Three news to start your week: July 22
Venice mayor under investigation in wide-ranging corruption scandal
(ABC News)
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro of Venice is under investigation in a corruption scandal. The investigation includes allegations of kickbacks in exchange for granting project approvals to developers.
These allegations involve a 348,000-square-meter residential and commercial project by a Singapore developer, with a reported exchange of 150 million euros. Additionally, the investigation examines the purchase of a piece of land by Brugnaro for 5 million euros at a public auction before he became mayor, which later saw a substantial increase in value during his tenure.
Furthermore, the sale of a 16th-century palace to the same Singapore developer for allegedly 4 million euros below its value is also under scrutiny.
Deutsche Bank flouted international accounting rules, says watchdog
(Financial Times)
Deutsche Bank's 2019 financial report did not meet international accounting standards, as Germany's financial watchdog BaFin stated. The report lacked crucial details about the lender's historical US losses, with the bank failing to disclose €2.1bn of deferred tax assets linked to multiyear losses at the US operations, which were unprofitable at the time.
Moreover, the bank didn't provide an explanation in its annual report on how it expected to generate future profits in the region, as required by IFRS rules, as it aimed to offset historic losses against future profits in the region. This ruling reflects a significantly stricter approach by German regulators in enforcing accounting standards following the Wirecard fraud, one of Europe's most significant postwar accounting scandals.
Despite this, Deutsche Bank is not obliged to restate its 2019 results and does not face any fine or other sanction over the accounting failings. The impact of this news was evident in the stock market, with shares in Deutsche Bank falling 1.4 percent in morning trading, more than double the wider German stock market's decline of 0.6 percent.
Former Goldman Banker Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Bribing Ghanaian Officials
(The Wall Street Journal)
A former Goldman Sachs banker has appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, NY, and pleaded not guilty to charges of bribing Ghanaian government officials to secure a lucrative power plant contract for a client.
Asante Berko, a dual US citizen and Ghana citizen, fought extradition from the UK before being arraigned before US Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon in the Eastern District of New York. He was then released on $600,000 bail.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission initially accused Berko in 2020 of bribing Ghanaian officials of $4.5 million in bribes to assist a Turkish energy company in winning a power-plant contract. It was revealed that Berko had personally delivered at least $66,000 to members of Ghana's parliament.
