Business
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VTB braces for rising loan losses as Russian inflation bites
With domestic fuel prices surging and interest rates remaining stubbornly high, Russia’s second-largest lender VTB plans to increase its capital reserves. First Deputy CEO Dmitry Pyanov confirmed the bank will lift its cost of risk to 1.1% by year-end, signaling growing strain on borrowers across the Russian economy.
Brazilian police raid targets linked to US-sanctioned PCC operatives
Brazilian federal police launched a targeted operation Friday against individuals accused of laundering international drug proceeds, days after the U.S. Treasury added two Brazilian nationals to its sanctions list for alleged ties to the Primeiro Comando da Capital, the country's most powerful criminal syndicate.
Blackstone and MUFG Lead Race for Stake in Vietnam’s MoMo
Global investment heavyweights including Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, and Japan’s MUFG have emerged as primary contenders for a stake in Vietnamese fintech unicorn MoMo. The move signals a strategic push by the firm to secure fresh capital as it navigates the competitive Southeast Asian digital payments landscape.
Lagarde keeps door open for early ECB exit to influence French politics
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde refused to rule out an early departure from her post before her term ends in 2027, signaling a potential move to intervene in the upcoming French presidential election to ensure a pro-European perspective is represented in the national debate.
Julius Baer Taps Peter Burrill as CFO Amid Management Overhaul
Peter Burrill will join the executive board of Julius Baer as chief financial officer on August 17, stepping into a pivotal role as the Swiss bank navigates a period of significant leadership restructuring following substantial losses tied to high-risk lending practices earlier this year.
OpenAI Offers US Government 5% Stake to Ease Regulatory Pressure
OpenAI has reportedly proposed granting the U.S. government a 5% equity stake, an attempt to align the company with the Trump administration’s agenda while navigating intensifying scrutiny over the economic impact of artificial intelligence and the rapid, often volatile, expansion of advanced machine learning models across the country.
Flavio Bolsonaro seeks to shield Pix from non-Western payment networks
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is pushing to restrict Brazil’s instant-payment system, Pix, from integrating with non-Western settlement networks. The proposal, submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative, aims to mitigate American concerns over the platform's architecture while heading off threatened 25% tariffs on a range of Brazilian exports.
JPMorgan Must Continue Funding Legal Defense for Convicted Executive
A Delaware judge has ordered JPMorgan Chase to keep paying the mounting legal fees of Charlie Javice, the former startup founder convicted of defrauding the bank. Magistrate Judge Christian Wright ruled that the institution failed to prove the multimillion-dollar expenses were abusive or incurred in bad faith.
Trump Accounts to Accept Stock Donations for Newborns
Starting this Saturday, individuals and corporations can donate publicly traded shares directly into government-backed newborn investment accounts. The program, which coincides with the nation’s 250th anniversary, allows donors to transfer equity to children, aiming to create a scalable pathway for private funding to bolster future generations.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Launch Matching Program for Child Savings
Two Wall Street giants, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, are rolling out a new benefit program that matches $1,000 in contributions for accounts established for their employees’ children. The initiative aims to promote early financial planning for families, targeting newborns across the United States over the next four years.
Hedge funds navigate market volatility with double-digit gains
Fundamental stock-picking hedge funds achieved an 18.4% return in the second quarter, marking the strongest performance in Goldman Sachs’ historical records. Despite this success, the broader hedge fund landscape faced significant drag from shifting interest rate expectations and volatility across global commodities and currency markets.
Intesa Sanpaolo Completes Core Banking Shift to Google Cloud
Intesa Sanpaolo has finished migrating its core IT systems to Google Cloud, shedding the aging mainframe infrastructure that has long anchored traditional banking. This transition positions Italy’s largest lender alongside a select group of European institutions attempting to modernize their digital architecture to compete with agile, cloud-native challengers.
Rome threatens intervention in insurance sector ownership
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has warned that the Italian government will not remain indifferent to shifts in the ownership of domestic insurers. The move signals a potential challenge to ongoing consolidation in the financial sector, specifically targeting the future of Generali as it faces complex changes among its major shareholders.
UK Motor Finance Redress Halted as Legal Battle Looms
A £9.1 billion compensation scheme aimed at resolving a widespread motor finance mis-selling scandal has been placed on hold. The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed the pause following a string of legal challenges from major lenders, effectively stalling potential payouts for thousands of consumers until at least 2027.
Friedrich Merz targets growth with sweeping 34-point German reform plan
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has unveiled a 34-point legislative package aimed at revitalizing the nation's economy through pension adjustments, tax relief, and aggressive deregulation. The government plans to push the reforms through parliament by year-end, promising to balance increased competitiveness with existing social welfare protections.
Global chip stocks retreat as markets brace for U.S. payroll data
A sharp 6% decline in the U.S. SOX semiconductor index has rippled through Asian markets, triggering a wave of profit-taking among tech equipment makers in Tokyo and Seoul. This sudden cooling of the semiconductor sector arrives just as investors pivot their attention toward the looming June U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
Austrian Supreme Court confirms fraud conviction for Rene Benko
Austria’s Supreme Court has finalized a two-year prison sentence for former billionaire Rene Benko, upholding his conviction for insolvency-related fraud. The ruling centers on a €300,000 transfer made to his mother as his property empire, Signa, faced financial collapse, marking a definitive legal blow for the once-celebrated tycoon.
Deutsche Bank settles wage dispute with Postbank staff
After months of friction with labor representatives, Deutsche Bank has finalized a pay agreement for 7,500 employees within its Postbank division. The 28-month deal secures a structured path for salary increases, effectively concluding a negotiation cycle marked by union demands for more substantial monthly adjustments.
ECB Rejects Industry Pleas to Relax Bank Capital Rules
European lenders are pushing for a rollback of capital requirements to match looser U.S. regulations, but the European Central Bank remains unmoved. Supervisory chief Claudia Buch argued that the current standards are not a barrier to lending, but rather a vital safeguard for the stability of the euro zone’s financial system.
Kevin Warsh charms global peers at Sintra summit
In the cloistered courtyards of a former convent in Sintra, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh successfully navigated his debut on the global stage, easing fears among international counterparts that Washington might pivot toward isolationism or succumb to domestic political pressure under his new leadership.
Swiss National Bank affirms resilience of banking sector
The Swiss National Bank confirmed on Thursday that the country's financial institutions remain robust enough to navigate ongoing macroeconomic instability. Central bank officials specifically signaled confidence in UBS, noting the lender maintains sufficient capital reserves to satisfy the government's recently proposed, more stringent regulatory requirements.
SoftBank and Bain Capital escalate bidding war for Kakaku.com
A coalition led by SoftBank’s LY Corp and Bain Capital has pushed the valuation of price-comparison giant Kakaku.com to 670 billion yen, or $4.12 billion, effectively tightening their grip in an intensifying takeover battle against Swedish investment firm EQT.
US Treasury Taps BlackRock and Vanguard for Child Savings Program
The U.S. Treasury has selected two BlackRock exchange-traded funds to anchor the new Trump Accounts program, a federal child savings initiative launching this July 4. Vanguard will serve as the alternate fund partner, providing a secondary investment vehicle for the government's effort to promote long-term financial security for younger Americans.
Bridgewater’s AIA Macro Fund Posts 8.1% Gain Amid Strategic Shift
Bridgewater Associates’ flagship AIA Macro fund delivered an 8.1% return during the first half of the year, signaling steady momentum for the firm’s automated investment strategy. The fund, which launched in late 2023, now oversees $4.5 billion as the asset manager continues to refine its broader portfolio under CEO Nir Bar Dea.
SoftBank Offers Corporate Guarantee to Revive $10 Billion OpenAI Loan
SoftBank Group has restarted negotiations for a $10 billion loan secured by its OpenAI stake, introducing a corporate guarantee to soothe lender anxieties. The move marks a pivot from its earlier attempt to secure non-recourse financing, which stalled due to the inherent difficulties in valuing private artificial intelligence assets.
Warren demands Fed inquiry into Michelle Bowman’s Bank of America dinner
Senator Elizabeth Warren has formally requested that the Federal Reserve's inspector general investigate whether Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman violated internal ethics rules. The inquiry centers on Bowman’s participation in a private dinner hosted by Bank of America last month, where she delivered remarks to the firm's clients.
Kevin Warsh to Unveil International Experts for Federal Reserve Panels
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh announced in Sintra that the identities of external experts appointed to new central bank task forces will be disclosed next week. These advisory groups, tasked with scrutinizing Fed operations, will include international figures to provide an objective, outsider perspective on American monetary policy.
Lime hits $1.73 billion valuation in Nasdaq debut
Shares of the San Francisco-based micromobility firm Lime climbed 8% during their Wednesday market debut on the Nasdaq. The company, which operates electric bikes and scooters in over 230 cities, raised $167 million through its initial public offering, pricing the stock at $25 before it opened at $27.
Portugal Unveils Amalia to Bolster European AI Sovereignty
Named after fado icon Amalia Rodrigues, Portugal’s first open-source AI model marks a strategic shift toward digital independence. Backed by 5.5 million euros in EU recovery funds, the foundation model aims to reduce reliance on American tech giants by providing a localized, secure alternative for public and private sector development.
Short sellers pile into SpaceX despite heavy paper losses
Short sellers have ramped up their bearish bets against SpaceX, with nearly a third of the company's tradable shares now sold short. This aggressive positioning comes despite the move already inflicting approximately $760 million in mark-to-market losses on investors since the aerospace firm’s June 12 market debut.