The Singapore High Court Thursday convicted Malaysian businessman and woman, John Soh Chee wen and Quah Su-Ling for market manipulation and cheating offences that led to the 2013 penny-stock crash. Local media outlets have said that the 2013 crash was the outcome of Singapore’s most serious case of market manipulation, as it wiped out more than [...]

The US House of Representatives Thursday passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, which will streamline the process for the government to lend and lease military equipment to Ukraine. The bill revived a 1941 World War II-era program enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt, which was used to supply food, oil and materials to [...]

A Moscow district court Thursday ruled that Google must pay 7.2 million rubles (approximately $86,394) in fines for distributing content outlawed in Russia. The decision by Judge Timur Vakhrameev found Google guilty under Article 13.41 of Russia’s Administrative Code which penalizes the failure to delete information deemed illegal by the legislation of the Russian Federation. [...]

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Senator Marise Payne announced Friday that Australia imposed financial and travel bans on two Russian billionaires and more sanctions against 11 Russian banks and government entities. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry has amended the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to include an addendum called the [...]

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday the fourth round of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. These sanctions seek to suspend Moscow’s “most-favored-nation” trade status under the World Trade Organization and ban exports of EU luxury goods to Russia. The sanctions also seek to ban certain Russian and Belarusian companies and [...]

Account holders Thursday filed a class action lawsuit against PayPal in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs alleged that PayPal violated racketeering laws under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. PayPal also allegedly violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and the California Business & Professions Code. Plaintiffs [...]

The State Council of China amended its tobacco monopoly law Friday to include regulations for e-cigarettes and vaping. This result comes after months of deliberation by the Chinese government to regulate electronic tobacco consumption. E-cigarette sales have been functioning in the grey area of the law since they became popular in China. Following the amendment, [...]

The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has fined several Chinese Big Tech companies for failing to adhere to competition law regulations. The companies listed are fined up to 500,000 yuan (US$ 76,000), the maximum penalty under China’s competition law. The companies listed included e-commerce conglomerates Alibaba, JD and Tencent. They were charged for [...]

The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Friday upheld its November 6 decision to temporarily stop the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for private businesses. The mandate, known as the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Vaccination and Testing was published last Saturday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The ETS challenge was filed by [...]

A US federal grand jury has indicted former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon on two charges of contempt of Congress. The indictment stemmed from Bannon’s failure to comply with a House Select Committee subpoena regarding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Bannon is charged under Title 2 Chapter 6 Section 192 of the [...]