Tag: All Regions

Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG are among the banks under scrutiny in a US Justice Department probe into whether financial professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Swiss banks were included in a recent wave of subpoenas sent out by the US government, the people said. The information requests were sent before the crisis that engulfed Credit Suisse and resulted in UBS’s proposed takeover of its rival.

Subpoenas also went to employees of some major US banks, two people with knowledge of the inquiries, said.

The Justice Department inquiries are focused on identifying which bank employees dealt with sanctioned clients and how those clients were vetted over the past several years.

The crisis at Credit Suisse has traders wondering who’s next. Japanese lenders, with their staid depositor bases, look like unlikely targets for bank runs. Yet their collective overseas bond portfolio is in focus. 

For years the country’s ultra-low interest rates encouraged deposit-taking institutions, lenders and other investors to borrow yen and buy higher-yielding but relatively safe assets. This helped Japan overtake China as the top foreign owner of U.S. Treasuries in 2019; they owned an estimated $2 trillion of foreign bonds as of last year. On paper the sequence of rate hikes in Western economies make such positions even more profitable.

Yet the rising cost of short-term dollar and euro credit, combined with extreme yen volatility, have made hedging much more expensive. The inversion of the American yield curve makes it unprofitable to borrow short-term dollars and buy long-term Treasuries. Japan Inc was reducing positions well before Silicon Valley Bank imploded.

Frankfurt (dpa) – A US court has ordered German stock operator Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream subsidiary to turn over about $1.7 billion in assets held by Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi.

The court decision comes as part of a long-running US legal case in which victims of a terrorist attack 40 years ago have sought compensation from Iran. Clearstream said it is considering an appeal of the decision.

The assets are held in a customer account in Luxembourg by Clearstream, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German stock exchange operator. The company announced on Wednesday evening in Frankfurt that those suing Iran were granted a right to the assets attributed to the Iranian central bank held in a customer account at Clearstream.

Iranian-held assets at Clearstream, which manages securities on behalf of customers and handles purchases and sales, have been frozen on suspicion of terrorist financing and locked in several legal disputes for a number of years.

According to Deutsche Börse, that case remains pending but Clearstream maintains it is without merit.

PM Anwar says the loan option allows quick financing without members dipping into their pensions but analysts say loan applicants already face high default risk
Anwar has been under pressure for a fresh round of withdrawals from the pension fund, after his predecessors allowed four rounds of withdrawals in 2020-2022

Malaysia’s government needs to carefully weigh the risks of allowing members of a national private pension fund to use their savings as “support” to secure personal loans, experts have said, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim pushes ahead with the plan to help households in financial distress from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anwar this week defended the move, saying that it was one of several measures that the government is considering to help households get back on their feet without allowing further withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), as had been done during the pandemic years.

Congress on Wednesday took the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy effort to overhaul U.S. export control laws in order to expedite technology cooperation needed to implement a central pillar of the AUKUS trilateral agreement with Australia and the U.K.

The House passed a bill 393-4 directing the State Department and Pentagon to submit information on defense export licenses necessary to collaborate with the U.S. allies on hypersonic weapons, quantum technologies and quantum technologies. These technologies form what is known as pillar two of the AUKUS agreement, which all three countries view as critical to filling capability gaps before Australia receives U.S. and U.K. nuclear-powered submarines over the next two decades under pillar one.

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Armed Services seapower subcommittee, told Defense News that he pushed throughout the past year to “get a circuit-breaker type of mechanism” that would expedite technology sharing arrangements with Australia and the U.K. to alleviate private sector concerns about potential violations of the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations regime, or ITAR.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday directed a lawyer for Donald Trump to turn over to prosecutors documents in the investigation into the former president’s retention of classified…

Russia said on Wednesday that a division of its Bastion coastal defense missile systems had been deployed to Paramushir, one of the Kuril islands in the north Pacific, some of which Japan claims as its territory.

The move is part of a wider strengthening of Russian defenses in its vast far eastern regions, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, partly in response to what he called U.S. efforts to “contain” Russia and China.

Shoigu was speaking to Russia’s top army brass a day after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping cemented their “no limits” partnership at talks in the Kremlin with agreements on deeper energy and military cooperation.

“To contain Russia and China, the United States is significantly increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, strengthening its political and military links with its allies, continuing to create a new American security architecture in this region,” Shoigu said in a video of his address published by Russia’s defense ministry.

Shoigu said the Bastion system would bolster Russian security around the Kuril island chain.

As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again, credit card debt is already at a record high, and more people are carrying debt month to month.

The Fed’s interest rate increases are meant to fight inflation, but they’ve also led to higher annual percentage rates (APRs) for people with credit card debt, which means they pay more in interest. The Fed announced Wednesday that it would increase rates another quarter of a point.

With inflation still high, people are leaning on their credit cards more for everyday purchases.

“It’s the economy, inflation, gas prices, and food costs,” said Lance DeJesus, 46, kitchen manager at the Golden Corral in York, Pennsylvania. “A year ago, you could go to the grocery store with a hundred bucks and come out with a bunch of bags. Now, I come out with just one bag.”

Last week, Nasdaq said that it would delist shares of the corporate majors unless they appeal to a Listing Qualifications Hearings Panel. It added that the securities will remain halted and unavailable to trade until any appeal is resolved. A similar decision was announced last week by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in relation to CIAN, a Russian tech firm that runs a classifieds portal. The company said it would appeal the ruling by submitting a written request to the NYSE’s Committee of the Board of Directors.  Delistings can be suspended if an appeal is filed before a written decision is made by the commission. According to the rules of the exchange, the hearing must be held within 45 days of receiving the request by the company. Trading in the securities of a number of companies operating in Russia was halted on February 28, 2022, after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine. The suspension triggered default clauses on the exchange bonds issued by Yandex and Ozon.

Yandex first went public on the Nasdaq in 2011, via a parent holding company registered in the Netherlands. This was followed by a secondary listing on the Moscow Exchange three years later. The company’s shares hit a record high in November 2021, when its market cap amounted to $31 billion. Ozon raised around $1 billion in its initial public offering in late 2020, a debut that sparked an IPO boom for the Russian corporate sector. 

China lambasted the latest steps taken by the UK and US to supply conventionally-armed but nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, in a diplomatic broadside circulated overnight among international atomic envoys.

Beijing’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Li Song, said the Aukus agreement will undercut global efforts to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear fuel and open new proliferation pathways for other countries. Iran and South Korea are among nations that have also explored obtaining nuclear-powered submarines, and Brazil has already committed to building a fleet.

“If the Aukus partners insist on taking their own course, it is inevitable that some other countries will follow suit, which may eventually lead to the collapse of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime,” China wrote in the statement circulated in Vienna late Tuesday.

China published its criticism during President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to Moscow.

The Chinese government pushed back Wednesday against U.S. officials’ criticisms of President Xi Jinping meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was pressed by a reporter for response to remarks made by U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby previously admonished China’s claim to desire peace in the region, stating that China was simply parroting Russian talking points.

“I have noted the remarks by Mr. Kirby you just quoted,” Wang told the reporter Wednesday. “He also claimed that China’s position on the Ukraine issue cannot be seen as impartial. We would like to point out that China is neither the one that created the Ukraine crisis nor a party to the crisis; still less has China provided weaponry to any party to the conflict.”

“We have no selfish agenda on the Ukraine issue. We did not stand by, nor did we add fuel to the fire, or exploit the situation for selfish gain. All that we have done boils down to supporting talks for peace,” Wang continued.

The United States has offered Slovakia 12 new military helicopters as compensation for the MiG-29 fighter jets the European country is giving to Ukraine, Slovakia’s defense minister said Wednesday.

Under the offer, Slovakia would pay $340 million for the Bell AH-1Z attack choppers in a deal worth about $1 billion that also includes 500 AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles and training, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said.

U.S. foreign military financing would cover the other $660 million, he said. The European Union also would send Slovakia 200 million euros ($213 million) in additional compensation, Nad said.

The Slovak government still needs to accept the offer.

“Should Putin appear on German territory, he will definitely be arrested,” Feldhusen said. She recalled that Germany is a signatory to the Rome Statute along with over 120 countries.

“It will be very difficult for Putin to go on official trips to those countries,” she added. According to the diplomat, Germany believes that the warrant was issued in a timely manner.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s ombudsman, Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging their involvement in the unlawful removal of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation since Feb. 24, 2022.

The Kremlin dictator’s arrest is authorized in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, said.

According to the Office of the President of Ukraine, the court’s ruling implies that there will be no negotiations with the present Russian leadership and no lifting of sanctions.

Last week, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen announced that his government could corroborate a report by the Russian gas giant Gazprom, the operator of the undersea pipeline, about a strange object found near Nord Stream 2. The company sent pictures of the item to Danish authorities, while the Russian government made a formal inquiry through its embassy, the minister said. Copenhagen treats the discovery seriously and will investigate further, Rasmussen pledged at the time.

The object was mentioned last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a TV interview. He said it was found during a Gazprom survey about 30 kilometers away from where the pipeline was breached. The device may be an antenna used in remotely detonating a charge, the president suggested, citing experts.

Moscow asked for permission to explore further, Putin added, necessary because the object is located in Denmark’s exclusive zone. Russia could organize a mission “on its own, jointly with [the Danes], or, better yet, with an international group of experts in explosives who are trained to work at such depth.” Rasmussen said such permission would not be granted, triggering a rebuke from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The cost-of-living squeeze has shown signs of easing for the first time in the past financial year – this as the start of the new school year sparked a spending boom. This was according to Bankwest’s Spend Trends report for February, which tracked WA customer credit and debit activity. Bankwest’s monthly Spend Trends analysis showed a 3% rise in the…

The railroad at the heart of the hazardous train crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border offered vague answers Monday about who agreed to burn the derailed cars carrying vinyl chloride.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw told the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee that a unified command team – led by a local fire chief in East Palestine, Ohio and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine – OK’d the “controlled release” plan on Feb. 6 to prevent a dangerous explosion that would have spread contaminants and deadly shrapnel across the region.

Majority Chairman Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, questioned the use of “controlled” to describe the railroad’s decision to set the train cars on fire and watch plumes of smoke drift for miles over homes and farmland.

“You’re blaming it on a chief in East Palestine, correct?” he said. “So your cars are on fire, it’s your rail, it’s your incident and you’re going to leave it to a local fire chief who’s likley never had to deal with this before?”