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☆ Silicon Valley Bank collapse: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Bank stocks around the world plunged on Monday even as President Joe Biden vowed to ensure the safety of the U.S. banking system, after Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) collapsed. U.S. authorities launched emergency measures on Sunday to shore up confidence in the banking system after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank threatened to trigger a broader financial crisis. *California banking regulators closed the bank, which did business as Silicon Valley Bank, and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver for later disposition of its assets. All of the depositors of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank will be made whole, and "no losses will be borne by the taxpayer," the U.S. Treasury Department and other bank regulators said. *In Britain, HSBC (HSBA.L) bought the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank for a symbolic one pound on Monday, rescuing a key lender for technology startups in England.

Greg Becker and two top lieutenants, Chief Financial Officer Daniel Beck and President Michael Descheneaux , were at the helm of Silicon Valley Bank as it rode a wave of low rates and easy-money policies. Last year, when the world changed and the Federal Reserve started raising rates at its fastest pace in decades, they all but ignored it, betting that interest rates would fall and homing in on the boom-and-bust tech industry.

Max Cho found himself in the middle of a bank run while sitting on a shuttle bus in Montana. The co-founder of insurance startup Coverage Cat, Mr. Cho had landed at the Bozeman airport Thursday and boarded the bus for the hourlong drive to a startup founders’ retreat in Big Sky.

JetBlue will face "an uphill battle" as it fights the government," said Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute. "If I'm JetBlue, that's where I focus right now, developing that divestiture offer and lining up a buyer to 'litigate the fix,'" said Dryden. Whatever arguments JetBlue uses, a court fight could last six to eight months and cost tens of millions of dollars in attorney fees, legal experts said. Bill Baer, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division under former President Barack Obama, said the government's complaint "shows that there is meaningful competition between Spirit and JetBlue." "JetBlue brags about the 'JetBlue effect,' where they enter a market and fares tend to go down," he said.

☆ Spirit-JetBlue merger: Here's why DOJ is concerned about this deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSpirit-JetBlue merger: Here's why DOJ is concerned about this dealBill Baer, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, JetBlue's stance in this battle, and more.

☆ Coinbase Buys a Crypto Hedge Fund, Setting Its Sights on Institutional Clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Hannah Miao | Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/coinbase-buys-a-crypto-hedge-fund-setting-its-sights-on-institutional-clients-2d566048

☆ MSC, world's biggest shipping company and U.S.-China trade bellwether, isn't talking like a recession is coming for economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"The return post-Chinese New Year has been positive," Toft said. SONAR FreightWaves data shows the slow pick up in global freight orders post-Chinese New Year. Ocean freight rates, which were the largest inflationary pressure on products, have dropped sharply back to pre-pandemic levels. Rejections for ocean freight have increased, which means containers filled with product for the current or upcoming season are delayed. At a time when ocean carriers are increasingly canceling sailings because of the decrease in ocean freight orders, MSC has responded by increasing the size of its fleet.

☆ Julius Baer completes share buy-back programme
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ZURICH, March 1 (Reuters) - Julius Baer (BAER.S) said on Wednesday it has completed the 400 million Swiss franc ($425.35 million) share buy-back program it launched in March 2022. As part of the program, the Swiss bank repurchased almost 8 million shares at an average price per share of CHF 51.29. The cancellation of the bought back shares will be proposed at the upcoming Annual General Meeting, the bank said. ($1 = 0.9404 Swiss francs)Reporting by Noele Illien; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ A Trader Says Code Allowed Him to Withdraw Millions From a Crypto Exchange. Prosecutors Say He Crossed a Line.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Federal authorities arrested Avraham Eisenberg in Puerto Rico in December, accusing the 27-year-old trader of manipulating prices on a crypto exchange called Mango Markets and draining more than $100 million from the platform. Mango Markets all but collapsed after Mr. Eisenberg withdrew the money on a single day in October, authorities said. Mr. Eisenberg had defended his actions, saying he did only what Mango’s software code made possible.

☆ Financiers sentenced to 11 years for defrauding Libya fund - UK court
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A former JPMorgan investment manager and an ex-Julius Baer banker were sentenced to a total of 11 years by a London court on Monday for defrauding a Libyan sovereign wealth fund out of millions of dollars. Marino, formerly head of JPMorgan’s alternative investment emerging market group, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison. Ohmura – ex-global head of structured investments at Julius Baer company Global Asset Management, who helped dishonestly extract investment fees from LAP – was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. The judge had previously issued a warrant for Marino’s arrest in October after he failed to appear at his trial. Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by William James and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla cofounder's advice to EV startups: Don't try to be Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla cofounder Martin Eberhard says EV companies shouldn't try to compete head-on with Tesla. He said EV startups should try to find their own market and avoid launching Tesla-like models. "My advice to anybody who wants to get into the EV space now is don't try to compete head-on with Tesla," Eberhard told Insider in an interview. Lucid confirmed that Eberhard worked at the startup for a short period in 2015 but declined to comment on his departure. After leaving Tesla, Eberhard served for about two years as the director of EV development at Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory.

☆ FTSE100 stocks have been shunned for years. Now investors love them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Both US indexes have recovered slightly following last year’s big falls, but one of the biggest drags on their performance — high interest rates — is likely to stick around. That’s because, when interest rates are low, the yields on government bonds are also low. That boosts investors’ appetite for riskier investments, such as the stocks of small or highly indebted tech companies that could make blockbuster returns years down the line. BP (BP) and Shell (SHLX), both FTSE companies, more than doubled their annual profits last year to a combined $68 billion. But the lack of tech companies may come back to haunt the FTSE, once inflation and interest rates fall back.

☆ SEC Proposes Rule That Could Squeeze Crypto Platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Paul Kiernan | Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wall Street’s regulator proposed a rule that could make it more difficult for many asset managers to invest customers’ money in cryptocurrencies, as policy makers push to rein in the sector following trading platform FTX’s collapse. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4-1 Wednesday on a proposal that would expand the types of assets that investment advisers, such as hedge funds and pension funds, are required to hold using qualified custodians.

Surging Shanghai metal stocks have injected an element of doubt into the bull narrative and the LME Index is now showing year-to-date gains of only 3% after a February pull-back. Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks of aluminium, copper and zincSEASONAL SURGEMetals bulls have been nervously watching the fast build in Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) stocks over the past few weeks. Copper stocks have grown equally dramatically, from 69,268 tonnes to 242,009 tonnes over the same period. It is currently assessed by Shanghai Metal Market at a bombed-out $22.50 a tonne, down from an October high of $152.50. WAIT AND WATCHIt's difficult to say until China's seasonal stocks pattern plays out in full.

Credit Suisse is set to update shareholders on plans for the spinoff later this week. Apollo Global Management is among a group of financial firms in talks to take a stake in Credit Suisse Group AG’s revamped investment bank, people familiar with the matter said. Credit Suisse said last year that it would carve out the advisory part of its investment-banking operation into a new entity under the resurrected CS First Boston brand following a string of scandals. The bank said it would raise outside capital to launch the new entity, which it hopes to list in a separate initial public offering eventually.

☆ Julius Baer 2022 profits fall as it hits business cycle targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Julius Baer (BAER.S) on Thursday said net profit fell 12% in 2022 in a tough market environment, as the Swiss bank said it closed its 2020-22 business cycle by hitting all its financial targets. Net profit dropped to 950 million Swiss francs ($1.05 billion) from 1.08 billion francs. Net new money totalled 9 billion Swiss francs over the year. "We are closing the 2020–2022 strategic cycle with the second-best result ever," Chief Executive Philipp Rickenbacher said in a statement. "...This puts us on a strong footing from which we have already started the work for the upcoming three-year cycle."

☆ 2023 has clearly had a better start than 2022, says Julius Baer CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via Email2023 has clearly had a better start than 2022, says Julius Baer CEOPhilipp Rickenbacher, CEO of Julius Baer, discusses the wealth management group's results for 2022, and says that was a year with an "incredibly challenging backdrop."

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices ticked up as the market is looking towards a meeting of OPEC and its allies as well as a Federal Reserve rate decision and U.S. government data on crude and fuel stockpiles on Wednesday. Brent crude futures rose 45 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.91 a barrel at 1215 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures rose 62 cents, or 0.8%, to $79.49 a barrel. Tamer U.S. rate hike expectations helped lower the dollar index , which supported oil prices as a weaker greenback makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, according to Stephen Brennock, analyst at PVM. OPEC's oil output fell in January, as Iraqi exports dropped and Nigeria's output did not recover, with the 10 OPEC members pumping 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) below their targeted volumes under the OPEC+ agreement, a Reuters survey found.

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices were broadly stable as the market is looking towards a meeting of OPEC and its allies as well as a Federal Reserve rate decision and U.S. government data on crude and fuel stockpiles on Wednesday. Brent crude futures dipped 11 cents, or 0.1%, to $85.35 a barrel at 0949 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $78.95 a barrel. Tamer U.S. rate hike expectations helped lower the dollar index , which supported oil prices as a weaker greenback makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, according to Stephen Brennock, analyst at PVM. OPEC's oil output fell in January, as Iraqi exports dropped and Nigeria's output did not recover, with the 10 OPEC members pumping 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) below their targeted volumes under the OPEC+ agreement, a Reuters survey found.

A new trading year kicked off just weeks ago. After languishing throughout last year, growth stocks have zoomed higher. Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp., for example, have jumped more than 30%. The outlook for bonds is brightening after a historic rout. Even bitcoin has rallied, despite ongoing effects from the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX.

☆ S&P 500 Closes Lower as Investors Digest Earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Caitlin Mccabe | Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday, as another busy day of earnings gave investors a fresh sense of how companies are coping with an economic slowdown and higher interest rates. The S&P 500 edged down less than a point, ending at 4016.22, as the benchmark index extended its losses into a second day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.88 points to 33743.84, finishing less than 0.1% higher after spending most of the day in the red. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.91, or 0.2%, to 11313.36.

☆ We have a year of normalization and disinflation ahead, Julius Baer CIO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe have a year of normalization and disinflation ahead, Julius Baer CIO saysYves Bonzon, chief investment officer at Julius Baer, says that's a "much better starting point" than 2022's.

☆ Logitech cuts sales outlook after Q3 miss; shares seen sinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Logitech International (LOGN.S) on Thursday reported lower earnings and sales between October and December and cut its sales outlook, citing a difficult economic backdrop and supply chain uncertainties linked to China's COVID-19 outbreak. CEO Bracken Darrell said the weaker-than-expected results reflected "challenging macroeconomic conditions including a slowdown in sales to enterprise customers in the quarter." The company was cutting its outlook based on the results and on "uncertainty in supply availability related to the current COVID outbreak in China." Last year, COVID restrictions drove Logitech to its highest ever second-quarter sales on the back of strong demand for home office products and computer gaming devices. Reporting by Noele Illien and John Stonestreet; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Noele IllienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fidelity Investments Buys Shoobx to Expand Private-Company Stock-Plan Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fidelity administers the stock plans of nearly 700 companies, most of which are publicly traded. Fidelity Investments struck its first takeover in more than seven years, acquiring a stock-plan software company that caters to technology startups and other privately held firms. Fidelity said Tuesday it bought closely held Shoobx Inc., which manages startups’ employee-equity plans and tracks their investors’ holdings from early stages to their initial public offerings. Terms weren’t disclosed.

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