2025-08-07 20:11

Proponents say investors will have access to new assets with higher returns Critics warn of increased risk and litigation concerns BlackRock plans new fund with private equity and credit assets WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to allow private equity, real estate, cryptocurrency, and other alternative assets in 401(k) retirement accounts. The order smoothes the way for private equity and other fund managers to tap into trillions of dollars of Americans' retirement savings. It could open up a vast new funding source to managers of alternative assets outside of stocks, bonds, and cash, though critics say it also could bring too much risk into retirement investments. Sign up here. "The Securities and Exchange Commission must consider ways to facilitate access to alternative asset investments by participants in defined-contribution retirement plans," a summary of the order released by the White House said. It directs the Labor Secretary to consult with her counterparts at the Treasury Department, the SEC, and other federal regulators, and to "re-examine" previous guidance. Such a move could be a boon for big alternative asset managers such as Blackstone (BX.N) , opens new tab, KKR (KKR.N) , opens new tab, and Apollo Global Management (APO.N) , opens new tab by opening the $12-trillion market for retirement funds, known as defined contribution plans, to their investments. Some of those firms have already struck partnerships with asset managers who run those plans. The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock (BK.N) , opens new tab, plans to launch its own retirement fund that includes private equity and private credit assets next year. Proponents argue that younger savers can benefit from potentially higher returns on riskier investments in funds that get more conservative as they approach retirement. "On the asset manager side, it's a $12-trillion retirement market that they have previously not had access to. For them, there's certainly a lot of opportunity," said Morningstar analyst Jason Kephart. "From the individual investor standpoint, though, that's where it's less clear after all the additional fees, the additional complexity, and less transparency," Kephart added. The new investment options carry lower disclosure requirements and are generally less easy to sell quickly for cash than the publicly traded stocks and bonds that most retirement funds rely on. Investing in them also tends to carry higher fees. In defined contribution plans, employees make contributions to their own retirement account, frequently with a matching contribution from their employer. The invested funds belong to the employee, but unlike a defined benefit pension plan, there is no guaranteed regular payout upon retirement. RISKS AND REWARDS Many private equity firms are hungry for the new source of cash that retail investors could offer after three years in which high interest rates shook their time-honored model of buying companies and selling them at a profit. Whatever results may come from Trump's order, it likely will not happen overnight, private equity executives say. Plaintiffs' lawyers are already preparing for lawsuits that could be filed by investors who do not understand the complexity of the new forms of investments. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink acknowledged in a recent call with analysts that the change posed challenges for asset managers. "The reality is, though, there is a lot of litigation risk. There's a lot of issues related to the defined contribution business," Fink said. "And this is why the analytics and data are going to be so imperative way beyond just the inclusion." CFO Martin Small said the industry may seek litigation reform before it can expand into the market. Any easing of access to volatile assets such as cryptocurrencies to be included in 401(k)s would be Trump's latest embrace of digital assets, and could be a potential boon for the sector, including asset managers that operate crypto exchange-traded funds, such as BlackRock and Fidelity. "Bitcoin has moved beyond its early days as a merely speculative asset and is slowly entering into many investors’ long-term investment strategy," said Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex Asset Management. "This EO will help accelerate this trend." The Department of Labor issued guidance during Trump's previous presidency on how such plans could invest in private equity funds within certain limits, but few took advantage, fearing litigation. Proponents argue that younger savers can benefit from potentially higher returns on riskier investments in funds that get more conservative as they approach retirement. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in June to the chief executive of annuity provider Empower Retirement, which oversees $1.8 trillion in assets for more than 19 million investors, asking how retirement savings placed in private investments could be safeguarded "given the sector's weak investor protections, its lack of transparency, expensive management fees, and unsubstantiated claims of high returns." https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-signs-order-opening-way-alternative-assets-401ks-2025-08-07/

2025-08-07 20:07

Trump has narrowed the possible replacements for Powell to a short list of four or fewer Online betting markets show Waller, Hassett and Warsh in the lead to replace Powell Market reaction could heavily depend on whether the nominee is seen as a Trump loyalist NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - As U.S. President Donald Trump narrows his shortlist for the next Federal Reserve chair, investors and strategists are closely analyzing the range of possible market reactions to each potential nominee poised to replace Jerome Powell when his term is over. Reactions may include a positive move if current Fed Governor Christopher Waller is picked, signaling continuity of leadership, to a possible negative response if the nominee to replace Powell is viewed as aligned with Trump, a situation that could call into question the independence of the central bank from the White House. Sign up here. While Trump has for months flirted with ousting Powell, the unexpected announcement last week of Governor Adriana Kugler's exit from the board has brought fresh attention to the composition and leadership of the monetary policy-making body. Earlier in the week, Trump indicated he had a short list of four possible replacements for Powell, including economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed governor and Trump supporter Kevin Warsh, and two other people. On Thursday, Trump named Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the rest of Kugler's term, leaving the choice of a permanent replacement for a later date. Bloomberg News on Thursday reported Waller is a top candidate for Fed chair within the Trump team, citing sources. "After months of extensive telegraphing from the White House, investors have come to expect the next chair to be a Trump loyalist with an avowed dovish bias," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto. Online betting markets Polymarket and Kalshi on Thursday showed Waller, Hassett and Warsh among those most likely to replace Powell. Broadly, the independence of the Fed remains the key issue for most investors and market reactions could vary depending on how closely prospective candidates to replace Powell are perceived to be aligned with Trump. "President Trump will continue to nominate the most competent and experienced individuals to deliver on his pledge to Make America Wealthy Again. Unless it comes from President Trump himself, however, any discussion about personnel decisions should be regarded as pure speculation," said White House spokesperson Kush Desai. CONTINUITY SOUGHT Markets were likely to react most favorably should Trump nominate Waller to Powell's job, several investors said. Waller, an advocate for an immediate interest rate cut, said last month he would accept the job as head of the U.S. central bank if asked by Trump. In a statement following his dissenting vote against the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to hold rates steady in July, Waller said the Fed's 'wait-and-see approach' to monetary policy was "overly cautious." "Waller would probably represent the most continuity with the current style of Fed management," said Steven Englander, head of global G10 FX research at Standard Chartered. Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at asset manager Janney Capital Management, said that, while there isn't a strong market opinion of policy differences under a Waller and Warsh pick, Waller has been flexible and fast-moving in his time at the Fed and has largely defied any hawkish or dovish bias. As such, should Trump seek to name him chair it would likely elicit a positive response from markets, said Mark Malek, chief investment officer of Siebert Financial. The Federal Reserve declined to comment. TRUMP ALIGNED A potentially more negative reaction may come should the nominee to replace Powell be viewed as a Trump ally. "The more the candidate is seen as being aligned with the White House, the more detrimental it is going to be to U.S. assets in general," Felix Vezina-Poirier, strategist for BCA Research, said. That means a Hassett nomination could spur a negative reaction with longer-term yields rising and the dollar selling off, analysts said. With Hassett viewed as very closely aligned with the White House, his nomination would not bode well for the independence of the Fed, some analysts said. A request for comment was sent to Hassett via the White House, but he did not respond immediately. Warsh might also prompt some market worry, investors and analysts said. Warsh, currently a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, was a Fed governor from February 2006 to April 2011, leaving about a year before Powell became a governor. During his tenure at the Fed, Warsh was frequently an advocate for tighter, not easier, monetary policy and criticized the Fed's expansionary balance sheet policy. "With a long history of taking overtly political views on policy — especially in the opinion pages — former governor Kevin Warsh is more of a wild card," Corpay's Schamotta said. "Although investors might welcome his recent Damascene conversion to lowering rates, it comes after years of criticising the Fed for keeping policy too loose, and has been paired with a commitment to reducing the central bank’s balance sheet more quickly—something that could push borrowing costs higher for an already-stretched government," he said. Warsh did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Still, the biggest knock for markets could come if Trump were to nominate a candidate who is viewed as lacking Federal Reserve or economic experience. Such a move would also raise questions about Fed independence, investors said. "The more significant question is whether any of these Fed candidates would be more or less "captured" by fiscal interests from the White House," LeBas said. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-game-out-market-reaction-fed-chair-replacement-favorites-2025-08-07/

2025-08-07 19:53

Some 16,000 hectares of forest and villages affected Fire now contained, firefighters remain to prevent flare-ups Fire burnt an area one-and-a-half times the size of Paris It is France's largest wildfire since 1949 SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-CABRERISSE, France, Aug 7 (Reuters) - fA massive wildfire that has scorched through 16,000 hectares (39,537 acres) of forest and villages in southern France since Tuesday has now been contained, local authorities said on Thursday. Firefighters will remain deployed in the area in the coming days to secure the site and prevent flare-ups, they added in a statement. Sign up here. Residents affected by the blaze are still barred from returning to their homes without official clearance, as many roads remain closed and potentially hazardous due to uninspected damage and fallen power lines. France's biggest wildfire in nearly eight decades has killed a woman whom officials said had disregarded evacuation orders, made 18 injuries, including 16 firefighters. The blaze destroyed 36 houses, damaged 20 others, and forced some 2,000 residents and holidaymakers to flee the area. At the height of the crisis, approximately 5,000 households lost power, and as of Thursday evening, around 1,500 homes were still without electricity, local authorities said. "We don't have water, internet and electricity anymore. We have nothing. It's the apocalypse," said resident and farmer Alain Reneau, who lives in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a village hit hard by the fire. "We saved the house, but we had to fight the whole night, for two days." Plumes of smoke rose over the forest area in the Aude region. Drone footage showed swathes of charred earth after the fire swept across an area one-and-a-half times the size of Paris. The blaze, not far from the border with Spain and the Mediterranean Sea, has spread unusually rapidly, fanned by strong winds and very dry vegetation, following months of drought in the area. "The fire's progression is slowing down, but we are still dealing with an active fire," the region's deputy prefect, Remi Recio, told reporters. "Compared to yesterday, the progression has significantly decreased because the weather conditions have changed, notably the wind direction," Le Monde newspaper quoted Recio as saying. Close to 2,000 firefighters were on the ground to fight any flare-ups. The territory the wildfire has gone through around 16,000 hectares, local authorities said in their last update on Thursday evening, while French media reported the affected area to be around 17,000 hectares (40,000 acres). "The battle isn't over yet, the fire could reignite with greater force," Prefect Christian Pouget said earlier. 'CONSEQUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE' Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said the fire was the biggest one France has experienced since 1949. "This is a wildfire that is a consequence of climate change, of drought in this region," she told France Info radio. An investigation is under way to identify the cause of the blaze. "Never in my life (have I seen) fires like this," 77-year-old retiree Simon Gomez said in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse. Scientists say the Mediterranean region's hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. France's weather office has warned of a new heatwave starting in other parts of southern France on Friday and due to last several days. Local winemakers and mayors are also blaming the loss of vineyards for the fire's rapid spread. "We're at war, but also, we will win the war," said Xavier Guille, a local vinyard owner who was helping firefighters battle the blaze. Guille lost woodland to the fire but his vineyard was unharmed. "My in-laws lost their home in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, it was one of the first homes that burned." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/massive-french-wildfire-now-contained-16000-hectares-affected-local-authorities-2025-08-07/

2025-08-07 19:47

Exports ease to 3.1 mln bpd, lowest since Oct 2021 - Kpler Exports to Asia fall to lowest since January 2019 - Kpler Low oil stocks keep barrels within the United States WTI arbitrage to Asia seen open in the fourth quarter Rising OPEC+ supply could weigh on U.S. crude demand HOUSTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil exports eased in July to the lowest levels in nearly four years on low domestic supplies and as Asian and European buyers found cheaper alternatives, undermining U.S. President Donald Trump's push for more foreign countries to purchase U.S. energy supplies. The decline in exports from the top global producer underscores the extent to which oil flows are dictated by price and the economics of shipping, even as the Trump administration recently has pushed countries to commit to more U.S. oil purchases as part of trade negotiations. Sign up here. U.S. crude exports tumbled to about 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, the lowest since October 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged demand, according to data from ship tracking firm Kpler. Exports averaged 3.2 million bpd over the last five weeks, compared with 3.6 million bpd in June, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The decline came as the spread between European and U.S. benchmark crude futures narrowed, making it less economically attractive to ship barrels across the Atlantic. "Markets are driven by economics, and companies are driven by profits, and so companies are going to continue to purchase what is the cheapest or the best feedstock for them," said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler. "There's a very, very incremental impact (from trade agreements on U.S. crude exports), but it's not going to move the needle," Smith added. WTI's discount to Brent in May and June, when oil delivered in July is traded, averaged about $3 a barrel, well above the $4 discount that typically encourages foreign countries to buy U.S. oil. "There's just not the incentive there to be pushing those barrels out. They're more needed at home than they are abroad," said Smith. Exports of U.S. crude to Asia fell to 862,000 bpd in July, the lowest since January 2019, and well below the three-month average of 1.1 million bpd, Kpler data showed. China, the world's top oil consumer, took no barrels for the fifth straight month as trade tensions continued between the two countries, while shipments to South Korea, the second largest buyer of U.S. crude in 2024, nearly halved in July, and those to India fell 46%. Meanwhile, exports to Europe fell 14% to 1.6 million bpd from June. Inventories of oil at the key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, hovered just above operational levels, amid lower Canadian oil flows due to a wildfire and last year's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. That kept more domestic barrels in the U.S., traders and analysts said. Prices for WTI Midland at Cushing were about 40 cents higher than prices for it along the Gulf coast, said Jeremy Irwin, global crude lead at Energy Aspects. Higher U.S. refining activity also encouraged some barrels to stay locally, Irwin said. Exports of Canadian crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast also eased 31% to 78,000 bpd in July, as U.S. refiners snapped up the barrels to replace lower Venezuelan and Mexican imports. SHORT-LIVED REBOUND SEEN Exports to Asia of U.S. crude are expected to step up in the fourth quarter as Middle East oil prices strengthened, making it more economic to ship oil to Asia from the U.S., trade sources said last week. Energy Aspects forecast about a 400,000-bpd increase to August from July in U.S. Gulf Coast exports. While Washington's push for countries to commit to energy purchases as part of trade deals may help inch exports higher in the short term, traders and analysts remained skeptical of any longer-term boost to exports from the agreements. South Korea said it would purchase $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas or other energy products, while the European Union pledged to buy $250 billion of U.S. energy supplies per year. Pakistan is set to import its first-ever cargo of U.S. crude in October, while India's biggest refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , opens new tab bought 4.5 million barrels of U.S. crude this week as Trump threatens tariff hikes on the country for its purchases of Russian oil. Purchases from trade deals would likely only push up U.S. exports for two or three months, said Jeremy Irwin, global crude lead at Energy Aspects. Further, rising OPEC+ supplies especially into the end of the year are set to increase options for European and Asian refiners, and could weigh on export demand for light sweet U.S. crude. The group agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 bpd for September, marking a full and early reversal of its largest tranche of output cuts. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-crude-exports-hit-four-year-low-july-low-domestic-supplies-2025-08-07/

2025-08-07 19:42

NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Paxos Trust reached a $48.5 million settlement to resolve New York charges the virtual currency company failed to police illegal activity related to cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the state's financial services regulator said on Thursday. Adrienne Harris, New York's financial services superintendent, said Paxos will pay a $26.5 million civil fine and spend $22 million to upgrade its compliance program. Sign up here. Paxos previously partnered with Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, to market and distribute the Binance USD stablecoin. New York's Department of Financial Services said Paxos lacked effective controls to monitor wrongdoing at Binance, failed to escalate red flags to senior management, and had systemic failures in its anti-money laundering program. The regulator said it ordered Paxos to review Binance's exposure to illegal activity, which found that from July 2017 to November 2022 about $1.6 billion of transactions on Binance's platform involved illicit actors, including Ponzi schemers and people sanctioned in darknet marketplaces. Binance also processed transactions involving entities sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, the review found. New York ordered Paxos in February 2023 to stop issuing Binance's stablecoin. Paxos subsequently ended its partnership with Binance. In a statement, Paxos said it was pleased to settle. It also said it has "fully remediated" the compliance issues, customer accounts were not affected, and consumers were not harmed. Binance was not a defendant in the New York case. It entered a guilty plea in November 2023 and accepted a $4.32 billion criminal penalty for violating federal anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed its own civil case against Binance in May, reflecting a change in approach toward cryptocurrencies during U.S. President Donald Trump's second White House term. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/paxos-trust-485-million-new-york-settlement-over-binance-related-lapses-2025-08-07/

2025-08-07 19:37

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Vanguard Group settled a lawsuit accusing the mutual fund giant of saddling investors in its popular target-date funds with inflated tax bills, after a federal judge rejected an earlier settlement. In a filing on Thursday in Philadelphia federal court, Vanguard and the investors said they agreed in principle following private mediation to resolve all claims. Sign up here. They plan by September 22 to seek preliminary approval of the settlement from U.S. District Judge John Murphy, who rejected a $40 million accord on May 19. Terms were not disclosed. Vanguard said it was pleased to settle. Lawyers for the investors did not respond to requests for comment. Target-date funds contain mixes of stocks, bonds and cash that are designed to become less risky as investors age, and also be tax-efficient. The lawsuit stemmed from Vanguard's December 2020 decision to reduce the minimum investment in lower-cost fund classes meant for institutional clients to $5 million from $100 million. Many investors shifted to those fund classes from higher-cost retail fund classes. This forced the retail funds to sell assets to meet redemptions, and pass taxable capital gains to investors like the plaintiffs who remained. Murphy said the $40 million settlement did nothing for investors because Vanguard could have offset that amount from its related $106.4 million settlement in January with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The judge also said investors would have been worse off, once more than $13 million was taken out for legal fees. Vanguard is based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It had $10.4 trillion of assets under management as of January 31. The case is In re Vanguard Chester Funds Litigation, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 22-00955. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/vanguard-settles-litigation-over-inflated-mutual-fund-tax-bills-2025-08-07/