Today’s ESG Updates
- UBS Fined $125 Million for Money Laundering Violations: U.S. regulators say the Swiss bank failed to vet high-risk customers tied to Russia and Latin America.
- Vattenfall Wins Contracts for Two Danish Offshore Wind Farms: The Swedish state-owned energy company will build projects in the North Sea and Kattegat.
- Kanadevia Inova to Build $1.5bn Waste-to-Energy Plant in Casablanca: The Swiss-Japanese-led consortium aims to cut methane emissions from Morocco’s largest landfill while generating power for nearly 1 million people.
- BHP Faces Two-Day Port Hedland Strike Despite Union Talks Progress: Workers plan to halt iron ore shipments at the world’s biggest export hub as pay negotiations continue.
UBS fined $125 million for anti-money laundering violations
UBS was fined $125 million by U.S. regulators on Monday for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, the largest such penalty ever against a broker-dealer. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said UBS Financial Services admitted to willfully failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program and to file suspicious activity reports, marking a repeat offense after a $14.5 million fine in 2018. The bank cooperated with regulators and says it has since strengthened its compliance program.
Regulators flagged failures to vet high-risk customers tied to Russia and Latin America, including a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and inadequate monitoring of over 60,000 foreign-currency wires totaling more than $10 billion. UBS must now hire an outside consultant to review its program, with a focus on illicit finance risks tied to the U.S. Southwest border, cartels, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
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Vattenfall wins contracts to build two Danish offshore wind farms
Vattenfall, the Swedish state-owned energy company, has won contracts to build two offshore wind farms in Denmark’s North Sea and Kattegat, the Danish Energy Agency said Tuesday. Both are due for completion by 2032, and together, they’ll supply electricity equivalent to at least 1.8 million households: North Sea Mid at 1 gigawatt, and Hesselo at 0.8 gigawatts.
The tenders used two-sided contracts for difference, guaranteeing a fixed electricity price after an earlier subsidy-free round failed. Vattenfall won North Sea Mid at 504 Danish crowns (€67.43) per MWh, and Hesselo, which drew five bids, at 542 crowns/MWh. “Projects like this demonstrate how we are scaling offshore wind while maintaining a strong focus on affordability and long-term value,” said David Flood, Vattenfall’s head of offshore wind.
Vattenfall already runs five offshore wind farms in Denmark, generating around 6.5 TWh annually, which is enough to power roughly 1.5 million homes.
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Kanadevia Inova to build $1.5bn waste-to-energy plant in Casablanca
A consortium led by global greentech leader Kanadevia Inova plans to begin construction on a $1.5 billion waste-to-energy plant in Casablanca by year’s end, with full operations expected by mid-2030. The facility will be Africa’s second of its kind, cutting methane and other impacts from the Mediouna landfill, the country’s largest, which has long produced odours and pollution seeping into farmland.
The consortium, which includes Moroccan firm Nareva and Japan’s Itochu signed a concession agreement with Casablanca’s city government on Monday. Once operational, the plant will process about 1.5 million metric tons of waste yearly and generate around 115 megawatts from waste, solar and landfill gas, which is enough to supply nearly 1 million people. Construction, led by Somagec, begins once financing is secured by Q4 and should take roughly 3.5 years.
However, critics argue such plants undermine recycling and emit pollutants since most rely on incineration.
BHP faces two-day Port Hedland strike despite progress in union talks
BHP, the world’s biggest listed miner and Australia’s largest listed company, faces a two-day strike at its Port Hedland operations this weekend despite progress in talks with unions on Tuesday. Workers plan a 24-hour ship-loading ban from Saturday, followed by a 24-hour stoppage at the export terminal from Sunday, likely holding up 16 iron ore shipments at the world’s biggest iron ore export hub.
Around 150 workers are involved as the sides negotiate a four-year enterprise agreement after seven-plus months of talks, with unions seeking enforceable wage and condition protections. BHP will present an updated proposal on August 18, the same day it reports annual results, and said “significant progress” made with the Fair Work Commission’s help meant the strike wasn’t necessary, but unions confirmed action will proceed as planned.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Stuart Frisby.
