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"The application is a normal procedure for the offshore debt restructuring and does not involve (a) bankruptcy petition," it said in the filing, adding it is pushing forward with its offshore debt restructuring. Evergrande's offshore debt restructuring involves a total of $31.7 billion, which include bonds, collateral and repurchase obligations. A man walks past a No Entry traffic sign near the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. China's economic and property woes and the absence of concrete stimulus steps have sent a chill through global markets. "The China property sector is like a black hole, so many developers have been dragged into it since two years ago after Evergrande," said Winner Zone Asset Management CEO and CIO Alan Luk.

Persons: Evergrande, Aly, Nomura, HSI, Alan Luk, Clare Jim, Jonathan Stempel, Dietrich Knauth, Manya, Sumeet Chatterjee, Shri Navaratnam, Kim Coghill Organizations: HONG KONG, China Evergrande, HK, U.S, Hong, British Virgin Islands, China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, Zhongrong International Trust Co, Longfor, Asset Management, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: China, Asia, HONG, U.S, United States, Hong Kong, British Virgin, New York, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Beijing, Bengaluru

[1/2] The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. An affiliate, Tianji Holdings, also sought Chapter 15 protection on Thursday in Manhattan bankruptcy court. The company proposed scheduling a Chapter 15 recognition hearing for Sept. 20. On Monday, its electric-vehicle unit China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708.HK) announced its own proposed restructuring. Trading in China Evergrande shares was suspended in March 2022.

Persons: Aly, Evergrande, Hong, Evergrande NEV's, Jonathan Stempel, Dietrich Knauth, Manya, Anil D'Silva, Deepa Babington, Matthew Lewis Organizations: China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, HK, Tianji Holdings, British Virgin Islands, British Virgin, Energy Vehicle Group, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: China, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, U.S, United States, Manhattan, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, British Virgin, British, Dubai, New York, Bengaluru

"U.S.-China competition is on the same starting line," Chipuller chairman Yang Meng said about chiplet technology in an interview with Reuters. "They can still develop 3D stacking or other chiplet technology to work around those restrictions. Beijing is rapidly exploiting chiplet technology in applications as diverse as artificial intelligence to self-driving cars, with entities from tech giant Huawei Technologies to military institutions exploring its use. About a quarter of the global chip packaging and testing market sits in China, according to Dongguan Securities. Huawei, China’s tech and chip design giant that has been put on the U.S.'s most restricted list, has been actively filing chiplet patents.

Persons: Yang Meng, Charles Shi, Needham, Yang, Needham's Shi, Chipuller, Laura Black, Melissa Mannino, Perry Bechky, Rowe, Mike Gallagher, Biden, ”, Chipuller's Yang, zGlue, CFIUS, Shayne Phillips, MIIT, Jane Lanhee Lee, Eduardo Baptista, Echo Wang, Stephen Nellis, Kenneth Li, Brenda Goh, Lincoln Organizations: Chipuller, Industry, Reuters, Huawei Technologies, Intel, Dongguan Securities, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Acclaim, British, Islands, Sea Investment Co, Foreign Investment, Treasury, Akin's Trade, Berliner Corcoran, Department of Commerce, Huawei, U.S, TongFu Microelectronics, JCET, Beijing ESWIN Technology Group, China’s Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, Thomson Locations: Shenzhen, China, U.S, United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Beijing, Dongguan, BakerHostetler, People's Republic of China

☆ Branson, Virgin Group reputations at centre of $250 mln London court clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson severely damaged Virgin Group's reputation by residing in a tax haven while UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic sought a government bailout during the pandemic, according to internal Virgin emails cited in a $250 million London lawsuit on Monday. The emails were cited by lawyers for U.S. train operator Brightline, which is being sued by the Virgin Group after cancelling a deal to use the Virgin brand in 2020, just over 18 months after it was signed. Under the deal Brightline operated a rail line in Florida using the name Virgin Trains USA. Brightline's lawyers cited internal Virgin Group emails describing group founder Branson being based in the British Virgin Islands for tax purposes as "a reputation killer", while one email from an external public relations adviser said: "Richard needs to show he's not a ruthless, tax-evading billionaire." In an April 2020 email, Virgin Group CEO Josh Bayliss referred to Branson's tax residency in relation to the request for a bailout, saying: "Richard cannot escape the criticism.

Persons: Richard Branson, Brightline, Branson, Richard, Josh Bayliss, Daniel Toledano, Virgin Atlantic's, Brightline's, Nigel Tozzi, Sam Tobin, Susan Fenton Organizations: Virgin Atlantic, U.S, Virgin Group, Virgin, Virgin Trains, British Virgin Islands, Real Madrid, Thomson Locations: Florida, British Virgin, Britain, United States, Barcelona, Bay

The liquidators discussed the allegations against Three Arrows co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies at a Tuesday meeting with the hedge fund's creditors, the person said. Representatives for Zhu and Davies could not be reached for comment immediately. Three Arrows was the first major crypto firm to go bankrupt in 2022, brought down by the collapse of cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD in May. The liquidators were appointed by that court to wind down the company and pay its debt. Earlier this month, a set of non-fungible tokens previously bought by Three Arrows was sold for $10.9 million at Sotheby's in New York.

Persons: Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, Zhu, Davies, cryptocurrencies Luna, TerraUSD, Jaiveer Singh, Dietrich Knauth, Sriraj Organizations: Arrows, Reuters, Three Arrows, Virgin, Bloomberg News, British Virgin Islands, Thomson Locations: British Virgin, Manhattan, New York, Bengaluru

In its 13 charges, the SEC alleged that Binance and Zhao used Merit Peak and Sigma Chain, another trading firm controlled by Zhao, to commingle corporate funds with client assets and use the monies "as they please." This put customers' assets at risk while Binance sought to "maximize" its profits, the SEC wrote in its civil complaint on Monday. "All user assets on Binance and Binance affiliate platforms, including Binance.US, are safe and secure," it said in a statement on Monday. The funds received by British Virgin Islands-based Merit Peak between 2019 and 2021 flowed from Key Vision Development Ltd, also controlled by Zhao, the SEC filing on Tuesday showed. Reuters reported last month that Key Vision and Merit Peak, along with Binance's Cayman Islands holding company, formed the core of the global crypto exchange's financial network.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Guangying Chen, Chen, Tom Wilson, Jane Merriman Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Sigma, British, Vision Development, Key Vision, U.S, Reuters, Vision, Binance's, Sigma Chain's, BAM, Thomson Locations: Seychelles, British Virgin Islands, Islands, Binance, United States, U.S, Singapore

☆ Binance U.S. clients have $2.2 billion 'at significant risk' after crypto exchange charged, SEC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The $2.2 billion of U.S. customer assets held by Binance is at "significant risk" of being stolen by founder Changpeng Zhao unless a freezing order is in put place, federal regulators said in a filing Tuesday night, after the crypto regulator was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC sued Binance and Zhao on Monday, alleging they engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities and commingled investor funds with their own. Years of communications between the SEC and Binance, which claims no official headquarters, suggest that Binance.US couldn't clearly indicate who controlled customer assets, according to the filing. "Zhao and Binance have had free reign," the SEC alleged, over "customer assets worth billions of dollars." The SEC says federal law and precedent establish the court's jurisdiction over Zhao and Binance.

Persons: Binance's, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, Timothy Massad Organizations: Binance, Securities and Exchange Commission, Lawyers, SEC, BAM, BAM Management, Binance's, BAM Trading Locations: U.S, Swiss, British Virgin Islands, Binance's U.S, United States, UAE

After receiving $145 million from Binance.US's operator by 2021, Sigma Chain spent $11 million on buying a yacht, the SEC complaint said, without elaborating. It is unclear from the SEC complaint how much money Zhao is alleged to have drawn from Merit Peak and Sigma Chain. The SEC also said Zhao used Merit Peak to direct more than $16 million to fund Binance's purportedly independent U.S. affiliate Binance.US. Binance used its BUSD holdings to meet customer withdrawals by selling them for dollars as needed, Reuters reported in May. The SEC complaint also identified Binance Labs, a venture capital arm of Binance, as part of the exchange's plan to increase demand for BNB.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, Benoit Tessier LONDON, Changpeng Zhao, John Reed Stark, Stark, Binance's, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Lisa Barrington, Hadeel Al, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Binance, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Swiss, Sigma Chain, Reuters, Silicon, Internet, Futures Trading Commission, U.S . Justice, Reuters Graphics, Silvergate Bank, Merit, Sigma, Binance Labs, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Binance, U.S, Virgin Islands, Dubai, London, Hadeel Al Sayegh

☆ SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao for U.S. securities violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Binance's ultimate compliance, in 2019, was largely a public show, the SEC complaint continues. The SEC alleged that Binance and Zhao violated "critical" provisions of federal security laws, including self-dealing and market manipulation, through Merit Peak Limited and Sigma Chain, both of which Zhao controlled and owned. Merit Peak, a British Virgin Islands-based company, was one of the "earliest market makers" on Binance's U.S. platform, the SEC alleged. "We will issue a response once we see the complaint," Zhao said on Twitter. The defendants showed a "blatant disregard" of federal law, the SEC alleged.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, Binance.US Organizations: Securities, Exchange, Binance, SEC, CNBC, Limited, Sigma Chain, Merit, Binance's U.S, Twitter, Media Locations: European, The U.S, USA, U.S, VPNs, Binance.com, British Virgin Islands, Binance's

May 19 (Reuters) - Auction house Sotheby's announced Friday seven non-fungible tokens from bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital sold for about $2.5 million. The auction was part of liquidating Three Arrows, according to a February memo from Teneo, one of the court-appointed liquidators. Singapore-based Three Arrows was the first major crypto firm to go bankrupt in 2022, brought down by the collapse of cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a blockchain-based asset that represents ownership of a digital item, such as an image, video or piece of text. The market for NFTs exploded in 2021, and auction houses including Sotheby’s and Christie’s joined the craze.

May 9 (Reuters) - Digital stablecoin tether is winning the race for the title of the crypto world's "least risky" asset. Tether is already the top performer among stablecoins -- digital tokens pegged to some fiat asset like the dollar -- and has seen its market value soar since March. Buying tether and bitcoin is really a vote against the U.S. system," says Jensen. On CoinMarketCap's database of 23,891 tokens, tether has risen to number 3 with a market cap of $82 bln and a share of 6.83%. NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWSTo be sure, tether has long been dogged by doubts about its peg being backed by dollar reserves.

☆ Russia's National Bank Trust sues commodity traders for over $1 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Russian bank National Bank Trust said it had filed a lawsuit in the British Virgin Islands against a number of major commodity traders and was seeking over $1 billion in relation to what it said was fraud. The case is linked to the central bank's 2017 bailout of two private banks - Rost Bank and B&N Bank (Binbank). National Bank Trust is the legal successor to Rost Bank, which it says was defrauded by employees working for the commodity traders. A Bank Trust spokesperson said its international legal teams had carried out a large-scale investigation and it had extensive evidence to support its case. The central bank aims to liquidate Bank Trust in 2027.

☆ Where Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon takes the corporate jet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

"The Board fully supports the use of the Goldman Sachs planes for travel, just as it supported the use of private aircraft by previous Goldman Sachs executives," said Tony Fratto, a company spokesman. "Executives at Goldman Sachs have been flying on private aircrafts for decades as it is proven to be the most secure, effective, and cost-efficient solution to meet the extensive travel obligations for CEOs of firms like Goldman Sachs — which is why all of our peer institutions also extensively use private aircraft." John Waldron, president of Goldman Sachs Reuters/Brendan McDermidOccasionally, Solomon and Waldron switch planes, particularly when Waldron flies overseas. Goldman Sachs has a sponsorship deal with pro golfer Patrick Cantlay. "These estimates wildly overstate the cost of such flights to Goldman Sachs and are not an accurate representation," he said.

☆ Inside the Rise and Fall of Kittyhawk, Larry Page's Failed Flying Car Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Killing off projects had become something of a tradition at Kittyhawk, the secretive flying-car startup launched by the Google cofounder Larry Page. Larry Page has used his Google money to found a series of flying car companies with one common goal: "to free the world of traffic." "When Bloomberg did their original exposé, that's when urban air mobility became a thing," a former Kittyhawk employee recalled. Everyone thought: If Larry Page is in this space, there must be something here." Interpreting "Larry-isms" or "learning to speak Larry" were essential skills for any Kittyhawk employee who wanted to retain their sanity.

☆ They dated as teenagers. 40 years later, she decided to go on vacation with him
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

“Our hallways in this school, they were outside, and so there’s this beam of sunlight shining down on her,” recalls Bo. “I’d say, ‘Come to my window and I’ll talk to you through the window,’” recalls Beverly. The former flames, now both 60, received invites to their 40th high school reunion, taking place at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. A high school reunionBo and Beverly reunited at a high school reunion and got to know one another on a subsequent sailing vacation. It was “literally a shack of driftwood and washed up lumber slapped together haphazardly on a remote beach,” recalls Bo.

☆ Lawyer being sued, accused of creating fake clients to get loans and gamble '24/7', claims ex-husband manipulated her
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A California lawyer allegedly spent $10 million in loans for fake clients to fund a Las Vegas lifestyle for six months. LDR International, the company claiming to have funded the loans, sued Sara Jacqueline King this month. King claims in a new court filing that her ex-husband manipulated her, and forced her to gamble. LDR claims this prevented it from ever knowing for sure whether their loans were actually given to the intended client. King allegedly served as an intermediary in the loan process separate from her law practice, King Reuben, starting when she formed the King Family Lending LLC in February 2020.

Companies Deutsche Bank AG FollowNEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) has settled a lawsuit in which it accused two offshore funds of reneging on an agreement to sell it $1.6 billion of claims in the bankruptcy of Bernard Madoff's namesake firm. Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, the Kingate funds funneled client money to Madoff for many years before his Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2008. The funds sold their claims against the former Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC to Deutsche Bank for 66 cents on the dollar in 2011. But the bank said the Kingate funds later got "sellers' remorse" because the value of the claims rose substantially. The case is Deutsche Bank Securities Inc v. Kingate Global Fund Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Emerging venture fund managers had few banking options to begin with. After Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, where do they turn now?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Melia Russell | Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Silicon Valley Bank had long banked a class of startup investors known as emerging managers. He was able to quickly switch from Silicon Valley Bank with an email to his contact at AngelList. Novak is part of a contingent of investors who are shifting their banking strategy in the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank's failure. After Silicon Valley Bank's demise, the big banks have gotten more selective, the three investors said. The big banks like JPMorgan set account minimums for its private banking group, locking out emerging fund managers.

☆ Swiss regulator investigates 12 banks in Lebanese central banker corruption case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial regulator has investigated 12 banks and launched enforcement proceedings against two of them in relation to corruption charges against longtime central banker Riad Salameh, it said on Monday. Lebanese authorities charged Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants on Thursday with money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment after months of delay in the high-profile case. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) on Monday said it has investigated 12 banks in relation to allegations of money laundering linked to the case. FINMA declined to comment on the nature of the enforcement proceedings in this case, or the banks involved. The Salameh brothers are alleged to have transferred $330 million to Swiss accounts via the offshore company Forry Associates, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported.

☆ Lawyer spent over $10 million in loans for fake clients to live in a Las Vegas hotel and gamble '24/7' for six months, lawsuit alleges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A California lawyer allegedly spent $10 million in loans for fake clients to fund a Las Vegas lifestyle for six months. LDR International, the company claiming to have funded the loans, sued Sara Jacqueline King this month. LDR claims King provided falsified documents to secure 97 loans in 2022. LDR claims this prevented them from ever knowing for sure whether the loans they thought they were funding were actually given to the intended client. King allegedly served as an intermediary in the loan process separate from her law practice, King Reuben, starting when she formed the King Family Lending LLC in February 2020.

Prime Trust made $650 million in wire transfer deposits into the Binance.US account during the quarter, the bank records show. The Binance global exchange, Binance CEO Zhao and Prime Trust did not respond to detailed questions about the transfers. Among the dealers on Binance.US was Merit Peak, according to company messages, the trading firm managed by CEO Zhao. From January to March 2021, the account records show that Merit Peak received 89 transfers from the Binance.US SEN account totalling $404 million. These transfers often immediately followed a deposit into the Binance.US account by Prime Trust, the crypto custodian firm for Binance.US client funds.

Downing Street referred requests for comment to the business ministry, which oversees Companies House, Britain’s public registry of companies. And, in most cases, if foreign companies purchased the property before 1999 or hold UK property in a trust they don’t need to publicly disclose the beneficial owners. The Cyprus-based company, A. Corp Trustee Limited, wasn’t listed on Britain’s new property register as of Tuesday morning. A listing on the UK’s new property register for Hanley Limited identifies the beneficial owner as a Swiss company called Pomerol Capital Sa. Ravellot also wasn’t on the new property register.

☆ Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis wants 'Bitcoin Jesus' to pay $20.9 million over expired options trades
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A unit of Genesis Global says a trader known as "Bitcoin Jesus" has yet to settle all his crypto options trades. Genesis filed for bankruptcy this month after being impacted by the bankruptcies of FTX and Three Arrows. That's one of the names included in Genesis' bankruptcy filing. So-called Bitcoin Jesus was an early advocate for the world's most popular token, but has also been a polarizing figure within the crypto and blockchain communities. Meanwhile, crypto lender Genesis had been facing issues long before the recent collapse of FTX, as Insider previously reported.

☆ Where are the safest places to travel in 2023? It depends on how you define 'safe'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates Doha, Qatar Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Singapore, SingaporeParis topped market research company Euromonitor International's "Top 100 City Destinations" for 2022, but the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah, shown here, ranked highest in terms of health and safety. Its Travel Risk Map 2023 shows that much of North America and Western Europe — as well as places like Turkey, Israel, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates — have "low" medical risks. Medical risks by country. This map does not reflect the Covid-19 outbreak currently occurring in China, said Dr. Irene Lai, medical director at International SOS. Safest places: security risksInternational SOS's Travel Risk Map also assesses security risks, which include crime as well as political violence such as terrorism and war, social unrest and susceptibility to natural disasters, according to the company.

Kyle Davies and Su Zhu are listed under the founding members slide of a pitch deck obtained by CNBC for a distressed debt marketplace called GTX. Davies and Zhu founded Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency hedge fund that was ordered to liquidate by a British Virgin Islands court. It aims to appeal to the more than one million FTX depositors that are now involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, a slide in the pitch deck said. GTX said in its pitch that, once scaled, the platform could fill a "power vacuum left by FTX" within crypto trading and move into the securities lending market. Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam, co-founders of crypto trading platform CoinFLEX, are listed alongside Davies and Zhu as founding members.

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