DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Cheating death: The latest research on aging and immortality from a Nobel Prize-winning scientist
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Jessica Dulong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Ramakrishnan shares his perspectives on the realities of aging, death and immortality. Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan offers his perspective on aging, death and immortality. But biologists don’t believe that aging and death are programmed in the sense that a fertilized egg is programmed to develop into a human being. Larger animals tend to live longer. CNN: What are the societal costs of the quest to cheat aging and death, particularly inequities?

Persons: Harper Collins, Nobel, Venki Ramakrishnan, Venki, they’ve, Jeanne Calment, Dolly, I’m, it’s, Don’t, Steven Johnson, we’re, we’d, It’s, Jessica DuLong, ” Organizations: CNN, Aging Locations: French, Brooklyn , New York

As well as celebrating the year in movies, the annual extravaganza has long been the red carpet event of the year. Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesTeo Yoo. Alberto Rodriguez/Variety/Getty ImagesJamie Lee Curtis looked elegant in a flowing black gown by Dolce & Gabbana. Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesLeah Lewis, star of Best Animated Feature “Elemental,” looked dreamy in a layered Lever Couture gown featuring a whimsical train. Marleen Moise/Getty ImagesTaylor Zakhar Perez popped on the red carpet with a blue Prada suit styled by leading celebrity stylist Jason Bolden.

Persons: Margot Robbie who’s, “ Barbie ”, Colman Domingo, America Ferrera, Billie Eilish, Zendaya, Danielle Brooks, Mike Coppola, Andrea Riseborough, Loewe, Alberto Rodriguez, Ferrera, Richard Shotwell, Steinfeld, Elie, Sarah Meyssonnier, Huy Quan, Giorgio Armani, Jordan Strauss, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons Jordan Strauss, Louis, David Yurman, Laverne Cox, David Swanson, Issa Rae, Mark Ronson, Grace Gummer, Kevin Mazur, Teo Yoo, Barbie, Simu Liu, Sean Lennon, Kemp Muhl, Gilbert Flores, Sandra Hüller, Cartier, Justine Triet Jordan Strauss, AP Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade Kevin Mazur, Ludwig Göransson Kevin Mazur, Masaki Takahashi, Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko, Christina, Eva Longoria’s, Tamara Ralph, Rita Moreno, Reuters D'Pharaoh Woon, Chasinghorse, Jamie Lee Curtis, Omar Rudberg, Sarah Morris, WireImage, Sean Wang, Chang Li Hua, Sam Davis, Yi Yan Fuei, Chang, Yi, Leah Lewis, Gregg DeGuire, Dominic Sessa, Tom Ford, Celine Song, Reuters Marlee Matlin, Oscar, dazzled, Raymond, Marleen Moise, Ramakrishnan, Zuhair Murad, Getty, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Jason Bolden, Erika Alexander Organizations: CNN, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood’s, America, Dolce, Gabbana, Elie Saab, Louis Vuitton, Getty, AMI Paris, Variety, AP, Los Angeles Times, Reuters Locations: AFP

☆ New moon mission will attempt to make a historic landing
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Relying on his ace piloting skills, Armstrong manually navigated to a safe landing site, with only 30 seconds of fuel left. NASAAfter launching early Thursday morning, the Odysseus lunar lander, or “Odie,” is on a historic journey to the moon. The mission, developed by NASA and Houston-based Intuitive Machines, will aim to land near the lunar south pole on February 22. Ocean secretsResearchers created a 3D model of the submerged stone wall as it appears on the seafloor in Germany’s Bay of Mecklenburg. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: CNN —, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong, it’s, Odie, ”, Jeff Koons, Artemis III, Charles Darwin, Dr, John van Wyhe, Darwin, . Hoy, J . Auer, LAKD, “, Gaurav, Gaurav Ramnarayanan, Uma Ramakrishnan, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, Darwin, National University of Singapore, University of Rostock, Wildlife, National, for Biological Sciences, Space Station, CNN Space, Science Locations: United States, Houston, Germany’s Bay, Mecklenburg, Bay, Baltic, SS Arlington, Superior, Denmark, Lincoln , Nebraska, British Columbia

☆ Why a rare ‘golden’ tiger photographed in India is worrying conservationists
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But golden tigers — also known as golden tabby tigers or strawberry tigers — are not a subspecies: they’re the result of a genetic mutation that changes the color of their fur. Ramnarayanan spotted the golden tiger, which came within 100 meters of the group, while guiding a safari in the wildlife reserve. The big cat is one of four "golden" tigers in Kaziranga, according to the park's official social media. If Kaziranga’s tiger population becomes more isolated, issues like inbreeding will threaten the population, said Sharma in his post on X. For photographer Ramnarayanan, Kaziranga’s golden tiger was his first sighting of these unusually colored big cats.

Persons: Gaurav Ramnarayanan, Ramnarayanan, “ I’ve, —, Uma Ramakrishnan, There’s, ”, that’s, Gaurav, Mayuresh Hendre, Rabindra Sharma, Sharma, Kota Ullas Organizations: CNN, UNESCO, Heritage, National Center for Biological Sciences, Centre for Wildlife Studies Locations: India’s, Assam, Kaziranga, Mumbai, ”, India

About half of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States believe the country is giving too much support of Israelis and not enough for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to a poll that shows those views are dominant among young adults. The majority of Asian and Pacific Islander adults between the ages of 18 and 34 share these views. Some Asian Americans see parallels with family members' struggles with colonialism or genocide in Asian countries. When it comes to Jewish communities, 44% of AAPI adults say U.S. support is about right, while 26% say it's not supportive enough. This view was also shared by most AAPI adults under age 35.

Persons: Derek Pang, Israel, ”, Pang, ” Orrie Allen, Allen, Benjamin Netanyahu, Karthick, ” Ramakrishnan, Shakeel Syed, “, ‘, Syed, Thomas Lee, ” Lee Organizations: Pacific Islanders, AAPI, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Pacific, Democrat, ., Republican, Health Ministry, University of California, South Asian Network, South, American Locations: Hawaiians, United States, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Austin , Texas, American, Marysville , California, Israeli, Riverside, South, Los Angeles, Long, , New York, Hawaiian

☆ Uncertain 2024 makes US companies refinance debt sooner, not later
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Doubts that debt issuance conditions will be as strong in 2024 as they are now, with markets still divided on the direction of interest rates and the economy, have also driven the interest in doing deals now. Credit spreads are underpricing recession risk, said Nate Thooft, senior portfolio manager for Manulife Investment Management. Even if companies waited for rate cuts in 2024, declines in all-in funding costs may not necessarily follow, as credit spreads could then widen, said Amol Dhargalkar, managing partner at Chatham Financial. But Natalie Trevithick, head of investment grade credit strategy at Payden & Rygel, said economic data was too strong for cuts. Some $770 billion of investment-grade rated bonds mature in 2024 and over $900 billion in both 2025 and 2026, according to data by Morgan Stanley (MS.N).

Persons: Joshua Roberts, Maureen O'Connor, Edward Marrinan, Nate Thooft, Amol Dhargalkar, Natalie Trevithick, Morgan Stanley, Steven Oh, Matt Tracy, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Davide Barbuscia, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Federal Reserve, REUTERS, ICE, BMO Capital Markets, Investment, Informa Global, Treasury, Federal, Nikko Securities America, Manulife Investment Management, Chatham Financial, Deutsche Bank, PineBridge Investments, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Wells, U.S

These deals help banks meet capital requirements more efficiently, allowing them to keep lucrative businesses that would otherwise become unprofitable. Investors in these deals include lightly-regulated entities like hedge funds, shifting risk to the shadow banking sector. Credit risk transfer is another tool for them to pursue after the Fed’s clarification on what is allowed, said Cory Wishengrad, head of fixed income at Guggenheim Securities. That means Merchants sold the riskiest tranche of the loan portfolio, maximizing the capital relief it could get on it. Whether U.S. regulators will allow such insurance deals to qualify for capital relief is still untested, Staudinger said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Jill Cetina, Jon, Claude Zucconi, Zucconi, Michael Barr, Barr, Banks, Missy Dolski, Sam Graziano, Graziano, Cory Wishengrad, Jed Miller, Taft, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, Deborah Staudinger, Hogan Lovells, Staudinger, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Blackstone Group, JPMorgan Chase, Merchants Bank of Indiana, US Bancorp, Investors, JPMorgan, Merchants Bank, Federal Reserve, Varde Partners, Financial, Guggenheim Securities, U.S . Bank, Fed, Reuters, Merchants, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wickersham, Europe, Indiana

☆ Exclusive: Bayer holds call with bond investors after raft of bad news
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bad news prompted some bond investors to question whether Bayer should sweeten the terms of the deal or outright pull it, one of the sources said. The drug-to-pesticides group priced the investment grade bond on Thursday last week, with the deal closing on Tuesday. Bayer priced bonds with maturities between three to 30 years. It was the 10th largest investment grade bond deal by an industrial company this year and attracted more than $22 billion in orders, according to Informa Global Markets. The events were "not enough to trigger a material adverse change clause in bond documents for investors to ask to be paid back," said CreditSights' Brady.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Bayer, Andrew Brady, CreditSights, JP Morgan, Wells, Brady, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Ludwig Burger, Mike Erman, Paritosh Bansal, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Bayer AG, REUTERS, Bayer, Nomura Holdings, Informa Global Markets, Citigroup, Nikko Securities America, RIC, Thomson Locations: Leverkusen, Germany, Seattle

Sustainability-linked loans (SLL), which were first used in 2017, offer slightly cheaper borrowing, typically around 2.5-10 basis points less, if companies meet goals such as cutting their carbon emissions or improving board diversity. These let banks strip the sustainability-linked label from the loans if targets are no longer deemed appropriate. The banks' tougher standards are discouraging some borrowers from using SLLs entirely, bankers and lawyers told Reuters. The Engie spokesman said the utility would not agree to linking an event of default to sustainability targets. "We have stated our willingness to walk away when sustainability targets were too soft," said Brittany Agostino, vice president in the environmental, social and governance group at Los Angeles-based Ares.

Persons: Toby Melville, Banks, Constance Chalchat, Pascale Forde Maurice, Elliot Beard, Simmons, Beard, I've, David Milligan, Norton Rose Fulbright, Gemma Lawrence, Pardew, Brittany Agostino, Fredrik Altmann, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Isla Binnie, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Simon Jessop, Alexander Smith Organizations: FCA, Financial, Authority, REUTERS, LONDON, BNP, Corporate, Institutional Banking, Reuters, JPMorgan, Ford Motors, SLLs, CIB's, European, Sustainable Investment Banking, Simmons, Norton Rose, Market Association, BMW, Porsche, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, North America, Asia, Los Angeles, New York

☆ Liquidity gridlock worsens in US commercial real estate sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

And those workouts are becoming mathematically untenable even for private lenders. Borrowing costs for the CRE market have risen more than income, a situation prompted by the steepest jump in interest rates in decades. NO REAL OPTIONRising caution among private lenders will worsen the paucity of liquidity for property owners who have no real exit option. Some private lenders faced the risk of ending up paring their portfolios that were expensive to manage, he added. But the firm's head of commercial real estate economics Thomas LaSalvia said probability of a contagion effect was low.

Persons: Mike Comparato, Jeff Holzmann, Razmig Boladian, Claudia Faust, Alex Horn, Horn, Jay Hiemenz, Thomas LaSalvia, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Anna Driver Organizations: Realty Trust, RREAF Holdings, Rubicon Point Partners, Hawkeye Partners, Thomson Locations: Franklin, Texas

But they are going only as far as the safest bets in the junk category, bonds rated BB and B. Junk bond spreads, the additional interest rate investors demand over safe Treasury bonds, tightened sharply. The spreads of those rated BB and B, or the higher rungs of junk, had tightened 47-52 basis points last week, according to Informa Global Markets data. Four junk bond issuers – Bombardier (BBDb.TO), Venture Global LNG, Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete and InfraBuild Australia - announced bond offerings on Monday. The spotty access to bond markets does not bode well for poorly rated companies.

Persons: Rick Wilking, ”, Edward Marrinan, Peter Knapp, Winnie Cisar, bode, Morgan Stanley, Moody's, Manuel Hayes, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Andrea Ricci Organizations: REUTERS, Federal, Nikko Securities Americas, Investors, JPMorgan, Informa, CCC, Bombardier, Venture Global LNG, “, London, Insight Investment, Barclays, Thomson Locations: Westminster , Colorado, Smyrna, Australia

☆ Analysis: Three years after DirectBooks, US bond market still phoning it in
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

There is also some concern about job losses and loss of market access by smaller banks. Changing an organization's behavior is difficult and takes sustained effort, said DirectBooks CEO Rich Kerschner. Interest in automation grew as desks struggled with corporate bond volumes that touched a record $1.78 trillion in 2020. Three years into it, only a small proportion of orders and allocation messages for a new bond were going through DirectBooks. Once in place, hundreds of investors using OMS platforms could send their order messages and receive allocation messages through DirectBooks, said Kerschner.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Rich Kerschner, Spencer Lee, salespeople, Daniel Botoff, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, DirectBooks, Chris Sztam, BlackRock's Aladdin, RBC's Botoff, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Anna Driver Organizations: New York Stock, REUTERS, Bloomberg, underwriters, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, P Global Market Intelligence, Development, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, Wells, DirectBooks, Charles

That's despite Congress recently passing a short-term funding package that averted a U.S. government shutdown but dropped $6 billion in aid to Ukraine. Political Cartoons View All 1199 ImagesOfficials from the Washington-based IMF also said Ukraine’s economy was showing surprising resilience despite widespread damage from Russia’s war. Ukraine is “making good progress” on passing legislation on a specialized anti-corruption prosecutor, said IMF Ukraine mission chief Gavin Gray. IMF loan agreements with Ukraine before the war had stalled due to lack of progress in curbing corruption and the influence of politically influential business moguls. ___This story has been corrected to show that the IMF loan package is over four years, not three.

Persons: It's, “, Biden, Uma Ramakrishnan, Gavin Gray, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Nathan Epstein, ___ McHugh Organizations: —, International Monetary Fund, Institute, IMF, Ukraine, Bills Locations: KYIV, Ukraine, United States, U.S, Kiel, Germany, Kyiv, Washington, Ukrainian, Frankfurt

By doing so, if they get capital relief, they would reduce the capital they need to keep against them for regulatory capital purposes, according to banking industry sources. “There has certainly been growing interest in these transactions as banks seek regulatory capital relief," said Missy Dolski, global head of capital markets at alternative investment firm Varde Partners, an active investor in such products. "This guidance makes it more clear what structures would need affirmative approval for capital relief and what is required to comply," she added. Directly issued credit-linked notes could also qualify but would need to be approved by the Fed, said the Q&A. These clarifications come after growing calls for clarity on which of these bespoke trades issued by U.S. banks would qualify for capital relief, the banking industry sources said.

Persons: Missy Dolski, Michael Bright, ”, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Megan Davies, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Federal Reserve, Varde Partners, Fed, SPV, Structured Finance Association, European Central Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Major U.S

☆ IMF team to begin meeting officials in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. The IMF said last week its mission had begun its second review of a $15.6 billion multi-year loan program for the country. The four-year programme for Kyiv is part of a $115-billion global package to support the economy as Ukraine battles Russia's invading forces. "An IMF team, led by Uma Ramakrishnan, Deputy Director of the Fund's European Department, starts meetings today in Kyiv with the Ukrainian authorities and other stakeholders," Stepanyan said in a statement. "The high-level engagement will focus on policy goals and challenges in the context of Ukraine’s program supported by the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement."

Persons: Yuri Gripas, Vahram Stepanyan, Uma Ramakrishnan, Stepanyan, Pavel Polityuk, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Monetary Fund, REUTERS, Rights, IMF, Fund's European Department, Fund, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv

☆ US junk debt deals carry higher guardrails for investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Twelve high-yield issuers have raised $9.6 billion this week, making it the busiest week since November 2021, according to JPMorgan. This stands in stark contrast to the same period in 2022, when only 25% of a total $81 billion was secured debt, according to Informa Global Markets data. According to rating agency Fitch, junk debt defaults are expected to reach 4.5% of all outstanding U.S. junk debt by the end of 2023, up from 2.8% in July. The extra level of protection and high investment returns are ensuring strong demand for new junk debt. The loans are part of a $9.4 billion debt package - the largest since last year's buyout of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Fitch, Anthony Canale, it's, Brian Gelfand, TCW, Goldman Sachs, Elon Musk, Jefferies, Simon, Matt Tracy, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Hugh Lawson Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, JPMorgan, Informa, Reuters, Covenant, ICE, Morningstar, GTCR, KKR, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

☆ Bond investors show confidence in Schwab after cost-cutting
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company logo for Financial broker Charles Schwab is displayed at a location in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 20, 2023. The announcement led to a 5% fall in Schwab shares on Tuesday but did not hurt investor appetite for its new bonds. "The strong response shows bond investors, at least in the near term, have gotten over their worries about the credit fundamentals of top-tier regional banks after the banking crisis in March," said Richard Wolff, head of U.S. syndicate at Societe Generale (SOGN.PA). Schwab's bond trade also drew attention as new investment grade bond supply this month has so far been lower than expected. Counting Schwab's $2.35 billion in bonds, investment-grade bond volume sits at just $3.45 billion for the week and $67.1 billion so far in August, according to Informa Global Markets data.

Persons: Charles Schwab, Brendan McDermid, Schwab, Richard Wolff, Dan Krieter, Brian Mulberry, David Del Vecchio, Natalie Trevithick, Matt Tracy, Nupur Anand, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Societe Generale, BMO Capital, Zacks Investment Management, Federal Home Loan Bank, Payden, Informa, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Los Angeles

☆ Meet Khan Academy's AI tutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Nadia Bidarian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

More than 8,000 teachers and students will test education nonprofit Khan Academy’s artificial intelligence tutor in the classroom this upcoming school year, toying with its interactive features and funneling feedback to Khan Academy if the AI botches an answer. A conversation between CNN's Nadia Bidarian and Khanmigo, Khan Academy's AI chatbot tutor. Khan Lab School is a separate nonprofit founded by Khan Academy CEO Sal Khan. Khan Academy’s in-the-works AI learning course “AI 101 for Teachers,” created in partnership with Code.org, ETS and the International Society for Technology in Education, offers a path toward AI literacy among teachers. Imperfect, but improvingAn AI “tutor” like Khanmigo is not immune to the flubs all large language models face: so-called hallucinations.

Persons: —, Khanmigo, George Washington, Cleopatra, Martin Luther King Jr, CNN's Nadia Bidarian, Khan, Kristen DiCerbo, she’s, DiCerbo, “, Oz, ” DiCerbo, “ We’re, Albert Einstein, Einstein, Socrates, Christopher Nolan’s “ Oppenheimer, ”, Thomas Jefferson, Khanmigo’s Thomas Jefferson, GPT, Leo Lin, Sal Khan, they’ve, Khan Academy’s, ” Ernest Davis, Davis, it’s, ” Davis, Rama Ramakrishnan, ChatGPT, ” Ramakrishnan, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Khan Academy, Khan, American, Khan Lab, . New York City Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, EdWeek Research, Code.org, ETS, International Society for Technology, NYU, MIT Locations: Arizona, Independence, California, . New York, Education, United States

Edward Marrinan, macro credit strategy desk analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities America, added: "Credit risk at this point is mispriced." The move prompted a sell-off in equities and slight widening in corporate credit spreads. The average investment-grade bond spreads as of on Thursday were just a few basis points wider than the tightest levels touched this year in July and 16 basis points tighter from January. Junk-bond spreads are 98 basis points inside January levels. "With market consensus now expecting a soft landing, the credit markets are arguably underpricing default risk," BMO’s Krieter said.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Cindy Beaulieu, Edward Marrinan, Moody's, Daniel Krieter, Krieter, Marrinan, Manuel Hayes, Hayes, BMO’s Krieter, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Davide Barbuscia, Paritosh Bansal, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: NYSE, American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Reserve, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Investors, Reuters, BMO Capital Markets, London, Insight Investment, Informa, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

A view shows the logo of Credit Suisse on a building near the Hallenstadion where Credit Suisse Annual General Meeting took place, two weeks after being bought by rival UBS in a government-brokered rescue, in Zurich, Switzerland, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Pierre AlbouyNEW YORK, Aug 2 (Reuters) - UBS Group (UBSG.S) is laying off employees from Credit Suisse's investment bank this week in New York, a source familiar with the situation said. Bloomberg reported about the closure of the Houston office late on Tuesday. The job cuts come after UBS closed a government-backed deal to buy Credit Suisse in June. Since the announcement of the deal, UBS has made clear it will reduce the risk of Credit Suisse's investment bank.

Persons: Pierre Albouy, Tatiana Bautzer, Chris Reese, Diane Craft Organizations: Credit Suisse, UBS, REUTERS, Credit, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, New York, Houston

☆ US bank preferred capital issuance makes a tentative comeback
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

So-called preferred securities, which are one of the riskiest forms of debt but also have some characteristics of stocks, are popular among banks as a way to boost their capital for regulatory purposes. More than $160 billion of preferreds were issued in 2020 and 2021 each, when rates were low. Volume dropped last year to $70 billion as the U.S. Federal Reserve embarked on an interest rate hiking cycle. When Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) issued a new public preferred security earlier this month, investor demand far outweighed supply. The $1.725 billion deal received orders of over $6 billion, bringing total issuance for the year to $37 billion.

Persons: preferreds, Wells, ”, Daniel Botoff, Allie Quine, Cohen, Steers, Quine, WELLS, Wells Fargo, RBC's Botoff, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, Credit Suisse, UBS Group, Wells Fargo & Co, Treasury, RBC Capital Markets, Informa Global, Thomson Locations: U.S, preferreds, New York

☆ US commercial property delinquencies rise further in July -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rise in the rate reflects continued stress in the U.S. commercial real estate sector as a post-pandemic environment had more people working from home or shopping online. Office loans made up roughly 35% of the newly special serviced and delinquent loans in July rated by KBRA at $898.4 million. So far in July, multiple office properties have been transferred to special servicing due to imminent monetary default. The total special servicing balance on multi-loan CMBS sharply increased $830.7 million to $14 billion, the largest rise since August 2020, the report said. KeyBank's subsidiary KeyBank Real Estate Capital handles commercial real estate lending and servicing.

Persons: Amr Alfiky, KBRA, Chris Gorman, KeyCorp, Matt Tracy, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, KBRA, Estate Capital, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

In recent weeks, banks have stepped up efforts to prevent such losses, according to commercial real estate (CRE) analysts and industry data. The 23 largest U.S. banks held 20% of office and downtown retail CRE loans, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Small banks also have high exposure to CRE loans as a percentage of their assets. About $2.1 billion of office loans pooled in CMBS matured in May, almost double the total amount from January through April, for example. If borrowers agreed to loan extensions, some $10.8 billion of office loans maturing this year would be pushed to later years, Moody's said.

Persons: Shaishav Agarwal, Agarwal, Steve Jellinek, Moody's, Kevin Fagan, Fagan, ” Fagan, Eliasaf, ”, Banks, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Matt Tracy, Paritosh Bansal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S, Deutsche Bank, U.S . Federal, Manhattan, Northwind, Thomson Locations: York

☆ US bond traders seek edge by adopting tech -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Traders have slowly adopted execution management systems (EMS) in their workflow to enhance their execution capabilities as the market evolves, wrote Audrey Blater, senior analyst at Greenwich, in a report released on Tuesday. The fixed-income market adoption of EMS is at "a tipping point" where some traders, while reluctant to use technology, "acknowledged a change of habit is imminently necessary," said Blater. The tech makeover of a market that sees billions of dollars of trades in a year though is still gradual. The study found that only 39% of some 41 senior fixed-income traders in US asset management firms, hedge funds and insurance companies, identified using an EMS. Some 34% of the 41 traders in the study looked to chat to execute trades, versus 27% that turned to technology as their top choice.

Persons: Audrey Blater, Matt Tracy, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Conor Humphries Organizations: Coalition, Traders, Thomson Locations: Coalition Greenwich, Greenwich

☆ Analysis: Forex derivatives nudged out into the open as regulations increase costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Laura Matthews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Foreign-exchange investors are moving more of their over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trades to lookalike products on exchanges to avoid higher costs due to recent global regulations, helping inject transparency into a multitrillion-dollar market that is largely hidden from the public eye. The gradual behavioral change in FX derivatives trading is being caused by increasing margin and collateral costs, said Joe Midmore, chief commercial officer at OpenGamma, a derivatives analytics firm. OTC derivatives are privately negotiated contracts while cleared derivatives, though bilaterally negotiated, are booked with a clearinghouse such as a listed exchange. "They will also incur the operational, legal and custody costs of setting up margin facilities as well as the capital costs of posting margin," Houston said. "There is inherently risk involved in lots of people transacting derivatives with each other," said Riddle.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Ben Feuer, Joe Midmore, ”, Michael Riddle, Paul Houston, Houston, ForexClear, James Pearson, Tom Arnold, Joe Spiro, Peter Vassallo, Riddle, Laura Matthews, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Megan Davies, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Societe Generale, Banking Supervision, International Organization of Securities Commissions, CME, CME Group, FX, Reuters Graphics British, Financial, ForexClear, BNP, Management, Thomson Locations: Saudi, New York, Hazeltree

Search resuls for: "Ramakrishnan"

25 mentions found