Thursday, November 9, 2017

Trump Official Wilbur Ross Involved With Business Tied to Vladimir Putin - TIME


Trump Official Wilbur Ross Involved With Business Tied to Vladimir Putin
Posted: 05 Nov 2017
(NEW YORK) — Newly leaked documents show that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Trump administration’s point man on trade and manufacturing policy, has a stake in a company that does business with a gas producer partly owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to records obtained by the International Consortium of Journalists, Ross is an investor in Navigator Holdings, a shipping giant that counts Russian gas and petrochemical producer Sibur among its major customers. Putin’s son-in-law Kirill Shamalov once owned more than 20 percent of the company, but now holds a much smaller stake.
Commerce Department spokesman James Rockas said Ross “never met” Shamalov and has generally supported the Trump administration’s sanctions against Russia, according to the ICIJ report. Rockas added that Ross has withdrawn from matters related to transoceanic shipping vessels and has met the “highest ethical standards.”
The details are likely to add to the questions about ties between Russia and the Trump administration, connections that for months have shadowed the White House and are a focus of an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Yet it wasn’t immediately clear how many partners Ross might have or what the profit-sharing agreement might be.
ICIJ disclosed the Ross holding as part of reporting on 13.4 million records of offshore entities in tax havens leaked to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper then shared the records with ICIJ and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries. The New York Times is its U.S. partner in this inquiry.
The Times earlier reported on the Ross holding.
It wasn’t immediately clear exactly how much of Navigator, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Ross personally owns. ICIJ reported that Ross and other investors own four Cayman Island entities that in turn own 31.5 percent of Navigator, a stake worth $176 million at Friday’s closing stock price.
Ross’ stake in Navigator is likely a small fraction of that. In financial disclosure forms he filed with the government this year, Ross valued his holdings in the Cayman Island entities, which include other companies besides Navigator, at no more than $10.1 million.
Sibur contributed 8 percent to Navigator’s revenue last year, according to reports filed with securities regulators. Russia’s energy sector is largely controlled by individuals with ties to state actors, including Putin.
Much of the new trove of files includes bank statements, emails and loan agreements from Appleby, a law firm that helps set up offshore dummy companies and trusts. Appleby told the ICIJ that there is “no evidence” that it has done anything wrong.
Other records came from Asiaciti Trust, a family-run offshore specialist based In Singapore, and from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that draw the wealthy seeking privacy.
Big investments in two U.S. tech companies from a Russian government bank and Russian energy giant have also come to light.
The ICIJ reported that Silicon Valley investor and Russian citizen Yuri Milner got $191 million from VTB Bank, and invested that money in Twitter. The leaked records also show that a financial subsidiary of Russian energy company Gazprom funded a shell company that invested in a Milner-affiliated company that held roughly $1 billion in Facebook shares shortly before its 2012 initial public offering.
Milner told the ICIJ that he was unaware of any involvement by the Gazprom subsidiary in any of his deals and that none of his investments has been related to politics.
Milner has also invested in a tech-savvy real estate fund that was co-founded by Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner called Cadre. Milner told the ICIJ that he used his own money for the investment.
Sunday’s revelations follow last year’s release of records from a Panama-based firm involved in setting up offshore accounts. That disclosure triggered investigations in several countries, the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland and ouster of the leader of Pakistan. The Panama Papers also revealed that close associates of Russia’s leader Putin had been using the dummy accounts abroad to store their wealth, including a close Putin friend who had $2 billion of offshore assets.
There are legitimate reasons for setting up offshore accounts, but lax regulation and anonymity in some jurisdictions make it easy to launder money, evade taxes and avoid regulatory scrutiny. Critics of the widening gap between the super-wealthy and the rest have seized upon the use of tax havens as revealed in the Panama Papers as evidence of a crisis, and governments have promised to crack down.
In the case of Ross, the ICIJ reported Navigator’s Russian customer, Sibur, has ties to Putin in addition to his son-in-law.
A big shareholder is Gennady Timchenko, who was targeted by the U.S. and other Western nations for sanctions after Russia’s invasion of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014. A few months later, the U.S. barred banks from providing long-term financing to a gas company belonging to another large Sibur shareholder, Leonid Mikhelson. Mikhelson has also been sanctioned by the Treasury Department for propping up Putin’s rule.
Sibur itself was not targeted by the U.S. sanctions, but the Bank of America and the Royal Bank of Scotland reportedly backed away from doing business with the company.


The Russian gas producer last year contributed $23 million to Navigator’s revenue, an increase of more than 40 percent in two years

Breaking Down the $250 Billion China Deals Trump Got for America - Bloomberg

Breaking Down the $250 Billion China Deals Trump Got for America
By Bruce Einhorn
November 9, 2017
How does $250 billion in deals get sliced?
The White House has unveiled a slew of agreements with China as President Donald Trump seeks to address an imbalance in trade. While Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross boasted a total of $250 billion in business deals, it’s unclear how one gets to that figure. Many of them weren’t broken out into separate valuations, while a large number were in the form of nonbinding memoranda of understanding or involved agreements with existing Chinese partners.
For those keeping score, the energy and transportation sectors appear to be winners. One of the biggest announcements is an agreement by companies including China Petrochemical Corp. to help develop a $43 billion liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. Boeing Co. snagged an aircraft order valued at some $37 billion -- although it isn’t immediately clear how much of that is new. Still, the wave of deals signaled an increase in trade for products from helicopters to beef.
Here are highlights of what’s been disclosed so far:
Energy
Alaska Gasline Development Corp.: a joint agreement to advance a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, involving the state of Alaska, Sinopec, China Investment Corp. and Bank of China Ltd. The project has been in discussion for years, and Alaska Gasline applied for federal approval for the development in April. Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and TransCanada Corp. have been involved in the effort, but have distanced themselves since estimating in 2012 that it would cost as much as $65 billion and take more than a decade to construct.
Air Products & Chemicals Inc.: the industrial gases company and state-owned Yankuang Group Co. intend to form a joint venture to build and operate an air separation, gasification and syngas clean-up system for a $3.5 billion coal-to-syngas production facility. Air Products is currently a supplier to the first phase of the project. Earlier this year, Air Products scrapped its plan to acquire China’s Yingde Gases Group Co. after a private-equity firm swooped in.
Transportation
Boeing: China Aviation Supplies Holding Co. agreed to buy 300 aircraft worth about $37 billion before discounts that are customary in the industry for large orders. Boeing didn’t disclose how many are new orders. The state has previously placed large orders through a centralized buyer before dividing them up among its airlines and leasing companies. Chinese airlines have been on a plane-buying spree amid a projection for the country to overtake the U.S. as the largest air-travel market possibly in as soon as in five years.
General Electric Co.: Juneyao Airlines ordered GEnx engines for its Boeing 787 fleet and ICBC Leasing ordered LEAP-1B engines for Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The list prices for the two deals totaled $2.5 billion. GE also said it signed a cooperation agreement with China Datang Group to provide the Chinese company with gas turbines and other products and services.
Honeywell International Inc.: contract with Spring Airlines Co., the Chinese budget carrier that flies over 130 routes with a fleet of Airbus A320 planes. The U.S. company is a supplier for the C919, a new single-aisle plane being produced by state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd.
Bell Helicopter: the subsidiary of Textron Inc. signed an agreement to sell 50 of its helicopters to Reignwood International Investment Group Co. The company had already ordered 60 choppers, according to Bell Helicopter.
Ford Motor Co.: Ford gave financial details of an electric-vehicle alliance with China’s Anhui Zotye Automobile Co. that was first announced in August. The companies will invest 5 billion yuan ($754 million) to develop the cars they’ll sell under a new brand unique to the Chinese market. Ford has said at least 70 percent of its own Ford-brand vehicles sold in China will offer electric or hybrid propulsion by 2025.
Agriculture
Beef and Pork: JD.com Inc. agreed to buy $1.2 billion of beef from the Montana Stock Growers Association and pork from Smithfield Foods Inc. over the next three years, as part of a deal by the Chinese online retailer to import $2 billion of U.S. goods over that period.
The beef portion, about $200 million, would signal a big increase in the appetite for red meat among Chinese consumers, as shipments remain low due to the limited supply that meets requirements. According to China’s Customs General Administration, the country imported 2.3 billion yuan of beef last year.
The pork deal may not be much help creating jobs at Smithfield’s U.S. factories: The company can’t sell made-in-America sausage, ham and bacon to Chinese consumers because China prohibits imports of processed meat, CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in an interview in March. Smithfield parent WH Group opened an 800 million-yuan factory in central China in 2015 to produce American-style packaged meat products.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.: memorandum of understanding with state-owned COFCO Group for the export of U.S. soybeans into China.
Financial
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.: China’s sovereign wealth fund and Goldman Sachs announced a fund to help invest as much as $5 billion in American companies that have existing or potential business connections with China. State-backed China Investment Corp.’s role in the fund could complicate investments in American companies, after the Trump administration in September rejected a China-led takeover of a U.S. chipmaker on national-security grounds. Moreover, Goldman Sachs may only be able to contribute 3 percent of the fund because of U.S. rules regarding banks’ private-equity investments.
Technology
Qualcomm Inc.: non-binding MOUs with Chinese smartphone vendors Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo - all of them current customers - to sell approximately $12 billion in semiconductors over three years. The San Diego-based chip company’s China sales of $14.6 billion accounted for 65 percent of its revenue for the fiscal year ended Sept. 24.
Industrial
DowDuPont Inc.: memorandum of understanding between Dow Chemical and Beijing Mobike Technology Co. to cooperate on developing lighter-weight and more environmentally friendly bicycles. The two companies began working together last year, the official China Daily reported Tuesday.
Caterpillar Inc.: cooperative framework agreement with newly formed China Energy Investment Corp. -- a combination of Shenhua Group Corp., the nation’s largest coal miner, and China Guodian Corp., one of its top-five power generators. The pact “outlines future agreements” for sales and rentals of Caterpillar mining equipment and other products and services, the U.S. company said in a statement.
Honeywell International: an MOU with Oriental Energy Co. to cooperate on five propane dehydrogenation projects in Chinese cities. Honeywell announced in May that two Oriental Energy subsidiaries had licensed its technology to begin producing propylene.
— With assistance by Hui Li, Dong Lyu, Peter Martin, Yan Zhang, Haze Fan, and Ramsey Al-Rikabi

Oxford and Cambridge 'investing millions of pounds offshore', Paradise Papers reveal - Independent

Oxford and Cambridge 'investing millions of pounds offshore', Paradise Papers reveal
Both universities said to invest in funds based in Cayman Islands, a tax haven popular with American and British hedge funds
Independent reporters - 8/11/2017
The universities of Oxford and Cambridge invested millions of pounds in offshore funds, according to revelations contained in the Paradise Papers.
Both universities are said to have invested in funds based in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven popular with many American and British hedge funds.
In 2006, Oxford invested £2.6m in a Guernsey-based private equity firm and Cambridge invested £1.3m in the same scheme, The Guardian reported.
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Money was separated into two funds, one directly from the universities and the other from individual colleges.
The arrangement allows the universities to avoid a US tax on hedge fund investments and receive dividends tax free.
Prem Sikka, an emeritus professor in accounting at the University of Essex, said it was important that universities were more transparent with their investments.
“All the Caymans offer is secrecy and tax avoidance. There is nothing else there. It’s not as if this is a place actively engaged in advancing science, research or human knowledge,” Mr Sikka told The Guardian.
The universities were said to have invested in a private equity firm, Coller International, which invested $1bn (£760m) in Royal Dutch Shell, the oil and gas company.
The revelation is likely to increase pressure on the two universities to divest from fossil fuels.
Both universities have already faced several calls in recent years to move away from carbon-based investments but these have so far gone ignored.
A spokesman for Cambridge University said: "The Colleges and the University are charities and therefore their holdings in investments are tax-exempt in the UK, US and many other countries. This means there is normally no tax to pay.
Apple used Jersey for new tax haven, Paradise Papers reveal
"The fund arrangement, through which the University and Colleges invest, is standard for collective investments of this type.
"The fund is managed by a highly reputable investment advisor and, as is normal, the adviser makes the decisions about specific investments to be made by the fund.
"A divestment working group was set up by University council in May 2016 to consider the question of divestment from businesses involved in fossil fuel industries.
"The university is currently seeking views from a wide range of organisations and individuals. In addition to written submissions we are holding Town Hall meetings open to staff and students from across the University."
A spokesman for Oxford University said: "'As charitable trusts, Oxford University’s endowment is exempt from UK tax. The taxpayer therefore does not lose a penny from our investments.
"The investments generate some £80 million a year which is spent on key academic priorities in Oxford. These include the majority of our scholarships and bursaries for students, vital research across medicine, the sciences, social sciences and humanities and our globally outstanding teaching.
"That is £80m for UK education and research which the taxpayer does not have to fund."

Rev. Al Sharpton President Trump Is Exactly the Same Selfish Blowhard I Knew Back In New York A year ago, I wanted to believe Trump might grow into his role. I was wrong. - MSNBC News

Rev. Al Sharpton President Trump Is Exactly the Same Selfish Blowhard I Knew Back In New York
A year ago, I wanted to believe Trump might grow into his role. I was wrong.
Nov.08.2017 / 10:31 AM ET
As we mark one year since Donald Trump was elected, the nation is reeling from the loss of 26 people killed at a Texas church. These tragic deaths come almost exactly a week after a suspected terrorist attack in New York that killed eight and about a month after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas killed 58.
In the White House, the President is being investigated for possible Russian ties, two of his former campaign aides are under indictment and he seems more interested in using Twitter to distract voters with talk of “crooked Hillary” than clarifying the situation. Meanwhile, in Virginia a racially tinged gubernatorial race featured a Trump-backed Republican candidate running on a platform that includes preserving his state’s Confederate heritage.
And perhaps the worst part is, we knew this was going to happen.
Or at least, we should have known. As a native New Yorker, I have watched Donald Trump’s star rise and fall over the past 30 years. Over my long career as both an advocate and politician, I have spoken with, argued against, and counseled the last four U.S. presidents. I have, to varying degrees, marched, fought and celebrated with the Bush’s, Clintons and Obamas. And the conclusion I have come to is that Donald Trump’s temperament, intellect and emotional health make him wholly unqualified to serve as President of the United States of America.
This is not a new argument, I realize. Many people before me have said similar things. But now we have something approaching definite proof that not only is nothing going to change, this is a man incapable of change.
Whether vehemently disagreeing with President George W. Bush during the start of the Iraq war or pushing back against President Bill Clinton’s welfare reform policy, our arguments were based in subject matter, but never character. It was professional, not personal. In the Trump era, however, the opposite is true.
This distinction is important because while policy ideas may change and evolve, a man’s soul rarely does. America has, in all likelihood, three years (at least) left of this man. We need to realize, and quickly, that he is never going to “pivot.”
I should know — I have been there. I marched against Trump during the Central Park Five case in the 1990s, and I socialized with him when he surrounded himself with black artists and athletes in the 2000s.
Outside the Central Park Five trial with Tawana Brawley in July of 1990. Joseph Major / AP File
No matter the scenario, Trump was always a consummate narcissist and self-promoter. But these qualities were not the most disturbing things about him — many politicians and businessmen act in similar ways.
What disturbed me the most was that he never ever showed a different side of himself. There was no loyalty there (except perhaps to his family); he was not driven by ideology or a sense of a broader purpose. He did whatever he could to enrich his coffers and build his brand. This was his main motivation in 1989, and it remains his main motivation in 2017.
Of course, there are other reasons to be considered about Trump’s presidency. Besides his self-centered demeanor, he is incredibly stubborn and refuses to admit even the slightest mistake. On the other hand, he latches onto perceived sleights, never passing up the opportunity to publicly criticize or mock an opponent.
There were hopes last year that the executive office would temper some of this pettiness, but sadly we now see this is not the case. Rather than attempt to grow and learn, Trump has leaned into his role as divider-in-chief. This is exactly the same racially divisive, unapologetic blowhard I knew in New York.
Rather than attempt to grow, Trump has leaned into his role as divider-in-chief. This is exactly the same racially divisive, unapologetic blowhard I knew in New York.
And the results unfortunately speak for themselves. His ugly, contentious presidential campaign has translated into an equally ugly and divisive first year. Whether it’s attacking Congresswoman Frederica Wilson following the tragic deaths of four soldiers in Niger, hesitating to condemn white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, advocating for the firing of NFL players exercising their First Amendment rights, or politicizing terrorist attacks, Trump’s time in office has only made this country more polarized.
Put simply, Trump took America’s existing racial tensions and made them even more toxic.
A year ago, I wanted to believe that there was hope. I wanted to believe that this man who had spent years questioning President Obama’s birthplace might be humbled by his office. I wanted to believe that the gravity of the situation would eventually kick in, and he would work to achieve something admirable with his newfound power. I wanted to believe America was not in the hands of an unyielding demagogue incapable of growth. And I was wrong.
Rev. Al Sharpton has held such notable positions as the youth director of New York’s Operation Breadbasket, director of ministers for the National Rainbow Push coalition, and founder of his own broad-based progressive civil rights organization, the National Action Network (NAN). Rev. He hosts PoliticsNation, which airs from 8-9 a.m. ET on Sundays on MSNBC.

Donald Trump warns North Korea: 'Do not try us' - BBC News

Donald Trump warns North Korea: 'Do not try us'
8 November 2017
Trump to N Korea: 'Your weapons are not making you safer'
US President Donald Trump has issued a blunt warning to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in an address to South Korea's parliament.
"Do not underestimate us. Do not try us," he said, while also condemning the "dark fantasy" of life in the North.
He addressed Mr Kim saying "the weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer", and urged other nations to join forces to stop Pyongyang.
The US leader is now in China as part of a five-nation tour of Asia.
He will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for talks likely to focus on trade and North Korea.
Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions have been high on Mr Trump's agenda throughout this trip. Over the past year North Korea has carried out missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions and in September conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test.
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Mr Trump's words to South Korean lawmakers were being closely watched and while his rhetoric was stark, he did not repeat his previous bombast towards the North.
These are the most striking points from his speech:
Trump made a personal address to Kim Jong-un
In an unexpected move, Mr Trump chose to directly address North Korea's leader in his speech, urging him to discard his nuclear programme and weapons.
"They are putting your regime in grave danger," warned Mr Trump. "Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face."
Media captionHow would war with North Korea unfold?
He also made reference to North Korea's founder and Mr Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, in words likely to inflame Pyongyang.
"North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned. It is a hell that no person deserves."
But Mr Trump also appeared to reiterate Tuesday's offer to reach a deal, saying that "despite every crime you've committed... we will offer you a path for a better future".
He warned the North against 'fatal miscalculation'
He said that to interpret past US restraint as weakness "would be a fatal miscalculation", as there was now a different US administration in place.
"Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries but for all civilised nations, when I say to the North: 'Do not underestimate us. Do not try us'."
Media captionSouth Korean villagers voice anger over THAAD
He pointed to the heavy US military presence in the Korean peninsula including aircraft carriers and fighter jets, saying: "I want peace through strength."
But he also made sure to single out North Korea's biggest economic supporter, China, as well as Russia, calling on them to sever all ties including economic ones.
Analysis - A warning, not war: Mark Lowen, BBC News, Seoul
US President Donald J. Trump (C, bottom) speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, 8 November 2017.Image copyrightEPA
After the "rocket man" and "fire and fury", nobody knew quite what to expect from Donald Trump today. In the end, those in the administration urging him to tone down his rhetoric carried sway.
The speech was a warning but not a rush to war. He pushed China and Russia to up their pressure on North Korea. The horror stories of daily life in the North were effective, particularly when compared to liberal South Korea. And the olive branch to Kim Jong-un was the most concrete offer Mr Trump has made yet to the regime.
The problem is: there's virtually no chance that the condition for talks - denuclearisation - will be accepted. Having seen what happened to the leaders of Libya and Iraq, North Korea feels only nuclear weapons will guarantee regime survival. The hermit state will have blocked its population from listening to Mr Trump.
Optimists now say at least there's been no weapons test since September. But the fact that's seen as progress shows how low the bar now is.
'Horror' of North versus 'miracle' of South
Mr Trump spent a significant portion of his speech paying tribute to the achievements of the South since the Korean War, which cemented the division of North and South Korea.
US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, 8 November 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
After his speech, Mr Trump and his wife visited Seoul's National Cemetery which honours the war dead
He contrasted this with the "horror of life" in North Korea and said their separate trajectories were "a tragic experiment in the laboratory of history".
"The more successful South Korea becomes, the more decisively you discredit the dark fantasy at the heart of the Kim regime," he told lawmakers.
He also talked golf
While listing South Korea's achievements, Mr Trump also spent considerable time noting its prowess in the golfing world, saying its players are "some of the best on Earth".
Mr Trump, an avid fan of the sport, played in Japan earlier in his Asian tour.