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Banks still have to mark the loan to its market value on their books and set aside funds for losses that are reported in quarterly results. The deliberations of how some of these banks are thinking about accounting for these losses have not been previously reported. Three banking industry sources said the remaining $3 billion, which is unsecured, could lead to steeper losses for the seven Twitter banks. Some market participants expect the losses from the debt to be significant unless market conditions improve. Some $35 billion to $40 billion of such loans are stuck on banks' books, according to two fixed income bankers.

The exemption allowed Alameda to keep borrowing funds from FTX irrespective of the value of the collateral securing those loans. The other was a mechanism whereby FTX customers deposited over $8 billion in traditional currency into bank accounts secretly controlled by Alameda. Indeed, he told investors that Alameda received no preferential treatment from FTX, the SEC complaint said. This would allow Alameda to keep borrowing more FTX funds without the need to provide more collateral. Bankman-Fried's house of cards "began to crumble" in May 2022, the SEC complaint said.

☆ Future of work: Back to the office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Empty cubicles are seen as the first phase of FMC Corporation employees return to work in the office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 14, 2021. Hybrid arrangements, where workers go into the office part of the week, have gained broad acceptance as a compromise. The evolving workplace is reshaping businesses that serve office workers. The landscape for other businesses that served office workers has changed, too. The coming year could determine who ends up having the upper hand in determining what work looks like in the future.

☆ Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rachael Levy | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Corporate Governance. Her Reporting Has Prompted Federal Investigations | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Reuters could not determine the full scope of the federal investigation or whether it involved the same alleged problems with animal testing identified by employees in Reuters interviews. Musk has pushed hard to accelerate Neuralink’s progress, which depends heavily on animal testing, current and former employees said. Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, said it is “very unusual” for the USDA inspector general to investigate animal research facilities. In September, the company responded to employee concerns about its animal testing by holding a town hall to explain its processes. “We’re extremely careful,” he said, to make sure that testing is “confirmatory, not exploratory,” using animal testing as a last resort after trying other methods.

☆ Bankman-Fried's FTX, senior staff, parents bought Bahamas property worth $300 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] View of the entrance to the condominium complex ONE Cable Beach, a beachfront residence in New Providence, Bahamas, November 18, 2022. The deeds show these properties, bought by a unit of FTX, were to be used as "residence for key personnel" of the company. PROPERTY PURCHASESReuters searched property records at the Bahamas Registrar General's Department for FTX, Bankman-Fried, his parents and some of the company's key executives. FTX Property Holdings Ltd, an FTX unit, bought 15 properties worth nearly $100 million in 2021 and 2022. The property records for the penthouse, dated March 17, were signed by Ryan Salame, the president of FTX Property, and showed it was intended as "residence for key personnel."

☆ EXCLUSIVE Bankman-Fried's FTX, parents bought Bahamas property worth $121 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The deeds show these properties, bought by a unit of FTX, were to be used as "residence for key personnel" of the company. Reuters could not determine the source of funds that FTX and its executives used to buy these properties. PROPERTY PURCHASESReuters searched property records at the Bahamas Registrar General's Department for FTX, Bankman-Fried, his parents and some of the company's key executives. FTX Property Holdings Ltd, an FTX unit, bought 15 properties worth nearly $100 million in 2021 and 2022. The property records for the penthouse, dated March 17, were signed by Ryan Salame, the president of FTX Property, and showed it was intended as "residence for key personnel."

The licenses gave FTX access to U.S. commodities derivatives markets as a regulated exchange. FTX also saw its regulatory status as a way of luring new capital from major investors, the documents show. “FTX has the cleanest brand in crypto,” the exchange proclaimed in a June document presented to investors. According to the document, FTX told the regulator it did not have the same issues as products from other providers that the agency had investigated. "We confirmed these were solely rewards based and do not involve lending (or other use) of the deposited crypto," FTX wrote.

☆ Special Report: FTX's Bankman-Fried begged for a rescue even as he revealed huge holes in firm's books
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Angus Berwick Anirban Sen Elizabeth Howcroft Lawrence Delevingne | Angus Berwick | Anirban Sen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

Sequoia was shocked at the amount of money Bankman-Fried needed to save FTX, according to the sources, while Apollo first asked for more information, only to later decline. The booklet flagged the risks of crypto trading, particularly how sudden sales of tokens could trigger a "domino effect" that would lead to a "cascading set of liquidity failures." Using profits from Alameda, Bankman-Fried launched FTX in 2019. From almost nothing in 2019, FTX handled about 10% of global crypto trading this year, a September document shows. At one point, he lived in a penthouse overlooking the Caribbean, valued at almost $40 million, according to two people who worked with FTX.

☆ Exclusive: At least $1 billion of client funds missing at FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Angus Berwick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried secretly transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to Bankman-Fried's trading company Alameda Research, the people told Reuters. While it is known that FTX moved customer funds to Alameda, the missing funds are reported here for the first time. Asked about the missing funds, Bankman-Fried responded: "???" Bankman-Fried showed several spreadsheets to the heads of the company's regulatory and legal teams that revealed FTX had moved around $10 billion in client funds from FTX to Alameda, the two people said. The documents showed that between $1 billion and $2 billion of these funds were not accounted for among Alameda's assets, the sources said.

☆ EXCLUSIVE At least $1 billion of client funds missing at failed crypto firm FTX – sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Angus Berwick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried secretly transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to Bankman-Fried's trading company Alameda Research, the people told Reuters. While it is known that FTX moved customer funds to Alameda, the missing funds are reported here for the first time. Asked about the missing funds, Bankman-Fried responded: "???" The documents showed that between $1 billion and $2 billion of these funds were not accounted for among Alameda's assets, the sources said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating FTX.com's handling of customer funds, as well its crypto-lending activities, a source with knowledge of the inquiry told Reuters on Wednesday.

He is seeking the remainder from other funds, including current investors in FTX such as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, the source added. Tether's chief technology officer, Paolo Ardoino, tweeted that it had "no plans to invest in or lend assets to FTX." FTX also got hit by the Bahamas Securities Commission, where the company is based, freezing assets of FTX Digital Markets "and related parties". In a tweet, FTX said it had reached a deal with Tron to establish a special facility that would allow clients to swap some crypto assets from FTX to external wallets. Bankman-Fried told investors that Alameda owes FTX about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Bankman-Fried said he was in talks with "a number of players" in the crypto sector, including Justin Sun who is the founder of crypto token Tron, after a potential rescue deal with larger rival Binance fell apart. He also said his firm Alameda Research, which sources have said was partly behind FTX's problems, was winding down trading. FTX's native token, FTT , is down more than 90% this week and was attempting to steady around $3.50. Another exchange, OKX, said it had been approached earlier in the week by Bankman-Fried, who described liabilities of $7 billion that needed covering fast. Bankman-Fried said FTX.US, the U.S. operations of the exchange, however, had not been financially impacted.

He is seeking the remainder from other funds, including current investors in FTX such as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, the source added. Bankman-Fried told investors that Alameda owes FTX about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. FTX had lent more than half of its customer funds to Alameda, the newspaper said. The U.S. securities regulator is investigating FTX.com's handling of customer funds and crypto-lending activities, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiry. Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Tiger Global and Japan's Softbank are also FTX investors.

It culminated on Wednesday, with Binance pulling out of its deal and throwing FTX's future into uncertainty. Bankman-Fried told Reuters on Tuesday that "I'll probably be too swamped" to do interviews. Voyager filed for bankruptcy protection the following month, with FTX's U.S. arm paying $1.4 billion for its assets in a September auction. Daily withdrawals normally totaled tens of millions of dollars, Bankman-Fried told his employees. Bankman-Fried signed a non-binding letter of intent for Binance to buy FTX’s non-U.S. assets.

☆ China vows commitment to growth as investors bet on easier COVID policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Even though case numbers are rising and disruptive lockdowns continue with no clear exit strategy in sight, investors latched on to hope that China may ease its strict COVID policy in the coming months. Renewed COVID lockdowns are weighing heavily on China's business activity and consumer confidence. read moreOPEN-DOOR POLICYYi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said China will continue to deregulate its markets. While other countries have been tightening policy to battle rising prices, China has implemented an accommodative monetary policy to shore up sputtering growth, raising concerns about capital flight. With China's zero-COVID policy expected to remain in place through at least the winter, or longer, its near-term growth outlook is bleak.

A clock is seen near the logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse at the Paradeplatz square in Zurich, Switzerland October 5, 2022. Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia were weighing up, through their sovereign wealth funds, whether to put money into Credit Suisse's investment bank and other businesses, Bloomberg reported. A spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment, reiterating that it will update on its strategy review when it announces third-quarter earnings. The largest Middle Eastern sovereign fund investor in Credit Suisse, the Qatar Investment Authority, declined to comment. The New Jersey case was the largest of its remaining exposure on its legacy RMBS business, Credit Suisse said, with five remaining cases, all far smaller, still in litigation.

☆ Credit Suisse approached Middle Eastern fund for capital injection - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Paritosh Bansal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) has approached at least one Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund for a capital injection, according to a source familiar with the situation, as the Swiss bank looks at ways to restructure its operations. Credit Suisse's approach indicates that the sale of assets alone may be insufficient to cover the costs of an imminent overhaul. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment, reiterating that it will update on its strategy review when it announces third-quarter earnings. Bloomberg reported separately that Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia were weighing, through their sovereign wealth funds, whether to put money into Credit Suisse's investment bank and other businesses. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, is also one of the largest investors in Credit Suisse.

Typically, banks would sell the debt to investors and pocket an underwriting fee. Elon Musk vs TwitterThe debate, currently a topic of conversation among investment bankers and debt investors, provides a window into the havoc wreaked on Wall Street by Musk’s U-turn last week. Musk, however, conditioned his proposal on his ability to secure debt financing and now has until Oct. 28 to close on the transaction. VARIOUS OPTIONSThe debt financing package is comprised of leveraged loans, which are risky because of the amount of debt the company is taking on, as well as secured and unsecured bonds. In September, banks financing the Citrix buyout undertook a similar restructuring.

While loans can be cheaper than issuing bonds, shorter-term debt is currently more expensive than longer tenors. Typically companies take a bridge loan to fund mergers but then pay it down with a long-dated bond issue before closing. The tech giant also doubled the size of its commercial paper program to $6 billion and said that it could expand the size of the term loan to $6 billion. "If a term loan is necessary due to timing of the deal closing, we expect to pay it back quickly," the company said. In the market for junk bonds, for example, some companies are paying higher rates to raise funds.

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