2024-11-13 22:27

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The former FTX executive who wrote computer code that enabled his imprisoned former boss Sam Bankman-Fried to steal billions of dollars from cryptocurrency customers has built software to help the U.S. government uncover fraud in the stock market. Federal prosecutors made the disclosure in a Wednesday court filing seeking leniency for Gary Wang, FTX's former chief technology officer, at his scheduled Nov. 20 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Wang is also building a tool to help spot crime on cryptocurrency exchanges, according to the filing. "The tool has sufficient potential value to the government," the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan said. "Wang's willingness to use his skills proactively, to help detect other criminal activity in financial markets, distinguishes his cooperation." Bankman-Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year prison sentence imposed by Kaplan after a jury last year found him guilty of stealing $8 billion from customers to prop up his hedge fund Alameda Research. He is appealing his conviction and sentence. Wang, in his early 30s, will be the last member of Bankman-Fried's former inner circle to be sentenced by Kaplan following FTX's November 2022 collapse. Bankman-Fried's former girlfriend and Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years behind bars in September. Nishad Singh, another FTX computer programmer who pleaded guilty, was spared prison time last month. At Bankman-Fried's trial, Wang testified that his former boss instructed him to adjust FTX's software code to give Alameda special privileges, enabling the fund to secretly withdraw billions of dollars from the exchange. Last week, Wang's lawyer Ilan Graff implored Kaplan to spare his client prison time because of his assistance to prosecutors. Many details about Wang's software tools were redacted from the court filing because disclosing them would undermine their effectiveness, prosecutors wrote. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bankman-fried-lieutenant-builds-fraud-detection-tool-prosecutors-2024-11-13/

2024-11-13 22:24

HOUSTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil will cost $60-$80 per barrel in the foreseeable future, shale producer Devon Energy's (DVN.N) , opens new tab chief executive officer told attendees at an energy conference in Dallas on Wednesday. That price forecast is within the range where U.S. crude has traded for much of the year. It settled at $68.43 a barrel on Wednesday. Crude demand is set for modest growth in 2025 compared to 2024, Oklahoma City-based Devon CEO Richard Muncrief added, speaking at the conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Kansas City. He predicted more price volatility in crude markets following the election of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the change of administrations. "It's going to be a hang on to your hat time without a doubt", he added. Trump's policy could favor the industry through potential tax incentives for capital investment in exploration and production, Citi noted last week. The American Petroleum Institute (API), the nation's top oil and gas trade group, on Tuesday urged Trump's incoming administration to do away with vehicle emissions standards, lift a pause on export permits for liquefied natural gas facilities and work with Congress to repeal a fee on methane emissions from drilling operations. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/devon-energy-sees-us-crude-oil-60-80-per-barrel-foreseeable-future-2024-11-13/

2024-11-13 22:19

Stricter targeting of Iranian oil could be tempered by China concerns Trump will need to determine if sanctions can help achieve his goals Foreign ports, refineries processing Iran exports could be targeted WASHINGTON/CARACAS Nov 13 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's pick of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state could signal stricter enforcement of oil sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, but concerns about retaliation by China could temper any efforts, analysts said on Wednesday. Rubio, a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has long pushed for a tougher U.S. policy on Iran and China. Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba to the U.S., is also a critic of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whose two re-elections have been disputed by Washington, leading to oil sanctions on the OPEC nation. Iran's oil production has been the target of successive waves of sanctions, and during Trump's first term, oil exports from the third-largest producer in OPEC slowed to a trickle. They have risen during President Joe Biden's tenure as analysts say sanctions have been less rigorously enforced, Iran has succeeded in evading them, and as China has become a major buyer, according to industry trackers. "Senator Rubio has a consistent and strong record as a hawk on Iran, Venezuela, and China," said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy, who was an energy adviser to former President George W. Bush. Rubio will "zealously implement President-elect Trump's plans to exert pressure on Iran's crude exports, nearly all which go to China," a trend that increased under Biden, said McNally. Going hard on sanctions carries the risk of upsetting China, which could retaliate in several ways, including reducing the primacy of the dollar in oil trades, said Kevin Book, energy policy analyst at the nonpartisan ClearView Energy Partners. Trump referred to China and risks to the dollar from sanctions in a September speech at the New York Economic Club. SANCTIONS VS GOALS Kimberly Donovan, a sanctions and anti-money laundering expert at the Atlantic Council, said Washington has strong existing sanctions which Rubio could push foreign partners to enforce. But sanctions are just one tool of national security and not always the best one, Donovan said. "The next Trump administration will need to determine what their foreign policy objectives are and then decide if sanctions will help them achieve their goals," Donovan said. No one official heads implementation and enforcement of sanctions, and Rubio would have to serve at the pleasure of Trump. The Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce typically work on sanctions with counterparts in Europe and Asia. The Trump administration will try to maintain those relations as it will likely seek to use authorities in the 2024 Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) U.S. law, Book said. The law, which the Biden administration did not strictly enforce, allows the imposition of measures on foreign ports and refineries that process petroleum exported from Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. "Use of new authorities to go after those ports would require a great deal of new resolve from the incoming administration, but it could probably have the effect of curtailing some Iranian barrels," said Book. VENEZUELA Rubio's appointment means an improvement in relations between the U.S. and Venezuela is unlikely, said Luis Peche Arteaga of Caracas consulting firm Sala 58, adding that "it looks like more than anything like a confrontational approach." Jose Cardenas, a former adviser on Latin America policy under Bush, said top of the list for the Trump administration would be "oil sanctions and reviewing oil licenses allowing U.S. and foreign oil companies to do business with Maduro." Since 2022, Biden has issued licenses to some foreign partners and customers of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, including Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab, Repsol (REP.MC) , opens new tab, Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab and Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab, allowing oil deliveries to the U.S., Europe and India. That helped Venezuela's oil exports last month to jump to 950,000 barrels per day, a four-year high, despite the Biden administration reinstating broad restrictions on Caracas this year due to Venezuela's lack of guarantees for a fair election. "Revoking the oil licenses would send a powerful signal to not only Maduro, the opposition, the EU, and others that the U.S. is serious about a democratic transition taking place in Venezuela," said Cardenas, now a Washington strategic consultant and lobbyist. Here too, there will be limits on Rubio. Analysts have warned that tougher sanctions could prompt Venezuela, which has already created strategic alliances including with Iran to allocate its oil, to boycott Trump's goal of repatriating thousands of illegal migrants. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pick-rubio-could-harden-oil-sanctions-iran-venezuela-2024-11-13/

2024-11-13 22:01

Bankers bullish on deals, expect friendly regulators Trump's populist leanings could affect banking policies Crypto focus may increase competition for banks NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - As Wall Street financiers gathered in downtown Manhattan on Wednesday, their optimism about President-elect Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda was tempered by uncertainty over his personnel and policies. Bankers were still bullish on deals. They expected friendly regulators to be installed atop key agencies, sweeping away some onerous regulations. Yet one week after Trump's election victory, industry experts shifted their focus to Trump's financial policies and how they would play out. "Banks can't have everything," Erika Najarian, an analyst at UBS, told the industry conference on Tuesday. While they are benefiting from "wide open" capital markets, "we have to sort of temper enthusiasm when it comes to loan growth for next year" if interest rates stay higher for longer. Attendees also speculated about Trump's potential roster of financial regulators and predicted which companies stood to gain most from the new regime. "The administration is going to be this interesting mix of kind of laissez-faire, plus pro-business, plus populism," said Jon Lieber, Eurasia Group's head of research for the U.S. "How those three things interact are going to be happening in weird ways." For instance, Trump is expected to scrap a proposal for higher capital requirements that was strongly opposed by banking giants. Attendees argued banks are well-positioned to push for further relief and rollbacks of Democratic priorities as economic growth remains a top Trump pledge. “Sometimes you will win and sometimes you will lose, but the CEOs frankly have to have the backbone to fight the regulators when they think they are right,” said Jelena McWilliams, the former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Trump’s first term. But the incoming president's populist leanings could prompt him to do things like extend a Biden-era fight against banks' so-called "junk fees" that are unpopular among consumers. But several attendees did not expect Trump to keep his populist campaign promise to cap credit card interest rates. Meanwhile, bank CEOs expressed confidence about the dealmaking outlook and the health of U.S. consumers. At Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab, investment bankers' work on upcoming mergers and acquisitions is strong, while its pipelines for initial public offerings "are full and ready to go," CEO Brian Moynihan told attendees. Meanwhile, KeyCorp CEO Christopher Gorman noted consumers have 30% more money in their bank accounts today than they did before the pandemic, signaling "the economy is in good shape." Meanwhile, banks that are already in the regulatory penalty box are unlikely to be given easier treatment by the new administration, attendees said, and intense scrutiny of lenders' efforts to prevent money laundering and criminal financing will also remain high as geopolitical tensions escalate between the U.S. and its adversaries. Trump's focus on crypto could also increase competition for banks, said Aaron Klein, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. While lenders may get a short-term boost in profits from lighter regulation, their business could be eroded in the long term if financial activity migrates to more lightly-regulated areas such as the fintech or crypto industries, Klein said. Bitcoin climbed to a record $89,982 on Tuesday on expectations that Trump will embrace crypto. “The incoming administration has an opportunity to deliver on campaign promises," said Dante Disparte, the chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, the principal operator of stablecoin USDC. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wall-street-bankers-temper-optimism-week-after-trump-victory-2024-11-13/

2024-11-13 21:58

LONDON/FRANKFURT, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Hedge fund D.E. Shaw took a 102 million euro ($108 million) short bet against Bayer (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab on Tuesday, a regulatory filing in Germany showed, following an earnings presentation that sent its shares to a 20-year low, A short position reflects a view that the price of a financial asset will fall. New York-based D.E. Shaw, one of the hedge fund industry's biggest managers overseeing more than $60 billion in assets, declined to comment. Bayer did not immediately comment. Bayer warned on Tuesday that weak agricultural markets would be likely to cause further falls in next year's earnings, after releasing a lower-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit. The remarks presented by Chief Executive Bill Anderson sparked a sharp fall in the company's shares and increased pressure on the CEO to deliver on his turnaround efforts. Bayer shares fell to a new 20-year low on Wednesday closing the session 3.5% lower. On Tuesday, they fell as much as 15.8% from the previous day's close. ($1 = 0.9444 euro) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/de-shaw-takes-1-bln-short-bayer-regulatory-filing-shows-2024-11-13/

2024-11-13 21:53

Nov 14 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. An uptick in U.S. consumer price inflation last month that was in line with forecasts propped up Wall Street indexes on Wednesday, and lifted the dollar close to levels against the yen that had been concerning to the Bank of Japan. The CPI report, especially an increase in the 12-month rate, hardened thinking that while the Fed had justification to ease another 25 basis points at its December meeting, 2025 could see it rethink the pace of easing if inflation readings keep moving in the wrong direction. After all, it has approved a full percentage point of reductions since September. Markets could get insight into how the Fed will process October's fourth straight 0.2% CPI increase -- and the year-on-year inflation rise to 2.6% from 2.4% in September -- when Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers a speech on the economic outlook on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), which will be followed by a question and answer session. By then, the Fed chief will have also had time to digest the October producer prices report that comes out on Thursday morning and feeds more directly into the central bank's preferred inflation indicator, the personal consumption expenditures price index that arrives later in the month. Meanwhile, bitcoin vaulted above $93,000 and crypto currencies still looked like the trade of the week, continuing to outshine other asset classes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin. It was last up 4.08% at $91,910, marking a 32% rise since the Nov. 5 election. Smaller peer ether has risen 37% since election day, while dogecoin , an alternative, volatile token promoted by billionaire Trump-ally Elon Musk was up more than 150%. The dollar rose to 155.62 yen , its highest since July 24 and a level that many market participants consider a trigger point for verbal intervention by Japanese authorities. At this point it looks like prospects for the Fed to ease up on its easing is a more prominent factor than whatever the timetable will be for the Bank of Japan's decision to hike rates. A jump in Japan's October wholesale inflation reported Wednesday does not make that call any easier. Until recently Japan faced a greater risk of deflation than inflation. The BOJ ended negative rates in March and its Governor Kazuo Ueda has stressed it is ready to raise them again, having last done so in July because of inflation and the risk of a weak yen. The euro fell to its lowest in almost a year against the dollar, and euro/yen was almost flat at 164.33. Senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday that U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Peru for likely the final time on Saturday, as Beijing prepares for a potentially more confrontational period with Washington under Trump. Worries of Trump stacking his administration with China hardliners like Florida Senator Marco Rubio - who has now been tapped to become secretary of state, and Representative Mike Waltz - who was picked for national security adviser - have weighed on Chinese markets, although the blue chip CSI 300 (.CSI300) , opens new tab and Shanghai Composite (.SSEC) , opens new tab managed firmer closes on Wednesday. The offshore yuan CNH= was little changed at 7.243 per dollar, after the People's Bank of China pulled the currency off a three-month low versus the dollar by setting a firmer-than-expected official guidance for the exchange rate, signaling growing discomfort over the currency's recent rapid decline. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Thursday: - New Zealand Manufacturing PMI (Oct) - Japan GDP (Q3) - China industrial output (Oct) - Indonesia trade balance (Oct) - US Producer Price Index (Oct) - Fed Chairman Powell's speech Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-2024-11-13/