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Eric Daugherty@EricLDaugh·3h🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Sec. Scott Bessent just said that because Iran BOMBED Gulf neighbors, those countries are suddenly opening up Iranian regime BANK accounts to TreasurySo he can FREEZE their assets! Checkmate playing out. 🔥"What may prove to be FATAL mistakes the Iranians made was bombing their [Gulf] NEIGHBORS.""Who are now willing to be much more transparent in terms of the funds, or do a deeper dive in investigating the funds that are held within their banking systems.""So, we have pushed out to them the request that we want to freeze more funds of the leadership of the IRGC...

Banks in the U.S. may not like the idea of being forced to collect citizenship data on customers, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says they better be prepared for the task. “If Treasury and the banking regulators say it’s their job, it’s their job,” Bessent told CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the Invest in America Forum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. An executive order that has been discussed for months took a step closer to reality earlier this week when Bessent said in an interview with Semafor that the EO is “in process.” The planned EO is one more plank in...

The banking giant HSBC "knowingly" provided support to four of Mexico's most notorious drug cartels by laundering their money and providing material support to terrorists, according to a new lawsuit filed by four families. The papers filed in U.S. District Court in Brownsville, Texas, on Tuesday say that laundering drug money made it possible for the cartels to operate. "HSBC's substantial and systemic money laundering support materially aided the activities of the Mexican cartels, including the Sinaoloa, Juárez, and Los Zetas cartels," court documents read.

It’s not just the stocks of software companies that are taking hits from worries about artificial intelligence. In the private credit market, where loans to software firms had become a favored sector over the last five years, sentiment has soured. The concern in both markets is that AI threatens the profit margins and underlying business models of many software companies by reducing the barriers to entry and enabling customers to build their own software. Those worries strike at the heart of the reasons many lenders had for issuing the loans: fat profit margins for software companies, stable customer bases, and...

The number of additional bank offices in Russia decreased by almost 1,700 by the end of 2025, follows from the data of the Central Bank, which was studied by Izvestia. This is one of the strongest annual reductions since 2019, with a comparable decrease occurring only in 2021. At that time, a little more than 1.7 thousand branches were liquidated. ...Suspicious transfers can be blocked for up to two days, and if the operation cannot be confirmed remotely, the client is offered to come to the office with a passport

ABC News’ Patrick Reevell reports from London where growing frustration over the U.K.’s migration policies has caused more citizens to align themselves with Nigel Farage’s far-right movement

An American heiress has dropped a bombshell, possibly precedent-setting $12 billion lawsuit against some of the world’s biggest banks – accusing them of helping her late father loot her $350 million trust fund. Tanya Dick-Stock, the daughter of late Canadian-born Denver real estate mogul John Dick Sr., and her husband Darrin Stock, sued Barclays, HSBC, and multiple trust companies in Colorado District Court on Dec. 5th, claiming the banks unlawfully handed control of her $350 million trust to her father, according to a complaint filed by their lawyer, former US presidential candidate John Edwards. The case reveals how Dick Sr....

For a year, Wall Street’s dominant theme has been the so-called K-shaped economy, in which the well-to-do have powered financial activity despite lower earners’ struggles. This week, the nation’s largest banks reported a broadly disappointing set of quarterly earnings, the first stumble after a yearlong spree of rising markets and softening regulations paid off handsomely for the finance set. Results at Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all fell short of expectations, and their shares fell. Troubles ranged from delayed merger deals (JPMorgan) to stubborn expenses (Citi) to questions about the efficacy of artificial intelligence tools (Bank...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released a report saying that the nine largest lenders in the U.S. made “inappropriate distinctions” that it used to restrict services among certain customers. Following the signing of an executive order by President Donald Trump in August of this year, the OCC began reviewing all banks for any current or past practices that effectively barred customers on the basis of political or religious belief. Wednesday, the OCC released its report, saying that it had found conclusive proof that nine large banks had policies that either refused services to some industries...

<p>A Qatar native held on charges of lying to the FBI in an investigation into the September 11 attacks was designated yesterday as an "enemy combatant" and could be tried before a military tribunal for helping al Qaeda operatives relocate in the United States. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, 37, in Justice Department custody since late 2001, was given the new designation by President Bush and handed over to the Defense Department.</p>

Texas Republican Congressman Brandon Gil has filed articles of impeachment against US District Judge James Boasberg amid revelations that the Obama-appointed activist approved secret subpoenas to seize private phone records of Senators in the sham “Arctic Frost” investigation. It was revealed last week that the FBI and DOJ weaponized their power to target President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and their allies to dig up dirt on Republicans and activists who participated in efforts to overturn the rigged 2020 election. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said last week that “197 subpoenas were issued...

Regional bank stocks tumbled on Thursday after Zions Bancorp said it would write off fraudulent loans made to two borrowers, adding to investors’ fears about lending standards and stress in credit markets. Zions Bancorp (ZION) on Thursday said it had recently identified “what it believes to be apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults” by two borrowers. As a result, it plans to write off $50 million of the $60 million outstanding on the affected loans. Shares of Zions dropped 13% on Thursday, leading regional banks lower. The KBW Regional Banking Index fell 6%. The recent bankruptcies of two companies in the...

Zohran Mamdani is on track to become New York City’s next mayor. That’s bad for your interests, even if you don’t live, work, or spend time in the rotting Big Apple.Manhattan’s financial sector is the beating heart of the American economy. Every day, trillions of dollars course through Wall Street, making NYC the nation’s indispensable financial engine. It is not just a local hub but a national artery, driving investment, credit, and economic activity across the country.Decisions made in New York City ripple outward to affect retirement accounts in Ohio, mortgage rates in Florida, and small business loans in Texas.Now...

Via DrudgeReport: In an ironic and most sinister development, the long arm of Attorney General Eric Holder and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached out to the sovereign nation of Iceland in the criminal investigation of Wiki-Leaks honcho Julian Assange. Among several others who are the subjects of a Court Order demanding that Twitter turn over some pretty extensive personal information on its subscribers is one member of Iceland’s Parliament – Birgitta Jonsdottir (photo to left). The DOJ basically wants access to all of Jonsdottir’s Twitter communications with Mr. Assange – and all of her personal financial...

For the first time since 1996, foreign central banks hold more gold than U.S. Treasuries as the world continues to de-dollarize. Crescat Capital macro strategist Tavi Costa highlighted the crossover moment in a post on X, saying it is “likely the beginning of the most significant global rebalancings we've experienced in recent history.” Central banks have been aggressively adding gold to their reserves over the last three years. Last year was the third-largest expansion of central bank gold reserves on record, coming in just 6.2 tonnes lower than in 2023 and 91 tonnes lower than the all-time high set in...

Weren’t we assured that Barack Obama went “into and out of office with not a whiff of scandal”? Yes we were. Former Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen told us so, as did many others. But it wasn’t true. There are many, the most recent a claim that Obama, and then Joe Biden, pressured bank executives to deny services to conservatives. It’s a serious charge that, like the Russia hoax, makes Watergate look like a sandbox squabble. Here’s what we’ve learned: According to Fox Business, major bank executives said “they were under pressure by the Obama and Biden administrations to deny...

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has called on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a full-blown federal investigation into Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and to scrutinize New York Attorney General Letitia James’ complicity in a billion-dollar terrorist financing scandal. House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik’s urgent letter to Bondi comes on the heels of a bombshell Gateway Pundit report into the Standard Chartered Bank sanctions evasion case, now before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. That case uncovered at least $9.6 billion in illegal payments by the bank to Iranian and Hezbollah entities—payments that directly violate U.S....

The scale of the effort to “debank” Donald Trump because of pressure from Biden administration regulators went far beyond JPMorgan and Bank of America, The Post has learned. At least 10 other financial institutions closed their windows to the billionaire real estate tycoon over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill ­melee. The moves came in the months after Trump left the White House in 2021, sources inside the Trump Organization told me. The stunning scale of the blacklisting is being revealed here for the first time. ... It should be reported as much as possible for the simple...

In contemporary lexicon, few terms have been reduced to shopworn tatters more than “fascist,” typically through mindless overuse against the current democratically elected occupant of the White House. To the degree that fascism references an economy corrupted by government collusion with private industry to enforce ideological conformity, however, efforts like “Operation Choke Point” targeting politically disfavored businesses actually merit that descriptor. In welcome news, however, Citigroup announced this month that it would no longer deny financial services to firearms retailers, moving the nation one step closer to an end of that execrable campaign. Americans expect government officials to protect our...

WHAT HAPPENED: Mexico’s government is defending three financial institutions accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of laundering cartel money and facilitating payments for fentanyl precursors to China. 👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mexico’s Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, CIBanco SA, Intercam SA, and Vector Casa De Bolsa. 📍WHEN & WHERE: Mexico’s SHCP issued a statement this week. 💬KEY QUOTE: “Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain.” — Secretary of the Treasury...