2025-02-12 03:39
SINGAPORE, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Travel booking service company Klook said on Wednesday it had raised $100 million in funding led by European investment firm Vitruvian Partners. Klook said in a statement that the newly secured capital will drive its next phase of growth and innovation, but it did not disclose its valuation after the fund raise. It said it plans to enhance customer experience, merchant operations and internal productivity via its expanded artificial intelligence partnership with Google Cloud. Klook, which was founded in 2014, provides various booking services to travellers across a range of locations globally and competes with other booking services providers such as TripAdvisor (TRIP.O) , opens new tab and Airbnb (ABNB.O) , opens new tab. "We believe Vitruvian's investment and its deep thematic expertise in the global travel experience market will help further drive Klook's growth by strengthening its operational capabilities and expanding its reach," said Sophie Bower-Straziota, partner at Vitruvian. Founded in 2006, Vitruvian manages 20 billion euro ($20.72 billion) in assets globally and invests between 40 million euro to more than 600 million plus euro in companies typically valued between 75 million euro to more than 4 billion euro, according to its website. ($1 = 0.9652 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/klook-raises-100-million-funding-led-by-vitruvian-partners-2025-02-12/
2025-02-12 03:39
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The White House plans to nominate Jonathan McKernan, a former member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as full-time director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The White House also intends to nominate Jonathan Gould as the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Brian Quintenz as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The nominations were first reported by Punchbowl News. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, McKernan would take over an agency currently going through a major upheaval after the Trump administration effectively froze the watchdog. McKernan recently stepped down from the FDIC's board, where he had served since January 2023. He previously worked as counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee under Republican Senator Pat Toomey, and before that was senior counsel at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a Treasury Department adviser. Gould most recently was a partner at law firm Jones Day in Washington, and before that worked for crypto firm Bitfury as its chief legal officer. In 2018, Gould was chief counsel for the Senate Banking Committee under then-Chairman Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican. If confirmed to the OCC, Gould would lead the regulator charged with monitoring large national banks. The CFTC, which oversees commodity derivatives markets, has traditionally been a junior player in financial policy, but is expected to play a more prominent role as the Trump administration starts to overhaul cryptocurrency regulations. Quintenz, who is currently head of policy for a16z crypto, the crypto arm of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, had been advising the Trump transition team on crypto policy, Reuters previously reported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-nominates-new-chiefs-bank-market-regulators-2025-02-12/
2025-02-12 03:01
MUMBAI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is poised to open higher on Wednesday, adding to its recovery over the last two days that was fuelled largely by heavy intervention by the central bank. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will open at 86.70-86.75 to the U.S. dollar compared with 86.8275 in the previous session. The Indian currency dropped to an all-time low of 87.95 at the open on Monday, prompting the central bank to step in aggressively. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold dollars heavily before the local spot market opened on Monday and Tuesday and maintained the pace of intervention post that. Estimates about the size of the intervention over the two days range from $8 billion to $11 billion. Bearish wagers on the rupee, caught by the extent of the intervention, had to exit, further aiding the rally in the Indian currency. It is "no exaggeration" that the RBI has "for now broken the back of" speculators by its "unprecedented" intervention, a currency trader at a bank said. "I would think that a large portion of the positions, at least locally, have been cut. We are now at a neutral setting." TRUMP'S TARIFFS The rupee will draw comfort from the muted reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariffs. The dollar has not able to rally on news about the levies and U.S. risk appetite remains firm. The dollar index dropped 0.4% on Monday to below 108. That is despite Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell saying that the U.S. central bank is not in a rush to cut interest rates. U.S. consumer inflation data for January, due later in the day, will help investors gauge when the next rate cut is likely. The data is expected to show core inflation stayed elevated and that, combined with tariff uncertainty, could keep the Fed patient with rate cuts, MUFG Bank said in a note. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 86.92; onshore one-month forward premium at 20 paise ** Dollar index at 107.94 ** Brent crude futures down 0.3% at $76.8 per barrel; up 3.5% over last three sessions ** Ten-year U.S. note yield rises to 4.54% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $262.3mln worth of Indian shares on Feb. 10 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $156.2mln worth of Indian bonds on Feb. 10 Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/india-central-bank-driven-rally-rupee-likely-extend-2025-02-12/
2025-02-12 01:39
Goldman Sachs CEO sees growth-oriented agenda but policy uncertainty JPMorgan COO reports client optimism with cautious investment approach Bank executives cite policy shifts as source of volatility NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. bank executives said on Tuesday they expected policy uncertainty to linger as President Donald Trump's second administration takes shape, but remained optimistic on the economic outlook. Trump introduced a raft of executive orders, tariffs and personnel changes since he took office last month. In the banking industry, he accused the largest U.S. lenders of shutting down accounts of conservative customers, and dismantled a consumer financial watchdog over the weekend. More broadly, the administration is going to run a more "growth-oriented agenda," but the ultimate direction of its policies is more complicated, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told a Miami conference on Tuesday. "The regulatory environment should be a constructive tailwind, but the broad policy landscape is still uncertain," he said. "There's a lot of policy that is shifting, and until we have more certainty on that policy, that's going to create a little bit of volatility," he said, citing immigration, tax, energy, trade and fiscal policy. Markets will likely have "stops and starts" that are beneficial for Goldman's trading business, he said. Monday's trading was relatively normal after the two previous weeks started with "exciting and interesting" activity as the administration announced a flurry of executive orders and sanctions. Wells Fargo's finance chief Mike Santomassimo told the same conference that clients are optimistic about the economic outlook, and considering mergers and other activities. "There's certainly this optimism that the administration is going to be much more pro-growth, pro-business, remove a lot of the obstacles that may get in the way of growing the economy," he said. "There's still some uncertainty in terms of where a lot of the policy may go," that is causing clients to be cautious about striking deals, but "we still expect to see that momentum," Santomassimo said. JPMorgan Chase's (JPM.N) , opens new tab also expects market activity to pick up but said some companies are staying on the sidelines and awaiting more clarity on economic policies. "What we hear from clients is optimism, but a bit of a wait-and-see approach around committing to significant investments," Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak said on Tuesday. Keycorp CEO Chris Gorman said clients are upbeat despite the uncertainty created by new import tariffs. He cited a poll among the bank's clients that showed 62% expect to work on strategic M&A over the next year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/bank-bosses-expect-us-policy-uncertainty-persist-under-trump-stay-bullish-2025-02-11/
2025-02-12 01:33
WLF to seek partnerships with financial institutions WLF has seen token sales of $500 million, Reuters calculates Trump and affiliates own 60% stake in WLF holding company NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - World Liberty Financial, the new crypto platform in which President Donald Trump holds a financial stake, announced that it was unveiling a strategic token reserve designed to bolster Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies "that are at the forefront of reshaping global finance." WLF said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday that its new token reserve would enable it to mitigate market volatility, empower the company to invest in innovative projects in decentralized finance, and develop a well-capitalized reserve. It also said it would seek strategic partnerships with financial institutions to contribute tokenized assets to the WLF reserve. WLF did not respond to a request for comment. The White House and the Trump Organization also did not respond to requests for comment. The announcement comes at a time when Trump and his family businesses are increasingly turning to making money from the world of crypto. In addition to WLF, the Trump family's holdings include a majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O) , opens new tab, a social-media-and-streaming company that on January 29 announced it was pivoting into financial services tied to crypto. Three days before his inauguration, the president also launched his $Trump meme coin. Millions of dollars, including $100 million in fees alone off of the meme coin, have poured into entities connected to the president's new suite of crypto companies. WLF has already seen token sales of $500 million, by Reuters calculations. In January, Trump said his assets, which are in a revokable trust, would be managed by his children while he is in office. World Liberty Financial launched two months ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Trump and his affiliates own a 60% stake in its holding company and are entitled to 75% of revenues and 22.5 billion tokens, according to the company's website. The news comes just three days after Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, made a surprise appearance at the Ondo Summit in New York City, billed as Wall Street 2.0. There, Trump and company founders told attendees, most of whom were from traditional finance, that WLF's aim was to bridge the gap between the world of crypto and mainstream retail investors such as teachers, firemen and dentists. Donald Trump Jr. emphasized the need for a regulatory framework that would allow “crypto to flourish.” Crypto, he said, is the “future of finance” and the “future of American hegemony.” Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/trumps-crypto-company-launches-strategic-token-reserve-2025-02-12/
2025-02-12 01:30
BlackRock and Vanguard have reduced diversity focus in stewardship policies NYC comptroller criticizes ISS over policy change Feb 11 (Reuters) - Top proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services said on Tuesday it will no longer consider the gender, racial or ethnic diversity of U.S. company boards when making its voting recommendations. In a statement posted on its website, ISS cited how in the U.S. "there recently has been increased attention on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, including the issuance last month of Presidential Executive Orders on DEI." Tuesday's change by the influential proxy adviser marks a major step in how executives and investors react to efforts by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to end DEI considerations , opens new tab in government and business. Boardrooms across the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab have slowly grown more representative since the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020, but gains for women and minorities lately have slowed as companies reach targets and look at other recruiting priorities. Top investors BlackRock (BLK.N) , opens new tab and Vanguard have already reduced the importance of diversity considerations in their stewardship policies. BlackRock, for instance, recently eliminated a 30% diversity target for boards from late 2021, noting that 98% of S&P 500 boardrooms already meet that goal. ISS said the change will apply both to its benchmark policy and to its specialty policies such as those used by ESG funds, for reports published after February 25. It will continue to evaluate other director considerations including independence, accountability and responsiveness, ISS said. ISS competitor Glass Lewis did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. On Monday, a representative said it would reassess its approach "if regulatory or legislative changes were to impact corporate issuers and investors." ISS did not immediately provide more details, such as how its policies might shift for European companies, or how its recommendations on shareholder resolutions might change. Representatives for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees public pension funds and has urged companies to add more diverse directors and workers, said ISS' move seemed aimed at avoiding new federal regulations instead of acting in investors' interest. "Rather than standing up for independent proxy advice, they are preemptively throwing the value of diverse governance under the bus," Lander said. ISS, BlackRock and Vanguard have all been targets of Republican criticism for their handling of social and environmental matters, even as the areas gained more investor attention. Climate activists and labor representatives have said ISS and Glass Lewis do not support their issues enough. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/iss-ends-diversity-considerations-us-boardrooms-citing-trump-orders-2025-02-11/
