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☆ Hindenburg Research targets $4.6 billion Kazakh brokerage for allegedly helping Russian oligarchs evade sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Finance brokerage speaks to Reuters during the interview in the office in Moscow, Russia October 10, 2019. Freedom Holding Corp. was founded in Moscow in 2008, before later moving to Kazakhstan, and listed on the Nasdaq in 2019. After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, U.S. sanctions essentially severed ties between American and Russian banks and companies. But according to a report from Hindenburg on Tuesday, those ties remain tight. One former senior executive alleged to Hindenburg that Russian money laundering was rampant.

Persons: Timur Turlov, Jack Dorsey's Block, Carl Icahn, Freedom, Hindenburg's, Hindenburg, OFAC, I've Organizations: Freedom Finance, Reuters, Hindenburg Research, Freedom Holding, Nasdaq, Freedom, noncompliance, U.S . Treasury Department's, Foreign Assets, SEC, European Union, Freedom's, Ukraine Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Hindenburg, Russian, United Kingdom, Belizean

Russia has 110 official billionaires in the list, up 22 from last year, according to Forbes' Russian edition, which said their total wealth increased to $505 billion from $353 billion when the 2022 list was announced. "Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began. The price of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy, averaged $76.09 per barrel in 2022, up from $69 in 2021. Many Russian billionaires cast Western sanctions as a clumsy, and even racist, tool. New Russian names in the Forbes list include billionaires who made their money in snacks, supermarkets, chemicals, building and pharmaceuticals, indicating that Russian domestic demand has remained strong despite the sanctions.

☆ Consumer credit rating firms need reform, says UK watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Experian, Equifax and TransUnion make up almost all of the Britain's 800 million pound ($946.32 million) credit reference agencies (CRAs) sector. Credit agencies also help verify the identity of consumers to combat fraud and help with affordability assessments. There are significant differences in credit information held by the three big companies, which are "very likely" to affect lending decisions by banks, the FCA said. Equifax said it was reviewing the FCA report, and Experian said it supported a recommendation to improve coverage of credit information. A TransUnion UK spokesperson said that the company will work with the FCA and wider industry to sustain a fair and robust credit ecosystem.

Since then, the central bank has cut rates six times, most recently to 7.5% last month. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterTwenty-two of 26 analysts and economists polled by Reuters on Monday predicted that Russia would keep its benchmark rate unchanged (RUCBIR=ECI) on Friday. President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilisation order and subsequent declaration of martial law in four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia says it owns have exacerbated geopolitical risks. Economic activity slowed significantly at the end of September, the central bank said this month. "Stimulating growth of retailer and corporate lending by lowering the rate is currently pointless, in my view."

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