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WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Lawmakers are expected to put top U.S. bank regulators on the defensive over the unexpected failures of regional lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank when they testify before Congress on Tuesday. Regulators have vowed to review their rules and procedures after the twin failures while insisting the overall system remains sound. Tuesday's hearing at the Senate Banking Committee will give lawmakers the chance to press watchdogs on what went wrong on their watch, and push preferred policy prescriptions. They just didn't," said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, at a banking industry conference last week. Some Democrats, including major bank critic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have also argued a 2018 bank deregulation law is to blame.

☆ How facial recognition is helping Putin curb dissent
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

There officers told the 51-year-old bank employee that the metro’s facial recognition system had flagged him for detention because of his political activism. Facial recognition is now helping police to identify and sweep up the Kremlin’s opponents as a preventive measure, whenever they choose. The facial recognition system in Moscow is powered by algorithms produced by one Belarusian company and three Russian firms. All but one said they understood from officers that they were flagged for detention by facial recognition. Facial recognition technology uses artificial intelligence algorithms to analyse and identify faces.

☆ Huawei reportedly says it has developed domestic chip design tools despite U.S. sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Huawei reportedly said it has developed its own chip design tools, a move aimed at side-stepping U.S. sanctions and making the Chinese technology giant more self-sufficient in the semiconductor space. U.S. firms dominate the chip design tool market with companies like Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems . But in 2020, Washington, through sanctions, cut off Huawei from American chipmaking tools, which crippled the Chinese technology giant's smartphone business. Xu's speech said that the design tools would be for 14 nanometer chips and above. Pranay Kotasthane, chairperson of the high tech geopolitics program at the Takshashila Institution, told CNBC he would wait to see more details before knowing how effective Huawei's design tools are.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with "willful evasion" of U.S. law, "while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit." "Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," Zhao said in a statement. Firms such as brokers that facilitate U.S. customers' trading of such products are required to register with the agency. 'PIRATE SHIP'Founded in Shanghai in 2017, Binance sits at the heart of the global crypto industry. With a holding company based in the Cayman Islands, Binance has never revealed the location of its core exchange.

☆ Investing isn't free. But here's why 20% of investors think it is
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Investment fees may be a worthy addition to that list in the modern era — though not all investors are aware of this near-universal fact. These firms — whether an investment fund or financial advisor, for example — generally levy investment fees of some kind. watch now"And that makes you much less sensitive to the fees you're paying — in amount and whether you're paying fees at all." Here's the good news for many investors: Even if you haven't been paying attention to fees, they've likely declined over time. This is largely due to investors' preferences for low-cost funds, particularly so-called index funds, Morningstar said.

☆ China's attitude towards developing stable, constructive Sino-US relations unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SHANGHAI, March 25 (Reuters) - China's attitude towards developing a healthy, stable and constructive Sino-U.S. relationship remains unchanged, while it hopes the United States will stop using "unscrupulous means" to contain and suppress China, China's foreign minister Qin Gang said on Saturday. China hopes the two nations will work together to promote bilateral relations to overcome difficulties and return to healthy and stable developments, Qin said as he met U.S.- friendly organizations and business representatives in Beijing. Qin said China will continue to provide a better business environment for global companies, including U.S. firms. Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US due diligence firm Mintz Group says staff detained in China after office raid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Michael Martina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group said on Thursday its Beijing office was raided by authorities and five Chinese staff were detained, stoking worry among foreign companies in China just as its capital hosts an international economic forum. "We can confirm that Chinese authorities have detained the five staff in Mintz Group's Beijing office, all of them Chinese nationals, and have closed our operations there," the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "Mintz Group has not received any official legal notice regarding a case against the company and has requested that the authorities release its employees," the company said. 'RED ALERTS'As per Mintz Group's website, the Beijing office is its only one in mainland China. Western due diligence companies have gotten into trouble with Chinese authorities before.

☆ A 'greenwashing' crackdown in Europe hasn't gone down well. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published its so-called "Green Claims Directive" on Wednesday. The highly anticipated proposal seeks to establish an EU-wide methodology that will help to clean up the environmental claims marketplace. Today, most green claims are too good to be true and the proposal is… far from the real (green) deal. The EU's "Green Claims Directive" seeks to tackle this trend. "Green claims are everywhere: ocean-friendly t-shirts, carbon-neutral bananas, bee-friendly juices, 100% CO2-compensated deliveries and so on," said Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal.

☆ Credit Suisse's $3.2 billion cut-price sale signals an ongoing crisis that could expose unicorn fintechs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The firesale of Credit Suisse to UBS is putting the banking world on high alert. A $54 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank wasn't enough to keep Credit Suisse afloat, and UBS stepped in. Credit Suisse suffered idiosyncratic problems, such as a spying scandal involving former CEO Tidjane Thiam, as well as crises relating to its relationships with hedge fund Archegos Capital and financial group Greensill Capital. "There's already a lot of soul searching about what fintech business models are," says Paul Rolles, an ex-Morgan Stanley managing director and cofounder of money-management service HyperJar. Rolles believes the banking issues of the past couple of weeks are as much about confidence as intrinsic issues.

☆ Here’s how payment players have fared post-SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Affirm said SVB was neither a funding partner nor an originating bank partner, and that large banks held the majority of its operating accounts. While it initially paused disbursements to merchants that had SVB accounts, it later resumed those transactions. While it initially paused disbursements to merchants that had SVB accounts, it later resumed those transactions. Issues with payment processing , accessing capital, and cryptocurrency implications emerged in the wake of SVB’s collapse. However, many are still getting the cold shoulder from those large banks, and their account opening times can be longer than startup-focused lenders.

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Hedge funds are watching growing U.S.-Chinese geopolitical tensions and have spotted ways to trade them. Taking a short position on investment grade bonds would make up for losses on long positions elsewhere, he said. If tensions were resolved, being caught with a negative view on Chinese stocks would not be beneficial, and therefore she would not short Chinese AI firms but invest in U.S. ones instead. "The most sensitive commodity to a break down in trade between China and Russia and the West is graphite," he added. "Supply chains are already shifting to Penang, and they are receiving investment from both China and the U.S.

☆ Banks sought record Fed liquidity in wake of SVB collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

That reverses a substantial portion of the balance sheet reduction accomplished since last summer. The bank lending facility is backstopped by $25 billion from the Treasury Department’s Exchange Stabilization Fund. Record discount window borrowing was somewhat unexpected as many analysts had thought banks would instead gravitate to the new lending facility. That said, some saw the discount window borrowing surge as a positive by itself. Reuters GraphicsBALANCE SHEET UPSWINGThe surge in emergency lending caused the Fed’s balance sheet to stop shrinking and grow notably larger.

Crypto analysts said that the U.S. bank closures, along with a regulatory crackdown in the U.S., would push firms to seek banking partnerships in Europe, Asia, and "offshore". Switzerland, long famous for its private banking sector, has also been one of the more welcoming countries in Europe for crypto firms, with the Swiss city of Zug dubbed "The Crypto Valley." "Crypto firms and other money managers have already started the onboarding process and many calls are scheduled next weeks," he said via email. Rani Jabban, head of treasury and financial institutions at Arab Bank, said around 80% of them had been Silvergate customers. Crypto firms relied on Silvergate's crypto payments network, the Silvergate Exchange Network, which allowed round-the-clock transfers between investors and crypto exchanges, unlike traditional bank wires, which can often take days to settle.

☆ Companies Whose Deposits in Silicon Valley Bank Were Just Freed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Peter Santilli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed following a run on deposits, many of its clients scrambled to compensate after being cut off. Firms that disclosed how much money they had in the bank when it failed are listed below. Shares of Roku fell on March 10 after the streaming platform provider said in a securities filing that it had approximately $487 million held at SVB, or 26% of its $1.9 billion cash position.

☆ Main Street investors pressure SEC, confront Wall Street on stock plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - Main Street investors are facing off against Wall Street in an attempt to sway the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its proposed revamp of stock trading. The collective voice of individual investors has grown as their numbers surged, a lasting legacy from the so-called "meme stock" saga of early 2021. "A lot of folks are angry," said Dave Lauer, cofounder of We The Investors, a retail investor-focused advocacy group. Individual investors jumped into stock trading after big retail brokers eliminated commissions in late 2019. With weeks to go until the March 31 deadline for comment letters on the SEC proposals, Lauer said he was just starting his organization's comment letter campaign.

☆ U.S. seeks closer India tech ties; no China "decoupling"- U.S. commerce secretary
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Shivangi Acharya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, March 10 (Reuters) - India could become a key supplier of electronic parts and hardware for the United States, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Friday, adding that Washington was not seeking a "technological decoupling" from China. "We want to deepen our technology relationship with India," she said after both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the semiconductor sector. India has been seeking to attract more investment in the chipmaking and display sector under a $10 billion incentive plan. She also said she would announce a number of "substantial investments" by U.S. firms in India, without giving any details. Reporting by Shivangi Achary; writing by Miral Fahmy; editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ AI might revolutionize how we borrow money. But is that a good thing?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But a recent report by Credit Suisse on the use cases for both ChatGPT and AI in finance caught my eye. AI models are only as good as the data they receive, which leaves them susceptible to bias, just like humans. A top-performing hedge fund is looking to team up with one of the hottest tech tools. Izzy Englander's Millennium Management told clients that it'll expect to get paid regardless of whether the hedge fund actually makes money for its investors, according to Bloomberg. The billionaire hedge fund manager believes all signs are pointing towards a recession.

[1/2] People queue outside a newly reopened career center for in-person appointments in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Amira KaraoudMarch 9 (Reuters) - Layoffs by U.S. companies over January and February touched the highest since 2009, with the tech sector accounting for more than a third of the over 180,000 job cuts announced, a report showed on Thursday. In February alone, layoffs in the United States stood at 77,770, more than five times higher than the 15,245 job cuts announced a year earlier, according to the report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.Reuters Graphics"Right now, the overwhelming bulk of cuts are occurring in Technology. Retail and Financial are also cutting right now, as consumer spending matches economic conditions," said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of the firm. U.S. firms announced plans to hire 28,830 workers in February, down 87% from 215,127 a year earlier, the report added.

☆ U.S. reviewing China's Inspur Group entity listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - The United States is reviewing China's Inspur Group Co Ltd's entity listing and will update it as appropriate, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce said. The United States last week added Inspur to its trade blacklist for allegedly acquiring U.S.-origin items in support of the China's military modernization efforts. The listing means that companies cannot sell Inspur items like semiconductors, which are made with U.S. tools, unless they apply for and get licenses, which are likely to be denied. Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) and other U.S. firms are racing to assess whether they must halt sales to units of China's Inspur Group Ltd after its addition to the list. Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ As Customer Problems Hit a Record High, More People Seek ‘Revenge’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Some 74% of the 1,000 consumers surveyed said they had experienced a product or service problem in the past year. The rising dissatisfaction is accompanied by more frequent and aggressive complaints, according to the National Customer Rage study. At the same time, more companies have been turning to automation to cut costs and cover staffing shortages in their standard customer service. But that strategy is prone to angering customers further, the rage research found. Customer service technology such as artificial intelligence is less likely to be able to deliver that craving for empathy than human agents, Mr. Broetzmann said.

Like Willis, private economists and analysts at payroll firms and staffing companies also see a labor market that is stressed but adjusting. A recent Goldman Sachs study concluded wage growth should continue slowing even with the current low unemployment rate of 3.4%. But even that came with slowing wage growth, and the gain was amplified by seasonal adjustments used to factor out expected swings in hiring during holidays and summer. Nela Richardson, chief economist at payroll processor ADP, said even as economy-wide hiring remains strong, the tech layoffs may be helping mute overall wage growth. "If that is a trend...we would expect there would be less drive for wage growth," she said.

☆ China Feb services activity jumps sharply as demand recovers- Caixin PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - Activity in China’s services sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months in February as the removal of tough COVID-19 restrictions revived customer demand, driving a solid increase in employment, a private sector survey showed on Friday. FILE PHOTO: A worker cleans a broken glass panel at a mall in Beijing, China October 4, 2015. The reading tallies with an official services PMI released on Wednesday, suggesting a robust recovery in the sector is well under way. Thanks to the COVID reopening, business confidence across China’s services sector remained robust last month, though the degree of optimism slipped slightly from January’s near 12-year highs. “The economy has entered a post-COVID recovery, with services activity showing signs of a stronger recovery than the manufacturing sector,” said Wang Zhe, an economist at Caixin Insight Group.

☆ Op-ed: The calm before the storm – These 3 drivers will dictate the landing ahead for the U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Rebecca Patterson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The approach of those storms seems an appropriate analogy to the U.S. economic outlook today. Investors today are keenly focused on what kind of economic landing the U.S. will have and how best to position for different outcomes. That's critical for the broader growth outlook, given that consumption represents around two-thirds of the economy. While many U.S. firms are expressing their nervousness about the economic outlook, they are at the same time still seeking to hire. A negative feedback loop would likely ensue, with less income weighing on spending and less spending making companies more cautious.

☆ Amazon's corporate employees will be paid up to 50% less in 2023 because of its falling stock price, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon corporate employees will be paid up to 50% less in 2023 due to its falling share price, the WSJ reported. Salaries this year are likely 15% to 50% lower than the estimations given to Amazon staff, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Stock units are issued to staff on the basis that the company's share price will increase around 15% every year, sources told the Journal. The sources added that expectations were that the company's share price would be around $170 this year, rather than the $97 where it currently trades. Amazon's decreasing stock price reflects a wider economic slowdown, as well as slowing growth in its retail business.

☆ Trade tensions seen hanging over U.S. firms' caution over China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. and European multinational firms are getting more cautious about their capital investments in China due to geopolitical concerns, according to a risk consultancy. Richard Martin, managing director of IMA Asia, said the ongoing U.S. trade tensions with China is the main reason for the investment caution shown by American companies. As for European firms, Martin noted, its Russia's invasion of Ukraine that has led to concerns over Beijing. Even at 3% or 4% growth, China will add more dollar value in the next five years than the United States. "Even at 3% or 4% growth, China will add more dollar value in the next five years than the United States.

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