Author: Steven Sahiounie

Many other lenders are also sitting on unrealized losses caused by the rapid rise in interest rates Nearly 200 American banks face similar risks to those that led to the implosion and bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), according to a paper posted this week to the Social Science Research Network. SVB, a major US lender focused on the tech and startup sectors, was shut down by regulators last week after massive deposit outflows. In the study, four economists from prominent US universities estimated how much market value the assets held by US banks have lost due to recent interest rate hikes. “From March 07, 2022,…

The authorities claimed Deloitte’s audit of one of the country’s largest bad-debt managers was marred by negligence China’s Finance Ministry has imposed an unprecedented fine of 212 million yuan ($30.8 million) on accountancy firm Deloitte, for negligence in its audit of bad-debt manager China Huarong, the ministry said in a statement on its website on Friday. Bad-debt managers are asset management firms that are tasked with buying distressed loans from banks. According to the financial authorities, several inspections, staff interviews, and a paperwork review revealed that Deloitte, one of the ‘Big Four’ global accounting giants, had failed to detect the condition…

Hong Kong is rapidly emerging as a crypto powerhouse, as its cryptocurrency-friendly policies continue to draw attention from global businesses in the industry. In recent news, Signum Digital’s security token offering (STO) and subscription platform received approval in principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), highlighting Hong Kong’s potential to be a leading destination for crypto-related businesses. These developments are likely to have a positive impact on the price of Bitcoin, as more businesses flock to Hong Kong, the demand for the cryptocurrency is likely to increase. Additionally, the growing popularity of security tokens, which are built…

The broad-based US dollar failed to stop its previous declines and dropped further as investors worried about contagion and recession after Credit Suisse and First Republic Bank’s shares tumbled. It is worth noting that the fear of contagion caused US banks to seek a record $153 billion in emergency liquidity from the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, the $54 billion loan for Credit Suisse and the $30 billion lifeline for First Republic did not stop their stock declines. As investors become more concerned about the stability of the existing financial system, they are turning to alternative safe-haven assets like Bitcoin. This underscores…

Credit Suisse Group AG is facing a critical weekend as authorities urge the failing Swiss lender to consider a merger with rival bank UBS AG. However, both banks have shown an unwillingness to merge, and the regulators do not have the power to force the merger. It’s worth noting that over the weekend, Credit Suisse CFO Dixit Joshi and his team will gather to discuss potential futures for the firm from a strategic perspective.  The global financial market has been influenced by this news, which has sparked concerns about the health of the banking industry worldwide, and in Switzerland in…

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have seen significant price surges in the last seven days, with Bitcoin soaring by more than 35% and Ethereum by more than 25%. This boost in the crypto market has sparked the interest of investors, who want to know how far these cryptocurrencies can go. The considerable increase in the value of Bitcoin can be attributed to actions aimed at improving the financial system. Moreover, increased investor optimism in the potential of the US decreasing interest rates later this year has also played a role in supporting Bitcoin’s gains. Ethereum, ranked as the second-biggest cryptocurrency in terms of…

UBS reportedly may acquire all or parts of the failing lender, with discussions to be held over the weekend Swiss financial regulators, the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), are organizing talks between the country’s two largest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, to discuss a potential merger between the lenders, Bloomberg and Financial Times reported on Friday citing sources. According to the reports, UBS is exploring an acquisition of all or parts of Credit Suisse. The boards of the two banks are also expected to meet separately this weekend to evaluate the idea of a…

Salesforce partnership with the blockchain platform marks another major company’s investment into customer engagement initiatives using Web3 technologies. Customer relationship management (CRM) software company, Salesforce, has partnered with layer 2 blockchain platform Polygon for an NFT-based loyalty program, said Ryan Wyatt, president at Polygon Labs. “Salesforce will help their clients onboard to Polygon with its management platform to help its clients create token-based loyalty programs,” Wyatt Tweeted on Thursday.  The news comes after the enterprise software giant said on March 15 that it is expanding its client services to include management of non-fungible token (NFT) loyalty programs. “Monitor real-time blockchain data from collections…

The group of companies had debts of about $11.6 billion against $4.8 billion in assets, according to a presentation filed by its advisers. Sam Bankman Fried’s crypto empire had a $6.8 billion shortfall in its balance sheet when it filed for bankruptcy last November, according to a presentation filed to the bankruptcy court on Friday. That included a deficit of $10.6 billion in the main FTX.com enterprise and one of $87 million in FTX.US. Sister trading firm Alameda Research had net assets of $2.6 billion, while FTX Ventures had net assets of $1.3 billion. In total, the group of companies had debts of about…

The search comes as the U.S. accelerates actions against the crypto sector in the wake of FTX’s collapse and the shutdown of three crypto-friendly banks. U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase is considering setting up a crypto-trading platform overseas and is discussing the move with institutional clients, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plans. A decision hasn’t been taken on the location for such a trading platform, which comes as U.S. regulators are cracking down on crypto, Bloomberg said. Regulatory action against the sector intensified after November’s collapse of crypto exchange FTX. The recent shutdown of Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley…