With more kids working and getting hurt on the job, Quebec to review labour laws


MONTREAL — Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet says the government will review the laws governing working conditions for children because of a reported increase in child labour across the province — and in the number of kids getting hurt on the job.



Boulet says he mandated a committee to look into reports that an increasing number of children aged 11 to 14 were joining the workforce as a result of persistent labour shortages. The committee, composed of major union and employers groups, recommended the government investigate.

In an interview on Tuesday, Boulet said he would conduct an "in-depth reflection on child labour," but he said the government should remain open to letting kids work under certain circumstances. He said, however, that child labour should be viewed as something "atypical."

"I asked my team to make an inventory of all regulations … concerning child labour," Boulet said. "After, I will compare it with legislation in other provinces. We are going to analyze the impact, and then we are going to determine the necessity, or not, to improve our laws."

Unlike other provinces, Quebec has no minimum working age. In British Columbia, for instance, the minimum working age was raised in 2021 to 16 from 12, with some exceptions.


Boulet, however, said Quebec's lack of a minimum working age doesn't mean the province encourages children to toil in unsafe conditions. He said the province has a series of "scattered" laws that govern the work kids can perform.


"There's a regulation … that makes sure you need to be at least 16 years old to drive a forklift, at least 18 years old to do (sandblasting) work … to go underground, it's at least 18," Boulet said. "Child labour is well regulated in Quebec. Everything that is dangerous, that is risky is prohibited."

And yet a rising number of children are getting hurt on the job. The province's workplace safety board said that in 2021, 203 children under 16 years old suffered a work-related injury — a jump of 36 per cent from 2020, when there were 149 injuries. In 2019, 154 kids under 16 were hurt on job, while in 2018, there were 85 injuries reported in that age group.

Safety board spokesperson Antoine Leclerc-Loiselle says "various factors" are leading to the rise in young people getting hurt at work.

"The weeks following hiring are those when workers of all ages are most at risk of injury," he said in a statement Wednesday. "Young people, finding themselves more often in a 'new employee' position, are therefore more vulnerable."

Boulet urged anyone who witnesses a child being poorly treated at work to file a complaint with the safety board. "We will make sure they pay fines," Boulet said about employers who violate the law.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2022.

Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press

Julian Assange's extradition to US approved by UK government

Tara John - CNN-TODAY

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed an order to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, where he faces espionage charges, in a decision Wikileaks said marked a “dark day for press freedom.”

A London court issued a formal extradition order back in April, leaving Patel to rubber-stamp his transfer to the US after a years-long legal battle.

The decision will likely see months more of legal wrangling: Assange has the right to appeal Friday’s decision within 14 days, according to a Home Office statement announcing the order.

Wikileaks said Assange’s extradition will be appealed, stressing that the “next appeal will be before the High Court,” according to a Friday statement.

The organization asserted that Assange “committed no crime and is not a criminal,” adding that he is a “journalist and a publisher” who “is being punished for doing his job.”

“This is a dark day for Press freedom and British democracy. Anyone who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed,” Wikileaks added.

In Friday’s statement, the Home Office stressed that the UK courts have not found that extradition of Assange would be incompatible with his human rights.

“The UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange. Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health,” it said.

Assange is currently in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in London, where he has been held since being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London three years ago.

He is wanted in the US on 18 criminal charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified files and diplomatic cables in 2010. If convicted, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison.

His extradition has been the subject of numerous court dates since his arrest, which took place after Assange sought diplomatic refuge in the embassy for seven years. In January 2021, a magistrates’ court ruling found that Assange could not be extradited as it would be “oppressive,” by reason of his mental health.

But the High Court overturned that decision in December, saying Assange could be extradited on the basis of assurances given by the US government about his treatment there.

Rights groups have expressed concerns over the US’s indictment of Assange, saying it undermines freedom of the press.

“Allowing Julian Assange to be extradited to the US would put him at great risk and sends a chilling message to journalists the world over,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general, said in a statement Friday.

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy contributed to this report.

Support for refugees rises, survey finds, amid Ukraine war exodus



WARSAW (Reuters) - The world has become more compassionate towards refugees, according to a survey by pollster Ipsos published on Friday, a finding it said suggested the war in Ukraine had increased public openness to people fleeing war or oppression.


© Reuters/JAKUB STEZYCKIFILE PHOTO: Ukrainian refugees granted free accommodation at a hotel in Bratkowice

Some 78% of people in 28 countries believe those escaping conflict or persecution should be able to take refuge in another country, up from 70% in a 2021 survey.


© Reuters/SPASIYANA SERGIEVAFILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian refugee looks out of a bus in Sunny Beach

Fewer people also believe borders should be entirely closed to refugees, with 36% agreeing in Friday's poll, against 50% a year earlier, in part reflecting decreasing concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.


© Reuters/GWLADYS FOUCHEFILE PHOTO: Ukrainian refugee Katerina Bezruk and her daughter Arena pose for a picture in the Norwegian Arctic town of Kirkenes,

The Ipsos survey of attitudes towards refugees polled 20,505 people from 28 countries, including Australia, Argentina, China, France, Great Britain, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

"Attitudes have become more favourable since last year in most of the countries surveyed, suggesting that the Ukraine crisis has increased public openness to refugees and reversed some of the concerns generated by the pandemic," IPSOS said.

The Ukraine conflict has forced over 6.5 million people to flee to neighbouring countries.

A report by the U.N. body showed on Thursday that some 89.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, abuse and violence at the end of 2021.


© Reuters/STRINGERFILE PHOTO: Refugees from southeastern Ukraine, who are preparing to travel to the Palanca checkpoint to cross into Moldova en route to Germany, gather in Odesa

Since then, millions more have fled Ukraine or been displaced within its borders, with price hikes linked to blocked grain exports set to stoke more displacement elsewhere.

(Editing by William Maclean)

Ontario health-care workers sound alarm over ‘absolutely horrific’ hospital demand

Colin D'Mello - Yesterday 

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A health-care worker walks past a thank you sign in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

Health-care workers are sounding the alarm over "exploding" emergency rooms in Ontario, as hospitals face increasing pressure from patient volumes and the province suffers from a shortage of nurses as a result of the pandemic.

A combination of factors has left patients sitting in emergency rooms for longer periods of time before being treated, according to data collected by Health Quality Ontario, a provincial agency.

Read more:

Brampton Civic Hospital in ‘code gridlock’ for more than 2 weeks

In April, a patient had to wait nearly two hours before an initial assessment with a doctor in an emergency room, compared with an hour and 18 minutes in 2021. That same month, patients spent an average of 20 hours in an emergency room before being admitted to hospital compared to a 14-hour wait this time last year.

"It's absolutely horrific. There are not other words to describe it," said Angela Preocanin of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA).

"We have hospitals in the GTA that are running at 60 per cent staff and a 300 to 400 per cent capacity."

The ONA contends there are several reasons behind the crunch in provincial emergency rooms, including capacity issues that existed before the pandemic, a steady admission of COVID-19 patients, and a shortage of nurses and family physicians who continue to work virtually and refer patients to hospitals instead.


Ontario nurses meet with Ford and Elliott to discuss shortage

Dr. Kashif Pirzada, a Toronto emergency room physician, told Global News patients have walked into the ER looking for specialist referrals and other non-urgent reasons that add to the crunch.


"You have people who have issues that are urgent to them. They're not exactly emergencies but they're just falling through the cracks," Pirzada said. "Someone who has a joint issue, they can't see anyone about it. ... They come to us for help."

The resulting backlog, the ONA said, contributes to the kind of hallway health care that plagued the hospital system before the pandemic — patients being treated in non-traditional areas of hospitals, such as storage rooms and auditoriums, while paramedics face difficulties offloading people in need of urgent care.

"Patients can't be transferred into beds because there are no beds on the floors, so on the units they open up patient lounges, and they start caring for patients in the lounges," Preocanin said.


"The emergency rooms are exploding. It's absolutely horrible."

France Gelinas, who served as the NDP's health critic before the election, said the long wait times add to a patient's pain and discomfort and create other challenges in emergency rooms.

"We're human beings. We need to sleep, we need to eat, we need to go to the bathroom," Gelinas told Global News.

"None of this is easy in the emergency department. It's not made for that."

Of particular concern, the ONA said, is the ever-growing ratio of nurses to patients. The association said in some cases a single nurse could be caring for up to 30 patients concurrently, up from a typical 1:5 nurse-to-patient ratio.

"There is no place in health care for one nurse to be with 30 patients," Gelinas said. "You will never be able to provide quality care with ratios like this."

While the Ford government announced a number of measures designed to retain and beef up the nursing staff in the province, create new hospital beds and build or upgrade hospitals, front-line heath-care workers are calling on the province to create an immediate strategy to tackle the current situation.

Read more:
Province pledges $17M for London hospitals for increased costs, lost revenue during pandemic

It used to be that flu season would come once a year, in January and February, and we would be strained with hallway medicine," Pirzada said. "Now COVID season comes every three to four times a year."

Pirzada said that the current system isn't designed to handle a constant strain and warned that it will lead to more burnout among health care providers, leading to calls for proper planning for an expected surge in the fall.

"The real test will be in the fall when people go back indoors, when we see another COVID season again, another flu season again," Pirzada said.

"I'm really afraid to see what will happen then."

Ontario Medical Association Ask Ontario’s Doctors: Fixing Wait Times Ontario’s doctors are proposing an innovative new model of care that would reduce wait times by shifting many non-emergency, less complex surgeries to outpatient centres. The Ontario Medical Association released a comprehensive report today recommending creation of publicly funded Integrated Ambulatory Centres. These free-standing centres would work with local hospitals to provide OHIP-insured medical services, including surgeries and procedures, on an outpatient basis. Panellists: Dr. Adam Kassam, a Toronto physiatrist and president of the OMA. Dr. Jim Wright, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon leading health system transformation at the OMA as chief of the Ontario Medical Association’s Economic, Policy and Research division. Dr. Mary-Anne Aarts, chief of the Department of Surgery and co-medical director of the Perioperative Program at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, part of the Unity Health Toronto hospital network. Her clinical practice is in minimally invasive general surgery and bariatric surgery.

Link to the full report: https://www.oma.org/uploadedfiles/oma...

DOING WHAT TURKEY WON'T
US military ground raid in Syria captures top ISIS leader

A U.S. defense official said there were no injuries to U.S. military personnel and no damage to aircraft involved in the raid.

"Coalition forces detained a senior Daesh leader during an operation in Syria June 16," Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement. "The detained individual was assessed to be an experienced bomb maker and facilitator who became one of the group's top leaders in Syria."

A U.S. official told ABC News the name of the ISIS leader captured in the raid is Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi and described him as actively planning ISIS operations.

“Though degraded, ISIS remains a threat. We remain dedicated to its defeat. Last night’s operation, which took a senior ISIS operator off the battlefield, demonstrates our commitment to the security of the Middle East and to the enduring defeat of ISIS,” said Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, in a statement provided to ABC News.


© Universal Images Group via Getty Images, FILEUS military ground raid in Syria captures top ISIS leader

U.S. military ground raids into northwestern Syria are risky because they are carried out far west from U.S. bases in eastern Syria in areas that are controlled either by extremists or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"The mission was meticulously planned to minimize the risk of collateral damage, particularly any potential harm to civilians," OIR said. "There were no civilians harmed during the operation nor any damage to Coalition aircraft or assets."

MORE: Kansas woman pleads guilty to leading ISIS battalion

U.S. military ground operations in northwestern Syria have targeted top ISIS leaders, most notably Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who killed himself during an October 2019 raid near the border with Turkey that was carried out by the elite Delta Force.

His successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, detonated himself with an explosion during a similar raid in February this year.

MORE: Biden details US raid in Syria that left ISIS leader dead

"Coalition forces will continue to work with our partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Peshmerga, to hunt the remnants of Daesh wherever they hide to ensure Daesh's enduring defeat.," Operation Inherent Resolve added. Daesh is another name used to describe ISIS.

The terror group was militarily defeated in Syria in 2019 and since then, its leaders have gone into hiding to prevent being targeted by U.S. forces.

However, ISIS fighters maintain a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria, and the group continues to inspire followers in the West to commit violent attacks.

In January, ISIS mounted its largest operation since its military defeat, as hundreds of ISIS fighters attempted to free thousands of terrorist fighters detained at a prison in Hasakah in northeast Syria.

After 10 days of heavy fighting, U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, helped by U.S. airstrikes, were able to retake the prison, though it is believed that several hundred ISIS prisoners were able to flee.

Kurdish forces claimed that 374 ISIS fighters had been killed during the attempted prison break.

BREAKING NEWS
SpaceX fires at least five for letter criticizing Musk-sources

By Joey Roulette and Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) - At least five employees were fired by private rocket company SpaceX after drafting and circulating an open letter criticizing founder Elon Musk and calling on executives at the start-up to make the company’s work culture more inclusive, according to two people familiar with the matter.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that SpaceX had fired employees associated with the letter, citing three employees with knowledge of the situation.

It had not detailed the number of employees who had been terminated.

SpaceX employees call Elon Musk a 'distraction' in open letter to executives

Employees at SpaceX sent an open letter to the company’s executives which was published Thursday, taking issue with CEO Elon Musk’s recent behavior which it refers to as a 'distraction.' 

June 16 (UPI) -- Employees at SpaceX sent an open letter to the company's executives, published Thursday, which takes issue with CEO Elon Musk's recent behavior, calling it a "distraction."

The letter was published in its entirety by The Verge and the New York Times, and criticizes Musk as well as the culture at the space exploration company.

"In light of recent allegations against our CEO and his public disparagement of the situation, we would like to deliver feedback on how these events affect our company's reputation, and through it, our mission," reads the letter, addressed to "Executives of SpaceX."

"Elon's behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks. As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX-every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values."

The letter also references Musk's sexual harassment accusations that became public in May.

Musk has denied claims he groped and exposed himself to a SpaceX employee six years ago. It was reported the company settled the accusation after paying the ex-flight attendant $250,000.

"SpaceX's current systems and culture do not live up to its stated values, as many employees continue to experience unequal enforcement of our oft-repeated 'No A-----' and 'Zero Tolerance' policies. This must change," the letter reads.

"SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon's personal brand."

It goes on to add other "action items," urging the company to act on them.

Those items include holding "all leadership equally accountable to making SpaceX a great place to work for everyone," and making sure to "define and uniformly respond to all forms of unacceptable behavior."

Thursday's letter was published shortly before Musk took questions from Twitter employees as he continues his quest to buy the social media platform and take it private.

Musk was asked about his previous comments saying he would bring free speech back to Twitter.

"There's freedom of speech or freedom of reach," Musk told Twitter employees.

"And freedom of speech is one thing, because, like, anyone could just go into the middle of Times Square right now and say anything they want, they could just walk into the middle of Times Square and deny the Holocaust, okay? You can't stop them, they will just do that. But that doesn't mean you have to -- that it needs to be promoted to millions of people."

Satellite images reveal huge explosion and destruction at Chinese rocket test site

Joshua Hawkins - Yesterday -BGR

China Space launch system

New satellite images shared on social media show evidence of a massive explosion at a Chinese rocket launch site. The Chinese rocket explosion took place sometime between October and November at China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the images show.

Satellite images suggest a Chinese rocket explosion took place in October 2021

The images show what appears to be a rocket test site. The site itself is located a good distance from the actual launch pad. Around 16km away from it, to be exact. The site was most likely used as an assembly and test facility before the rockets were moved to the launch pad. So far there have been no reports from state media about the Chinese rocket explosion.

Space enthusiast Harry Stranger shared the images on Twitter in early June. Stranger noticed the aftermath of the explosion in commercial satellite images captured by Airbus and CNES. According to SpaceNews, the Chinese state media has yet to make any reports on the explosion.

The good news is that the Chinese rocket explosion doesn’t appear to have involved any kind of crewed launch. SpaceNews notes that the site where the explosion took place may have been used for testing solid rocket motors. Upon further investigation SpaceNews also reports that the explosion took place between 0316 UTC on October 15 and 0407 UTC on October 16, 2021.

Digging deeper


Chinese rocket explosion did not take place at the actual launch pad

Based on the fact that no reports have been made by state media, it’s likely the Chinese rocket explosion had nothing to do with any high-profile launches. CASIC, a state-owned defense contractor has been developing new solid rockets for orbital launches. Thus far, those launches have ended in failure. China may have used the site to test those rocket motors.

Ultimately, though, this doesn’t seem to have affected China’s ongoing space missions. Missions like the possible development of an asteroid monitoring and defense system. With so many dangerous entities floating through the cosmos, it’s a noble effort many countries are striving towards.

The Chinese rocket explosion is still an intriguing mystery. If it was related to China’s ongoing solid rocket efforts, then it could set those efforts behind even more than they already are. Or it could be completely unrelated. Unfortunately, until we know more about the site itself, discovering what exactly exploded in October of 2021 is going to be difficult.

What we do know is that China already began cleaning up the facility, as seen in other images shared by Harry Stranger on Twitter.

WHO'S WHO
Yahoo appoints six new board members, including Jessica Alba

Amanda Silberling
Mon, June 13, 2022


Yahoo announced six new members of its board of directors today, about a year after the internet brand was acquired by private equity firm Apollo for $5 billion [Disclosure: TechCrunch is part of Yahoo].

The new appointees include Jessica Alba, actress and founder of The Honest Company; Aryeh Bourkoff, founder and CEO of the independent global investment firm LionTree, an investor in Yahoo; Fouad ElNaggar, co-founder and CEO of Array and Sapho (acquired by Citrix); Michael Kives, founder and CEO of K5 Global, an incubator with investments in SpaceX, Coinbase, FTX and others; Cynthia Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks and 36-year veteran of AT&T; and Katie Stanton, founder and general partner at Moxxie Ventures.

#ANGELS founding partner raises $25M for debut fund Moxxie Ventures

The six tech veterans bring varied experience in industries including digital media, private equity, entertainment and more. They join representatives from Apollo and Verizon, as well as Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, who joined the company last year after serving as CEO of Tinder.

Six appointees at once is a big change, but the company is already in a period of transition under its new ownership and leadership.

"As we enter into a new era of Yahoo, establishing a powerful board of directors with strategic knowledge of diverse industries will drive greater growth, innovation, and scale,” Lanzone said in a statement. "The intersection of media, tech, product, and content is more relevant than ever and this board represents the best minds in those categories."

Lanzone told The New York Times that he envisions the company's media properties as individual products -- TechCrunch is TechCrunch, Yahoo Sports is Yahoo Sports. He added that he has gotten multiple offers to buy the assets formerly belonging to AOL that are housed under Yahoo, though this isn't in Yahoo's immediate plans. In the future, Lanzone said that he's looking for potential acquisitions, but we probably won't see that happen for at least another year.

"As a newly standalone company, Yahoo’s business has experienced incredible momentum, reflected in our financial performance, user engagement figures, and perhaps most importantly, the quality of talent that has joined the company over the last several months," said Yahoo Chairman Reed Rayman.

Jim Lanzone breaks up with Tinder, swipes right to take the CEO job at Yahoo, Renate Nyborg takes Tinder CEO role

Jessica Alba on the past, present and future of The Honest Company

Remains of Ancient Bear-Dog Predator Uncovered in France

Joseph Golder, Zenger News - Yesterday 

An international team of scientists has identified a new species of ancient predator that was part bear and part dog and roamed Europe millions of years ago.

The new genus has been named "Tartarocyon," a nod to a large, powerful, one-eyed giant from Basque mythology.

The international team of experts, led by Bastien Mennecart from the Natural History Museum Basel in Switzerland made the discovery after studying a fossilized jaw that they determined belonged to a new type of "bear dog."

The species of large carnivorous animal is believed to have weighed as much as 705 pounds, appearing in Europe 36 million years ago before going extinct about 7.5 million years ago.

The paleontologists explained in a statement that "the jawbone comes from 12.8 to 12 million-year-old marine deposits that were examined in the small community of Sallespisse in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department of southwestern France."

They explained that the fossilized bone was particularly striking due to its teeth. They said: "Unlike the familiar amphicyonidae specimens, this animal has a unique fourth lower premolar. This tooth is particularly important for determining species and genera.

"Correspondingly, the lower jaw examined probably represents a new genus. It is called Tartarocyon. This name comes from Tartaro, a large, powerful, one-eyed giant from Basque mythology.



© Denny Navarra/ZengerThe new genus has been named "Tartarocyon," a nod to a large, powerful, one-eyed giant from Basque mythology. Denny Navarra/Zenger

"The legend of Tartaro is also known in Bearn, the region where the lower jaw was found.

"Floreal Sole, a globally renowned specialist in carnivorous mammals, Jean-Francois Lesport, and Antoine Heitz from the Natural History Museum Basel chose the name of the new genus."

The fossilized jaw belongs to a group of predators that resembled "a cross between a bear and a large dog, known as 'bear dogs.'"


The jawbone used in the study comes from 12.8 to 12 million-year-old marine deposits that were examined in the small community of Sallesisse, France. 

Denny Navarra/Zenger

The scientific name for these animals is Amphicyonidae. The scientists said in their statement: "They belong to a group of carnivores such as dogs, cats, bears, seals and badgers.

"These predators were a widespread part of the European fauna of the Miocene (23 to 5.3 million years ago). They were very species-rich and diverse, weighing between 20 to 705 pounds. Taratarocyon is estimated at 440 pounds. The last European Amphicyonidae disappeared during the late Miocene 7.5 million years ago."

The study was published in the academic journal PeerJ on Wednesday under the title "A new gigantic carnivore (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) from the late middle Miocene of France." It was authored by Floreal Sole, Jean-Francois Lesport, Antoine Heitz, and Bastien Mennecart.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Charles Schwab subsidiaries to pay $187 million to settle U.S. SEC charges

Mon, June 13, 2022, 
By Katanga Johnson

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - Charles Schwab Corp will pay $187 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges accusing three investment adviser subsidiaries of failing to disclose less profitable fund allocations and misleading robo-adviser clients, the agency said on Monday.

The SEC, the federal agency that regulates Wall Street, called Schwab's conduct egregious. The SEC has stepped up scrutiny of brokerages' use of robo-advisers and misleading disclosures to investors about returns.

"In entering the settlement, Schwab neither admits nor denies the allegations in the SEC's order. We believe resolving the matter in this way is in the best interests of our clients, company and stockholders as it allows us to remain focused on helping our clients invest for the future," a Schwab spokesperson said in a statement.

From March 2015 through November 2018, Schwab touted that its robo-adviser would seek "optimal returns" to investors, whereas in reality the brokerage's own data showed that under most market conditions the cash in the portfolios would cause clients to make less money even while taking on the same amount of risk, the SEC found.

The Texas-based company advertised the robo-adviser as having neither advisory nor hidden fees, but did not tell clients about this cash drag on their investment. In turn, Schwab made money from the cash allocations in the robo-adviser portfolios by sweeping the cash to its affiliate bank, loaning it out and then keeping the difference between the interest it earned on the loans and what it paid in interest to the robo-adviser clients, the SEC said.

"Schwab claimed that the amount of cash in its robo-adviser portfolios was decided by sophisticated economic algorithms meant to optimize its clients' returns when in reality it was decided by how much money the company wanted to make," SEC enforcement chief Gurbir Grewal said.

"Schwab's conduct was egregious and today's action sends a clear message to advisers that they need to be transparent with clients about hidden fees and how such fees affect clients' returns," Grewal added.

The SEC has also issued a range of rule proposals meant to boost investor disclosures, including one on digital engagement practices. 

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Will Dunham and Nick Zieminski)