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☆ FTX t-shirts and swag were stashed away in trash bags during Miami's Art Basel, and some crypto diehards took them home as souvenirs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Solana Embassy, once backed by Sam Bankman-Fried, gave away free FTX t-shirts at Art Basel. Among the stash were close to 1,000 FTX Miami t-shirts, FTX bean bags, a framed Miami Heat jersey that featured an FTX logo, and a signed poster of chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen who took part in an FTX-sponsored tournament. Solana tweeted about its events in Miami and said it had "about 1,000 FTX Miami shirts to get rid of." The t-shirts were originally only supposed to be free for those who opened FTX accounts at the Solana Embassy. The Solana Embassy previously housed an FTX Lounge, and the exchange was its biggest financial sponsor, according to Norby.

☆ Banks face 6% capital hike from remaining Basel rules, says Bank of England
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Applying the remaining set of global bank capital rules in Britain will increase capital requirements by about 6% by the end of the decade, the Bank of England said on Wednesday. The initial batch of Basel III rules from the Basel Committee of banking regulators from the world's main financial centres, were rolled out in the aftermath of the global financial crisis over a decade ago when taxpayers had to bail out undercapitalised lenders. The final batch, which the BoE calls Basel 3.1, will be implemented from January 2025, after a public consultation now underway, affecting lenders like HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest. BoE director Phil Evans said given Brexit allows Britain to write its own financial rules, the consultation is a landmark event that will take account of Britain's competitiveness while aligning with strong international standards. Evans said Basel 3.1 will increase capital requirements for banks by about 6%.

☆ Swiss Christmas decorations store booms as shoppers flock back
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BASEL, Switzerland, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Christmas can never come too soon for Johann Wanner, the world's biggest purveyor of hand-made festive decorations whose shop in the Swiss city of Basel attracts shoppers from around the world. After these years of closing down (for the pandemic) people are ready to come out and invest in Christmas ornaments," the 83-year-old said. And I need my customers and they do come and help me, 54 years running," Wanner said this week. Christmas fans find unusual designs, traditional jewellery from European glassblowers, and Swiss souvenirs. Sandra Takai, a tourist from Philadelphia shopping at the store, said she was going to spend a little more on Christmas this year.

☆ An ATM art installation mocks wealthy Art Basel guests by ranking their bank balances on an arcade-like leaderboard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An ATM at Art Basel Miami Beach is ranking users' bank balances with photos of them. Of the 93 ATM users seen in one recording, the bottom eight had $0.00. Daniel Greenberg, MSCHF co-founder, told CNN that "ATM Leaderboard' is an extremely literal distillation of wealth-flaunting impulses." The art collective chose the Miami location because "there is a dense concentration of people renting Lamborghinis and wearing Rolexes." And because the leaderboard keeps a continuous record, MSCHF hopes that they can show the ATM at more events as well.

An ATM installation at Art Basel Miami Beach is displaying and ranking people's bank balances. An ATM is typically used in conjunction with a checking account, which would mean people have tens of thousands — even millions — readily accessible. A checking account shouldn't hold all your moneyA checking account is only one part of a smart banking setup. One checking account is for bills, and the other is for spending via debit card. One savings account is for your emergency fund, and the second is for other goals.

☆ Art Basel Miami Beach Plays It Safe in the Sun
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Brian P. Kelly | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Miami Beach, Fla. The Miami area has always been known to push boundaries. It serves as a financial gateway to the Americas and dared to put the Key lime into a pie. It arguably invented the hurricane party and had no small role in America’s 1980s cocaine habit. Which makes the risk-averse nature of 2022’s Art Basel Miami Beach especially surprising.

☆ UK banks’ Big Bang thankfully looks like big flop
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet, the mooted changes would probably only benefit middling lenders like Santander UK, Virgin Money (VMUK.L) and Banco Sabadell’s (SABE.MC) TSB Bank, according to the FT. And on Wednesday, the BoE’s supervisory body said it planned largely to stick to international bank-capital rules, dubbed Basel 3.1. But the big flop might not be such a bad thing for the country’s financial sector. Separately, the government’s City minister Andrew Griffith said on Nov. 29 that he wanted to relax the so-called ringfencing regime that forces large British lenders to separate their retail and investment banking arms. According to the Financial Times, the ringfencing regime would still apply to the biggest UK banks but there could be exemptions for lenders with limited trading operations including Santander UK, Virgin Money and TSB Bank.

☆ Switzerland clash with Serbia revives memories of political tensions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Switzerland and Serbia will battle for Group G's last spot in the knockout stage on Friday in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup clash that could reignite political tensions between the teams. Switzerland, on three points, look well-placed to join Brazil in the last 16. Switzerland and Serbia -- who along with Cameroon need a win for a chance to advance -- have only played each other once, in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup. That match remains etched in the memory of fans as one with heavy political undertones. The Football Federation of Kosovo, which became a member of European soccer's governing body UEFA and FIFA in 2016, decried the "aggressive action" undertaken by Serbia.

☆ Swiss striker Embolo refuses to celebrate goal against Cameroon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Nick Said | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AL WAKRAH, Qatar, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Switzerland striker Breel Embolo scored against the land of his birth Cameroon in their World Cup Group G clash at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday but refused to celebrate and looked almost apologetic as his team mates rushed to congratulate him. Embolo swept home a Xherdan Shaqiri cross to give the Swiss the lead in the 48th minute after they struggled to break the deadlock in the first half and were second best in the game, which was 0-0 at the break. The 25-year-old striker, who was born in Yaounde but raised in Basel, stood still with an apologetic frown on his face after he scored while the Switzerland players celebrated around him. The goal was a first shot on target for the Swiss, who had battled to contain the African side in the opening 45 minutes. Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] The logo of Deutsche Bank is pictured on an office of the company in London, Britain July 8, 2019. REUTERS/Simon DawsonSummarySummary Companies Wuermeling says banks should not tie their handsSees German banks maintaining capital ratiosFRANKFURT, Nov 23 (Reuters) - German banks should avoid making multi-year promises to their shareholders despite bumper profits this year as the outlook for the economy is worsening, Bundesbank board member Joachim Wuermeling told Reuters. "If you are bound by such promises, even though the environment has changed radically, you get into a very difficult dilemma." Wuermeling said German banks had only modestly raised their payout ratios in their own plans and most should manage to preserve their capital ratios even after taking into account large dividend increases in absolute terms. ($1 = 0.9740 euros)Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Frank Siebelt Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Prediction Capital just closed the first tranche of its $30 million fund to back early-stage fintech and consumer startups in the DACH region
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Prediction Capital has launched its first fund to back early-stage fintech and consumer startups. The $30 million fund, backed by Swiss family office Infinitas Capital, will focus on the DACH region. The Malta-based firm, which has reached the first close of its new $30 million early-stage fund, will focus on startups in the DACH region. Its focus is early-stage startups, across pre-seed to Series A, and initial ticket sizes will range from $250,000 to $500,000. With the help of the family office, Prediction Capital has been able to close four deals so far.

☆ Roche reminds investors big drug bets have risks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shareholders in Swiss drug giant Roche (ROG.S) are learning the downside of making big bets on new drugs. Credit Suisse analysts reckoned the drug could eventually generate around $10 billion of sales. If shareholders had valued that revenue at the same 4 times multiple at which Roche currently trades, the drug could have added nearly $40 billion of value to the company. That suggests investors were attaching a less than one-in-three chance of the drug being a success. Roche investors should brace for more big bets.

☆ Ruud downs debutant Auger-Aliassime in ATP Finals opener
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Norway's third seed Casper Ruud downed ATP Finals debutant Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(4) 6-4 on Sunday to kick-start his round-robin campaign in the season-ending tournament. You will face difficult moments in your career, and maybe these last couple of months was one of those." Auger-Aliassime had won 16 matches in a row to win titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel last month. "Felix has been on a roll this fall and I knew he was going to come out strong," Ruud added. (This story has been corrected to fix Ruud's nationality in lead)Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU backs watering down of final Basel bank capital rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - European Union member states have backed a temporary watering down and two-year delay to 2025 for the final leg of the globally agreed Basel III bank capital rules, the Czech EU presidency said on Tuesday. EU states will now negotiate a final deal with the European Parliament in early 2023. Most of the Basel III rules, a set of tougher capital rules for banks after the global financial crisis more than a decade ago, have already been implemented. EU ministers backed a two-year delay to the start date for rolling out the final rules, pushing it back to January, 2025. Smaller banks would benefit from simpler disclosure, and EU states pushed back against attempts at stricter EU harmonisation in checking whether top bank staff are 'fit and proper'.

☆ Brazil central bank opens public consultation to changes on capital requirements for banks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRASILIA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank opened on Monday a public consultation on changes to calculate capital requirements related to operational risk for financial institutions, scheduled to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2024. The proposal, which will be open for suggestions for 90 days, replaces the three current calculation methodologies with a single standardized model, adhering to the Basel III rules, to "increase the robustness and risk sensitivity of the capital requirement for operational risk," said the central bank. Reporting by Marcela AyresOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Djokovic fights past Tsitsipas to reach Paris Masters final against Rune
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Reigning Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three-set epic on Saturday to set up a title clash with Holger Rune, who reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final after a comfortable win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. Djokovic won his eighth straight match against Tsitsipas but needed more than two hours to seal a 6-2 3-6 7-6(4) victory, keeping alive a 13-match unbeaten run as well as his hopes of clinching a seventh title in Paris. The momentum shifted again in the third set with Djokovic imperious on serve, but he went a mini-break down in the tiebreak before winning the final four points of the match. Danish teenager Rune won 86% of his first-serve points and did not face a break point in a comprehensive 88-minute win. "I really was sticking to the game plan for the whole match and just taking every chance I got.

☆ Rune into Paris semi-finals after Alcaraz retires
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 4 (Reuters) - World number one Carlos Alcaraz retired injured against Holger Rune at the Paris Masters on Friday, sending his fellow 19-year-old through to a semi-final clash against Felix Auger-Aliassime after the Canadian extended his winning run to 16 matches. Rune outclassed Alcaraz on serve to win the opening set 6-3 and held firm in the second when the Spaniard stepped up his level before retiring four points into the tiebreak, having received medical treatment for an abdominal strain at 6-5. Alcaraz will have nine days to recover for the Nov. 13-20 ATP Finals in Turin, where he is set to make his debut. I couldn't serve well, I couldn't hit the forehand well said Alcaraz, who withdrew with Rune leading 6-3 6-6 (3-1) in the quarter-final. "I feel better and better," Auger-Aliassime said.

☆ EU could fall foul of global banking rules, regulators warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The European Union could fall foul of global banking rules designed to stem a repeat of the global financial crisis if proposed changes that would make them looser are passed, the EU's top banking regulators. In their starkest warning to date, the European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority argued against deviating from Basel III, emphasising those standards were designed to make the system safer. "At stake here are the reputation, the competitiveness and, ultimately, the funding costs of the EU banking sector," the ECB and EBA said in a joint blog post. "If all deviations under discussion make it into the final legislative package, we cannot rule out the Basel Committee labelling the EU to 'non-compliant'." Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by David Goodman and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rune into Paris semis after Alcaraz retires, Djokovic advances
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 4 (Reuters) - World number one Carlos Alcaraz retired injured against Holger Rune at the Paris Masters on Friday, sending his fellow 19-year-old through to the semi-finals, while Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime also sealed their places in the last four. Alcaraz was hopeful of making a full recovery for his debut at the ATP Finals in Turin, which begin on Nov. 13, despite the quick turnaround. "But right now I'm focused on trying to get better in the abdominal and trying to be at 100% in Turin." "I feel better and better," Auger-Aliassime said. Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru Editing by Toby Davis and Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ATP roundup: Daniil Medvedev rallies to title in Vienna
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

October 30 - Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia rallied to defeat Canada's Denis Shapovalov and win the Erste Bank Open on Sunday in Vienna, Austria. Medvedev saved six of nine break points and finished with 26 winners and 20 unforced errors. Shapovalov posted 38 winners and 31 unforced errors and finally succumbed on Medvedev's seventh match point. It is the fourth career tour-level title for Auger-Aliassime, 22, who hammered 11 aces, saved all three break points and finished with 34 winners and nine unforced errors. Rune posted 21 winners and only six unforced errors, but Auger-Aliassime came through with a crucial service break in the penultimate game of the match.

☆ The evolution of Credit Suisse over 166 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

1990The group takes a controlling stake in U.S. investment bank CS First Boston and buys Bank Leu, a Swiss private bank. 1997A reorganisation turns CS Holding into Credit Suisse Group and drops the SKA name; it also buys insurer Winterthur, a strategic partner. 2002A reorganisation creates two units: Credit Suisse Financial Services and Credit Suisse First Boston; two years later it splits into three units by adding Winterthur. 2005Credit Suisse and CSFB merge and stop using the Credit Suisse First Boston brand name. In March, U.S. investment fund Archegos implodes, saddling Credit Suisse with a $5.5 billion loss.

☆ Turning City of London into the 'Wild West' would be self-defeating, says BoE's Woods
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Turning the City - London's financial district - into a "Wild West" to attract more business after Brexit would be self-defeating as maintaining financial stability is key to competitiveness, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Thursday. Woods said in a speech to be delivered to the annual City Dinner that financial stability is the single most important ingredient of competitiveness in the sector. "Any attempt to become a global financial centre by competitively de-regulating would be self-defeating by its nature: major international financial institutions want a safe harbour, not a Wild West." Woods has clashed with an insurance industry that wants him to go further in easing capital rules to help it invest in infrastructure. A "comprehensive" public consultation paper on introducing the final leg of global bank capital rules, known as Basel 3.1, will be published by the end of the year, he added.

☆ No Roger Federer Street in Basel, at least for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Swiss tennis great Roger Federer's hometown won't be naming a street after him - at least for now. Officials and politicians in Basel have begun discussions on how to honour the 20-time grand slam singles champion, who retired from the ATP tour last month. But city surveyor Paul Haffner ruled out prospects of Federer getting his own street, an accolade already bestowed on him by some Swiss and German cities. "The policy in Basel is that only deceased individuals have a square or a street named after them," Haffner told Swiss broadcaster SRF. Reporting by Noele Illien; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ATP roundup: Carlos Alcaraz survives in Switzerland
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain survived an early scare to defeat Jack Draper of Great Britain 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Monday in Switzerland. Draper fired nine aces to Alcaraz's one, but Alcaraz saved four of seven break points and converted four of nine break-point chances in order to advance. Fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia was less fortunate, losing to French qualifier Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5). He won 57 of his 70 first-service points (81 percent), saved four of five break points and rallied from behind 5-4 in the second-set tiebreaker. Rublev had seven aces, saved all three break points he faced and broke Schwartzman's serve four times.

☆ ATP roundup: Stan Wawrinka ousts Casper Ruud in Switzerland
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Aug 8, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Stan Wawrinka (SUI) hits a shot against Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) (not pictured) during first round play at IGA Stadium. David Kirouac-USA TODAY SportsOctober 25 - Playing in his home nation and on a protected ranking, 37-year-old Stan Wawrinka knocked out No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday in Switzerland. He saved all three break points he faced against Ruud, went 2-for-2 in break points converted and held a 9-5 edge in aces. In the second round, Thiem could face No.

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