Scott Bessent
US hits Bank of America with $1.2 billion fine, saying it violated money laundering, sanctions laws
WASHINGTON | The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that it’s imposing $1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history. “When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions […]
Trump administration pushes to remove tax exemption for private colleges with DEI policies
WASHINGTON | The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip private schools and colleges of their tax-exempt status if they provide targeted help to students based on their race, a significant escalation in the White House’s campaign to eradicate diversity programs directed at Black, Hispanic and other minority students. The Treasury Department […]
US plans to sanction another bank in effort to clamp down on Iran transactions, Bessent tells AP
ASHEVILLE, N.C. | President Donald Trump’s administration plans to impose sanctions on another bank this week as it intensifies efforts to economically isolate Iran, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press on Sunday. “This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent said in the interview. “We are showing people […]
Trump’s new economic squeeze on Iran has a big challenge: China
WASHINGTON | The ” economic onslaught ” that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has declared on Iran’s financial connections around the world may have one major caveat: China. Beijing is Iran’s biggest trading partner and its leading oil buyer. While the U.S. is trying to isolate the Islamic Republic from its remaining economic partners, President Donald […]
Trump is facing a new inflation warning from the bond market, adding to his midterm challenges
WASHINGTON | The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections. The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into […]