2025-11-06 19:20

Ripple is seeking Fed master account for stablecoin reserves Crypto company said 'skinny' account idea is attractive Wall Street banks fear fintech access could destabilize system Nov 6 (Reuters) - Crypto giant Ripple supports the idea of a "skinny" Federal Reserve payments account for non-banks, which could still be a game changer while addressing banks' concerns over financial stability and competition risks, a top company executive said. "I think it's an attractive idea, and I think it should give traditional banks some comfort," Stu Alderoty, the chief legal officer of Ripple, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. Sign up here. Ripple in July said it had applied for a Fed "master account" which would allow it to plug directly into the U.S. central bank's payments infrastructure, rather than relying on intermediaries. The Fed has long been wary of allowing lightly-regulated non-banks to access its plumbing, and banks have also opposed the idea, arguing it would create risks to the financial system. In a potentially major change of policy, Fed Governor Christopher Waller last month said the central bank was exploring a "skinny" master account which would give firms access to Fed payments but not other key services and benefits, such as interest, overdrafts and access to its emergency lending window. Despite those limitations, a "skinny" account, if granted, would still allow Ripple to quickly redeem reserves for its dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, rather than relying on bank intermediaries, which slows down transactions and is more expensive. "Thinking about that issue of redeemability, to be able to get in and out of Treasury or U.S. dollar assets quickly, the most efficient and transparent and quickest way to do that would be with access to a master account," Alderoty said. Waller said the idea is just a prototype and could change. "You're using it for a limited purpose, and you're not going to be using it for a broader purpose, which potentially could infringe upon the business of a traditional bank," Alderoty said. It remains to be seen how banks will respond to the idea of a "skinny" Fed master account, and if the prototype goes far enough to address their longstanding concerns about non-banks accessing critical infrastructure for the financial system. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/ripple-says-skinny-fed-master-account-is-attractive-despite-limitations-2025-11-06/

2025-11-06 19:18

PARIS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds' exposure to crypto markets is increasing, and more than half are now invested in the sector, with the U.S. government's embrace of digital assets boosting interest, according to an industry report published on Thursday. Fifty-five percent of hedge funds hold some crypto-related assets, up from 47% the year before, with funds allocating on average 7% of their holdings to crypto, a survey of 122 investors and fund managers by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) in the first six months of 2025 found. Sign up here. The investments are relatively small. More than half of the hedge funds with crypto are investing less than 2% of their assets in it, the report by AIMA and PwC said. Cryptocurrency prices have risen in 2025 with bitcoin hitting a series of record highs, boosted by U.S. President Donald Trump's support for the industry and his administration's push for crypto-friendly regulations. Regulators around the world have warned about risks to financial stability, as crypto becomes more connected to mainstream finance. "The past year has marked a turning point for US crypto regulation," the report said. "The US may finally be laying the groundwork for long-term regulatory stability." Funds that are already invested in crypto say they are planning to buy more in the next 12 months. A majority (67%) are investing via crypto derivatives, which allow them to take a position on cryptocurrency price movements without holding the underlying assets. These derivatives can introduce market risks, the report said, citing a flash crash in October which it said "exposed vulnerabilities related to excessive leverage and a lack of institutional-grade infrastructure." The funds surveyed by AIMA are responsible for investing around $982 billion of assets, the report said. There has been an influx of new money into hedge funds, with capital hitting a record high of nearly $5 trillion in the third quarter of 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/more-than-half-hedge-funds-invested-crypto-global-survey-says-2025-11-06/

2025-11-06 18:58

BELEM, Brazil, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Norway will contribute about $3 billion to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a multilateral fund proposed to support global conservation of endangered forests, the government said on Thursday, during a leaders' summit ahead of the U.N. climate talks known as COP30. The donation, first reported by Reuters, is the largest contribution announced yet to the new fund proposed by the summit host Brazil. Sign up here. Norway's government confirmed in a public statement that it would contribute up to 30 billion crowns ($2.99 billion) by 2035 to the fund, which aims to use government contributions to raise far more private funding. Brazil and Indonesia have each committed $1 billion to the fund. Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said this week he sees $10 billion in public funds as an ambitious but feasible target for the fund's first year. Policymakers envision the TFFF as a $125-billion fund combining sovereign and private-sector contributions that would be managed like an endowment, paying countries annual stipends based on how much of their tropical forests remain standing. ($1 = 10.04 Norwegian crowns) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/norway-invest-3-billion-tfff-forest-conservation-fund-2025-11-06/

2025-11-06 18:42

BRASILIA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's trade surplus jumped 70.2% in October from the same month last year, official data showed on Thursday, beating economists' estimates. Latin America's largest economy posted a $7 billion trade surplus for October, above the $6.2 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters. Sign up here. The improvement was driven by a 9.1% rise in exports, while imports fell 0.8% over the same period, according to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. That development broke a pattern seen earlier this year, when imports had been rising much faster than exports, reflecting the resilience of the Brazilian economy despite high borrowing costs aimed at curbing inflation. Export growth in October was driven by stronger sales of key commodities in Brazil's trade portfolio, including crude oil, iron ore, soybeans, coffee, corn and beef. Due to a 50% tariff imposed by the Trump administration in August on Brazilian goods exported to the U.S., the South American country's second-largest trading partner, shipments to the U.S. market fell 37.9% in October from a year earlier. By contrast, exports to China, Brazil's top trading partner, rose 33.4% in the same period. Brazil's trade surplus was $52.4 billion on a year-to-date basis, down 16.6% from the same period in 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-trade-surplus-boosted-october-by-exports-key-commodities-2025-11-06/

2025-11-06 18:15

TORONTO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Ontario, whose manufacturing-linked economy has been badly hurt by trade uncertainty, forecast a slightly narrower fiscal deficit than previously expected and said it would increase support for first-time home buyers, a fiscal update showed on Thursday. Canada's most populous province projected a deficit of C$13.5 billion ($9.63 billion) for the 2025-26 fiscal year that began in April. That's down from a C$14.6 billion deficit forecast in a May budget, helped by higher tax revenue, but far wider than the 2024-25 deficit of C$1.1 billion. Sign up here. A deficit is also expected in the 2026-27 period, of C$7.8 billion, before a shift into a modest surplus over the 2027-28 fiscal year. A C$2 billion reserve is set aside in each fiscal year, while a topped-up contingency fund has a projected balance of C$4.5 billion. Ontario sends more than three-quarters of its exports to the United States, including autos, steel and aluminum, which are facing hefty U.S. duties. Its premier, Doug Ford, has outraged U.S. President Donald Trump with a recent TV ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan's condemnation of protectionism. "With tariffs taking direct aim at Ontario workers and communities, it has never been more important for the government to deliver on its plans to protect Ontario," Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in a statement. Economic growth was forecast to slow to 0.8% this year, matching May's projection, from 1.4% in 2024 before picking up slightly to 0.9% in 2026. Measures the province is planning include rebating the full 8% provincial portion of a sales tax for first-time home buyers on qualifying new homes, investing an additional C$100 million in a fund to help small and medium-sized businesses diversify into new markets and temporarily increasing the rate of a manufacturing investment tax credit. In May, Ontario set aside a C$5 billion emergency backstop for businesses facing significant tariff-related disruptions. The province, one of the world's largest sub-sovereign borrowers, projected a net debt-to-GDP ratio of 37.7% in 2025-26 after it fell to a 13-year low of 36.2% in the previous fiscal year. Total long-term borrowing was expected to decline to C$42.5 billion from C$49.5 billion in 2024-25. ($1 = 1.4024 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/ontario-hit-by-us-tariffs-cuts-deficit-forecast-pledges-support-businesses-2025-11-06/

2025-11-06 18:11

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran says he expects the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates in December, despite the number of non-voting policymakers who may not want to. "I expect us to cut in December unless there's some sort of surprise," Miran told the Monetary Matters podcast. "When you look at the distribution of votes around the table, it's different than the distribution of views. And so for that reason, I would expect based on current information that we end up cutting in December, but nothing is absolutely guaranteed at the end of the day." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-miran-says-he-expects-rate-cut-december-2025-11-06/