2026-01-20 18:43

DOHA/DUBAI Jan 20 (Reuters) - Qatar Investment Authority and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab have signed a preliminary agreement to expand their strategic partnership, targeting $25 billion in investments by the Gulf wealth fund in Goldman-managed vehicles and co-investment opportunities. Under the memorandum of understanding, QIA will commit to be an anchor investor in several of the U.S. bank's flagship and innovative strategies, they said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs will also look to "meaningfully" increase its headcount in Doha, though it did not provide figures. Sign up here. Qatar, one of the world's top exporters of liquefied natural gas, is seeking to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons and attract more foreign investment. As part of those efforts, it has been expanding its financial sector by drawing in global asset managers and investment banks, many of which have been boosting their presence in Doha to work with entities including QIA. QIA has about $580 billion in assets under management, according to sovereign-wealth-fund research firm Global SWF. The expanded partnership "provides QIA with premium deal flow in sectors critical to our investment strategy, including AI, fintech, digital infrastructure and private credit," QIA CEO Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi said, adding that it would reinforce Doha's position as a regional financial centre. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/qia-goldman-sachs-plan-expand-partnership-with-25-billion-investment-target-2026-01-20/

2026-01-20 18:41

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said on Tuesday she does not expect Congress to approve caps on credit card interest rates as suggested by president Donald Trump. "The president is right in focusing on affordability", Fraser said during an interview to CNBC from Davos. "But capping rates would not be good for the U.S. economy", she added. A rate cap would cut access to credit to a large part of clients in the U.S. and affect airlines, retailers and restaurants, she added. Asked about support in Congress for legislation limiting credit card rates, Fraser said she does not think there is bipartisan support for that. Sign up here. After initiating a round of around 1,000 layoffs recently, Fraser said the bank has no intention of announcing new big headcount reductions. https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/citigroup-ceo-does-not-expect-congress-approve-cap-credit-card-rates-2026-01-20/

2026-01-20 18:30

Trump's Greenland ambition threatens NATO unity, trade ties Macron demands respect, not 'bullies' Trump: 'we will work something out' EU Commission chief calls for new, 'independent' Europe Russia questions Danish sovereignty over Greenland WASHINGTON/DAVOS/COPENHAGEN, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was "no going back" on his goal to control Greenland, refusing to rule out taking the Arctic island by force and lashing out at NATO allies as European leaders struggled to respond. But later Trump, who is due to join European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, told a news conference that he thought, "We will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we're going to be very happy." Sign up here. Trump's ambition - spelled out in social media posts and mock-up AI images - to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark has threatened to blow apart the alliance that has underpinned Western security for decades. It has also threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe that rattled markets and companies last year, though Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back against what he called "hysteria" over Greenland. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday after speaking to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said, "Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!" To drive home the message, he posted an AI image of himself in Greenland, holding a U.S. flag. Another showed him speaking to leaders next to a map showing Canada and Greenland as part of the United States. Asked later how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump told reporters at the White House: "You'll find out." But Trump said he had a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland in Switzerland and added: "I think things are going to work out pretty well." Separately, Trump leaked messages including from French President Emmanuel Macron, who questioned what Trump was "doing on Greenland". Trump had earlier threatened to hammer French wines and champagnes with a 200% tariff. DANISH PM STRIKES DEFIANT TONE ON GREENLAND Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she would not yield to Trump's demands and abandon Greenland. "The American president has unfortunately not ruled out the use of military force. And therefore the rest of us cannot rule it out either," she told reporters. An agreement on sharing responsibility for the security of the Arctic and the North Atlantic could offer a way out of the stand-off, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told Reuters at the WEF in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. European leaders took to the stage in Davos attempting to project the continent's strength, though it was not immediately clear how the European Union will eventually respond. Macron said the EU should not bend to "the law of the strongest". "We do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world, but we do prefer respect to bullies," Macron told the meeting in Davos. Some spoke of the importance of reducing European dependence for security on the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described a "seismic change" that made it necessary to build a "new form of European independence". Also speaking in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he strongly opposed any U.S. tariffs linked to the Greenland issue. The EU has threatened to hit back with trade measures. One option is a package of tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. imports that could automatically kick in on February 6 after a six-month suspension. Another option is the "Anti-Coercion Instrument" (ACI), known informally as the EU's "trade bazooka", which allows tough measures including restrictions on lucrative digital services provided by U.S. tech giants in Europe. It has never yet been used, but Macron, who has raised the prospect of invoking it, insisted again on Tuesday it was on the table. Asked what he would do if the U.S. Supreme Court were to rule against him on the legality of tariffs he has threatened against European allies over the issue, Trump said: "Well I'll have to use something else ... we have other alternatives, but what we're doing now is the best, the strongest, the fastest, the easiest, the least complicated." Bessent, also in Davos, said a solution would be found that ensures national security for the United States and Europe. RUSSIA QUESTIONS DANISH SOVEREIGNTY OVER GREENLAND Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, which has been watching with glee the widening U.S. split with Europe, said, "Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark", while denying any Russian designs on the island, as Trump has suggested. Trump's renewed tariff threats have revived talk of the "Sell America" trade that emerged in the aftermath of his sweeping levies last April. All three major Wall Street indexes closed well down on Tuesday, joining other global stock markets in a broad selloff triggered by concerns that Trump's fresh tariff threats against Europe could signal renewed market volatility. Gold climbed to another record high, scaling the unprecedented $4,700 an ounce milestone as escalating geopolitical tensions boosted safe-haven demand. ($1 = 0.8530 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/us-treasury-secretary-bessent-brushes-off-hysteria-over-greenland-2026-01-20/

2026-01-20 18:01

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A Moscow court dismissed on Tuesday a motion by prosecutors to seize the assets of U.S. private equity fund NCH Capital in Russia, the Interfax news agency said, as Russian and U.S. representatives sat down ‌for talks in the Swiss resort of Davos. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian authorities have confiscated or placed under state management assets worth some $50 billion belonging to foreign and Russian owners, with courts generally backing the state's claims. Sign up here. Prosecutors filed a lawsuit against NCH Capital and its founders, George ‌Rohr, a U.S. citizen, and Moris Tabacinic, an Austrian citizen, seeking to ban NCH's activities in Russia on the grounds that the founders funded Ukraine's military forces. NCH owns Russian agricultural producer AgroTerra, one of Russia's top 20 landholders, which was placed under temporary state ‍management by a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in April 2024. Interfax said the judge ruled the court would not hear the case and revoked the previously ordered interim measures. The agency did not provide further ⁠details. The full text of the court's decision is expected to be published in the next ‍few days. The prosecutors can appeal the decision. NCH Capital said it was encouraged by the court's ruling. "We are ‌encouraged ‌by the decision of the judge to dismiss the claim which we consider to be entirely without merit," the fund said in a statement to Reuters. "We remain hopeful that the Russian President will issue a decree terminating the State Property Fund management imposed on AgroTerra in April 2024, ⁠allowing the investors to ⁠regain control over their assets in Russia," it added. The court decision came on a day when Russian President's envoy Kirill Dmitriev is meeting U.S. representatives on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Kremlin said that apart from ‍exchanging information on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, Dmitriev would discuss economic and trade relations with the United States. "You know that we support the resumption of these relations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Andrei Kostin, chief executive of VTB, said last December that the bank was in ‍talks to buy AgroTerra, which it is helping the state to manage. NCH said it has no plans to sell AgroTerra and is not in negotiations regarding a possible sale. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/moscow-court-throws-out-prosecutors-bid-seize-us-funds-assets-2026-01-20/

2026-01-20 18:00

Oil production at Tengiz field shut since Sunday Fire previously reported at power station at the field Output could be idle until February, sources say MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Oil production at Kazakhstan's vast Tengiz oilfield, one of the world's largest, could be halted for another 7-10 days after shutting down on Sunday, cutting crude exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, three industry sources told Reuters. Operator Tengizchevroil (TCO) said on Monday that production at the Tengiz and Korolevskoye fields had been stopped because of power supply problems. Sign up here. A day earlier, on January 18, a fire broke out at two turbine transformers at the field's GTES-4 power station, said Kazakhstan's state-owned national oil and gas company, KazMunayGas. "TCO's output is down until the end of the week, but this could last until February," one source said. Three sources added that TCO had already cancelled five export cargoes of CPC Blend crude, totalling about 600,000 to 700,000 metric tons, scheduled to be shipped from the CPC's Black Sea terminal in January and February. Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab, TCO's largest shareholder, confirmed that "as a precautionary measure, TCO has temporarily shut in production at its Tengiz and Korolev oilfields". The company declined to comment on operational details and financial matters. The sources were speaking on condition of anonymity. TCO's press service confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday that, "as a precautionary measure", production at Tengiz and Korolevskoye has been suspended temporarily. It did not specify the cause of the fire at the production facilities or the date when production would resume. OTHER PRODUCERS RAISING OUTPUT, SOURCE SAYS The fall in Tengiz oil output has not yet affected Kazakhstan's overall production because other producers increased extraction, said one of the sources familiar with the data. Kazakhstan's crude production in the first 12 days of January was down 35% from average daily output in December owing to restrictions on CPC exports. However, in the following days, output began to grow rapidly at vast Caspian fields Kashagan and Karachaganak, the source said. Kashagan's average daily oil production over January 1-19 was 197,000 barrels, up 28% from average daily output for the first 12 days of the month. Karachaganak's output for January 1-19 averaged 156,000 barrels per day, 21% more than the average for the earlier period, according to Reuters calculations based on data provided by the source. Average oil output at Tengiz for January 1-19 was 360,000 bpd, 6% more than the average for January 1-12, the source said, citing the daily operational statistics. The press services of the two fields' operators, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating and NCOC, did not respond to requests for comment. "NCOC and KPO are partially offsetting the Tengiz shutdown, but in a few days CPC will begin to reduce throughput," the source said. Kazakhstan exports most of its oil via CPC, but damage to infrastructure at the marine terminal in Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka has forced the redirection of some crude to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline. In addition to U.S. company Chevron, which holds 50% of TCO, other project partners include ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab with 25%, KazMunayGas (KMGZ.KZ) , opens new tab with 20% and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab with 5%. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/kazakhstans-tengiz-oil-field-stay-shut-another-7-10-days-sources-say-2026-01-20/

2026-01-20 16:53

STOCKHOLM, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Swedish exports to the United States could fall by as much as 28% if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to impose additional tariffs on Sweden and some ‌industrial sectors could see a decline of 50%, Sweden's Board of Trade said on Tuesday. Trump has threatened tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain after they sent small ‌groups of military personnel to Greenland at Copenhagen's request. Sign up here. Trump has said tariffs will start at 10% on February 1, rising to 25% on June 1, and would continue until a deal is ‍reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland. At the current level of tariffs, agreed between the EU and the U.S. last year, exports to the U.S. are ⁠expected to fall roughly 6% over the coming three to ‍five years, according to the Board of Trade's estimates. An additional 10% tariff would ‌see ‌total exports to the U.S. drop around 16%, rising to 28% at the highest tariff level. Some sectors will be hit much worse than others. Iron and steel exports could fall 25% with the ⁠current level of tariffs ⁠and that could hit 45% if the top tariff level is implemented. Exports of electronics could fall as much as 50%. The United States accounted for around 9% - ‍or 186.5 billion Swedish crowns ($20.42 billion) - of Swedish exports in 2024. That made it Sweden's third biggest market after Germany and Norway. Top exports are motor vehicles, machinery, pharmaceuticals and electronics. Overall, Swedish exports ‍globally could fall between 0.8% and 1.3% if the tariffs are implemented, the Board of Trade said. ($1 = 9.1319 Swedish crowns) https://www.reuters.com/business/swedish-exports-us-could-drop-28-if-tariff-threat-carried-out-board-trade-says-2026-01-20/