Daily Brief, November 9, 2026

Top Story

Nvidia's board investigates whether foreign intelligence targeted chief executive Jensen Huang

Huang had a relationship with a former Megaspeed executive who US authorities concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset, the New York Times reported last month. US authorities have scrutinized Megaspeed, a Singapore company that buys Nvidia chips, over suspicions it helped Beijing reach barred chips.

Source: Daily Maverick

Iran blockade

Iraq says Washington asked it to close several of its border crossings with Iran

Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein told Al Jazeera that Iraq and Washington are in talks. Hussein said Washington suggests keeping one crossing open in Iraq's Kurdistan region and one elsewhere in Iraq. He warned that closure would carry negative consequences given Iraq's reliance on Iranian imports, especially food.

Source: Infobae

Iranian lawmaker says up to 50 million Iranians have trouble getting enough food

[FA - Iran International, opposition outlet]

Ali Babaei Karnami, who chairs parliament's social commission, said in an interview with the news site Dideban Iran that about eight million Iranians have fallen into absolute poverty and malnutrition. He said up to 50 million others have difficulty obtaining the food they need, Iran International reported.

Source: Iran International

Oil firms are in talks with US officials over licenses for about 50 sanctioned ships

Trafigura and Vitol are among at least four companies in talks with US officials about licenses to buy or lease sanctioned ships, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported. The talks cover about 50 of the roughly 1,600 ships the US has sanctioned.

Source: gCaptain

United States

Enforcement & Liability

Warren warns companies to expect serious investigations when Democrats take Congress in January

Elizabeth Warren, the senator set to lead the Senate Banking Committee, said on CBS's Face the Nation: 'If you've been making your profits by cheating American families and scamming your investors, you'd better get ready for some investigations, serious ones.' She named no companies, Reuters reported.

Source: Daily Maverick

Regulatory Horizon

FinCEN and the Fed drop a plan to cut a $3,000 transfer threshold to $250

The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Reserve Board withdrew their 2020 proposal, leaving in place the $3,000 threshold for collecting, keeping and passing on cross-border transfer details. They said no final rule will be issued without another chance for public comment.

Source: Federal Register

Around the World

Enforcement & Liability

US Treasury bars US financial institutions from handling transfers with crypto exchange MEXC

The order bars US financial institutions from processing transfers to or from the Seychelles-based exchange, citing at least .7 billion of transactions linked to illicit activity. Treasury says MEXC also helped a US-sanctioned North Korean bank representative receive about ,000 in virtual funds, NK News reported.

Source: NK News

Supply Chain Risk

Egypt's fertilizer makers are notified of a further 33% cut in gas supply

Misr Fertilizers Production, an Egyptian producer, said it had been told of a further 33% cut in gas supply, following an earlier 20% reduction.

Source: gCaptain

Geopolitical Shocks

China extends pause on 24% tariffs on US goods and port fees on US-linked ships

Both suspensions run for two months from November 10th. A separate 10% tariff continues, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

Source: Infobae

Malaysia-Taiwan trade talks are canceled after the Malaysian prime minister's 'One China' remarks

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's 'One China' remarks are fueling what Nikkei Asia's subhead puts in quotes as 'pure anger' in Taipei. 'One China' is Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China. Industry players warn the strains could dent future semiconductor investment in Malaysia, where Taiwanese chipmakers have recently entered or expanded.

Source: Nikkei Asia

Regulatory Horizon

The US Commerce Department again delays a rule extending export controls to listed firms' affiliates

The stay now runs to January 10th, 2027. The paused 2025 rule would treat any company at least 50% owned by one or more firms on the Commerce Department's Entity List, its list of restricted foreign parties, as listed itself, the rule's text says.

Source: Federal Register

Also Today

Thailand's cabinet approves raising the excise tax on fully imported electric vehicles to 35%

Source: VnExpress International

Moldova launches a power line to Romania to cut reliance on Russian energy

Source: Al Jazeera

The global anti-money-laundering watchdog takes four jurisdictions off its watch list

Source: Financial Action Task Force

Venezuelan drones strike a Colombian rebel camp in Venezuela, InSight Crime reports

Source: InSight Crime

Suspected China-linked spies exploited a BeyondTrust remote-support flaw in late August

Source: Google Cloud Threat Intelligence

Google says Videostrong built a backdoor that enrolled over 1.3 million TV boxes

Source: Google Cloud Threat Intelligence

A Cambodia-based criminal group aims the ARTEX AI attack framework at financial firms

Source: Microsoft Security

Philippine economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the third quarter

Source: The Straits Times

Russia says it struck three cargo ships in Ukraine's Odesa region

Source: gCaptain

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