos and supercars to crypto. Ten suspects of Chinese origin were convicted, and two ex-bankers were charged earlier this year. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with UBS. At the heart of the issue: weak anti-money laundering controls. MAS pointed to poor or inconsistent implementation across the firms involved. Four individuals at Blue Ocean Invest were banned from regulated roles for up to six years, while several others received official reprimands. UBS, which absorbed Credit Suisse in 2023, said it fully cooperated with the review. Citi disclosed it has tightened onboarding and monitoring processes, while UOB and its brokerage arm UOB-Kay Hian also moved to close gaps. The regulator said it would monitor progress closely, signaling there's still more work to be done behind the scenes. This could be the biggest compliance reckoning since MAS shut down BSI Bank's local unit in 2016 during the fallout from the 1MDB scandal. While Singapore remains a rising star in global wealth managementassets under management climbed 10% to S$5.41 trillion last yearthe case highlights a tension between growth and governance. Similar crackdowns abroad have cost banks billions, including TD Bank's US$3.1 billion AML settlement last year and Danske Bank's US$2 billion fine in 2022. For investors, the key takeaway is this: as capital flows into Singapore, regulators are under pressure to show they can keep the pipes clean. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
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an hour ago
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Taiwan Just Pulled a Surprise Move That Could Rattle Global Investors
Taiwan just fired another shot in the battle to slow its surging currencyand global investors may soon feel the ripple. The central bank is considering a rule that would force foreign funds to show proof of stock orders before converting into the Taiwan dollar, adding a 1-day delay to their currency settlement. That's a major change from the current setup, where investors can freely swap currencies on the same day they place tradesno questions asked. Officials say the rule, if adopted, would apply only to foreign institutions with weak inflow controls, not everyone. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with UBS. So why now? The Taiwan dollar has climbed nearly 14% against the greenback this year, putting pressure on the island's exporters and financial firms. In response, policymakers have rolled out a steady stream of defensive plays: asking foreign ETF investors to unwind currency bets, nudging local banks to delay dollar sales, and even forming a task force to help smaller businesses deal with the fallout. This new proposal could be the most direct attempt yet to limit speculative inflows driving up the currencythough it also introduces a new friction for foreign equity trades. Markets are already reacting. The implied gain on the Taiwan dollar via offshore forwards dropped, and the currency edged down about 0.2%. A meeting with custodian banks is set for next week. But if this rule goes live, it could reshape how funds manage positions in Taiwanese equities, from chip giants like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) to global leading EV like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) that have indirect exposure. Delayed settlement could mean higher risk, more complexityand less appetite for fast-money flows into one of Asia's hottest markets this year. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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an hour ago
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Bill Gates is worth $50 billion less than thought — and now trails his former assistant in net worth
Bloomberg recalculated Bill Gates' net worth on Thursday to reflect recent philanthropic giving. The change lowered his net worth by 30%, sending him seven places down Bloomberg's rich list. Gates now sits in 12th place, behind his former assistant, Steve Ballmer, in fifth. Bill Gates lost about $52 billion or 30% of his wealth on Thursday. But don't feel bad — his net worth was simply recalculated to reflect the Microsoft cofounder's charitable giving. The recalculation shrank Gates' fortune from over $175 billion to $124 billion, sending him from fifth place to 12th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His former assistant and successor as Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, replaced him in the fifth spot with a $172 billion net worth as of Thursday's close. Gates also trails Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and longtime friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett in the rankings. Bloomberg says that it lowered the appreciation rates used in calculating his wealth to "better reflect Gates' outside charitable giving and the wealth estimate" that Gates provided in a blog post in May. In that blog, Gates pegged his fortune at $108 billion and pledged to give away virtually all his money through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years. He estimated the organization would spend more than $200 billion before closing at the end of 2045. According to the Gates Foundation website, Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, have gifted a total of $60 billion to the organization as of December's close, and Buffett has donated $43 billion. Gates owns around 1% of Microsoft and has received upward of $60 billion in stocks and dividends from the company, according to his Bloomberg page. Most of his fortune is now housed within Cascade Investment, a holding company that invests in assets from real estate and energy to private and public companies. It's striking that Ballmer is now richer than Gates, given that employees are usually worth much less than successful founders. He's an exception in part because, when he joined Microsoft in 1980 as an assistant to the president, he agreed to a $50,000 base salary plus 10% of the profit growth he generated, but his compensation became so high that the company offered a sizable equity stake instead. Ballmer succeeded Gates as CEO in 2000 and stepped down in 2014 with a 4% stake in Microsoft. He now owns the Los Angeles Clippers. Microsoft stock has soared more than 10-fold over the past decade to nearly $500 a share, making it the world's second-most valuable company, after Nvidia, with a $3.7 trillion market cap. Ballmer recently told the "Acquired" podcast that Buffett's late business partner, Charlie Munger, asked him publicly why he held on to his Microsoft stock while the company's two cofounders, Gates and Paul Allen, diversified their investments much more. "Steve, I'm wondering why you held onto your Microsoft stock when your partners over there didn't," Ballmer recalled the famously frank Munger saying. "I know you're not that smart." "No, Charlie, but I'm that loyal," Ballmer replied. Read the original article on Business Insider
