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☆ Ukraine Strikes Preliminary $20 Billion Debt Restructuring Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine said Monday that it had struck a preliminary deal with a group of international private creditors to restructure more than $20 billion of the debt it owes them, a step that would save the war-torn country billions and preserve funds to support its battered armed forces. The creditors agreed to write off more than a third of the nominal value of the government bonds they hold, which would allow Ukraine to save $11.4 billion over the next three years, the Ukrainian government said. The deal has been approved by the International Monetary Fund, which has made its financial assistance to Ukraine conditional on the country’s ability to reduce its debt. Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, said in a statement that the deal “allows us to free up resources for our defense, social spending and reconstruction.”The deal was signed with the largest group of creditors, representing about a quarter of private bondholders. Two-thirds of all bondholders must approve the agreement for it to take effect.

Persons: Denys Shmyhal, Olena Bilan Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Dragon Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ NCAA signs off on deal that would change landscape of college sports — paying student-athletes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( The Associated Press | Nbc News | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

General signage before practice for the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsA major change could be coming for college athletes — they may soon start getting paid. Other casesThe settlement is expected to cover two other antitrust cases facing the NCAA and major conferences that challenge athlete compensation rules. Hubbard v. the NCAA and Carter v. the NCAA are also in front of judges in the Northern District of California. College sports have been trending in this direction for years, with athletes receiving more and more monetary benefits and rights they say were long overdue.

Persons: Charles LeClaire, —, Charlie Baker, Steve Berman, Grant, Michael McCann, McCann, Logan Riely, Hubbard, Carter, Fontenot, they're, George Zelcs Organizations: PPG Paints, NCAA, ACC, SEC, Former Arizona State, Grant House, Sedona Prince, TCU, NBC, Washington Huskies, Michigan Wolverines, College Football Playoff, Notre Dame, Big, Atlantic Coast, Washington, Oregon State, Northern District of, College Locations: Oregon, amateurism, Houston, Southeastern, Washington State, Northern District, Northern District of California, Colorado, Fontenot

Ten nonprofits serving young people in Detroit will get an unusual, lasting gift as part of a campaign started by Lisa Ford and her husband, Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. Endowments are funds a nonprofit can invest and the annual financial returns from those investments can go into the nonprofit’s budget. Detroit-area nonprofits may apply in June, when Michigan Central Station will reopen, and ten selected organizations will each receive $500,000 to launch an endowment. The Children's Foundation will manage the nonprofits’ endowments and offer them guidance and technical support over two years. Lisa Ford said the idea for creating endowments for youth nonprofits evolved out of their commitment to supporting a robust and vibrant future for the city and the automotive industry.

Persons: Lisa Ford, Bill Ford, ’ ”, Andrew Stein, ”, ” Ford, Todd Ely, Ely, ” Ely, Meadow Didier, Stein Organizations: Ford Motor Co, Children’s Foundation, Michigan Central, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Harvard, Foundation, Children’s, Endowments, Internal Revenue Service, University of Colorado, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Children's, Ford, Associated, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Detroit, Michigan, University of Colorado Denver

Sentiment rebounded in China as the blue chip CSI300 index (.CSI300) turned positive to be up 0.07% after initially losing 0.54%. Australian shares (.AXJO) were up 0.15%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) rose 0.29% after early trading up by nearly 0.8%. ANZ predicts China's July consumer price index to come in at minus 0.4% year-on-year. "Weak inflation in China should be a global disinflationary force in goods markets going forward." Minor measures to help property markets have been delivered in the past fortnight, but no broad stimulus has been outlined.

Persons: Kim Kyung, Hoon SYDNEY, Hong, HSI, Mizuho, Brent, Scott Murdoch, Lincoln Organizations: Yen, REUTERS, Federal, Japan's Nikkei, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Global, ANZ, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, China, United States, Asia, Pacific, U.S, Sydney

☆ Kuwait to set up new sovereign fund to develop mega projects and local economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Ahmed Hagagy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KUWAIT CITY, July 16 (Reuters) - Kuwait plans to establish a new sovereign fund to develop its local economy, spearhead mega projects, and attract funds from foreign investors and the private sector, according to a government plan seen by Reuters on Sunday. The government has tasked the Ministry of Finance and the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) with studying plans for the proposed fund, dubbed Ciyada, Arabic for sovereign, the document says. Ciyada Development Fund will be used to spearhead domestic investments, intended to fuel economic development and diversify Kuwait's economy, the document says. Ciyada would accelerate Kuwait's economic growth, promote transformation and progress in various fields of development, through strategic planning and implementation of major development projects, the document says. Abu Dhabi for instance in 2002 created Mubadala Development Co to diversify the emirate's economy and accelerate development.

Persons: Mubadala, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's, Ahmed Hagagy, Hadeel Al Sayegh, David Holmes Organizations: KUWAIT CITY, Reuters, Sunday, Ministry of Finance, Kuwait Investment Authority, Ciyada, Kuwait Investment Office, Reserve Fund, Fund, Government, International Petroleum Investment Co, Mubadala, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Thomson Locations: KUWAIT, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi

☆ Even King Charles Is Feeling Pinched by Rising Prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — King Charles III has vowed to streamline the royal family, which would make it less of a burden on British taxpayers. But a report on the family’s finances, released on Thursday, shows that goal remains elusive: The king had to dip into reserves to pay for swelling expenses in a year of momentous royal change. The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the inflation-fueled cost of refurbishing Buckingham Palace drove the family’s official expenses to more than 107 million pounds ($135 million) in the last financial year. That forced Charles to draw 20.7 million pounds ($26 million) from a reserve fund to cover a shortfall between the expenses and the annual grant that the family receives from the government. Charles is midway through an expensive home improvement project at Buckingham Palace, which means he and Queen Camilla are still living at his nearby residence, Clarence House.

Persons: Charles III, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, —, Queen Camilla, Clarence House Locations: Buckingham

☆ Should investors buy regional bank stocks? A bull and a bear weigh in — and share 3 top picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A bull and a bear on U.S. regional banks faced off on CNBC's " Street Signs Asia " on Thursday and shared their stock picks. 'Not the environment' for regional banks It's "not the environment" for regional banks right now, said Brian Stutland, portfolio manager at Equity Armor Investments. Stock picks For investors still keen on regional bank stocks, Marinac said his top two picks are Fifth Third Bancorp and First Citizens . First Citizens announced in late March that it will buy over Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans. He highlighted "the fact that [regional bank] stocks are down 40% when you've had earnings down about 5%.

☆ House weaponization panel seeks to eclipse January 6 committee's $18M+ budget despite rocky start
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House weaponization panel chair Jim Jordan is already seeking more money from leadership. Jordan requested a $19 million budget, which is roughly what the January 6 select committee spent. His pitch for an additional $17 million in resources, first reported by Axios, includes doubling his initial $2 million budget and carving out a $15 million "reserve fund" the new political investigation unit can draw from as needed. Between the select committee disbanding after releasing its politically damning final report and House Republicans rearranging things on every committee after narrowly reclaiming control of the chamber last fall, tracking every select committee financial statement has gotten tricky. Sherman scolded House GOP leaders for demanding budget cuts elsewhere, but then throwing money at poorly received pet projects like the "flameout that the weaponization committee just experienced with its so-called whistleblowers hearing."

☆ New Jersey Is Latest State to Push Tax Relief Despite Economic Uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, plans to make a full $7 billion payment toward the state’s underfunded pension liabilities and will increase reserve funds to $10 billion. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday will propose another $2 billion in property-tax rebate checks as part of a $53 billion state budget, a state treasury official said, making it the latest state to push ahead with tax-relief proposals despite recession concerns. Measures under discussion in more than a dozen states vary widely but the trend cuts across political divides: Governors and state lawmakers are looking for ways to give taxpayers a break.

☆ States Propose Billions in Tax Relief Despite Economic Uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Elizabeth Warren urges the Supreme Court to strike down Trump-appointed judges' decision to imperil funding for a student-loan industry and consumer-rights watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jason Lalljee | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Supreme Court will take on a lower court's decision that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's federal funding is unconstitutional. Senator Elizabeth Warren advocated for the Supreme Court to strike down that decision. "If the Supreme Court follows more than a century of law and historical precedent, it will strike down the Fifth Circuit's decision before it throws our financial markets and economy into chaos." McHenry, who now runs the House Financial Services Committee, has hinted at seeking stronger oversight for CFPB for months now. And that's on top of a longer context of Republicans challenging the CFPB's funding and decision making.

☆ Ireland sees inflation averaging 4-5% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Irish inflation is expected to average between 4% and 5% across 2023, lower than the 7.1% the finance ministry most recently forecast last September, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said. Annual Irish inflation slowed to 7.8% in January after posting the sharpest monthly decline in seven years. "The good news is that inflation has now peaked, and is falling back," McGrath said in a speech late on Friday, citing a sharp fall in wholesale energy prices. In its last forecasts, the finance ministry saw modified domestic demand - its preferred measure of activity - slipping by 0.6 in the first quarter before expanding by 0.8% from April to June and averaging 1.2% for the year. The government has deposited 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in the reserve fund in recent months, setting aside some of its corporate tax receipts that it considers windfall in nature after an enormous rise in recent years.

☆ The stock market has been flipped and investors are taunting the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As my colleague Matthew Fox writes, the stock market has been completely flipped upside down so far in 2023. This is the type of trading behavior you'd expect to see when interest rates are closer to 0% than 5%. To Kolanovic, the errant investor behavior foreshadows a plunge in the stock market. US stock futures fall early Tuesday, as investors stay worried that persistent inflation means interest rates will stay higher for longer. SoFi's Liz Young warned that a lack of reserve funds could stop this year's stock market rally: "What the equity market is not pricing in at this point, or is not worried enough about, is consumer spending."

☆ Florida Condo Owners Brace for New Inspection, Reserve Requirements
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Deborah Acosta | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Under a new law, condos in Florida can no longer waive reserves for building components deemed critical to structural soundness. Condo owners in Florida, already getting squeezed by increasing insurance costs, also might get hit soon by higher monthly fees from new state regulations on structural inspections and reserve funds. Ron DeSantis in May signed the law in response to the 2021 tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., that killed 98 people. Under the new law, new structural inspections are required of most condo buildings over 30 years old, or 25 years old if within 3 miles of the coast.

It also referred to the need to reform international financial institutions. It should lead to a tripling of the amount international financial institutions lend "with a clear focus on climate and sustainable development goals," Prasad said. Similarly, Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank said: "If you want to do more, you actually need more." "There has to be a lot more increase in capital, for the multilateral development banks," he told Reuters. "Our international financial architecture is built for a different time and different challenges," he said.

☆ Elizabeth Warren blasts a federal court's 'lawless and reckless decision' striking down the funding mechanism for a top student-loan industry watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who helped create the agency, called the ruling a "reckless decision." "This is a lawless and reckless decision," Warren wrote on Twitter. "This reckless decision could stop the CFPB from enforcing rules that prevent debt collectors from harassing you," she added. Rules to stop financial firms charging you outrageous junk fees." "Other federal financial regulators and the entire Federal Reserve System are funded that way, and programs such as Medicare and Social Security are funded outside of the annual appropriations process," the spokesperson said.

☆ A blue-collar worker who retired early thanks to his real estate portfolio explains how he used a self-directed IRA to buy property and scale up his portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Buying real estate with an IRA can be a complicated strategy, but it's possible. He bought his first rental property in 2017 by taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC). He did have a Roth IRA, however, and he learned how to buy real estate with it from a YouTube video. He sold the stocks in his Roth IRA and put the money in a SDIRATo hold real estate in an IRA, it has to be self-directed. With real estate, property values may drop.

☆ Ireland to tap surplus, taxes on suppliers for any future energy measures -finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Ireland will tap surplus funds not stashed away in its national reserve fund if consumers or businesses need further help with energy bills beyond March next year, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Tuesday. "The first port of call for that will be the surplus we still believe we will have," Donohoe told a news conference when asked if he would tap the planned 6 billion euro national reserve fund in the first instance. "The second port of call will be either our participation in the EU wide energy tax measure that may come in and if that is not forthcoming, the government has committed today to bringing forward our own domestic tax raising measure from the energy sector." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ireland dips into budget surplus to ease cost of living squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Padraic Halpin | Conor Humphries | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ireland dipped into one of Europe’s few budget surpluses to fund higher-than-usual spending hikes and tax cuts, ease energy costs for firms and consumers and set cash aside in a budget it said was in sharp contrast to neighbouring Britain’s economic plans. FILE PHOTO: A shopper wearing a face masks pushes a trolley in a discount shop in Dublin, Ireland, November 30, 2021. In May, the European Commission forecast that Denmark would be the only country in the EU to deliver a surplus this year with Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg joining them in 2023. Ireland’s forecasts on Tuesday included a surplus of just under 0.5% of national income for 2022. The amount of money people can earn tax-free before hitting the higher rate of income tax was also increased.

☆ Ireland aims to ease cost of living squeeze with 'two budgets in one'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIt also promised a one-off package including grants for companies and cash for households to pay energy bills. That will come in at around 3 billion euros, according to two sources briefed on the negotiations which are nearing a conclusion. In May, the European Commission forecast that Denmark would be the only country in the EU to deliver a surplus this year with Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg joining them in 2023. Ireland would still be taking in less money that it spends without the corporate tax haul mostly generated from its large multinational sector. ($1 = 1.0350 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's central bank has equity wiped out by billions in bond losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man walking past the Reserve Bank of Australia in the central business district of Sydney on June 7, 2022. Australia's central bank on Friday warned inflation was heading to three-decade highs requiring further hikes in interest rates that would slow growth sharply. Australia's central bank on Wednesday said its equity had been wiped out by losses suffered on pandemic-era bond buying, but its ability to create money meant it was not insolvent and would continue as normal. The losses eclipsed underlying earnings of A$8.2 billion and left the central bank with an accounting loss of A$36.7 billion. "The negative equity position will, therefore, not affect the ability of the Reserve Bank to do its job."

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