Tech

PayPal has applied to form a bank that would offer business loans and interest-bearing savings accounts, a move that would deepen the payments company’s push into core banking services, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The social-media giant Meta has tolerated widespread advertising fraud tied to Chinese customers in order to protect billions of dollars in revenue, even after internal teams repeatedly flagged the activity as problematic, Reuters reported. 

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved five national trust bank charters for firms focused on digital assets, in a move that brings more crypto-related activity into the federal banking system but under supervisory constraints.

A top Democratic senator has warned that Chinese intelligence is still inside U.S. telecommunications networks as part of a sweeping cyber campaign known as “Salt Typhoon,” saying the operation gives Beijing access to the unencrypted communications of almost anyone in America, the Financial Times reported.

The UK government is taking aim at corrupt bankers, lawyers, and accountants and deploying new tech tools to identify dirty money as part of a new strategy to root out tens of billions in illicit funds entering the country each year.

China’s central bank has restated its hard line on cryptocurrencies, warning that a renewed wave of speculation is testing regulators and vowing tougher action against illegal activities involving stablecoins, according to Reuters.

The United States, Britain and Australia have imposed coordinated sanctions on Russian technology companies and individuals accused of providing key online infrastructure for ransomware and other cyberattacks, Reuters reported. 

Brazil’s government is weighing plans to tax the use of cryptocurrencies in international payments, targeting a fast-growing channel for moving money across borders, according to a Reuters report.

Brazil’s central bank unveiled long-awaited rules for virtual assets on Monday, extending anti–money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) obligations to crypto firms and classifying fiat-pegged crypto transactions as foreign-exchange operations, Reuters reported. 

The Central Bank of Ireland has fined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase €21.5 million for failing to properly monitor transactions, including activity potentially linked to child sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes.