Bank of America Probe Needed of Leon Black Money to Epstein, Wyden Says
By
Updated on
Save
Senator Ron Wyden urged the US Justice and Treasury departments to investigate Bank of America over its role in facilitating $170 million in payments that private equity titan Leon Black made to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter made public Wednesday, the Oregon Democrat said the US should probe a 'major financial institution' for potential violations of anti-money laundering laws in its handling of transactions involving Epstein. That institution is Bank of America, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
25 minutes ago
Asian shares are mixed as markets shrug at latest China-US trade deal
TOKYO -- Asian shares were trading mixed early Thursday after Wall Street's rally stalled as investors appeared not to react much to the results of the latest round of China-U.S. trade talks. U.S. futures slipped and oil prices slipped. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to 38,213.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 0.5% to 24,234.80, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 3,404.66. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.8% to 2,929.94, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,604.50. Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.8%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,022.24 for its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged at 42,865.77 after edging down by 1 point. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5% to 3,400.30. All told, the S&P 500 fell 16.57 points to 6,022.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.10 to 42,865.77, and the Nasdaq composite sank 99.11 to 19,615.88. Several Big Tech stocks led the way lower, and a 1.9% drop for Apple was the heaviest weight on the market. It's been listless this week after unveiling several modest upcoming changes to the software that runs its devices. The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields eased after a report suggested President Donald Trump's tariffs are not pushing inflation much higher, at least not yet. U.S. consumers had to pay prices for food, gasoline and other costs of living that were 2.4% higher overall in May than a year earlier. That was up from April's 2.3% inflation rate, but it wasn't as bad as the 2.5% that Wall Street was expecting. A fear has been that Trump's wide-ranging tariffs could ignite an acceleration in inflation, just when it had seemed to get nearly all the way back to the Federal Reserve's 2% target from more than 9% three summers ago. It hasn't happened, though economists warn it may take months more to feel the full effect of Trump's tariffs. Trump said Wednesday that China will supply rare-earth minerals and magnets to the United States, while his government will allow Chinese students into U.S. universities in a deal that still needs an agreement by him and by China's leader. Trump also said that 'President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!' Investors are still hoping for a more sweeping trade deal that would ease tensions between the world's two largest economies. Hopes for such deals between the United States and countries around the world have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has charged nearly all the way back to its all-time high after dropping roughly 20% below a couple months ago. Without them, the fear is that Trump's high tariffs could drive the economy into a recession while pushing inflation higher. The S&P 500 is now sitting 2% below its record. Tesla swung between gains and losses before finishing with a rise of 0.1% to continue its shaky run. It's been recovering much of its big losses taken last week after Elon Musk's relationship with Trump imploded, which in turn raised fears about a loss of business for the electric-vehicle company. Musk on Wednesday backed away from some of his earlier comments and said they went 'too far.' In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.41% from 4.47% late Tuesday. Shorter-term yields, which more closely track expectations for what the Fed will do with overnight interest rates, fell more. Wednesday's better-than-expected reading on inflation raised expectations along Wall Street that the Fed could cut its main interest rate at least twice by the end of the year. In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 33 cents to $67.82 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 37 cents to $69.40 per barrel. The U.S. dollar slipped to 143.89 Japanese yen from 144.60 yen. The euro rose to $1.1520 from $1.1487.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
This Spending Review treats London as a one-way cash cow — again
The Chancellor took us on a breezy whistle-stop tour of the entire United Kingdom in her spending review statement to Parliament. Few corners of the realm were ignored as Rachel Reeves name-checked the towns and cities that will benefit from her defence, health and infrastructure spending largesse over the coming years. Lincoln, Portsmouth, Rosyth, Glasgow, Stevenage, Barrow, Derby, Blackpool and Sheffield all got a shout out as she ran MPs through some of the greatest hits of her £1.4 trillion annual sending plans. But, as has become the pattern over recent chancellor statements, there was scant mention of London, the metropolis of nine million people and economic superpower that generates much of the tax revenues she will be busily handing out over the next four years of the Parliament. The oversight did not come as a great surprise. London Labour council leaders who visited Downing Street for briefings in the run up to the spending review came away stony-faced after being told by unsmiling Treasury ministers that they were having to make 'difficult decisions' in a very tough economic environment. But without the capital firing on all cylinders, there is no hope of the UK achieving the growth that Keir Starmer and Reeves promised the nation. London is the golden goose. The oversight did not come as a great surprise Latest ONS figures showed the public sector raised £216.4bn of revenue from London taxpayers in 2023, while public spending only totalled £172.8bn in the capital. That £43.6bn annual fiscal surplus — it will be bigger this year — helps funds the spending programmes that the Chancellor outlined in her speech. By contrast, Scottish taxpayers raised just £86.8bn but £105.4bn of public money was spent north of the border, a fiscal deficit of £18.6bn. It was the same story in the north-west where tax revenues were £95.2bn, while spending totalled £130.1bn, a deficit of £34.9bn. There is nothing wrong with that. It is only right and fair that regeneration resources should be focused on those regions that have been allowed to decline so drastically since the great de-industrialisation of the Thatcher years. But London has its own acute deprivation problems too and without investment in its own housing, policing and transport infrastructure, the city will lose its status as Europe's pre-eminent metropolis, attracting the talent and capital that the UK economy depends on. Sadiq Khan promised that the election of a Labour government would lead to a new era of peaceful coexistence between City Hall and Downing Street after the scratchy years dealing with an unsympathetic Tory chancellor. But there is no disguising the disappointment from the Mayor. A glass half full view is that it could have been worse; the £2.2bn long-term funding settlement for Transport for London was better than feared. But as the Mayor laid bare in his reaction statement, 'this spending review could result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers.' He added: 'It's also disappointing that there is no commitment today from the Treasury to invest in the new infrastructure London needs. Projects such as extending the Docklands Light Railway not only deliver economic growth across the country, but also tens of thousands of new affordable homes and jobs for Londoners. Unless the Government invests in infrastructure like this in our capital, we will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need.' Those are scarcely the words of the grateful recipient of bounty from his friends at the Treasury. The spending review also detailed how the machinery of government will continue to be ripped out of London and transferred to the provinces in a huge decentralisation programme. Over the next five years ministers plan to relocate 12,000 civil service roles out of the capital and 'have 50 per cent of UK-based senior civil servants in regional offices across the UK.' Sir Humphrey may have to get used to living in Harrogate rather than Hampstead. Over the same period 11 central London offices will be closed, including 102 Petty France and 39 Victoria Street. Perhaps more significant are plans to overhaul the long-standing cost-benefit rules for investment decisions that apparently have favoured London and the south-east over the rest of the country. That sends a very clear message that public investment allocations are now likely to prioritise 'levelling up' in the regions rather than maximising returns in London — at least for the next four years. So forget Crossrail 2, and do not hold out too much hope for Hammersmith Bridge ever being fixed. The anti-London tone of today's statement may make good politics. The MP for Leeds West and Pudsey will be only too aware of the existential threat posed to Labour from the Reform party forces gathering in the Red Wall towns and cities of the Midlands and the North. She needs to give those voters reasons to back Labour again in 2029 or 2030. The country can only thrive if London keeps pumping out the tax revenues While Reform is growing in strength in the capital the Government still believes it can rely on London to deliver MPs to the Labour benches at the next general election. But does it make good economics? The country can only thrive — that spending only be made, that investment only committed — if London keeps pumping out the tax revenues that pays for it. But there are worrying signs that London is feeling pressures of its own, from the flight of young families that are emptying its schools to the exodus of tech companies from the City's stock market. The alarming reality is that the Chancellor's trip round the country handing out money also certainly means she will have to ask for more tax increases in the autumn Budget. Whether that comes in the form of a further extension of income tax thresholds, which inevitably has a bigger impact in higher earning areas such as the capital, or restoring the pension lifetime allowance, as suggested by Angela Rayner, London and Londoners will bear the brunt. London has been treated as cash cow by successive chancellors ever since the financial crash. Sooner or later there will have to be some give as well as take. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
German 10-Year Bund Yield to Struggle to Fall Below 2.5%
Bunds may lose steam without a catalyst for the 10-year Bund yield to trade consistently below 2.5% and due to some anxiety over the 30-year Treasury auction due later.
