2025-05-15 16:13
May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are preparing to announce one of the biggest cuts in capital requirements for banks in more than a decade, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Regulators were poised to reduce the supplementary leverage ratio (SLR) in the next few months, the newspaper reported, citing several people familiar with the matter. Sign up here. The SLR is a rule that requires big U.S. banks to keep an extra layer of loss-absorbing capital. The U.S. banking industry is optimistic that regulators will soon move to change how much capital they set aside against typically safe investments, particularly after the turmoil in Treasury markets last month. A move to revamp the SLR could reduce the amount of cash banks must reserve, freeing them up for more lending or other activities, and could incentivize banks to play a larger role in intermediating Treasury markets. U.S. regulators have flagged the SLR as meriting reconsideration and are mulling whether to tweak the rule's formula to reduce big banks' burdens or provide relief for extremely safe investments, such as treasuries. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency declined to Reuters requests for comment. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-poised-cut-capital-requirements-banks-ft-reports-2025-05-15/
2025-05-15 16:03
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - Two sprawling digital black markets operating on the communications platform Telegram have been removed, the service said on Thursday. Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee - Chinese-language markets known for serving cybercriminals and scammers - appeared to be inactive on Thursday. Sign up here. Telegram provided little further detail in a message to Reuters except to say that "criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered." Blockchain research firm Elliptic said the two markets had collectively facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021, many multiples higher than other black markets such as the drug-focused Silk Road, which drew international notoriety for distributing drugs over the dark web. "This is a big blow for online fraudsters, who relied on these markets for stolen data, money laundering services and telecoms infrastructure," Elliptic said in a statement. In a brief English-language statement posted to its website, Huione Guarantee - which at one point rebranded as "Haowang Guarantee" - confirmed that it had been blocked by Telegram starting Tuesday and would "cease operations from now on." The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Xinbi. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Cambodia-based Huione Group, which also owns Huione Pay and Huione Crypto, U.S. officials have alleged. Last year, Reuters revealed that Huione Pay had received cryptocurrency then worth more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. The report was followed earlier this month by a U.S. move to bar the Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Huione Group was the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors." The Huione Group did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/2-massive-black-market-services-blocked-by-telegram-messaging-app-says-2025-05-15/
2025-05-15 14:15
ABUJA, May 15 (Reuters) - Nigeria's headline inflation rate (NGCPIY=ECI) , opens new tab fell slightly in April, to 23.71% year on year from 24.23% in March, data from its statistics agency showed on Thursday. Inflation in Africa's most populous country soared to repeated 28-year peaks last year, spurred by President Bola Tinubu's moves to end costly subsidies and devalue the naira currency after he came to power in 2023. Sign up here. After a rebasing exercise where the statistics bureau updated its base year and reweighted the inflation basket, annual inflation fell sharply from 34.80% in December to 24.48% in January. It fell again in February before rising in March. A report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to be the biggest contributor to the year-on-year inflation rate. Food inflation was 21.26% in April (NGFINF=ECI) , opens new tab, down from 21.79% in March. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerias-annual-inflation-rate-dips-april-2025-05-15/
2025-05-15 14:04
Trump outlines potential fighter plans during Gulf visit Says US studying a twin-engined F-55 and upgraded 'F-22 Super' Proposals follow recent award of F-22 replacement to Boeing DOHA, May 15 (Reuters) - The United States is examining development of a twin-engined warplane to be known as the F-55, as well as an upgrade to its Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) , opens new tab F-22 Raptor called the F-22 Super, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday. Trump was speaking at a meeting of business leaders including the heads of Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab and GE Aerospace (GE.N) , opens new tab in Doha, a day after announcing a string of business deals including an order from Qatar for 160 Boeing commercial jets. Sign up here. Trump referred to the F-55 both as an upgrade to the Lockheed F-35 and a new development in comments that appeared to echo talk by the U.S. arms giant of a "best value" alternative, after losing out to Boeing to replace the F-22 superfighter. He also highlighted the role of the new air dominance platform called the F-47, recently awarded to Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab, and said the United States was simultaneously looking at upgrading the stealth fighter that it is designed to replace, the F-22. "We're going to do an F-55 and - I think, if we get the right price, we have to get the right price - that'll be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35, and then we're going to do the F-22," Trump said. "I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22 but we're going to do an F-22 Super and it'll be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet," he said. "We're going to be going with it pretty quickly," he added. Trump last month awarded Boeing the contract for the F-47 - a replacement for the Lockheed F-22 stealth fighter featuring a crewed aircraft flanked by a cohort of drones and seen as America's most advanced or sixth-generation fighter. Lockheed Martin, which lost out to Boeing in that Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) competition and was dropped from a separate contest for a new U.S. Navy stealth jet, has said it is now looking at plans for a "fifth-generation-plus" fighter. CEO James Taiclet told analysts last month that Lockheed was looking at ways of applying technology developed for its losing bid for the F-47 contract to the F-35, delivering 80% of the capability for half the cost. "We're basically going to take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari," he told analysts. A Lockheed spokeswoman said "We thank President Trump for his support of the F-35 and F-22 and will continue to work closely with the Administration to realize its vision for air dominance." 'NEW AIRCRAFT' Lockheed is separately in the midst of a delayed technology and software upgrade for the existing generation of F-35 strike fighter to boost cockpit displays and processing power. Analysts said it was not immediately clear how Trump's list of potential developments fitted into known programmes and spending plans, or the timing of existing programmes. Agency Partners aerospace analyst Nick Cunningham said the F-55 may alternatively refer to the F/A-XX programme, intended to replace the U.S. Navy's ageing Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet with the service's own sixth-generation stealth fighter. The Navy and Congress are battling with the administration to keep the plans moving forward, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Announcement of a winning bidder had been expected as early as March. Funding of the radar-evading F-22, which is designed to combat other fighters, has been fiercely debated for years as Congress blocked plans by the Air Force to speed up retirements to focus on the next generation blueprint that became the F-47. Any significant upgrade to the out-of-production F-22 would be costly, while Trump's reference to two engines implies the F-55 would not be a straightforward derivative of the single-engined F-35 but imply an ambitious new platform, analysts said. "Adding an engine to the F-35 makes it a new aircraft," UK-based defence analyst Francis Tusa said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-us-must-pay-off-debt-before-creating-sovereign-wealth-fund-2025-05-15/
2025-05-15 12:35
FRANKFURT, May 15 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank hopes to have all the political decisions in place by early next year to issue a digital euro and would then need two to three years to launch the currency, ECB board member Piero Cipollone said on Thursday. The ECB has been working on a digital version of the euro for years but progress has been slower than expected, mostly because legislation is still not in place to allow the bank to proceed. Sign up here. Financial upheaval in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election as the U.S. President has increased the urgency, however, as Europe relies on big U.S. firms for most digital payments, a potential financial vulnerability. "I hope to have everything done by the beginning of next year, very early next year," Cipollone told a conference when asked about the timing of the legal framework. "We need the legislation in place, and from that, two to three years will be enough to launch the digital euro." Unlike when they make a card payment by the likes of Visa or Mastercard, consumers paying with a digital would have a direct claim on the central bank and their funds would be similar in function and security as cash. It would allow customers to make direct payments both in online and offline formats. Cipollone said a key hurdle is getting a political agreement from EU member states but that could be reached before the summer. Work by the European Parliament could take somewhat longer, he added. When asked if Trump could accelerate the process, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau, speaking at the same event, said it enhanced the ECB's determination. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ecb-hopes-have-political-deal-digital-euro-by-early-2026-2025-05-15/
2025-05-15 12:29
TORONTO, May 15 (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts rose 30% in April compared with the previous month, a far bigger increase than was expected, data from the national housing agency showed on Thursday. The seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of housing starts climbed to 278,606 units from a revised 214,205 units in March, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to rise to 227,500. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-housing-starts-jump-30-april-cmhc-says-2025-05-15/
