🌍 ‘World’s worst central banker’ arrested in Lebanon

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Hi Intriguer. The other day I was chuffed to receive an invite to join a popular podcast… in Spanish! It’s co-hosted by Nathán Wolfe (Mexico’s former ambassador to Singapore) and Pedro Zurita (who runs a big maps store and Instagram page in Spanish, with 70k followers).

Per the show’s theme, we focussed on some of the world’s lesser-known corners, like the Cocos Islands and the Torres Strait. Anyway, if you don’t speak Spanish but would like to hear a foreigner speak truly superb Spanish, have a listen on Apple and Spotify. Oh… you do speak Spanish? Well lemme just say… perdón por mi horrible español.

Anyway, today’s briefing brings you the intriguingly true tale of the ‘world’s worst central banker’, who just got arrested in Lebanon.

Biden reportedly preparing to block Nippon Steel deal.
US Steel shares have dropped 17% after reports emerged the US president is preparing to kill a merger between the historic US steelmaker and Japan’s Nippon Steel. US Steel reps say if the deal doesn’t go through, the company might be forced to shut down some of its plants. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump have both opposed foreign ownership of US Steel, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania (a key swing state).

China pledges billions for Africa.
President Xi Jinping has promised $50B in loans, financing, and aid over the next three years at this week’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing. As China’s economy sputters, Xi has used the summit to draw a contrast with the West, saying “the Western modernisation process has brought profound suffering to the vast majority of developing countries.”

Zelensky to appoint former Turkey envoy as foreign minister.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey (2016-2022) and then a presidential advisor and vice-minister, is expected to replace Dmytro Kuleba as foreign minister, according to a Telegram announcement. It’s part of President Zelensky’s biggest cabinet reshuffle since Russia began its full-scale invasion.

US accuses Russia of election meddling.
The US has accused Russian state-funded media outlets of embarking on a concerted campaign to influence US voters, including by recruiting “unwitting American influencers”. The treasury department also sanctioned the editor-in-chief of Russia’s RT network plus nine other employees.

Haiti expands state of emergency.
The newly-installed transitional government has expanded its emergency order to cover the entire territory, as armed gangs attempt to expand beyond the country’s capital. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to land in Haiti today (Thursday) – the US is the main funder behind the UN-backed security mission now operating in-country.

TOP STORY

INTRIGUE’S TAKE

Like many of the folks running Lebanon lately, Salameh was long seen as untouchable. Even as all the accusations piled up, it was hard to see anything ever actually happening.

So then… what changed? Well this is just a temporary detention for now, so maybe nothing will change in the end.

But also… we couldn’t help but notice that the world’s main financial crimes watchdog (FATF) just started threatening to add Lebanon to its money laundering ‘grey list’. And one of the factors that FATF weighs up in this process is whether countries are properly prosecuting financial crimes.

Now, Lebanon already has a tough recovery ahead, but it looks impossible if it gets grey-listed by FATF (your list of willing business partners really shrinks).

So it wouldn’t surprise us if Beirut was now throwing Salameh under the FATF bus to avoid a grey-listing. Whatever the reason, Lebanon’s people will be happy to see a dash of accountability.

Also worth noting:

• Prosecutors are also saying Salameh was using elaborate financial chicanery to hide vast losses caused by his reckless monetary policies. Salameh denies the charges, and says he got wealthy from his Merrill Lynch days, plus a bit of family money.

• Oh, and speaking of central bankers in trouble: Libya’s central bank chief has now fled to Turkey, after finding himself at the centre of a power struggle between the two rival regimes now running Libya.

MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…

1. 🇰🇵 North Korea: Reports have emerged in South Korean media that their authoritarian neighbours to the North executed up to 30 high-ranking officials as punishment for flood damage in late July. Supreme leader Kim Jong Un was quick to blame local officials in the flood’s aftermath, though some experts doubt whether he also executed them.

2. 🇩🇪 Germany: The Deutsche Bank CEO has told Germans they’ll have to “work more and harder” to restore the country’s economy, warning that investors are doubting Germany’s willingness and ability to reform. The bank chief also warned that recent political victories by “parties with extreme positions” could hurt Germany’s investment attractiveness.

3. 🇲🇾 Malaysia: Malaysia’s foreign ministry has launched an investigation into the leaking of a classified note which has now appeared in Philippines media. The Inquirer has reported that the two-page note, first lodged by China’s foreign ministry, asserted that Malaysia's oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea violated China's sovereignty.

4. 🇨🇦 Canada: A small political party helping keep Justin Trudeau’s minority government in power has now unexpectedly withdrawn its support. It’s a political setback for Trudeau, who’ll now have to find support among opposition lawmakers to pass budgets and survive confidence votes ahead of elections due by October 2025.

5. 🇩🇯 Djibouti: Djibouti says it expects landlocked Ethiopia to accept its offer for “100% management” of a local port, granting it direct-sea access in a bid to ease tensions in the region. Ethiopia sparked a row in January after announcing plans for a port deal with Somaliland, a semi-autonomous region which Somalia considers its own.

EXTRA INTRIGUE

Just a few jobs we thought you might like…

• Trainee, Brussels Forum 2025 @ German Marshall Fund in Brussels

• Project Manager @ Formula 1 in London

• Philanthropy Executive @ World Wide Fund for Nature in Singapore

• Emerging Markets Associate @ Federal Reserve Bank in New York

FESTIVITY OF THE DAY

What do tacky interior décor companies and Venezuelan strongmen have in common? They’re both starting Christmas earlier and earlier each year.

Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro has told audiences tuning into his ‘More with Maduro’ TV show that the holiday season will commence on 1 October this year. He’s even promised to sign an official decree to really dial that festive cheer all the way up to 11.

Why? We’ve got two guesses: either this is a transparently desperate ploy from a dictator who can feel the power slipping from his grasp and so is attempting to hold onto it by way of distraction. Or maybe the guy just really loves Christmas. Who knows.

DAILY POLL

Yesterday’s poll: Do you think states should help struggling companies?

 🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛡️ Yep, everyone's now doing it (10%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Yep, but only under certain conditions (tell us which!) (34%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⚖️ Nope, let the market figure it out (54%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (2%)

Your two cents:

• 🤔 S.V: “CHIPS Act in the US, Make in India in India, etc. They are all aimed to protect and enhance national interests.”

• ⚖️ S.S: “If your business is failing, either nobody wants your product or your management is incompetent. The government can't fix this.”

• ✍️ D.D: “Determining the conditions and the extent of the support is the tricky part.”

• ⚖️ A: “A $5B profit per quarter is not a threshold that could justify the state stepping in to keep a company operational, work it out, folks!”