DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Treasury proposes new process to spot risks after SVB, Signature Bank failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to approve a framework on financial stability for public feedback. "This framework outlines common vulnerabilities and transmission channels through which shocks can propagate through the financial system. Yellen said that in trying to prevent problems in the financial system, the council does not "broadly prioritize one type of tool over another." "Addressing the diverse range of financial vulnerabilities that exist today – and that may arise tomorrow – requires a broad set of flexible tools."

☆ U.S. extends Citgo's protection from creditors for three months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. on Wednesday extended for three months a license that protects Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum (PDVSAC.UL) from creditors trying to seize its assets to recoup pending debts. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended the general license until July 20, according to the department's website. Washington has since 2019 recognized the opposition-led congress as the entity controlling the refining subsidiary, extending protection to prevent its breakup at the hands of Venezuela creditors. O-I Glass Inc (OI.N), Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N), ACL1 Investments, Rusoro Mining Ltd (RML.V) and Gold Reserve (GRZ.V) separately have won attachments contingent on obtaining U.S. Treasury approval to seize assets, or an end to the Treasury protection. ConocoPhillips (COP.N) separately has a claim against Venezuela valued at $1.29 billion over the nationalization of its oil assets in the country.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrives on Wall Street to deliver a speech on the econony at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on April 17, 2023. It's an unusual setting for a political speech, but McCarthy's visit Monday will echo former President Ronald Reagan's visit to the floor in 1985, his first of two as president. As Congress returns to from a two-week recess to a summery capital where the Treasury Department's mid-summer debt ceiling deadline feels tangibly closer, McCarthy finds himself in an increasingly difficult position. In a statement Monday morning in advance of McCarthy's speech, White House spokesman Andrew Bates accused the California Republican of "holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage, threatening our economy and hardworking Americans' retirement." Meanwhile, McCarthy's own caucus of House Republicans isn't making his job any easier, since the GOP only has a slim majority.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department confirmed on Wednesday it had seized the Russia-linked online criminal marketplace Genesis Market, working in conjunction with international law enforcement and the Treasury Department. The announcements from Justice and Treasury came a day after the FBI and a consortium of international law enforcement authorities shut down Genesis Market. The international marketplace steals private information from victims' devices and offers it for sale, Treasury said in a release Wednesday. "Today's takedown of Genesis Market is a demonstration of the FBI's commitment to disrupting and dismantling key services used by criminals to facilitate cybercrime," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. "Treasury will continue to work closely with our law enforcement colleagues to disrupt this activity and hold malign cyber actors accountable."

☆ EV tax credit rules are about to get a lot more complicated
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( John Rosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Critical minerals. The critical minerals ruleFor critical minerals, the Treasury Department proposed a three-step process for determining eligibility:Figure out where the critical minerals in the batteries came from. In addition, an EV that contains any critical minerals sourced from a "foreign entity of concern" won't qualify after 2025. The battery components ruleThe Treasury Department proposed a four-step process for battery components:Identify which battery components were manufactured or assembled in North America. In addition, starting in 2024, an EV that contains any battery components from a foreign entity of concern won't qualify for the credit.

March 30 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) will pay fines of about $97.8 million for inadequate oversight of its compliance risks, enabling the apparent violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan, federal authorities said on Thursday. The Fed fined Wells Fargo $67.8 million, while OFAC fined the bank $30 million for inadequate oversight of its compliance risks from 2010 to 2015. “Wells Fargo is pleased to resolve this legacy matter involving conduct that ended in 2015, which we voluntarily self-reported and fully cooperated with OFAC and the Federal Reserve Board to address," a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in a statement. In a release, OFAC said that Wells Fargo and its predecessor, Wachovia Bank, provided a European bank with software beginning in 2008 that allowed the firm to process 124 transactions involving sanctioned individuals or jurisdictions. In December, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit Wells Fargo with the watchdog's largest ever civil penalty as part of a $3.7 billion agreement to settle charges over widespread mismanagement of car loans, mortgages and bank accounts.

☆ Tesla expects reduced tax credit for Model 3 by March-end
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday a $7,500 tax credit in place since January will be reduced for its Model 3 rear-wheel drive by March 31, subject to guidance due this week from the U.S. Treasury Department on the sources of battery components. The Treasury Department is due to issue guidance on sourcing of electric vehicle (EV) batteries by Friday that will impact the credit available for some EVs. The credit is in effect for deliveries taken before the updated guidance is issued. A U.S. official told Reuters that the Treasury Department's guidance on the EV tax credit due March 31 would result in fewer vehicles getting full or partial credits. Tesla added that only consumers buying the model for their own use in the U.S. could take advantage of the tax credit.

☆ US battery sourcing guidance to cut some EV tax credits -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department's long-awaited guidance on battery sourcing requirements for electric vehicle tax credits due out by Friday will result in fewer vehicles getting full or partial credits, a U.S. official told Reuters. The Biden administration believes that over time the tax credit will result in more EVs sold as automakers revamp supply chains to meet critical mineral and battery component rules, the official said. It is not immediately clear when or how many EVs will lose tax credits or see them cut. On Tuesday, the United States and Japan on Tuesday signed a trade deal on EV battery minerals, which will grant Japanese automakers wider access to a new $7,500 U.S. EV tax credit. Some of those vehicles may see credits decline after the battery guidance takes effect.

☆ US expects Biden's nominee, Ajay Banga, to be elected as World Bank chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she expected the U.S. nominee to head the World Bank, former Mastercard (MA.N) CEO Ajay Banga, to be elected as president of the multilateral development bank. "This evolution will help the Bank deliver on its vital poverty alleviation and development goals," Yellen will tell lawmakers who control the Treasury Department's purse strings. He has won the support of enough other governments to virtually assure his confirmation as World Bank president, including India, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The World Bank will accept nominations from other countries until March 29, but no competitors have been announced. The World Bank has been led by an American since its founding at the end of World War Two, while the International Monetary Fund has been led by a European.

"Unfortunately the president doesn't think it's important," McCarthy said when asked about how talks on the debt ceiling were going. The government faces a historic default on its debts without legislation to raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit. Biden and leading Democrats in Congress have urged McCarthy to unveil Republicans' plans for cutting spending, saying that additional meetings before that happens would be fruitless. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Thursday that Democrats welcome budget talks anytime. Meantime, Republicans want Democrats to signal support for significant spending cuts before providing the votes needed in Congress to increase the Treasury Department's borrowing authority.

☆ U.S. House speaker accuses Biden of not caring about debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused President Joe Biden on Friday of not caring about the budget and debt ceiling enough to hold talks with House Republicans about their differences. "Unfortunately the President doesn't think it's important," McCarthy told reporters when asked about how talks on the debt ceiling were going. Biden and leading Democrats in Congress have urged McCarthy to unveil Republicans' plans for cutting spending, saying that further meetings before that happens would be fruitless. The government faces a historic default on its debts without legislation being enacted to raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit. Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] The logo of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is seen on their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 14, 2023. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerVIENNA, March 23 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is pressing Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBIV.VI) to unwind its highly profitable business in Russia, five people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. One person said such a plan could include the sale or closure of its Russian bank. A Raiffeisen spokesperson said that it was examining options for its Russia business "including a carefully managed exit" and that it was "expediting" its assessment, adding that it had also reduced lending in the country. HIGH STAKESIn January, the U.S. sanctions authority launched an inquiry into Raiffeisen over its business related to Russia.

☆ US officials study ways to expand FDIC coverage to all deposits -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 20 (Reuters) - U.S officials are looking at ways to temporarily expand Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) coverage to all deposits, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. U.S. Treasury Department staff are studying whether federal regulators have enough emergency authority to insure deposits above the current $250,000 cap on accounts without the consent of Congress, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. One legal framework that is being looked at for expanding FDIC insurance would use the Treasury Department's authority to take emergency action and lean on the Exchange Stabilization Fund, the report added. "Due to decisive recent actions, the situation has stabilized, deposit flows are improving and Americans can have confidence in the safety of their deposits," a U.S. Treasury spokesperson told Bloomberg. Reporting by Gokul Pisharody and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Neil Fullick and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Republicans request Fed and FDIC oversight records for failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve also created a Bank Term Funding Program aimed at safeguarding institutions affected by the market instability of the bank failures. In the days following the collapse, reports have emerged indicating that Silicon Valley Bank ignored repeated warnings from bank regulators that the bank would be at risk of collapse in the event that interest rates rose quickly. In it, Brown suggested that responsibility for the bank failures lay in part with top executives at the failed banks. Brown also asked the regulators to "identify and close regulatory gaps, shortfalls, or failures by state or federal regulators that contributed to the banks' failures." He did not ask for the names of individual Fed or FDIC officials involved in supervising the banks.

☆ Giving babies $1,000 at birth is an 'unprecedented opportunity for financial security,' Ayanna Pressley and Cory Booker say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Cory Booker urged the Treasury Department to support their "Baby Bonds" legislation. "This policy would provide every child in America with unprecedented opportunity for financial security," Pressley and Booker wrote in their letter. They cited reports from Columbia University and Morningstar that found Baby Bonds would "substantially" close the racial wealth gap. When we introduce baby bonds, this gap narrows to 71% for Black families and 67% for Hispanic families." Along with Pressley and Booker, other Democratic lawmakers have been stressing the benefits of Baby Bonds over the past year.

☆ The US could be 4 months away from a potentially disastrous debt-ceiling breach, but nobody's negotiating over how to fix it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

GOP lawmakers have refused a clean increase, but have yet to produce details on what they want in a deal. The US could breach the debt ceiling as soon as July, the CBO estimated. That's because no one seems to be ready or willing to negotiate over how to raise the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling dictates how much money the government can borrow to pay off the expenses it's already approved. For now, Biden's administration has maintained that raising the debt ceiling should be done in a bipartisan way, and without negotiations.

☆ Austria plays down concerns over U.S. scrutiny of RBI over Russia business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, March 2 (Reuters) - Austria's finance ministry on Thursday played down concerns about U.S. sanctions officials scrutinising Raiffeisen Bank International (RBIV.VI) over its Russia business. "The inquiry from the U.S. sanctions authority is a normal process that gives no cause for concern, because sanctions authorities naturally keep informing themselves about Austrian companies doing business in Russia," Austria's finance ministry told Reuters in a statement. The Austrian finance ministry said it would in due course address questions from parliament about Raiffeisen, as the lender's activities drew more domestic political scrutiny. "A risky deal for the Austrian Raiffeisen, which instead of - like other European banks - ending its business in Russia, is focusing on intensifying business relations," Greens lawmaker Nina Tomaselli said in a parliamentary question. The finance ministry welcomed the prospect of such a deal, suggesting it could prevent losses to savers and deposit insurance of hundreds of millions of euros.

☆ These stocks won February — but it may be time to dump 2 popular tech plays
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the downturn, some stocks were able to buck the trend and post gains of more than 20%. Still, investors should be careful when looking at the biggest winners this month because some of those top stocks aren't expected to continue rallying. The company also issued expectations for first-quarter revenue that was above the consensus estimate of analysts polled by FactSet. Meta Platforms and Fortinet are the only two among the top 10 performers expected to add more share value over the next year than each did in February alone. Similarly liked by just over half of analysts, Fortinet's average price target implies the stock could gain another 19.3% over the next 12 months.

☆ Raiffeisen stock slumps after U.S. sanctions authority asks about Russia business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Shares in Raiffeisen Bank International fell more than 7% at the open on Monday after the Austrian Bank had said on Friday it had received a request for information from the United States' sanctions authority about its business related to Russia. Earlier in February, Raiffeisen reported it earned more than half of its 2022 profit from Russia, a market it is considering exiting after the country's invasion of Ukraine. RBI has operated in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and is Russia's 10th-largest bank by assets. The bank's shares have fallen 19% since the start of the war in February last year. Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski in Gdansk Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

An Austrian official said that Austrian authorities were monitoring the situation at Raiffeisen and its business in Russia closely because of the bank's importance. Almost a year since Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Raiffeisen is among a handful of European banks that remain in Russia. Raiffeisen made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business. Alternatively, OFAC can also resort to less stringent measures such as levying fines and sending warning letters over sanctions violations. OFAC has sanctioned five major Russian banks, including state-backed Sberbank (SBER.MM) part of a response to that country's invasion of Ukraine, as well as wealthy oligarchs.

☆ Larry Fink has a new chief of staff, an under-the-radar position that's become a powerful post at BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has named executive Willie Alford as his new chief of staff. Sarah Schaffer, an executive and Fink's prior chief of staff, will take on a new role at BlackRock. This may be especially true if you worked directly with Larry Fink, the firm's chief executive and among the most powerful people on Wall Street. Fink's chief of staff position has vaulted executives into new heights. A more common C-suite roleThe chief of staff role has taken off across corporations and beyond the position's roots in government and military operations.

☆ Factbox: Some potential successors to Brainard at the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Meanwhile, analysts and Fed observers are already swapping notes on potential replacements for Brainard at the Fed from a bench of economists aligned with Biden's Democrats, who control the U.S. Senate. MARY DALYDaly is president of the San Francisco Fed, ascending to that position in 2018 after 22 years at the regional Fed bank, including a stint as its director of research. Furman has been a prominent, Twitter-savvy commentator on macroeconomic and Fed policy. He has a PhD from the University of Virginia and served as a Fed economist for a little over a year in the mid-1990s. With a PhD from Stanford University, he's held staff positions at the Fed board and the San Francisco Fed, where he also served as president before moving to the New York Fed role in 2018.

☆ U.S. Treasury to crack down on Russian sanctions evasion - Adeyemo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department will focus in coming months on cracking down on facilitators and third-country providers helping Russia evade Western sanctions, Treasury said on Friday. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told a meeting of academics and other experts on sanctions and U.S. foreign policy that Treasury will increase its focus on countering sanctions evasion, including by those who may "wittingly or unwittingly" help Russia replenish supplies needed for its military fighting in Ukraine. Treasury provided no immediate details on which "facilitators and third-party providers" would be targeted. The Treasury earlier this month imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and entities in multiple countries that it accused of being tied to a global sanctions evasion network supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crypto exchange Kraken to end staking service, pay fine in U.S. SEC settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Those providers should register their staking services with the SEC, Gensler added. Owners of crypto assets that use a "proof-of-stake" blockchain can stake some of their assets to potentially take part in the process of validating transactions. In exchange for their work, validators are often rewarded with newly created crypto assets. Kraken offers its customers the ability to "stake" certain crypto tokens in order to earn rewards. The settlement comes a year after a subsidiary of crypto company BlockFi Inc agreed to pay $100 million to the SEC and 32 states to settle charges in connection with a retail crypto lending product the company offered to nearly 600,000 investors.

☆ Crypto exchange Kraken under scrutiny for sale of unregistered securities- Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of unregistered securities, according to a Bloomberg report. Kraken declined to comment on the report. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously said that companies that help facilitate transactions in the crypto market should register with the agency just like other market intermediaries. Kraken's incoming chief executive officer told Reuters in September that the exchange had no plans to register with the SEC as a market intermediary, or to delist crypto tokens that the regulator has labeled as securities. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Treasury Department's"

25 mentions found