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LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) came close to falling below minimum levels of cash held at the Swiss central bank days before its forced takeover by UBS (UBSG.S), a regulatory document shows. As of mid-March 2023, Credit Suisse barely reached its internal cash limit at the Swiss National Bank. Credit Suisse was forced into a government orchestrated rescue on March 19. FINMA and Credit Suisse declined to comment. FINMA stated in the decree that a viability event occurred and that Credit Suisse could therefore wipe out the instruments.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Planisware is working with investment bankers on strategic options, including a stock market listing of the French software group, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Rothschild (ROTH.PA) is acting as financial adviser to Planisware, two of the people, who declined to be named, said. BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Citigroup (C.N) have been lined up to arrange a possible initial public offering (IPO), one person added. Private equity group Ardian, which holds an undisclosed stake in Planisware through its growth capital arm, declined to comment. In France, IPO volumes plunged in 2022 to levels similar to the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

☆ Russia confirms Black Sea grain deal renewed for two months
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 17 (Reuters) - Russia confirmed on Wednesday that a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain safely across the Black Sea, despite Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, had been extended for two months. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deal had been extended to help countries in need, but added that Russia's overall assessment of the situation regarding the deal had not changed. "The extension of the grain deal is for two months. Thus, there is a chance, not in words, but in deeds, to help ensure global food security. First of all, to help the most needy countries," Zakharova told reporters in a video briefing.

☆ U.S. refiners build new oil processing as travel rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Erwin Seba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HOUSTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. oil refiners aim to run at up to 94% of a total 17.9 million barrels per day processing capacity this quarter, according to company forecasts and analysts, driven in part by expectations of seasonal travel demand. This quarter is traditionally one of the year's hottest for demand as companies build gasoline and jet fuel output for the summer vacation season. He estimates refiners overall will run at 94% utilization rate this quarter, matching the 2017-19 average for the period. High prices will keep U.S. refinery utilization rates at levels near last year's about 91.7% this year and next, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast in January. Refiners will add the capacity to process an additional 328,000 bpd in this quarter, increasing gasoline and diesel supplies this summer.

☆ Goldman fined $7 million by ECB over credit risk reporting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, May 15 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank said on Monday it had fined Goldman Sachs' (GS.N) European unit 6.63 million euros ($7.3 million) for underreporting the risk associated with some corporate credit, thereby flattering its balance sheet. The ECB, the euro zone's top banking supervisor, said Goldman Sachs Bank Europe misclassified some corporate exposures for eight straight quarters in 2019-21, assigning a lower risk to them than the rules prescribe. Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. So called risk weights determine how much capital a bank needs to cover the risk associated with an asset. By attaching lower risk weights to some assets, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe "reported higher capital ratios than it should have done", the ECB said.

☆ Analysis: Erdogan election showing cools Turkish turnaround hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Hopes among investors of a surge in Turkish markets evaporated on Monday after long-standing President Tayyip Erdogan took a commanding position in Turkey's elections. "Hope is dead," Abrdn's head of emerging market local currency debt Kieran Curtis said of the prospects for Erdogan's main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu and meaningful policy change. Monday's initial market reaction had seen the Turkish lira dip to 2-month low alongside more pronounced drops in banking shares and hard currency government bonds. "A continuity of policies would argue for low FX volatility," JPMorgan added, as Erdogan's economic team would look to limit the changes and FX volatility. Reuters GraphicsAdditional reporting by Libby George and Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"Our commitment to Juventus is unchanged and no meetings have taken place," a spokesperson for Exor said when asked to comment by Reuters on Friday. Juventus also faces potential new penalties, including further points deductions, in a separate case over alleged irregularities in payments to players. The Agnelli family has owned the club, which it listed in 2001, almost uninterrupted since 1923. New potential co-investors could include Middle Eastern or Asian sovereign wealth funds, or U.S. funds or family offices, two sources said. Juventus ranked 11th in Deloitte's European Money League published in January, based on its annual revenue of 400 million euros in 2021/22.

For PIF, the Lucid (LCID.O) bet is proving challenging. "The EV manufacturing plan is still one of the boldest parts of the Saudi plan," said Justin Alexander, director at Khalij Economics and Gulf analyst at GlobalSource Partners. Its investment was worth about $17.4 billion in mid-2022, the wealth fund's bond prospectus showed, and around $26 billion when Lucid was listed in 2021. The Saudi government has agreed with Lucid to buy up to 100,00 of its vehicles over the next decade. "Rather than fixing on short term results, the future of PIF's stake in Lucid will be dependent on the plans to build a Lucid factory in Saudi, on taking Lucid private again and/or on the potential integration with Ceer," said Global SWF Managing Director Diego Lopez of plans for a new Saudi EV maker.

Under the terms of the agreement, up to $4 billion in Turkish energy payments to Russia may be postponed until next year, both sources told Reuters under condition of anonymity. Turkey, which is preparing for elections on Sunday, depends heavily on energy imports and Russia is its largest supplier. The source said Turkey could push back further such payments in the coming months depending on the course of energy prices. The Russian and Turkish energy ministries, and their respective energy companies Gazprom and Botas, have not responded to requests for comment on the issue. Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said last week that Turkey and Moscow agreed a deal allowing Ankara to defer energy payments up to a certain amount, but did not give details.

☆ Global hedge fund launches at lowest level since 2017 -Preqin
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Hedge fund launches in 2023 are at their lowest level globally since 2017, data provider Preqin said, against a backdrop of banking upheaval and bouts of market volatility. So far this year, 180 funds have started or plan to start trading, Preqin told Reuters on Tuesday. Managed futures hedge funds using computer-led strategies to follow market trends and firms trading on macroeconomic signals have had three and eight launches respectively this year. Reuters GraphicsThere have been 36 launches of equity strategy funds, making them the most popular strategy, Preqin data showed. Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity shrank to its lowest level in more than a decade in the first quarter, and only six new event driven hedge funds have started this year.

☆ Australia stamps authority on SailGP with third $1 million win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Alexander Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Tom Slingsby and his Australian crew clinched this season's SailGP Championship in San Francisco Bay on Sunday, notching up their third straight win and with it another $1 million prize. A dominant Australia held off a last-minute surge from runner-up Peter Burling's New Zealand in the three-boat final, with Ben Ainslie's Emirates Great Britain trailing in behind in what has been billed as sailing's answer to Formula One. There will be little downtime for the crews with SailGP's fourth season due to begin on June 16-17 in Chicago, the first of 12 events around the world which will culminate once again in San Francisco Bay in July next year. SailGP said that a new team, which it did not name, would be joining the others for the start in the next U.S. event. Reporting by Alexander Smith in London; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Berkshire posts $35.5 billion profit, sells over $13 billion in stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Berkshire also sped up repurchases of its own stock, buying back $4.4 billion, while paring its investments in other stocks such as Chevron Corp CVX.N, which is still a major holding. MORE CASHNet income equaled $24,377 per Class A share and rose from $5.58 billion, or $3,784 per share, a year earlier. That in part reflected a 27% jump in Apple's AAPL.O stock price, leaving Berkshire with a $151 billion stake in the iPhone maker. Quarterly operating profit increased 13% to $8.07 billion, or about $5,561 per Class A share, from $7.16 billion. Berkshire's cash hoard grew $2 billion in the quarter to $130.6 billion, as the company sold $13.3 billion of stocks and bought just $2.9 billion.

☆ Buffett's Berkshire posts $35.5 billion profit, buys back more stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OMAHA, Nebraska, May 6 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday said its first-quarter profit totaled $35.5 billion, reflecting gains from common stocks such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), while higher income from investments bolstered operating profit. Net income equaled $24,377 per Class A share, and swelled from $5.58 billion, or $3,784 per share, a year earlier. Quarterly operating profit increased 13% to $8.07 billion, or about $5,561 per Class A share, from $7.16 billion. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company said it also repurchased $4.4 billion of its own stock in the quarter. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany's Scholz says more renewables key to lower industry costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 6 (Reuters) - Ramping up renewable power production rather than subsidies is the key to lower electricity prices for Germany's energy-hungry industry, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday, in an apparent dig at proposals by his government's economy minister. To extend this for the whole of Germany, Scholz said everything within his powers needed to be done to boost power transmission networks and renewable power production. Scholz was speaking to journalists at a geothermal power plant in Kenya during a trip to Africa. "We know today already that we will have lower power prices than today, once we reached our goal that renewable energies dominate electricity production in Germany," he added. Scholz previously voiced scepticism about the initiative, saying long-term subsidies were not beneficial for the economy.

☆ Russia's oil and gas budget revenue drops sharply in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Budget income from oil and gas sales reached 647.5 billion roubles ($8.3 billion) last month, compared to 688.2 billion in March and 1.798 trillion roubles in April 2022, it said. Subsidies from the budget to the refining companies from the oil reverse excise tax rose by 38 billion roubles to 79.3 billion roubles in April, while the same payments to oil refineries under the "damping mechanism" rose to 107.2 billion roubles from 96.7 billion roubles in March. At the same time, profit-based tax revenues from oil producers fell last month to 185.4 billion roubles, from 220.6 billion roubles in March. Russia's mineral extraction tax (MET) and export duty revenues rose in April from March by 6.5%, or 36.4 billion roubles, and by 13.5%, or 6.8 billion roubles, respectively. The finance ministry has budgeted for a 23% reduction in oil and gas revenues this year to 8.95 trillion roubles.

☆ TrendForce says SK Hynix to raise China legacy chip output capacity
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Memory chips by South Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File PhotoSEOUL, May 4 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS) plans to expand its legacy chip production capacity at its chip manufacturing facilities in China, market research firm TrendForce said. The world's second-biggest memory chip maker's long-term strategy involves shifting its capacity expansion back to South Korea, while its China chip production site caters to domestic demand in China and the legacy DRAM memory chip market, the TrendForce report said. SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday. Last year, SK Hynix said it had received authorisation from the U.S. Commerce Department for a year to supply equipment needed for chip production in facilities in china, without seeking additional licensing requirements.

☆ Iraq's crude production fell more than 6% in April -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Rowena Edwards | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Oil Marketing Company FollowMay 2 (Reuters) - Iraq produced 3.938 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in April, down 262,000 bpd from March, a source at state-owned crude marketer SOMO told Reuters on Tuesday. This level would mean the country produced almost 500,000 bpd below its April quota under the agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+. The production decline comes after Turkey halted Iraq's 450,000 bpd of northern exports on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The outage has forced the majority of crude oil production in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to be shut in. Reporting by Rowena Edwards; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: Why First Republic Bank failed and what JPMorgan's deal means
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lawrence Delevingne | Thomson Reuters | Delevingne Works Primarily On Enterprise Stories Related To Finance. He Joined Reuters In | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 1 (Reuters) - The focus of the U.S. regional banking crisis turned on First Republic Bank in late March after the wealthy clients it courted to fuel its breakneck growth began pulling their deposits. The failure of First Republic, which said last week it had first-quarter outflows of more than $100 billion, marks the demise of a third major U.S. bank in just two months, after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank . Merrill Lynch acquired the bank in 2007 but First Republic was listed on the stock market again in 2010 after being sold by Merrill's new owner, Bank of America. WHAT THE JPMORGAN DEAL MEANSJPMorgan said that under its deal First Republic's 84 offices in eight U.S. states would reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank from Monday, so customers of the failed bank will be dealing with the giant financial group instead. The biggest U.S. bank will get even bigger as a result of the deal for most of First Republic's assets.

☆ From 1953 beer to royal syrup, British collector charts coronation brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Jeevan Ravindran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Seventy years on he runs London's 'Museum of Brands', with some 12,000 objects, many of them devoted to Britain's royals. Opie's museum in Notting Hill charts consumer culture and houses objects from past coronations, including a commemorative can of beer from the 1937 crowning of King George VI - with the beer still inside. And yet, without it, you don't understand when things happened," Opie said, adding that royal events formed the "skeleton of history." The oldest object in his collection is a Delftware plate from the reign of King William III who was on the throne from 1689 to 1702. Reporting by Jeevan Ravindran; additional reporting by Will Russell; Editing by William Schomberg and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The hedge funds said they can share ideas, but cannot reveal their trading positions for regulatory reasons. Reddy said he preferred senior unsecured bank debt, that allowed bondholders payment ahead of some other creditors in the event of an insolvency. Taking bearish positions on banks that lend to smaller and medium sized firms could prove opportunistic if the economy weakens, he added. Trend-wise the Japanese yen should continue to weaken," said Chua, noting that central banks in Asia have slowed or paused rate hikes. Insurers, which holds commercial mortgage-backed securities and property, will likely feel pressures on CRE, he said.

[1/2] Zsolt Hernadi, Executive Chairman of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL poses during an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary, April 27, 2023. Hernadi said MOL was fighting to prevent a hike in oil transit fees in Ukraine and also in Croatia. The BTC pipeline transports crude oil from offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea to the Turkish coast. He said MOL would pay Ukraine's pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta directly for the transit of Russian oil but there was still a dispute over a Ukrainian hike in fees. "There are still disputes, discussions ongoing about the transit fee, as a multi-fold increase has been flagged (by Ukraine)."

☆ Cloud, not consoles, blocks Microsoft's Activision view in UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain's surprise decision to block Microsoft's record Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) takeover. That only answered the CMA's console concerns, leaving cloud gaming as the only remaining - and apparently lower - hurdle. Defining cloud gaming is not simple. The CMA disagreed, saying that cloud was the most rapidly growing sector in gaming, while consoles were a mature market. It said Microsoft already accounted for 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and had other trump cards: Xbox, the leading PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ US subsidies make UK financial reform urgent, business warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. clean technology subsidies are sucking capital from Europe, making it more urgent to improve London as a global financial centre, business bosses told UK lawmakers on Wednesday. It's the biggest shift in competitive dynamic in my career," GlaxoSmithKline chair Jonathan Symonds told a Treasury Select Committee hearing on why UK companies are listing in New York instead. "The effect of what's happening through the Inflation Reduction Act across the whole of Europe is like a dirty great hoover on full suction mode," said Jonathan Hill, who authored a government-backed report on reforming UK listing rules. Britain has already eased listing rules in line with Hill's recommendations, and plans further changes. UK listed companies disclose whether they follow governance best practice or explain why they do not, but critics say flexibility has been lost.

☆ U.S. to send nuclear submarines in new pledge to protect South Korea from North's threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alexander Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The United States will deploy nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea for the first time in decades — part of a new agreement that will signal Washington's commitment to defend Seoul against rising nuclear threats from North Korea, U.S. officials said. The plan to dock the ballistic missile submarines in South Korea, which hasn't happened since the 1980's, headlines an effort to make U.S. deterrence against Kim Jong Un's regime "more visible," according to senior administration officials. President Joe Biden and his counterpart, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, will unveil the new agreement in Washington on Wednesday, the officials said. In return, an official added, South Korea would reaffirm its commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, known as the NPT, which bars countries from seeking nuclear weapons. Yoon's visit follows the largest U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in years, aimed largely at countering the North Korean nuclear threat.

☆ Crypto must end anonymity for illicit finance, U.S. regulator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Anonymity is allowing crypto assets to finance illegal activities, a top U.S. regulatory official said on Tuesday, posing national security risks that must be addressed. "It's essential for governments and particularly the industry to address that which makes crypto so attractive to illicit finance, and that is the allure of anonymity," she said. Legally compliant crypto companies should not be using "mixers" or software tools that effectively anonymise users by pooling and scrambling cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses. Compliant crypto companies must show they have internal controls to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. "It's possible for all crypto companies to distance themselves from mixers and anonymity enhancing technology while still providing customers financial privacy," Romero said.

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