Ainnbeen

 "UBS is exploring a sale of Credit Suisse's Chinese brokerage business. According to media reports, it's contacted several firms, including Warburg Pincus and Citadel Securities , as well as Chinese institutions to explore their interest in buying Credit Suisse's Chinese securities business. According to anonymous sources, the bids are expected to start at one billion yuan ( $137 million) , «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) reported. Since UBS already controls a securities firm in China it can't hold two licenses for the same business." SOURCE :  https://www.finews.com/news/english-news/59479-ubs-credit-suisse-china-brokerage-sale-warburg-pincus-citadel

" Aargau/Solothurn : André Spycher , (Currently with UBS ) Basel : Patrice Kleewein , (Joins from Credit Suisse ) Bern : Christa Emminger de Grenus , (Currently with UBS ) Geneva Area : Jean-François Beausoleil , (Currently with UBS ) Eastern Switzerland : Christoph Zeller ,  (Joins from Credit Suisse ) French-speaking Switzerland : Patrick Bourloud , (Currently with UBS ) Ticino : Luca Pedrotti , (Currently with UBS ) Valais : Iwan Willisch , (Currently with UBS ) Central Switzerland : Daniel Cottini , (Currently with UBS ) Zurich Area: Sabine Heller ,  (Joins from Credit Suisse )" ( SEVEN FROM UBS AND THREE FROM CS.)   SOURCE: https://www.finews.com/news/english-news/59472-ubs-regional-directors-sabine-keller-busse-switzerland

SOURCE: https://www.ft.com/content/73dd14a1-dd40-44df-952b-4602db9596eb "UBS is seeking a last-minute deal with the government of Mozambique to avoid a bruising courtroom battle over Credit Suisse’s involvement in the $2bn “tuna bonds” scandal, according to people briefed on the discussions."

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18EvHeQCCcRJJPEaonc8pby64KA6fD0Xh/view?usp=drivesdk   "ZURICH, Sept 27 (Reuters) - UBS shares fell on Wednesday after a report that the U.S. Department of Justice has stepped up scrutiny into alleged compliance failures that helped Russian clients evade sanctions . UBS declined to comment to Reuters when asked for a response to the Bloomberg News report, which said the alleged compliance failures related to UBS and Credit Suisse, which was taken over by its larger rival UBS  (UBSG.S)  earlier this year." " Trading in UBS shares was temporarily  halted  after they fell nearly 8% following the report. The Swiss bank's shares later recovered to trade 3.3% lower at 1500 GMT." SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-credit-suisse-face-wider-us-probe-over-russia-sanctions-bloomberg-news-2023-09-27/

 " UBS has long been keen to grow its footprint in China that already includes a mutual fund joint venture and a private fund business, but earlier this year it appeared to scale back expansion plans due to headwinds to China's economic recovery and geopolitical tensions." " UBS completed an acquisition of its smaller cross-town rival Credit Suisse in June, through which it now holds a 20% stake in ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Company, a fund joint venture previously partially owned by Credit Suisse." Source.. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-chinas-icbc-explore-banking-asset-wealth-management-collaboration-2023-09-26/

 "Biden also touted the Saudi negotiations. “If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia , I think we’d look at each other like, ‘Who’s been drinking what? '” he joked to reporters. “ Maybe Irish whiskey,” replied Netanyahu, before adding, “I think that under your leadership, Mr. President, we can forge a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. " " In addition to the “pro-democracy” protestors concerned about the future of Israel, Netanyahu will also be  greeted  by hundreds of Palestine and anti-Zionist activists. “ We’re going to be making it clear that no leaders of this government..are welcome in New York City,” Beth Miller, the Political Director for JVP Action and one of the organizers of that protest, told  Democracy Now . “ More importantly, that it’s time for the U.S. government to end the flow of $3.8 billion every single year to the Israeli military.” SOURCE: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/09/at-un-netanyahu-says-...

 " Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps  said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg  that when Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) was involved in building housing, there was a significant amount of national investment in housing as well as housing policy and strategy." " “The decision that was made back in 1987 to get out of housing at the federal level has resulted in 30 years of underbuilt housing, and also 30 years of not really analyzing good public policy on housing,” Copps said. “I think that's a big issue.” " “When the provincial governments took over the money (intended for housing), a lot of them didn't actually spend it on housing,” she said. From that period on, she said the federal government was not involved in housing until 2017 when the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to “insert itself back into the housing game.” Copps said this move marked the beginning of a collaboration that will take time to a...

" Every now and then Democratic Party megadonor Haim Saban surfaces and makes refreshing remarks to the press. “I am a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel,” the Israeli-American businessman told the   New York Times   in 2004. And he repeated that line to the New Yorker in 2010. Saban popped up again ten days ago, giving  an interview  to ahn Israeli newspaper in which he made some startling statements, printed in Hebrew, including: – He was invited to lunch at the Biden White House in early September, and the meeting was supposed to last an hour but it lasted three hours."  " Because Haim "and Cheryl Saban were crucial to Biden’s successful run for the presidency, and they are crucial to his hopes of reelection. They raised  $4.5 million for Biden  at a fundraiser weeks before the 2020 election. And they  gave over $4 million to Democrats  in that cycle ." " – Saban has complete confidence in the Democratic Party leadership and Joe Biden...

 " After almost ten years of working for the authority,  Johanna Preisig  the former head of the Strategic Foundations division, is leaving to pursue a career outside Finma, according to a  press release  Thursday.* "Finma managing director  Urban Angehrn  announced his resignation effective at the end of the month. More resignations followed." SOURCE: https://www.finews.com/news/english-news/59359-finma-johanna-preisig-departure-urban-angehrn

 "Reflecting on a year in which the UN has seemed paralysed by divisions over the war in Ukraine , Guterres put those divisions in a broader context. “ We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don’t reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem,” he said, adding that divides were deepening “among economic and military powers, and between north and south, east and west”. He said the world was “inching ever closer to a great fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations ; one that threatens a single, open internet; with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence; and potentially clashing security frameworks”. " Guterres has been criticised for issuing a series of arresting but increasingly dark warnings about the plight of the world, so his aides stressed that his speech, while candid about the challenges, was one of his most “solution heavy”. He called for deep re...

 " " Bank Indonesia is confident that the National LCT Task Force will be an effective coordination forum to strengthen policy synergy between government ministries and agencies in an effort to increase the use of local currencies in bilateral transactions between Indonesia and major trading partners," Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo said in a press release." " Indonesia's move is the latest among a series of actions by nations from China to Russia and India to to move away from the dollar in global transactions, a movement that's come to be called de-dollarization. Beijing and New Delhi have initiated trade arrangements to be settled in their respective currencies, while the BRICS bloc has been looking at the possibility of a shared tender. Indonesia's move is the latest among a series of actions by nations from China to Russia and India to to move away from the dollar in global transactions, a movement that's come to be called de-...

 "We are more in demand than ever as risk managers and advisors. This is a great responsibility, but also a great opportunity to create new trust,” Sewing said. ″[ We] must not deceive ourselves: we are still lagging behind our international competitors , even if the special economic situation caused by interest rates currently glosses over this somewhat – more for some institutions, less for others,” he added." Sewing also listed other issues contributing to Germany’s image as the “sick man,” including high and unpredictable energy costs, slow internet connections , outdated rail networks , digitalization backlogs , a lack of skilled workers, excessive bureaucracy , and long approval procedures. There has been much debate in recent months as to whether Germany deserves the moniker , which was first used to describe Europe’s largest economy in 1998 as it navigated the expensive challenges of a post-reunification environment." Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/ge...

" FINMA supervises the bank very closely and requests necessary information and documents as part of its oversight, a spokesperson said, declining to comment on this particular case. Reuters could not determine which period of disclosures the SEC, DOJ and FINMA are looking at and which Credit Suisse employees, if any, may be targeted."  "Lehmann did not immediately respond to request for comment on Tuesday. Credit Suisse was hit by 110.5 billion Swiss francs ($124 billion) of outflows in the last three months of 2022 which pushed the bank close to the brink. Those outflows continued in the first half of 2023. In the early hours of March 16, Credit Suisse said it intended to borrow from the SNB through a facility called Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to “pre-emptively” bolster its cash buffers." SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-authorities-scrutinize-if-credit-suisse-mislead-investors-before-rescue-2023-09-19/

 " Jeffrey Gundlach  ( Nick name, Bond King) issued a slew of warnings about the stock market, the US dollar, and an upcoming recession during the Future Proof conference last week." "" The economy is definitely weakening," Gundlach said. "I look for one next year, and I think the indicators are getting really convincing in that regard, " he said about the prospect of a recession." "The veteran investor also rang the alarm on the greenback, warning the federal government is likely to spend aggressively during the next economic downturn and bring itself to the brink of financial collapse. "I think the dollar weakens tremendously in the next recession, " he said. "The response to the next recession is going to be a complete disaster relative to our fiscal position, and that's going to be the wake-up call where we realize the United States is bankrupt, that we cannot honor our liabilities." Gundlach suggested that reali...

In an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Tuesday, ( Mark) Branson ( the Chief of BaFin, regulatory authority of Germany)  called the issue "unacceptable and extraordinary". "I would even say it's an unprecedented situation when we look at how many complaints there are about a single institution," he was quoted at saying. He called on bankers to fix the problem quickly. Deutsche Bank apologised to customers for the inconvenience and said that it was working on a number of solutions. SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/deutsche-banks-problems-postbank-unit-are-unacceptable-regulator-says-2023-09-19/

 "Still, the Congressional Budget Office warned in a June report that higher interest rates and the mounting national debt could lead the federal government’s net interest payments to spike to 6.7% of GDP by 2053." “Such high and rising debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of U.S. debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook; it could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices,” the report’s authors  explained . Some critics have gone a step further in their warnings about the potential impact of an increasingly indebted U.S. government. Mark Spitznagel, founder of the hedge fund Universa Investments,  told  Fortune  in August that we’re living through the “greatest credit bubble in human history.” “We’ve never seen anything like this level of total debt and leverage in the system. It’s an experiment,” he said. “But we know that credit bubbles have to pop. We don’t know wh...

 "In the latest fiscal reports, the U.S. National Debt has officially reached an all-time high of $33 trillion. In January 2023, the debt limit was $31.41 trillion, showing a nearly $2 trillion increase in less than a year." " COVID relief and aid to Ukraine, amongst other factors, are contributing to the huge rise in US national debt. In addition to US debt, inflation is also up, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the US up to 3.7%." SOURCE: https://watcher.guru/news/us-national-debt-reaches-an-all-time-high-of-33-trillion

" Around this time last year, Nouriel Roubini, the famed economist who has earned the sobriquet  Dr. Doom  on Wall Street for his gloomy outlook on markets, warned that it would be “ mission impossible ” for the U.S. to avoid a severe recession in 2023." " The comments mark a big shift in tone from Roubini, who in July 2022 said that his peers predicting a short and shallow recession at the time were “ totally delusional .” But a lot has changed since last July. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has managed to cool inflation to from its 9.1% pandemic-era high to just 3.7%, all while maintaining U.S. GDP growth; supply chains, which were thrown into chaos during the pandemic, have mostly  healed ; and despite a short-lived regional banking  crisis  in March, the S&P 500 is up over 16% year to date." SOURCE: https://fortune.com/2023/09/18/dr-doom-nouriel-roubini-short-shallow-recession-soft-landing/

"  Zimbabwe's government  banned the use of foreign currencies as legal tender in 2019 . President Mnangagwa said at the time that the country's economy was "at the mercy of US dollar pricing, which has been a root cause of inflation,"  per BBC. However, the country was forced to reverse the ban in June 2022 to rein in inflation." Source: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/dedollarization-former-finance-minister-zimbabwe-economic-disaster-dollar-africa-brics-2023-9

Monday, 18 September 2023 09:31  " The group is being represented by Quinn Emanuel and the lawsuit could be filed by the end of the year, though it is not certain to proceed. The plans involve suing in the US where lawyers believe there is a greater chance of waiving Switzerland’s sovereign immunity rights. " Separately, Quinn Emanuel also  launched a Swiss lawsuit against regulator Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma)  in April over its write-down decision, which was enabled by an emergency law introduced by the government in March. The US lawsuit against the Swiss government will not include the same claims made by plaintiffs in the Finma case, the report added." SOURCE: https://www.finews.asia/finance/40041-cs-at1-investors-plan-to-sue-switzerland

 " But with the current far-right Israeli government, some believe that the accords’ expansion has frozen, at least for now. And three years on, the UAE is facing challenges in working with Israel’s most extreme government ever." " And it ( UAE) did benefit from the accords, with 450,000 Israelis visiting the UAE between January 2021 and January 2023 and Israeli companies doing business in the Gulf country as well." " “ For Israeli businessmen, too, the Gulf is a new market … For many Israelis unhappy with the economic woes of their country, the UAE became a destination for job seekers,” she added." " The minority [of Emiratis] who cheered for normalisation are likely doing so as a patriotic duty. The overwhelming majority who silently oppose it choose to simply not legitimise it by engagement . The rapid and exaggerated accommodations made in the name of tolerance is perceived as distasteful to a largely conservative population,” al-Hussein said....

 " During the weekend the deal was struck, Ermotti was at a football game when his phone started to ring. UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher later called him about  rejoining the firm . " It was on Monday morning the chairman of UBS called me and asked me in to see me. I guess I started to suspect it probably was not about having a beer," Ermotti said." "After serving as CEO from 2011 to 2020, Ermotti said he felt a duty to return and steer the bank through the turmoil. Looking ahead, Ermotti pointed to the U.S. and Asia as growth areas. But he cautioned investors may be too confident about the likelihood of soft landing in which the U.S. economy avoids a major recession. Wealthy clients are flocking to money market funds in the U.S., tempted by higher rates, he added." Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ubs-ceo-committed-staying-helm-until-least-end-2026-2023-09-14/

 " On Sunday, in a press release after Modi’s encounter with Trudeau, the Indian government reiterated its “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities” in Canada. “Extremist elements” in the country, the press release said, were “inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada”." "Canada, meanwhile, has the largest Sikh population outside of Punjab. Among them are separatists who hope to create an independent Sikh state called Khalistan in northern India. For his part, Trudeau has defended Canadians’ right to “freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest”, though he did say he would “push back” against “hatred”. "But the controversy has cast a pall over Indian-Canadian relations. On September 1, in a surprise move, Canada said it would pause the trade treaty talks — something Indian officials echoed in their statements to the press on Friday. The trad...

"Out of the 195 countries in the world, 130 are looking towards building their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Therefore, 98% of the world aims to launch their respective CBDCs, making it easier to settle cross-border transactions. The CBDC’s development gained momentum after the BRICS alliance called for de-dollarization early this year." "Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, confirmed that the U.S. might not launch a CBDC currency anytime soon. The Central Bank is “a long way” from deciding whether to issue a CBDC currency, he said. Barr also stressed that launching a USD stablecoin could threaten the financial stability of the American economy in general." "Launching a USD-based stablecoin “ could pose significant risks to financial stability, monetary policy, and the U.S. payments system,” Barr said." SOURCE: https://watcher.guru/news/us-to-launch-cbdc-currency-confront-brics-de-dollarization

 ""New data from the U.S. Treasury Department show the federal debt increased by over $296.524 billion from August 8th to September 8th, reaching a total of $32.940 trillion." "We’ve been spending money like drunken sailors around the world, this war in Ukraine is still going on. Those are really big buts. To say the consumer is strong today, meaning you got to have a booming environment for years, is a huge mistake.”" Source:  https://dailyhodl.com/2023/09/15/296524000000-added-to-us-debt-in-one-month-as-jpmorgan-chase-issues-economic-alert/

 "Both India and Saudi Arabia initiated trade deals worth $52.76 billion in 2022–23. While India exports $10.73 billion, it imports $42.04 billion worth of goods and commodities from Saudi Arabia. However, India’s trade deficit with Saudi Arabia stands at $31.31 billion as of FY2022-23." "Ausaf Sayeed, the external affairs secretary, confirmed that the talks are at the “discussion stage”. He said:  "“The two sides have started discussing this. It is only at a discussion stage, proposals and concept notes have been exchanged. The Saudi side is aware that we have worked out similar arrangements with other countries in the region.” Source : https://watcher.guru/news/brics-india-saudi-arabia-begin-discussions-to-ditch-us-dollar

" First and foremost, the weakening of the U.S. dollar would begin if Saudi Arabia accepted local currencies for oil trade. If Saudi Arabia demands that other countries pay in local currencies only, then demand for the U.S. dollar would dip drastically. The move could lead to the dollar facing a depreciation in the international forex and currency markets . A weak dollar would make imported goods more expensive in the United States and potentially impact the overall U.S. economy. Secondly , other nations will begin to diversify their reserves and accumulate other currencies apart from the U.S. dollar . The development would increase demand for other local currencies and put them in direct competition with the dollar. Central Banks around the world will keep reserves of all currencies and commodities like gold, making the USD dip. Thirdly , and in conclusion, Saudi Arabia might not make such a decision as their currency, the Riyal, is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Therefore, if the ...

 "( Tamir)  Pardo told the Associated Press that Israel’s mechanisms for controlling the Palestinians, from restrictions on movement to placing them under military law while Jewish settlers in the occupied territories are governed by civilian courts, matched the old   South Africa . “ There is an apartheid state here,” he said. “In a territory where two people are judged under two legal systems, that is an apartheid state.” Pardo, 70, was appointed to head Mossad in 2011 by  Benjamin Netanyahu , Israel’s prime minister then and now. Netanyahu’s Likud party said Pardo “should be ashamed” of his comments. “Instead of defending Israel and the Israeli military, Pardo slanders Israel,” it said." " He also warned that what has been described as Israel’s “forever occupation” threatens its existence as a Jewish state. “Israel needs to decide what it wants,” he said. “A country that has no border has no boundaries.” Pardo is among the highest ranking former officials to draw ...

 "Biden may indeed be close to finding a way to upgrade Saudi nuclear capabilities without endangering Israel or launching a Middle East nuclear arms race. He also just unveiled, in India, a major global transport and communications project linking that country to Europe via Saudi Arabia and Israel. This appears to be a double-barreled scheme to both one-up China’s Belt & Road initiative and bind Riyadh and Jerusalem strategically. Now Biden just needs to get the Saudis, Israelis and Palestinians on board . . ." " A.   Frankly, even a Netanyahu less constrained by his coalition partners is not likely to offer those concessions. At the end of the day, his current coalition appears to suit Netanyahu’s true political and ideological approach to the Palestinian issue, which one former head of Mossad recently labeled ‘apartheid’. One partial way around the issue could emerge at the United Nations, where the Palestinians are reportedly negotiating with Brett McGurk, Biden’...

 " In the past 10 years, over 3,000 cooperation programs have been running within the framework of the initiative, with the overall investment scale nearing $1 trillion. With railways constructed and ports opened, people's lives are improving and the initiative's endeavor is to make it better for everyone, something that the IMEC can never match." " Such narrow-mindedness will only curb the efforts of the IMEC. As some in the Western media pointed out, unless the corridor passes through Russia and Afghanistan, it must pass through Iran, but is the US willing to cooperate with Iran? Most probably "no", considering the US government's hostile attitude toward Iran. For too long, the US has been seeing anybody it has interests in as a "friend" while every nation that holds a different ideology is seen as an enemy. The IMEC too seems to subscribe to this ideology." SOURCE : https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202309/12/WS64ff9863a310d2dce4bb52...

 " Fears were rampant in some quarters of the U.S. ahead of a recent closed-door meeting between the so-called BRICS nations. Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  met at the end of August  to discuss the possibility of accepting new members into its informal organization, including Saudi Arabia." "At the end of the summit, the leaders jointly announced that Saudi Arabia would in fact be invited to join, along with five other nations: Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Argentina." Source : https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/russia-china-going-destroy-us-103000482.html

" Amy Wong , Credit Suisse's ex-head of energy research announced earlier this week that she's moving to BP as head of investor relations in London. " "Betty Jiang , Credit Suisse's former New York-based head of ESG research, has just moved to Barclays as a senior oil  research  analyst."  " UBS ranked fourth (behind BofA, BNP and JPMorgan) in this year's Institutional Investor/ Extel survey , with 30 ranked teams, although none of its analysts were in the  top 10  in developed Europe." " In an article a few months ago, Institutional Investor itself pointed out the horrible overlaps between the Credit Suisse and UBS research teams. “It’s not often that two big banks get together where they’ve got such a large overlap,” said David Enticknap, head of Institutional Investor Research.  Enticknap predicted that UBS would cut some of its own researchers to make place for its new Credit Suisse people. In reality, it just seems to have cut the...

 Authors:  Yvan Lengwiller  Professor of Economics   University Of Basel  Beatrice Weder di Mauro President at Centre for Economic Policy Research, Professor of International Economics at Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID), Visiting Professor at Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society INSEAD CEPR President    RPN Member, Sustainable Finance    RPN Member, European Economic Policy    RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt    RPN Member, Geoeconomics " In this column we present findings that focus on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the crisis, emphasising the lessons with broader implications beyond Switzerland.  The report holds many detailed recommendations which are specific to the Swiss framework. Conclusion Reforms of international financial framework usually take place in the wake of financial crises. Yet every crisis is unique and certainly Credit Suisse’s troubles were unique.  Nevertheless, ...

" Higher oil prices, the dollar's recent rally, and the potential for more interest-rate hikes pose a threat to stock prices in September and October and raise the "hard landing probability in the next six months," Hartnett's team wrote in a research note seen by Insider." The  Brent  and  West Texas Intermediate  crude benchmarks  hit 10-month highs this week  as both Russia and Saudi Arabia pressed ahead with long-signaled production cuts – and analysts are worried that could  drive inflation back up ." "  " Meanwhile, a  gauge of dollar strength  hit a six-month high of its own Thursday – and while a strengthening greenback is often seen as a sign of economic strength, it also means that American firms doing the bulk of their business abroad end up taking in lower profits." SOURCE: https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-economy-hard-landing-oil-dollar-federal-reserve-bofa-hartnett-2023-9