2025-10-15 20:50
Lawsuit argued Trump's energy policies would cause a litany of harms Judge say lawsuit would have him overstep his powers, was unworkable Our Children’s Trust lawyers say to appeal ruling Trump administration says activists should seek redress through the political process Oct 15 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit by youth activists seeking to block U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel energy policies, saying it asked the court to take on a sweeping role overseeing potentially hundreds of government rules and regulations. A group of young people represented by the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust sued in May, arguing Trump’s executive orders aimed at “unleashing” American energy were unconstitutional. Their lawyers said they would appeal Wednesday's ruling. Sign up here. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen said in an order that while the activists had shown they would be harmed by Trump's policies, they asked him to assume a sweeping role in climate regulation that would overstep his powers as a judge. "This court would be required to monitor an untold number of federal agency actions to determine whether they contravene its injunction. This is, quite simply, an unworkable request for which plaintiffs provide no precedent," Christensen said. Our Children’s Trust chief legal counsel Julia Olson said in a statement that Trump's energy policies are causing irreparable harm to the health, safety and future of the 22 young people who brought the case. "We will appeal — because courts cannot offer more protection to fossil fuel companies seeking to preserve their profits than to young Americans seeking to preserve their right," Olson said. Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division praised the ruling in a statement on Wednesday, saying the lawsuit was a baseless attack on Trump’s energy agenda. Trump, a Republican, unveiled executive orders in January aimed at maximizing oil and gas production, rolling back environmental protections and withdrawing the U.S. from an international pact to fight climate change. The United Nations has said scientific evidence clearly shows greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels are responsible for rising temperatures and destructive changes to earth’s climate. In their lawsuit, the activists said Trump's policies would cause them a litany of harms, including life-threatening health conditions stemming from rising temperatures, air pollution from wildfires and flooding from increasingly powerful storms. They asked the court to declare Trump’s orders illegal, block their implementation and roll back all policy changes stemming from them. The Trump administration said the activists had no right to dictate climate policy through litigation and should instead seek redress through the political process. “A self-designated group of children and young plaintiffs claim they are better positioned to set national energy policy than the President of the United States," U.S. Department of Justice lawyers said in a court filing. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-judge-dismisses-youth-activists-lawsuit-challenging-trumps-pro-fossil-fuel-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 20:46
Oct 15 (Reuters) - Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo said he hopes to "very soon" execute a framework that will contain the terms of a $20 billion currency swap the U.S. recently agreed with Argentina's central bank, ideally before this month's midterm election. President Javier Milei is seeking to expand his minority presence in Argentina's legislature in the October 26 vote, and U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled his support of Argentina is conditional on the success of ideological ally Milei. Sign up here. "Hopefully we'll very soon be able to execute the framework and agreement that will contain the terms of the swap," Caputo said during an Atlantic Council panel discussion alongside central bank president Santiago Bausili. Caputo said the idea was to activate the framework within the next two weeks, ideally before the midterm vote. Despite Trump's support for Milei, who has campaigned to solve Argentina's economic woes through a tough austerity program and dramatically shrinking the size of government, a key local election in Buenos Aires recently handed a resounding victory to his socially-focused opposition. Trump's announcement that financial support depended on the outcome of the upcoming vote shook Argentina's market this week. Caputo said that regardless of the outcome of the vote, the policies of his administration would remain the same. He added that the administration was working on additional financial options it could not yet disclose, and that some U.S. businesses had informally pledged billions of dollars in investment during recent meetings. The swap line was blasted as a "bailout" by some critics in the U.S. concerned by Argentine competition selling soy to China. Bausili said U.S. Treasury Scott Bessent had been clear that the swap line was independent of any agreements with China. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/argentina-hopes-finalize-us-20-billion-swap-line-before-midterm-vote-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 20:45
US repo rates hit high of 4.36% on Wednesday Liquidity is declining, should be monitored, analyst says US Treasury settlements are one factor for funding rate rise NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. banks borrowed $6.5 billion from the Federal Reserve's Standing Repo Facility (SRF) on Wednesday, central bank data showed, and repurchase rates rose, suggesting tightness in meeting funding obligations with a large net Treasuries settlement due this week. That was the biggest daily borrowing from the Fed since the COVID-19 pandemic, excluding end-of-quarter periods. Sign up here. The SRF acts as a liquidity backstop for potential funding shortfalls. Introduced in July 2021 in response to the pandemic, the Fed's facility provides twice-daily overnight cash loans in exchange for eligible collateral such as U.S. Treasuries. The general collateral or GC repo rate, which is the cost of borrowing short-term cash using Treasuries or other debt securities as collateral, hit a high of 4.36% on Wednesday, according to Curvature Securities. It closed the session at 4.12%. On Tuesday, the GC rate touched a peak of 4.32%, up from Friday's 4.20%. The rise in the repo was unusual, traders said, given that it is not a month-end or quarter-end, when repo rates tend to jump as banks pull away from acting as middlemen due to higher balance sheet costs required at those times for reporting purposes. "This is just more signs that liquidity is slowly, but surely, decreasing. Nothing alarming yet, but if SRF is continuously tapped the Fed should pay even more attention," said Jan Nevruzi, U.S. rates strategist at TD Securities in New York. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that quantitative tightening "is likely to be done soon and this emphasizes the possible need to announce the end as early as the October meeting," Nevruzi said. Powell said on Tuesday the end could be approaching for the central bank's long-running quantitative tightening, aimed at shrinking the size of its holdings. "Some signs have begun to emerge that liquidity conditions are gradually tightening, including a general firming of repo rates along with more noticeable but temporary pressures on selected dates," Powell said at a gathering held by the National Association for Business Economics in Philadelphia. Analysts also said there is a large volume of Treasury settlements that need to be paid. On Wednesday, $40 billion in bills and coupons were due for payment, data on Treasury financing flows from Wrightson ICAP showed. On Thursday, there will be another $23 billion. The U.S. Treasury has been aggressively issuing shorter-term debt, hitting record levels in the last few weeks, as it tries to reduce borrowing of longer-term debt and bring down yields on that part of the curve. When new Treasuries are issued, investors such as dealers, banks and money market funds must pay cash to the U.S. Treasury on settlement day. This payment drains reserves and cash from the private sector and moves them to the Treasury General Account, which is the Treasury's account at the Fed. Fewer available reserves make it more expensive to borrow cash in the repo market, pushing rates higher. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-banks-tap-fed-repo-facility-overnight-rates-climb-signaling-funding-strain-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 20:39
Indian embassy in Washington has not yet confirmed agreement Lower global oil prices could mute economic impact for India Trump says India cannot halt Russian shipments 'immediately' WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would next try to get China to do the same as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues. India and China are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports, taking advantage of the discounted prices Russia has been forced to accept after European buyers shunned purchases and the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Sign up here. Trump has recently targeted India for its Russian oil purchases, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. to discourage the country's crude buying as he seeks to choke off Russia's oil revenues and pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. “So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during a White House event. “That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.” The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump. Russia is India's top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September, roughly one third of the country's oil imports. For months, Modi resisted U.S. pressure, with Indian officials defending the purchases as vital to national energy security. While imports from other producers would likely cost India more, lower oil prices would temper the impact. Benchmark Brent crude futures hit a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing surplus in the market. A move by India to stop imports would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers and could reshape the calculus for other nations still importing Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions. The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new pick for Indian ambassador, Sergio Gor, met with Modi. The two discussed defense, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a close confidant to Trump, was widely seen as a positive move for the U.S.-India bilateral relationship. During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not "immediately" halt shipments, calling it "a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon." Despite his push on India, Trump has largely avoided placing similar pressure on China. The U.S. trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade agreement. He followed up with an additional 25 percent because of the country’s purchases of Russian oil. India chafed at the move because no other top purchasers of Russian oil, like China or Turkey, were hit with similar tariffs. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trump-says-modi-has-assured-him-india-will-not-buy-russian-oil-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 20:26
SAO PAULO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Abra Group, which controls Brazilian airline Gol (GOLL54.SA) , opens new tab and Colombia's Avianca, intends to confidentially submit a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering in the United States, it said on Wednesday. Abra Group said that the draft registration statement is for an offer of ordinary shares, but added the deal is subject to market conditions and conclusion of the review process. Sign up here. Gol recently announced plans to go private as part of a corporate reorganization process. The Brazilian airline said it intends to delist shares from Sao Paulo-based stock exchange B3. Abra was created in 2022, when Gol and Avianca announced they were combining under the roof of a common holding company. ($1 = 5.4574 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/airline-group-abra-submit-draft-registration-statement-us-ipo-2025-10-15/
2025-10-15 20:03
Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Bancorp (USB.N) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it had formed a new unit focused on digital assets and money movement to speed up development as well as grow the revenue from emerging digital products and services. Jamie Walker, a U.S. Bancorp veteran of more than 20 years, will lead the new unit. Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The goal of the new organization is to develop digital products and make more money from the growing areas in finance such as stablecoin issuance, cryptocurrency custody, asset tokenization and digital money movement. KEY QUOTE "Clients increasingly want to understand how digital assets can help them safely move money, store deposits and use tokenized assets, among other potential use cases," said Dominic Venturo, chief digital officer at U.S. Bancorp. CONTEXT More companies have been trying to cash in on better crypto prices and U.S. President Donald Trump's support for the crypto industry. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-bancorp-forms-dedicated-unit-digital-assets-money-movement-2025-10-15/
