2025-03-21 14:18

March 21 (Reuters) - Tether, the creator of the world's largest stablecoin, is "engaging with a Big Four accounting firm" as it pushes for a long-awaited audit of its reserves, an effort CEO Paolo Ardoino said will be easier under U.S. President Donald Trump. Tether has issued more than $140 billion worth of its dollar-pegged cryptocurrency and said for years that it will release an audit. Its token is designed to keep a constant value, something Tether says it does by holding dollar-denominated reserves for every token it creates. Sign up here. An audit would help Tether improve the transparency of its reserves, which are currently subject to quarterly reports but not a full audit. "It's our top priority," said Ardoino. "Now we are living in a landscape where it's actually feasible." Ardoino did not specify which of the "Big Four" firms - PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG - Tether is talking to, and declined to indicate when an audit would be conducted. Trump's stance toward crypto should pave the way for Tether to audit its reserves, said Ardoino, in contrast to what he called "Operation Chokepoint 2.0" - a phrase used by the crypto industry to refer to what it said was a concerted effort by U.S. regulators to deny crypto companies access to financial services. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to be a "crypto president" and has since signed an executive order to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve and promised to overhaul digital asset regulations. "If the President of the United States says this is top priority for the U.S., Big Four auditing firms will have to listen, so we are very happy with that," said Ardoino. Earlier this month, Tether hired Simon McWilliams as chief financial officer to steer the company toward a full financial audit. Stablecoins are widely used to move funds between different cryptocurrencies or into regular cash. Tether said it bought more than $33.1 billion of U.S. Treasury bills in 2024, making it the seventh largest buyer of U.S. government debt. As of December 31, it held more than $94 billion in U.S. Treasury bills and more than $108 million in cash and bank deposits, according to a quarterly report on its reserves compiled by accounting firm BDO Italia. Of the U.S. Treasury bills, 99% are held with Wall Street brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, Ardoino said. Howard Lutnick, the former CEO of Cantor, is Trump's commerce secretary. https://www.reuters.com/technology/tether-is-talks-with-big-four-firm-about-reserve-audit-ceo-says-2025-03-21/

2025-03-21 14:16

BOGOTA, March 21 (Reuters) - Colombia's incoming finance minister German Avila said on Friday that under his term the country would continue to pay back its pubic debt and look to improve tax collection in order to address the government's tight fiscal situation. Avila is set to replace former minister Diego Guevara, who resigned earlier this week amid disagreements with President Gustavo Petro, causing unease in the Latin American nation's financial markets. Sign up here. "We will continue to meet the commitments of the public debt and we will make the necessary adjustments to improve tax revenues that will allow us to meet the fiscal tightness of this juncture," Avila said in an audio file shared with local media. "Such appointments should not jolt the health of the country's economy," he added. "To the contrary, the good results should continue and get consolidated." Avila is the fourth finance minister Petro has appointed since he began his administration in August 2022. Analysts have said the change of minister highlights uncertainty around the future of Colombia public finance, with lack of public funds forcing the country to slash spending plans and raise its debt issuance cap. "We owe ourselves a government and a program inclined to meet social needs, which implies listening to and attending to all the sectors that make up the nation," Avila said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-incoming-finance-minister-says-will-continue-tackle-debt-tax-collection-2025-03-21/

2025-03-21 14:07

OTTAWA, March 21 (Reuters) - Canada's retail sales shrank faster than anticipated in January as car purchases and supermarket and grocery sales all fell, data showed on Friday. Sales dropped 0.6% on a monthly basis to C$69.4 billion ($48.31 billion), after rising by an upwardly revised 2.6% in December, Statistics Canada said. In volume terms, sales were down 1.1%, a decline last seen two years ago. Sign up here. The drop in sales is mostly due to normalization of consumer spending after the December holiday season, when sales are usually high. December's purchases were also bumped up by a sales tax break that ended in mid-February, economists noted. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales to drop by 0.4% month-on-month. Excluding automotive parts and dealers, sales were predicted to fall by 0.2%, although the data showed that in fact they rose 0.2%. Retail sales are considered an early indicator of gross domestic product growth and contribute almost 40% to total consumer spending, which was partly responsible for keeping Canada's economy growing in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. However, as Canadian businesses and consumers deal with a wave of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the Bank of Canada has predicted that consumer spending will drop and GDP will be hit. The direct impact of tariffs will probably show in March's sales figures, but the impact on consumer spending due to uncertainty around tariffs could be reflected as soon as February. "The tax holiday will continue to add some noise to the data through March - just in time for tariff uncertainty to hit consumer sentiment," Shelly Kaushik, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note. Numbers for February collected from a flash survey of half of the respondents normally polled for full monthly data indicated that sales likely dropped by 0.4%, according to Statscan. January's data showed declines in three out of nine subsectors, with the car and parts subsector registering a drop of 2.6%, followed by a 2.5% decline in purchases across food and beverage retailers. The biggest bump to sales came from gasoline stations and fuel vendors, whose revenues rose by 3.2%, Statscan said. ($1 = 1.4366 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/markets/canada-january-retail-sales-shrink-by-06-february-sales-likely-fall-04-2025-03-21/

2025-03-21 13:24

March 21 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales fell by 0.6% in January from December at C$69.36 billion ($48.42 billion), as lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers were not offset by higher sales at gasoline and fuel vendors, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales likely declined 0.4% in February, the agency said in a flash estimate. In January, sales were down in three of nine subsectors, representing 51.9% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales dropped by 1.1%. Sign up here. (Percent changes) Jan Jan Dec(rev) Dec(prev) mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo Total -0.6 +4.2 +2.6 +2.5 Excluding autos/parts +0.2 +2.8 +2.9 +2.7 NOTE: All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast January sales would decrease by 0.4%, and be down 0.2% excluding autos and parts. ($1=$1.4324 Canadian) Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/RETAIL https://www.reuters.com/markets/canada-january-retail-sales-fall-06-seen-down-04-february-2025-03-21/

2025-03-21 12:58

MOSCOW, March 21 (Reuters) - Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and her deputy Alexei Zabotkin addressed a news conference on Friday after the central bank, as expected, kept its key interest rate on hold at 21%. Nabiullina and Zabotkin spoke in Russian. The quotes below were translated into English by Reuters. Sign up here. *NABIULLINA ON SIGNALLING OPTIONS We considered two signalling options - neutral and moderately tight. We would consider a rate hike if disinflation does not move as steadily as we wanted. *NABIULLINA ON IMPACT OF INTEREST RATE ON INVESTMENT ACTIVITY According to preliminary data, investment activity in the first quarter of 2025 remains more or less at the level of the fourth quarter of 2024. Therefore, we should not talk about any decline in investment activity. There is a shift in investment plans. But, in our opinion, investment activity will remain relatively high. Because the main resource for financing investments is the companies' own funds. Loans occupy a much smaller share in the sources of investment financing. And the financial result or profit of companies was quite large in previous years. We also keep telling companies that they should enter the capital market more actively and attract not only debt financing from banks, but also debt financing from non-bank organisations and equity financing. NABIULLINA ON THE DECLINE IN LENDING RATES The rate of credit growth has significantly decreased compared to last year. But there is still a lot of noise in the data ... We will be able to speak more or less confidently about the sustainability of the trend in corporate lending only on the basis of the second quarter data. NABIULLINA ON POSSIBLE RETURN OF WESTERN BRANDS We did not take this factor into account in the decision on the key rate, because it is still only a hypothetical possibility. But the systemic sustainable improvement in the terms of foreign trade, the reduction in the costs of obtaining imports, to which the hypothetical return of brands could lead, it is disinflationary. But only if not only imports but also exports expand. Otherwise, if only imports grow and exports remain the same, it will lead to a weakening of the exchange rate, the rouble exchange rate, and this will again be a factor of price growth. NABIULLINA ON IMPACT OF ROUBLE APPRECIATION ON BUDGET For the exchange rate to have a significant impact on something, it must be a stable trend. So far it is premature to talk about this in the exchange rate. As for the impact on the budget, we need to look at the cumulative effects on both revenues and expenditures. In fact, rouble appreciation, all other things being equal, is a disinflationary factor. If the rouble strengthens steadily, it may mean a softening of monetary policy and a reduction in interest expenses for the budget. Therefore, I think we should analyse different channels of influence for the budget. NABIULLINA ON RISKS OF INCREASING DEMAND FOR GOVERNMENT BONDS So far, we do not see such risks. If there is such interest, it is not expressed on a large scale. We do not see any risks to financial stability in the growing demand for government bonds. Because we see that this demand in the primary market and in secondary exchange trading is being made by a wide range of participants. These include banks and institutional private investors. The interest is driven not only by geopolitical expectations, but also by the first signs of slowing inflation. NABIULLINA ON NON-RESIDENTS' INTEREST IN RUSSIAN ASSETS We do not have reliable data that we could rely on to show the manifestation of this interest. Although this topic is being discussed quite widely. And, of course, there are objective reasons for such interest - differential rates, difference in yields when investing in Russian assets. But, of course, the realisation of this interest is hindered by restrictions on capital movement and sanctions. We will monitor this situation. NABIULLINA ON ROUBLE VOLATILITY The exchange rate affects inflation expectations. But inflation expectations do not automatically follow the exchange rate. We see that exchange rate volatility, unfortunately, now, due to sanctions restrictions, is higher than in 2022. And, of course, this is not a factor that would contribute to the reduction of inflation expectations. But what I want to emphasise is that the lower the inflation, the more stable the exchange rate. Therefore, if and when we achieve sustainable low inflation, it will also work to stabilise the exchange rate. NABIULLINA ON RATE DECISION A key rate cut was not discussed by the bank today. It will be possible to start cutting the rate only after we are sure that inflation is falling steadily and at a rate that will allow us to bring inflation back to 4% in 2026. NABIULLINA ON FURTHER STEPS We see a reduction in the current inflationary pressure, but it is under the influence of both sustainable and some one-off factors. We will have to make sure that inflation is steadily declining. If the pro-inflationary risks that we note are realised, we may need to raise the rate. Let me remind you that our average key rate range for 2025 is 19-22%. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-nabiullina-decision-leave-key-rate-unchanged-2025-03-21/

2025-03-21 12:45

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Hedge funds added more bearish positions than bullish ones in March than at any time since 2020, doubling down on bets that U.S. stocks have further to fall, according to a Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab note sent to clients on Thursday. Since the beginning of March, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab has fallen almost 5%, while an index of world stocks (.MIWU00000PUS) , opens new tab minus the United States has risen 3%, heading for its best first-quarter performance since 2019, with a gain of 8% so far. Sign up here. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its economic growth outlook for this year and raised inflation projections amid uncertainty from President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Rather than retreating from the market altogether, as many investors did when stocks dropped sharply earlier this month, hedge funds have instead continued to add trades, with a clear preference for ones that bet on more declines, the Goldman Sachs note, seen by Reuters on Friday, said. After the first week in March, hedge funds ditched their stock holdings over 48 hours at the fastest rate in four years, as the S&P fell 3.1%, its worst weekly performance in six months. Bearish bets on U.S. stocks have swelled and this dynamic is not apparent in Europe and Asia, where hedge funds simply exited losing trades and have not returned, the bank said. Hedge funds' exposure to tech and media stocks has, in the meantime, hit a five-year low, with some now shorting the sector, while others have added bearish bets on AI-related shares. Funds that focus on tech have negative returns of 4.1% this month, while those that concentrate on healthcare show a negative return of 1.5%, Goldman said. Globally, stock pickers are up 1.5% this year so far, recovering from their worst two-week period since May 2022, said Goldman Sachs. Systemic hedge funds profited while markets were falling, returning 8.9% so far this year, the bank said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/hedge-flow-hedge-fund-pessimism-over-wall-street-hits-5-year-high-goldman-says-2025-03-21/