Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič co-chaired the second meeting of the China-EU Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism in Beijing on October 8-9. The two sides held equal, professional and constructive talks on trade and investment balance, export controls, intellectual property and WTO reform, reviewing progress since the mechanism’s first meeting and reaching consensus on outcomes.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng met with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, on October 9. The two sides exchanged views on the current economic and financial situation and on China-France economic and financial cooperation. No further details of the meeting were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments issued a notice on implementing the “Five Excellences” campaign for quality e-commerce, calling on e-commerce platforms to establish a chief quality officer system and build a full-chain quality control framework. The notice also urges platforms to improve online service quality evaluation and deepen government data verification to boost merchant license checks and risk control.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce and six other departments issued a notice on implementing the ‘Five Excellences’ campaign for quality e-commerce, calling for high-level opening in the sector. The notice deepens bilateral and multilateral cooperation under the Silk Road E-Commerce mechanism, covering policy exchange, industry matchmaking and capacity building, and advances global e-commerce governance through single-window data exchange, electronic bills of lading and cross-border identity authentication.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce and six other departments issued a notice launching a ‘Five Excellences’ campaign to improve e-commerce quality, calling on platforms to publicly commit to product and service quality improvements and publish quality governance reports. The initiative also aims to curb disorderly competition such as automatic price-matching and ‘lowest price across the entire internet’ practices. National e-commerce demonstration bases will lead the effort with credit management and tiered guidance.

TREE NEWS update: The Trump administration announced new mandatory AI security incident reporting requirements on October 9, following multiple incidents of unauthorized use of US government systems involving AI company Anthropic. Anthropic disclosed the incidents to the US government in late September and said the unauthorized activity has stopped. Under the new rules, AI companies must report security incidents to the government immediately, improve transparency and take remedial and corrective measures for affected agencies.

TREE NEWS update: US President Trump announced on 9 October that Russia will supply diesel fuel to global markets, a move critics say conflicts with Washington’s efforts to curb Russian oil sales. Those efforts include the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctions Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which Trump signed three weeks ago and which authorizes tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian crude or gas.

TREE NEWS reports: The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing whether Binance has complied with its 2023 settlement with U.S. authorities, focusing on transactions that may have violated U.S. sanctions on Iran after the deal. The review, led by the Manhattan federal prosecutors’ office and the DOJ Criminal Division, involves a Hong Kong entity accused of helping move payments for Iranian oil sales. Binance said it has zero tolerance for sanctions violations; it pleaded guilty in 2023 and agreed to pay over $4.3 billion.

TREE NEWS update: The White House AI task force said AI companies are now required to report security vulnerabilities, following an Anthropic security incident that prompted the new reporting mandate. The disclosure regime is not optional, the task force stated. The requirement compels AI firms to report and remediate safety problems.

TREE NEWS reports: The White House AI task force said AI companies are now required to report security vulnerabilities, following a security incident at Anthropic that led to this new reporting requirement. The task force stated that this disclosure mechanism is not voluntary. This requirement forces AI companies to report and fix safety issues.

TREE NEWS update: The White House AI task force said that AI companies are now required to report security vulnerabilities, following a security incident at Anthropic that led to this new reporting requirement. The task force stated that this disclosure mechanism is not voluntary. This requirement forces AI companies to report and remediate safety issues.

TREE NEWS reports: Kalshi is examining three wagers of about $19, $74 and $80 placed before reports named Katie Zacharia as Trump’s press secretary pick, the Wall Street Journal reported. The contract has since settled Yes, but it remains unclear whether the individual accounts face withdrawal restrictions.

TREE NEWS update: The UK government said it will maintain pressure on Russia through what it calls the toughest sanctions regime in British history, in response to US-Russia diesel trade. London added that it will keep working closely with international partners to ensure Ukraine receives the military and financial support it needs. No new measures or figures were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued one rule and proposed another to clarify that event contracts qualify as “swaps,” reinforcing Chairman Mike Selig’s position that prediction-market trading should fall under the agency’s sole jurisdiction. The move comes as the CFTC is locked in legal disputes with multiple states over regulatory authority, with several federal rulings having gone against the agency.

TREE NEWS update: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a proposed rulemaking to further define “swap” to explicitly include event contracts based on sports, politics, culture and weather. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said such products are commodity derivatives under the Commodity Exchange Act and fall under the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction. The proposal is open for 30 days of public comment; the CFTC separately issued an interim final rule stating casino-style gaming products such as sports betting and casino games are not swaps.

TREE NEWS update: The Reserve Bank of India announced measures to ensure the orderly functioning of the foreign exchange market. Authorized dealers are barred from letting users re-enter canceled INR-linked FX derivative contracts after the guidance, though rollovers at maturity remain allowed. The threshold for hedging contracted exposures without proving underlying risk falls from $100 million to $5 million, and a 20% FX Risk Retention Requirement applies to INR FX derivatives above $2 million equivalent.

TREE NEWS update: The United States plans to seize about $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The Treasury Department has announced several digital asset seizures tied to US sanctions on Iran. The figure covers crypto assets connected to sanctioned Iranian activity.

TREE NEWS update: New York has permanently barred Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky from the cryptocurrency, securities and commodities industries under a $35 million settlement. The agreement resolves a 2023 civil fraud lawsuit brought against the Celsius founder. The ban is permanent.

TREE NEWS update: The CFTC has excluded casino-style wagers from its swap definition, bypassing a proposal that had raised concerns about threats to prediction markets. The agency said the measure does not change any existing compliance obligations for market participants.

TREE NEWS update: Keith Sonderling was formally sworn in as US Secretary of Labor, the White House announced. The ceremony makes him the head of the department overseeing federal labor and employment policy.