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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s super yacht Solaris is seen at Barcelona Port in Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/ Albert Gea

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By Francesco Guarascio and Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission wants to make it easier to confiscate assets linked to serious illegal activities and suspected criminals, including those evading European Union sanctions against the Kremlin, according to a draft document seen by Reuters.

The legislative proposal, due to be published on Wednesday and still subject to changes, is aimed at addressing a longstanding weakness in the EU where many states lack sufficiently robust legal frameworks to seize criminal assets, making it easier for criminals to hide their resources and benefit from illegal activities.

The war in Ukraine further exposed this weakness, as many states are struggling to freeze assets of people sanctioned by the EU for their ties to the Kremlin – and many more lack legal powers to confiscate frozen assets.

The legislative proposal would address these weaknesses by creating a common legal framework.

Crimes for which the new rules would apply are terrorism, participation in a criminal organisation, human trafficking, money laundering, and also the violation of EU sanctions, which under a separate proposal, also to be published on Wednesday, would become a crime across the EU.

Asset seizures would generally require a conviction, but under the draft law, they could be allowed pending trial in some cases for suspected criminals, and also when they are “transferred by a suspected or accused person to third parties,” including family members.

Authorities in EU states have said one of the main obstacles they faced in enforcing the sanctions against Moscow was that affected people had their assets registered under somebody else’s name, or transferred them before sanctions were implemented.

“We are working on a European tool to make confiscations possible everywhere in all EU states”, the EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders said while pre-announcing the incoming measures earlier in May. He said one of the ultimate aims was to redistribute proceeds from these confiscations to Ukraine.

To become law, the proposal needs the backing of EU governments, which have traditionally been cautious about reforms that require changes to their criminal laws.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A woman stands in front of the logo of Snap Inc on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, NY, U.S. March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

By Nivedita Balu and Medha Singh

(Reuters) – Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP)’s shares plunged nearly 40% on Tuesday after a profit warning from the Snapchat parent signaled tough times ahead for the once-booming digital ad industry, sparking a sector-wide selloff.

The company was on course to erase more than $14 billion in market value, while Meta Platforms, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were altogether set to lose nearly $140 billion if losses hold.

Snap said on Monday it expected to miss quarterly revenue and profits targets that it set just a month earlier and would have to slow hiring and lower spending.

The bleak view from one of the sector’s most known players underlines how the Russia-Ukraine war, surging inflation and rising interest rates are hobbling social media companies at a time when they had just started recovering the impact of changes to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS operating system.

“Snap is a proxy for online advertising and when you see weakness there then you automatically think Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Pinterest and Google,” said Dennis Dick, a trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.

“Once you start thinking about Google, that’s when the markets starts to sell off.”

Tuesday’s selloff comes days after a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) fund managers survey indicated investors are becoming increasingly bearish on tech stocks, a stark reversal to a bullish trend in the past 14 years.

Analysts also said Snap’s outlook for core profit suggested expenses will outpace its revenue growth, given headcount was up 52% in the prior quarter. The company also faces pressure from TikTok and a shift in ad budgets to Google and Facebook, they added.

“There’s a lot to deal with in the macro environment today,” Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said at a tech conference on Monday.

Graphic: Digital advertising stocks this year – https://graphics.reuters.com/DIGITAL%20ADVERTISING-STOCKS/dwpkrnzogvm/Digital%20advertising%20stocks%20this%20year.png cb55bba9-860d-4771-9546-5eaef7b68cf01

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© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden attends an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) launch event at Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

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By Trevor Hunnicutt and Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, with Tokyo conveying “grave concerns” about what it saw as a provocative move timed to coincide with the Quad summit.

The issues of Taiwan and Russia loomed over the meeting in Tokyo of leaders of the Quad grouping of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, who stressed their determination to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the group was not aimed at any one country.

As the leaders met, Russian and Chinese warplanes conducted a joint patrol that lasted 13 hours in the region, in what Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi characterised as a likely provocation by both Beijing and Moscow.

The patrol took place after President Joe Biden angered China by saying a day earlier he would be willing to use force to defend the democratic island of Taiwan. On Tuesday, he said there was no change to a U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan.

“We believe the fact that this action was taken during the Quad summit makes it more provocative than in the past,” Kishi said of the Chinese and Russian exercises.

Japan scrambled jets and conveyed “grave concerns” to Russia and China through diplomatic channels, Kishi said at a news conference after Biden had departed Tokyo.

South Korea’s military also scrambled fighters, saying at least four Chinese and four Russian warplanes entered its air defence zone. The patrols, the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were part of an annual military exercise, China’s defence ministry said on its website. The two countries have conducted the exercises since 2019, but in the latter half of the year.

The leaders of the Quad grouping said in a joint statement issued after their talks that they “discussed their respective responses to the conflict in Ukraine and the ongoing tragic humanitarian crisis”.

QUAD CONCESSION TO INDIA?

In an apparent concession to India, which has long had close ties with Russia, the words “Russia” or “Russian” did not appear in the statement.

Following the Quad summit, Kishida said the leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, had shared their concerns about Ukraine and all four agreed on the importance of the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Biden’s comment on Taiwan, which was not even on the official agenda at the Quad meeting, was the focus of much of the attention of the delegations and media.

While Washington is required by law to provide self-ruled Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed the policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily to protect it in the event of a Chinese attack – a convention Biden appeared to break on Monday.

On Tuesday, Biden, asked if there had been any change to the U.S. policy on Taiwan, responded: “No.”

“The policy has not changed at all. I stated that when I made my statement yesterday,” he said after the talks with his Quad counterparts.

China considers Taiwan an inalienable part of its territory and says it is the most sensitive and important issue in its relationship with Washington.

Biden’s comment on Monday, when he volunteered U.S. military support for Taiwan, was the latest in a series of apparently off-the-cuff assertions that suggest his personal inclination is to defend the island.

Some critics have said he has mis-spoken on the issue, or made a gaffe, but other analysts have suggested that given Biden’s extensive foreign policy experience and the context in which he made the remarks, next to Kishida and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he had not spoken in error.

Other analysts and advisers said Biden would be carrying a clear message to China during his trip – don’t try what Russia did in Ukraine anywhere in Asia, especially not Taiwan.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that the one-China principle could not be shaken and that no force in the world, including the United States, could stop China from achieving “complete reunification”.

Biden left Tokyo shortly after sunset on his way back home.

‘GLOBAL ISSUE’

Speaking to reporters, Biden condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it had global ramifications.

“Russia’s assault of Ukraine only heightens the importance of those goals of fundamental principles of international order, territorial integrity and sovereignty. International law, human rights must always be defended regardless of where they’re violated in the world,” he said.

Kishida echoed Biden’s condemnation of Russia, saying its invasion “shakes the foundation of international order” and was a direct challenge to the principles of the United Nations.

“We should not allow similar things to happen in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Biden said the United States would stand with its “close democratic partners” to push for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The United States has been frustrated with what it regards as India’s lack of support for U.S.-led sanctions on Russia and condemnation of the invasion. India has also abstained in U.N. Security Council votes on Russia’s invasion.

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that “strong views” were expressed in the talks about Russia but did not give details.

Albanese told his fellow leaders he wanted them all to lead on climate change.

“The region is looking to us to work with them and to lead by example,” he said.

China has been extending its influence in the Pacific where island nations face some of the most direct risks from rising seas. Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi will in coming days visit the Solomon Islands, which recently signed a security pact with China despite U.S and Australian misgivings.

India says ‘substantive outcomes’ from Biden, Modi talks