Author: Steven Sahiounie

The number of bankruptcies in Sweden surged to the highest level in at least a decade in January amid growing pressure on construction companies from an ongoing housing-market crunch, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. According to the media outlet, citing credit reference agency UC, the number of bankruptcy filings rose to 622, marking a 47% increase from a year earlier. Sweden has been struggling with its worst housing-price slump in three decades. The situation has contributed to a surge in defaults in the construction sector, with 130 builders filing for bankruptcy last month. Home prices have reportedly fallen by 16% from…

The British economy will perform worst among the major industrialized nations, the International Monetary Fund has predicted. The UK will be the only G7 member to face a recession in 2023, falling behind the Russian economy, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook update, published on Tuesday. In its latest report, the IMF again sharply downgraded its forecast for the UK, predicting the economy will contract by 0.6% against the 0.3% growth expected last October. That places the expected performance even lower than sanctions-hit Russia, which is projected to expand by 0.3% after contracting 2.2% in 2022. A UK recession this year would…

Nearly $81 billion in funds belonging to Russian investors have been blocked by Western financial institutions, according to estimates revealed by the Bank of Russia on Tuesday. As of November 30 last year, the volume of frozen assets held at Western financial institutions totaled 5.7 trillion rubles ($80.8 billion). More than 20% of the funds are owned by retail investors, the regulator pointed out. Last year, in an effort to minimize risks and protect investors, the Russian central bank banned brokers from executing trades for unqualified investors to purchase securities from so-called ‘unfriendly’ countries. The regulator has also imposed…

US oil major ExxonMobil earned $55.7 billion in profits last year, the company disclosed on Tuesday. The figure was a new high for Exxon, whose previous record was $45.2 billion in 2008, when a barrel of oil cost close to $150 – some 30% higher on average than in 2022. According to company CEO Darren Woods, profits soared on the back of recovering post-Covid-19 demand amid energy supply constraints. “While our results clearly benefited from a favorable market, the counter-cyclical investments we made before and during the pandemic provided the energy and products people needed as economies began recovering and…

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global, posted a record loss of 1.64 trillion kroner ($164.4 billion) in 2022, according to data published on the fund’s website on Tuesday. The return on investment last year was negative 14.1%, according to the released figures. The fund’s equities holdings posted a 15.3% loss, while its fixed-income portfolio was down 12.1%. Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the entity that manages the fund, commented: “The market was impacted by war in Europe, high inflation, and rising interest rates. This negatively impacted both the equity market and bond market at the same time,…

American multinational financial technology company PayPal has announced a wave of layoffs that will impact some 2,000 employees, joining a slew of tech firms announcing job cuts aimed at reducing costs. The decision to cut around 7% of its global workforce will help address the “challenging macroeconomic environment,” President and CEO Dan Schulman wrote in his message to employees published on Tuesday. “Change can be difficult – particularly when it includes valued colleagues and friends departing,” the statement reads. “These reductions will occur over the coming weeks, with some organizations impacted more than others.” Schulman promised the company “will treat our departing colleagues with the utmost respect and…

The sector has had a calamitous year, with assets collapsing in value by an estimated 75% from their peak of about $3 trillion in November 2021.Ministers estimate up to 10% of UK adults now own some form of crypto.They plan to use existing regulations for the industry, rather than creating a bespoke regime.The Treasury says that will allow crypto to benefit from the “confidence, credibility and regulatory clarity” of the existing system for financial services, as set out in the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).It wants to create a level playing field between traditional and emerging financial…

In 2022 India instituted a 30% tax on profits and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on all transactions for the crypto sectorBut this may not be all bad for the crypto ecosystem as it might incentivize retailers to return to local exchanges.”Until now there was no penalty for non-deduction. Budget 2023 has now established that,” said Ashish Singhal, a co-founder of Indian crypto investing app CoinSwitch Kuber.”This is to say, don’t try to avoid TDS by using offshore or non-compliant platforms. You may be penalized as per Section 271C of the Income Tax Act. If you are investing in crypto, use…

The Treasury also gave crypto companies a time limited exemption to approve their own crypto promotions until more regulation comes.February 1, 2023 by Camomile ShumbaThe U.K.’s finance ministry is proposing new rules to govern multiple areas of the crypto sector and wants stakeholders to weigh in.The hotly anticipated consultation, to be published by His Majesty’s Treasury on Wednesday, asks for feedback from industry members and experts on rules that focus on protecting consumers that also align with the country’s ambition to become a hub for crypto.Some proposals will place more responsibility on trading venues, such as crypto exchanges, to define…

Full-year GDP shrinks 3.5%, slightly worse than estimatesEconomy contracts 4.2% in 4Q as global demand weakenedFebruary 1, 2023, 8:37 AM UTCUpdated onFebruary 1, 2023, 10:17 AM UTCHong Kong’s economy contracted last year for the third time since 2019 as slowing global demand, rising interest rates and a prolonged exit from isolating Covid curbs weighed heavily on the financial hub. Gross domestic product fell 4.2% in the October-to-December quarter from a year earlier, advanced figures from the Census and Statistics Department showed Wednesday. The drop was worse than economist estimates, though not as severe as the third quarter’s 4.6% decline. This article…