Geopolitics have always impacted supply chain logistics, but over the last two years they have played an outsized role that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. While the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the risks...more
For months, the Biden administration and the governments of U.S. allies around the world have raised concerns about Russian actions in the region. In the same breath, those governments have warned of massive, coordinated...more
China is operating increasingly on a cashless basis. In 2020, cashless transactions amounted to US$49 trillion, accounting for every four out of five payment transactions. The Chinese government has now taken a large leap in...more
Some analysis of last week’s jobs report, including thoughts on why a sub-4% unemployment rate poses a problem for a Fed still set on a slow and steady rate hike plan....more
As widely reported, the Spanish police raided last year the Madrid offices of the Chinese state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (“ICBC”), the world’s biggest bank by assets. In the nearly 18 months following that...more
We know that China’s Didi Chuxing is powerful enough to have driven Uber out of China altogether. So what happens when Didi sets its sights outside of Chinese borders? Flush with $5.5 billion in new funding, Didi is likely...more
On January 17, 2017, officials in Farmington, Connecticut disclosed that the town was recently the victim of a multi-million dollar theft likely perpetrated by sophisticated cybercriminals operating in China. The thieves...more
Although poor, out-of-touch Dr. Evil of the Austin Powers series had to resort to the threat of using a giant laser beam to decimate various cities to try to obtain his one million billion dollars in ransom, Kim Jong-un1...more
On May 25, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a finding designating North Korea as a jurisdiction of “primary money laundering concern.” On the same date, Treasury, through FinCEN, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking...more
Nearly a year-and-a-half after announcing their plans to join forces, Halliburton and Baker Hughes have reportedly called off their $35 billion merger. Serious DOJ reservations about the deal and a wildly changed energy...more