Good morning. The Trump administration warned its blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil exports remains in place following its seizure of an alleged dark fleet vessel, saying it will determine the parameters of the country’s energy trade, Risk Journal’s Richard Vanderford reports.

The warning: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said the U.S. maintains an embargo on shadow fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil.

Escalation of pressure campaign: The U.S. on Wednesday also accelerated its campaign against a shadow fleet of tankers that ship Venezuelan oil, with the military forcibly boarding a ship being escorted by the Russian navy and seizing another tanker near the Caribbean Sea.

Sale of oil: The U.S. will sell blockaded Venezuelan oil “indefinitely,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday, a day after President Trump said Venezuela will give the U.S. between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil. 

Unwinding of sanctions? A senior administration official said the sale of oil outlined by Trump would begin immediately. The U.S. is selectively rolling back sanctions to enable the transport and sale of Venezuelan crude and oil products to global markets, according to the official.

Also:

• The ‘Growler’ Signal-Jamming Jet That Helped Capture Nicolás Maduro
• Push for New Canadian Oil Pipeline Gets Boost From U.S. Action in Venezuela

Regulator finds Bank of America shared confidential information ahead of block trade.

A yearlong investigation into Bank of America by India’s financial regulator found that the bank improperly shared material nonpublic information about a $180 million block trade of stock and then misled the authorities about it, people familiar with the matter said.

In November, the Securities and Exchange Board of India accused Bank of America of improperly sharing confidential information inside the bank about the sale of $180 million of shares in Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, an Indian asset-management firm, in 2024, the people said.

JPMorgan cuts all ties with proxy advisers in industry first.

JPMorgan Chase’s asset-management unit is cutting all ties with proxy-advisory firms effective immediately, amping up the pressure on an industry that recently has come into the Trump administration’s crosshairs.

The unit, among the world’s largest investment firms with more than $7 trillion in client assets, has to vote shares in thousands of companies. This coming proxy season, it will start using an internal artificial-intelligence-powered platform it is calling Proxy IQ to assist on U.S. company votes, according to a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal.

• A former TD Bank employee pleaded guilty to facilitating a money-laundering network that allegedly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars through the Canadian lender’s branches, Risk Journal reports. 
   
• An artificial-intelligence startup and Google have agreed to settle several lawsuits with families of teenagers who killed or harmed themselves after interacting with the startup’s chatbot, potentially resolving some of the most high-profile cases involving AI and mental health.
   
• President Trump said he will ban large investors from buying single-family homes, the administration’s first significant move to address the country’s severe housing shortage.
   
• President Trump is set to sign an executive order Wednesday that will punish defense companies that repurchase stocks, pay dividends and reward executives with high salaries if they have Pentagon contracts that are over budget or behind schedule.
   
• A former Saks stylist accused of stealing thousands of dollars in fraudulent returns is suing the luxury retailer, alleging that Saks retaliated against him for getting a job offer from a rival department-store chain.
   
• World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s flagship crypto venture, said that one of its entities has applied for a national banking license, joining the rush of crypto companies seeking broader access to mainstream finance.

Rubio has long dreamed of changing Latin America. Embracing MAGA opened the door.

Hours after U.S. special-operations forces captured the Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro, Marco Rubio issued a warning to the South American nation’s allies: “Don’t play games.”

The secretary of state is now saddled with perhaps the riskiest assignment of his career. He must keep the daring operation that deposed Maduro from turning into a calamitous nation-building mission that could threaten his political ambitions.

JOLTS report hints at cooling labor market.

Job openings and hiring declined in November, the Labor Department’s monthly job openings and labor turnover survey showed.

The economy had about 7.1 million open jobs in November, down from nearly 7.5 million in October, the JOLTS report showed Wednesday. The rate of job openings declined to 4.3%, from 4.5% a month earlier.

Meanwhile, private-sector hiring shifted back into gear in December, human-resources firm ADP estimated in its latest monthly report. Businesses added a net 41,000 new employees last month, after shedding 29,000 on net in November, according ADP’s running estimate.

• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to visit China next week, in the latest step to normalize ties with the world’s second-largest economy and reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S. for trade.
   
• The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone fell to the European Central Bank’s target in December, underpinning views that monetary policy will remain stable in the near future.
   
• China has begun choking off exports of rare earths and rare-earth magnets to Japan, a potential blow to Japanese companies that use them to produce components for global chip makers, car companies and defense firms.

The U.S. seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro marked an audacious move against an adversary that raises many questions about U.S. policy actions and global business risks.

Risk Journal's webinar draws from multiple teams at Dow Jones to provide a holistic analysis of the action and its implications. Click here to watch.

• Warner Bros. Discovery recommended its shareholders reject Paramount’s amended hostile bid for the company, saying its existing deal with Netflix is stronger.
   
• President Trump has said that the U.S. must take control of Greenland, but how could the Arctic island, which is part of Denmark, change hands? Elections, money and military force are all routes receiving attention. None is simple, and each faces obstacles.
   
• JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over the Apple credit-card program from Goldman Sachs, according to people familiar with the matter.
   
• The U.S. government is speeding up its tariff-refund process as importers await a landmark Supreme Court decision on the Trump administration’s levies.

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at max.fillion@dowjones.com, Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

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