2025-09-30 12:17
WINDHOEK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Namibia will carefully consider whether or not to acquire a stake in De Beers as the diamond price slump persists, local media reported on Monday, citing the country's deputy prime minister. The diamond giant has been put up for sale by Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab as the parent company restructures its portfolio to focus on copper and iron ore. Anglo said on September 9 that it was pursuing a merger with Canada's Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) , opens new tab to create a copper heavyweight. Sign up here. De Beers had by June attracted interest from at least six prospective investors, while Angola's state diamond company Endiama announced on September 24 it had bid for a minority stake in the company. Angola has said it wants a broad ownership structure for De Beers, which would include Botswana, South Africa and Namibia - countries where the company operates. The Namibian government and De Beers each own 50% of Namdeb Holdings, which produced 2.2 million carats of rough diamonds in 2024, about 9% of De Beers' group output last year. Namibia's Deputy Prime Minister Natangwe Ithete, who is also responsible for mines, told online financial news outlet The Brief that the country needed to assess the diamond industry, whose prospects have been dimmed by synthetic diamonds and weak demand. "To be honest, the diamond industry is going down. It is not a secret that the industry is under pressure and affected by the so-called lab diamonds, the synthetic diamonds," Ithete said. "So this is something we need to study very carefully, to determine whether it is worth pursuing or not," he added. Neighbouring Botswana, which holds a 15% stake in De Beers, is also pursuing a controlling interest in the company. Anglo American values De Beers at about $4.9 billion, after recording $3.5 billion in impairments over the past two years, but current market pressures may lead to lower offers. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/namibia-cautious-about-taking-up-stake-de-beers-local-media-report-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:13
BRASILIA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's public finances performed better than expected in August, with debt levels remaining stable and the primary deficit coming in below forecasts, central bank data showed on Tuesday. The gross public sector debt of Latin America's largest economy stood at 77.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), unchanged from the previous month, while economists polled by Reuters had expected the ratio to rise to 78.0%. Sign up here. According to the central bank, the heavy interest bill for the month - typically a factor pushing debt higher - was offset by nominal GDP growth, net debt redemptions and the impact of currency appreciation. The public sector posted a primary deficit of 17.26 billion reais ($3.24 billion) in August, narrower than the 21 billion reais shortfall projected in the Reuters poll, and below the 21.43 billion reais deficit recorded a year earlier. As a result, the 12-month rolling primary deficit fell to 0.19% of GDP in August from 0.22% in July. The nominal budget balance, which includes interest payments, showed a deficit of 91.52 billion reais for the month, also smaller than the 95 billion reais projected by economists in the poll. Over 12 months, the nominal deficit reached 7.81% of GDP, down from 7.85% in the previous month. ($1 = 5.3219 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-public-finances-outperform-expectations-august-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 11:59
FRANKFURT, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The European Commission is going too far in easing securitisation rules for banks, particularly for more complex and potentially riskier transactions, European Central Bank supervisor Pedro Machado said on Tuesday. Securitisations, whereby a bank packages loans to companies or households and sells them to investors as securities, were at the heart of the global financial crisis of 2007-08. Europe has yet to fully recover from that crash. Sign up here. The European Commission proposed streamlining the rules governing securitisation in June to try to release capital for lending and help Europe compete financially with the United States. 'INHERENT RISKS' FROM SECURITISATION But the ECB, which supervises the euro zone's largest banks, says some of the proposed changes are raising risks. "We must remember that the practice of securitisation entails inherent risks to financial stability, such as agency and model risks, which are more difficult to capture in more complex securitisation structures," Machado, a member of the ECB's Supervisory Board, said at a financial event. He said there was "no intrinsic link between securitisation and additional lending". He also said that, although the securitisation market is smaller in Europe than in the United States, that did not capture the rapid growth of synthetic securitisations in the EU. These are essentially a guarantee sold on several tranches of a loan portfolio in return for a fee. As securitised loans remain on the balance sheet of the bank, these transactions do not provide any fresh funding. The Commission's proposed changes include investors no longer needing to double-check from their side if the bank issuing the security fulfilled all the necessary requirements. Due diligence would also be more proportionate to the level of risk. There would also be less paperwork, fewer details required to be disclosed and a lighter transparency regime for private deals compared to transactions with public entities. Machado warned against inviting "complex securitisations and opaque structures" and said the new rules should support "simpler, more standardised and more resilient transactions". https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/ecb-says-eu-going-too-far-easing-bank-securitisation-rules-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 11:44
Ukrainian Volodymyr Z. detained near Warsaw Lawyer says he is not guilty and will fight transfer to Germany German prosecutors say he will be brought before a German judge WARSAW, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian diver wanted by Germany over his alleged involvement in explosions in 2022 in the Nord Stream pipeline that largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe has been detained in Poland, prosecutors and his lawyer said on Tuesday. Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions marked a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezed energy supplies on the continent. No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role. Sign up here. Germany's top prosecutors' office said Polish police had acted upon a European arrest warrant for Volodymyr Z. that it had issued. SUSPECTED OF PLANTING EXPLOSIVES ON PIPELINES Its statement said the qualified diver was one of a group of people who were suspected of renting a sailing yacht in the German Baltic Sea port of Rostock and planting explosives on the pipelines, running from Russia to Germany, near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. He faces accusations of conspiring to commit an explosives attack and of "anti-constitutional sabotage", the prosecutors added. Volodymyr Z.'s lawyer Tymoteusz Paprocki said he was detained in a town near Warsaw. In a statement, Paprocki said: "My client has done nothing wrong and pleads not guilty. My client has not committed any crime to the detriment of Germany." Paprocki said Volodymyr Z.'s defence would fight against his transfer to Germany, arguing that the execution of the European arrest warrant against him was inadmissible given Russia's war in Ukraine. "The attack on Nord Stream infrastructure concerns one of the pipeline's owners, Gazprom, which directly finances the military operations in Ukraine," he said. Gazprom is Russia's state gas giant. If he is extradited by Poland, Volodymyr Z. would be brought before an investigating judge with Germany's Federal Court, the German statement said. ARREST IN ITALY In August, Italian police arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the attacks. The man, identified only as Serhii K., plans to take his fight against extradition to Italy's highest court after a lower court ordered his transfer to Germany. The blasts wrecked three out of four Nord Stream pipelines, which had become a controversial symbol of German reliance on Russian gas in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Russia blamed the U.S., Britain and Ukraine for the blasts, which largely cut Russian gas off from the lucrative European market. Those countries have denied involvement. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden all opened investigations into the incident, and the Swedes found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the explosion site, confirming the blasts were deliberate acts. The Swedish and Danish investigations were closed in February without identifying any suspect. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-citizen-wanted-over-nord-stream-explosions-detained-poland-rmf-reports-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 11:43
Sept 30 (Reuters) - China's state iron ore buyer has told major steelmakers and traders to temporarily pause purchases of any dollar-denominated seaborne iron ore cargoes from BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. China is the world's largest iron ore consumer and buys about 75% of global seaborne iron ore, while BHP is the world's largest listed miner. State-owned iron ore buyer China Mineral Resources Group was established in 2022 as part of Beijing's efforts to bolster its pricing power in iron ore. Sign up here. Last month, BHP said that its annual profit fell to the lowest in five years as sluggish demand from China weighed on iron ore prices and flagged a cut in capital and exploration spending. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that CMRG had urged the country’s steel mills to suspend purchases of BHP’s Jimblebar blend fines after talks on long-term contracts faltered. Bloomberg said on Tuesday that the latest direction from CMRG was an expansion of these earlier curbs. BHP Group did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. CMRG did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-bans-all-bhp-iron-ore-cargoes-pricing-dispute-deepens-bloomberg-news-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 11:37
Sept 30 (Reuters) - The TSX pegged an all-time record close on Tuesday and ended the quarter higher, as a holiday-affected market digested news about U.S. tariffs, as well as corporate news from Imperial Oil and TD Bank. The TSX (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab closed up 50.9 at 30022.81. Many Canadian companies and traders observed the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation holiday, but volume was average. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday his administration would put 10% tariffs on imported timber and lumber, and 25% duties on some imported furniture and cabinets. Canada is a major exporter of wood products to the U.S. Trump also threatened 100% tariffs on foreign-made films. Canada has a large moviemaking industry tightly integrated with Hollywood. U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab said it plans to lay off about 2,000 workers, including hundreds at Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) , opens new tab, of which it owns a majority share. Imperial fell on the news. TD Bank (TD.TO) , opens new tab hit a record share price early on Tuesday following CEO Raymond Chun's statements about his company's growth potential, its anti-money-laundering efforts, and its cost-savings focus. The financial subindex (.SPTTFS) , opens new tab rose. Michael Dehal, senior portfolio manager with Raymond James, pointed to a risk-off day in U.S. and Canadian markets, with defensive sectors strengthening at the end of the quarter. "People might be rebalancing their portfolios, taking profits on some of the high-fliers like tech," said Dehal. Traders are also watching the prospects of a U.S. government shutdown. A government closure would delay Friday's crucial U.S. employment report, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook. Canada's benchmark index closed September and the third quarter with robust gains due to strong corporate earnings and high commodity prices, particularly gold, said Josh Sheluk, a portfolio manager at Verecan Capital Management. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/tsx-futures-fall-commodity-prices-dip-us-government-shutdown-looms-2025-09-30/
