Good morning. The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday moved to cut off the financial lifelines of an alleged Venezuelan criminal network, targeting a cluster of money-laundering operatives tied to the cartel known as Tren de Aragua, Risk Journal reports. 

• The action: The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on six individuals and one entity for allegedly providing material support to the cartel through proceeds from drug-fueled parties and other illicit activity. The so-called “entertainment-industry affiliates” of the group help mask and funnel illicit proceeds, using fronts ranging from music and nightlife to investments in entertainment ventures, the Treasury Department said.
   
• “Rosita”: OFAC accused Jimena Romina Araya Navarro, also known as Rosita, a Venezuelan entertainer, DJ and actress with a large social media following, of providing material support to TdA, helping cartel leadership launder money and aiding the prison escape of a high-ranking cartel figure in 2012. Araya didn’t immediately respond to an email and a message sent to an Instagram account for her seeking comment.
   
• The context: Wednesday’s sanctions come as the Trump administration looks to disrupt transnational criminal and terrorist financing and as President Trump imposes a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro—claiming the Venezuelan president is heavily involved in drug smuggling. The pressure campaign in recent months has brought global attention to Venezuela’s role in the drug trade. Maduro has denied the allegations.

Also: 

• ‘Welcome to America!’ Captured Drug Lords Choose: Snitch or Suffer

U.K. issues guidance for businesses on operating in Syria following sanctions relief.

The U.K. aims to provide businesses, banks and the aid sector with a clear understanding of regulations governing investment in Syria while promoting compliance with U.K. legislation and international obligations, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced Tuesday, Risk Journal reports. 

The United Kingdom issued guidance for businesses and NGOs seeking to operate in Syria following the lifting of most sanctions earlier this year. The guidance comes as the U.N., U.S. and European Union lifted most sanctions on Syria earlier this year following Assad’s fall from power.

Boeing ordered by FTC to divest Spirit assets ahead of merger.

Boeing is being asked to divest Spirit AeroSystems assets to resolve antitrust concerns around its proposed acquisition of the aircraft-parts maker.

The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday it is asking Boeing to divest Spirit businesses that supply products to Airbus, as well as Spirit’s Malaysian aerostructures business Subang.

• Risk Journal’s Max Fillion reports that a U.S. businessman was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $2 million for bribing Honduran government officials in exchange for contracts to manufacture equipment for the country’s national police force.
   
• The European Union reached a deal to permanently halt imports of Russian gas, a significant milestone in the bloc’s efforts to sever energy ties with Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.
   
• The European Union presented a plan to remove national barriers that stand in the way of a single market for financial services, which it sees as a key step to reviving the bloc’s faltering economy.
   
• President Trump said he is pardoning Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were charged last year with allegedly taking nearly $600,000 in foreign bribes.
   
• President Trump on Wednesday pardoned a former chief executive of arena operator Oak View Group, months after the Justice Department charged the man with conspiring with a rival to rig the process for constructing a new arena in Texas.

Europe scales back plan to make massive loans to Ukraine.

The European Union has scaled back a plan to use Russia’s frozen assets to make a massive loan to Ukraine, seeking to address Belgian concerns and leaving a window open for Washington’s push to employ the money to lure Russia into a peace deal.

The EU is now proposing to lend Ukraine about $105 billion over the next two years—down from a previous plan to loan as much as $186 billion. The reduction would leave reserves that the Trump administration has proposed using as part of a potential peace plan.

Private hiring sank in November, ADP says.

Hiring by American businesses dropped last month, according to an estimate from payroll processor ADP, a further setback for a labor market that has slowed this year.

Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November, ADP estimated, a swing from the 47,000 private-sector jobs that ADP estimated were added in October. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see 40,000 new private-sector jobs.

• U.S. Services-Sector Activity Rises Again

• The European Union presented a $3.5 billion plan to secure critical raw materials as tensions over China’s control over rare earths leave industry in the bloc vulnerable to supply shortages.
   
• The Pentagon is deploying to the Middle East a new kamikaze drone copied from a widely used Iranian version, turning to a crude but effective weapon.

• The New York Times and its intelligence reporter Julian E. Barnes have sued the Trump administration, saying the Defense Department’s new press rules violate their free speech and due-process rights.
   
• HSBC named Brendan Nelson as chairman following a yearlong search to fill one of the biggest jobs in the global finance industry.
   
• Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has named co-founder Yi He as its co-chief executive.
   
• Amazon.com is facing a new labor challenge, this time from small-business owners who run the company’s package-delivery network.
   
• President Trump on Wednesday said he plans to roll back federal fuel-economy rules for passenger vehicles, his latest move to relieve the U.S. auto industry from mandates to build cleaner, more-fuel efficient cars.
   
• A Pentagon watchdog has found Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated some of the department’s regulations when he shared sensitive information from his cellphone on Signal earlier this year, according to Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz).

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