Canada’s financial intelligence agency is warning that Russians subject to economic sanctions due to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine could try to evade them using shell companies, cryptocurrency and real-estate transactions. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre also says in a new special bulletin that those seeking to launder the proceeds of crime and corruption…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned the country’s exporters that it may take a long time before China removes its $20 billion (US$13.5 billion) trade sanctions on Australia. The warning comes after the Albanese met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. Speaking at…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned the country’s exporters that it may take a long time before China removes its $20 billion (US$13.5 billion) trade sanctions on Australia. The warning comes after the Albanese met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. Speaking at…

The markets have shown China’s leader Xi Jinping that embracing authoritarian leadership and surrounding oneself with  obsequious “yes” men tends not to encourage investor confidence. On Monday, the stock prices of some of China’s leading outward-looking companies like Alibaba and Tencent sunk by 11 percent in a single day. From Oct. 24 to Oct. 25,…

Commentary Democracies are finally figuring out that they need to use their trump card—economics—to defend themselves. The United States and Europe together have double the economic power of China and Russia combined, and could use it more effectively and proactively to put pressure on Moscow and Beijing through tariffs, sanctions, embargoes, export controls, and price…

President Joe Biden’s administration is to reverse some sanctions against Cuba and its communist regime. Under the revised policy, Biden’s administration will expand flights to the island nation and loosen travel restrictions for U.S. citizens. Greater access to American internet services, applications, and e-commerce platforms are also part of the shift in policy. Further, Cuban…

Commentary  President Biden on Thursday made two big admissions about the U.S.-led economic sanctions on Russia. The first is that the sanctions will lead to food shortages for many countries other than Russia and that this is simply the price that Americans ought to be forced to pay. The second admission was that sanctions haven’t worked to…

Dutch brewer Heineken has said it will exit its business operations in Russia—a move the company expects will cost 400 million euros ($438 million). Heineken previously announced it was halting new investments and exports to Russia, as well as the production, sale, and advertising of the Heineken brand. The Amsterdam-headquartered company had also said it would…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is upsetting the transportation of goods on railway lines linking China and Europe, forcing businesses to look for alternate routes. Logistics firms and exporters are avoiding land routes passing through Russia and Ukraine due to security risks as well as payment issues stemming from Western sanctions, according to a report by…

Converting foreign assets into Chinese yuan assets may be a short-term solution for Russian investors in the wake of Western sanctions against Moscow, according to experts. The exclusion of major Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, shuts them out from the U.S.-dominated international fund transfer system. Although this severely…