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☆ Beijing may allow foreign financial firms to list in China - ex-finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, March 18 (Reuters) - China will encourage foreign capital to participate in its financial markets and may allow foreign-funded financial institutions to go public in the country when "conditions are ripe", local media quoted a former finance minister as saying on Saturday. China has been stepping up efforts to woo foreign companies and investors to aid an economic recovery after the dismantling of its zero-COVID policy late last year. It has sped up fund license approvals for foreign asset managers in recent months. Lou also commented on the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, saying Chinese authorities attached great importance to preventing and resolving systemic risks and were trying to improve financial supervision with the creation of a new financial regulatory body. "We will also continue to cooperate with the financial regulatory agencies of other countries to jointly prevent and resolve systemic risks in the global financial system and maintain the stability and prosperity of the global financial market," he added, according to the newspaper.

☆ China's c.bank warns SVB failure shows impact of rapid global rate hikes- state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 18 (Reuters) - A senior official at the People's Bank of China said on Saturday the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) showed how rapid monetary policy shifts were having spillover effects, state-owned newspaper Shanghai Securities News reported. Silicon Valley Bank's balance sheet characteristics made it more sensitive to interest rates changes and ultimately led to risk, the newspaper cited him as saying. "Based on the current situation, there is still uncertainty about whether inflation in the major developed economies will fall significantly in the short term, and continuing to maintain relatively high interest rates may also have an adverse impact on the steady operations of the banking and financial system," he said. SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) on Friday sought protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, days after its former unit Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by U.S. regulators. Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by William Mallard and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Historic move in Treasury yields signals high inflation but maybe not a recession anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

An inverted yield curve is considered a forewarning for recession, and the already-inverted yield curve stretched even wider this week to its most inverted level since 1981. The yield curve becomes inverted when short-duration yields rise above longer duration yields, as in the case of the 2-year Treasury yield and the 10-year yield. 10Y2YS 1Y line inversion Recession or a sign of inflation? The current shape of the yield curve tells you more about sticky inflation." Golub said the outcome of the inverted curve's recession warning has been different in periods of high inflation versus low inflation.

☆ How Wall Street firms lift the velvet rope on funding deals for buzzy startups like Stripe for their wealthiest clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Goldman Sachs has invited wealth management clients to invest in fintech unicorn Stripe, as reported by Bloomberg. The message was a rare peek into how the richest bank clients can access investments normally off-limits to individual investors. Insider redacted the wealth management vice president's name and email address to protect their privacy. Citi and JPMorgan, for instance, both have teams dedicated to direct private investments for private bank clients. Private wealth is a real power alley for us, and those continue to be good sources of funding," said Salisbury at a conference in September.

☆ 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.

☆ Chinese savers stashed away $2.6 trillion last year but property crash will cool ‘revenge spending’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Burberry (BBRYF) said last month that it’s seeing “very promising” signs in China, according to Reuters. Since real estate accounts for 70% of household wealth in China, “revenge spending” will be limited, analysts said. They expect household consumption growth to rebound to 9.5% in 2023 from about 3% in 2022, fueling annual GDP growth of more than 5%. Morgan Stanley analysts expect to see some “revenge spending” mostly from household with stable incomes. They’re expecting household consumption growth to rebound to 8.5% in 2023, contributing to full-year economic growth of 5.7%.

☆ Emerging markets are a top investing trend for 2023. Here's the best way to take advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The iShares MSCI emerging market Asia exchange traded fund is up 11% and the iShares core MSCI emerging markets ETF is up more than 10% since the year began. For Kotler, it's emerging market bonds, where his firm has an overweight rating as opposed to a neutral rating on equities. One other factor that should help emerging market countries outperform in 2023 is the winding down of the strength of the U.S. dollar. Some top emerging market bond funds include the iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF , the Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF and the VanEck JP Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF. Of course, the downside to large emerging market funds is that they tend to be most heavily weighted to China, as it's the largest emerging market country.

"Our industry is still climbing out of - call it a 100-year event, call it a macro shock of epic proportions. "We are bullish and these are the reasons why I suspect there's a disconnect between the Davos in Switzerland and the Davos in Dublin," Cronin told Reuters. "It's a good time to be a lessor," said Tony Diaz, chairman of the smaller Zephyrus Aviation Capital. It's probably easy to take that second one too," Robert Korn, president and co-founder of fast growing Carlyle Aviation Partners, added. Additional reporting by Tim Hepher and Joanna Plucinska Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ No spot bitcoin ETFs approved so far - U.S. SEC official
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"We've had a number of applications ... none of those have been approved to date," said Uyeda, who was in Singapore to speak at the ICI Global Asset Management Asia Forum. Earlier this month, the SEC delayed a decision on whether to allow a spot bitcoin ETF by stock-picker Cathie Wood's Ark Invest and crypto investment product firm 21Shares US to list and trade on Cboe Global Markets until Jan. 27. The regulator has rejected over a dozen spot bitcoin ETF applications, and approved several bitcoin futures-based ETFs. The rejections have focused on applicants' lack of surveillance-sharing agreements with regulated markets relating to the spot funds' underlying assets. Uyeda added that the SEC continues to consider applications filed by exchanges "as they come up".

☆ Toronto stocks slip on oil drag, inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Johann M Cherian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Annual inflation remains unchangedRestaurant Brands International rises on CEO changeLoblaw up after Q3 sales beatNov 16 (Reuters) - Canada's commodity-heavy stock index fell on Wednesday as oil prices declined, while investors digested data showing domestic annual inflation rate held steady in October. ET (1537 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 51.55 points, or 0.26%, at 19,943.23, after closing higher in the previous session. Canada's annual inflation rate held steady at 6.9% in October, as gasoline prices rose after OPEC+ countries announced production cuts, while higher interest rates pushed up mortgage costs by 11.4%, the largest jump since February 1991. "There is a 40% chance of a 50 basis points of tightening if inflation doesn't show more evidence of easing as we've seen in the United States," he added. The BoC has hiked its benchmark rate by 350 basis points since March to 3.75%, one of its fastest tightening cycles ever.

☆ Inflation is cooling, and Wall Street loves it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Investors are hoping that the cooling inflation pressures will lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by smaller amounts in the next few months, following four consecutive historically large hikes. But it’s the good news on the inflation front that is giving investors the biggest cause for jubilation. Those comments soothed investors, who were spooked by remarks from another Fed official about inflation and interest rates. The Fed is clearly still more concerned about inflation than it is the possibility its aggressive rate hikes will slow the economy. That means the market should get used to the notion that interest rates are going to keep climbing and may stay elevated for some time.

The plan comes as the cash-strapped sector has struggled with defaults and stalled projects, hitting market confidence and weighing on the world's second-largest economy. Policymakers' previous efforts to help financing has done little to bolster the property market. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index (.HSMPI) jumped 16.2%, with the share prices of many Chinese property developers posting double-digit gains. The notice "introduced by far the most comprehensive set of support measures for the ailing property market," it said. Some investors remained cautious about the impact of the latest policy, however, as regulators have already made many attempts to revive the property sector and the macro environment remains weak amid the country's COVID restrictions.

A representative for FTX did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the deal or the SEC investigation. FTX and Binance did not disclose the terms of their agreement, and markets face fresh uncertainty over whether it will proceed. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration 1 2Prior to the Binance proposed deal, Bankman-Fried approached cryptocurrency exchange OKX on Monday morning about a deal, but the exchange declined to move forward. "It has been a truly a devastating year for the industry," said Ryan Wong, a senior researcher at crypto exchange Huobi. "This could be a major source of risk to crypto markets," Lai wrote.

Chinese equities make up 31% of the MSCI Emerging Market index (.MIEF00000PUS), a popular stock index that many funds track and benchmark their performances against. Fund research firm Morningstar tracks nine new emerging market ex-China equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that were created this year, matching the number of launches in total over the previous two years. If Aubrey was to remove China from its emerging market strategy, the Indian market would take a significant portion, while the rest will be spread around other countries including Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico, he said. OUTFLOWSAndrew McCaffery, Fidelity International's global chief investment officer, said they have received increased requests from clients for emerging markets excluding China strategies, although the purpose was to “break China out as an allocation separately within global portfolios”. “The challenge is that they (global investors) are not going to be quick to add back in,” he said.

read moreThe yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury hit 4.338% earlier, the highest since November 2007. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield , which typically reflects interest rate expectations, surged to 4.639%, the highest since August 2007. We'll continue to see more calls for a slowdown (in Fed policy) as we feel more and more pain in risk markets," he added. The gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes , was at -27.5 basis points, that's the steepest since mid-September. The 10-year TIPS breakeven rate was last at 2.525%, reflecting the average inflation the market has priced in for the next decade.

Monthly debt market data shows foreign investors have been net sellers for seven straight months to August as what had been a lucrative yield premium in China vanished as U.S. interest rates soared. GIMME SHELTERAmid foreign investors' exodus, there are signs of locals following as fast as allowable under capital controls that were tightened after the previous season of heavy outflows in 2016. Moving money is also very difficult as COVID-19 curbs on travel add another layer to capital controls. Data from consultancy Education International Cooperation showed a 41.5% jump in queries about study in Hong Kong between January and July, compared with the same period a year earlier. They expect a rush to Hong Kong products when the border between Hong Kong and the mainland reopens.

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