2023-11-02 21:01

OTTAWA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on Thursday ordered the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project to stop work in a wetland area near Abbotsford, British Columbia, after inspectors found several environmental and safety-related non-compliances. The order is the latest hold-up for the Canadian government-owned project, which has been plagued by years of regulatory delay, environmental opposition and massive cost overruns. Some of the non-compliances include insufficient fencing to protect amphibians and unapproved vegetation clearing, the regulator said in a notice on its website. The CER issued an Inspection Officer Order to Trans Mountain ordering it to stop work in the wetland until the non-compliances are corrected, investigate their root cause and conduct a safety inspection to confirm the site is safe for work. Trans Mountain Corp, the Canadian government-owned corporation building the expansion project, said the order applies to a specific work area of about 800 metres. "Trans Mountain is working hard to correct all non-compliances and to prevent reoccurrence," the company said in a statement, adding it "will seek to have the restrictions under the order lifted as soon as appropriate and according to the law." Work on the oil pipeline expansion project is more than 95% complete, Trans Mountain said. The 590,000 barrel-per-day expansion will nearly triple capacity on the existing pipeline running from Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast. It is due to start operating early next year and will open up markets in Asia and on the U.S. West Coast for Canadian crude. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government bought the pipeline in 2018 to ensure the expansion project went ahead. However, the cost has more than quadrupled since then to C$30.9 billion ($22.49 billion), partly due to delays in construction. In 2021, Trans Mountain was ordered to stop work for four months to protect hummingbird nests along a one-kilometer section of its route. ($1 = 1.3747 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/canada-regulator-issues-stop-work-order-tmx-over-non-compliance-discovery-2023-11-02/

2023-11-02 20:53

NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire's fall from grace. A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in which prosecutors made the case that he looted $8 billion from the exchange's users out of sheer greed. The verdict came just shy of one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy in a swift corporate meltdown that shocked financial markets and erased his estimated $26 billion personal fortune. The jury reached the verdict after just over four hours of deliberations. Bankman-Fried, who had pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, stood facing the jury with his hands clasped in front of him as the verdict was read. The conviction was a victory for the U.S. Justice Department and Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who made rooting out corruption in financial markets one of his top priorities. "The crypto industry might be new, the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this kind of fraud is as old as time and we have no patience for it," Williams told reporters outside the courthouse. Once the darling of the crypto world, Bankman-Fried - who was known for his mop of unkempt curly hair and for wearing shorts and T-shirts rather than business attire - joins the likes of admitted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and "Wolf of Wall Street" fraudster Jordan Belfort as notable people convicted of major U.S. financial crimes. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan set Bankman-Fried's sentencing for March 28, 2024. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate could face decades in prison. His defense lawyer Mark Cohen said in a statement that he was "disappointed" but respected the jury's decision. "Mr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him," he said. After Kaplan left the courtroom, Cohen put his arm around Bankman-Fried as they spoke at the defense table. As Bankman-Fried was led away by members of the U.S. Marshals service, he turned around and nodded at his parents, the Stanford Law School professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, who were seated in the courtroom audience's front row. Fried looked toward him and crossed her arm across her chest. Bankman-Fried is set to go on trial next March on a second set of charges brought by prosecutors earlier this year, including for alleged foreign bribery and bank fraud conspiracies. BANKMAN-FRIED TESTIFIED IN OWN DEFENSE Bankman-Fried's was the first of several blockbuster cases Williams brought against former high-flying cryptocurrency executives to go to trial. Several crypto companies went bankrupt last year after the prices of bitcoin and other digital assets collapsed following a years-long boom. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Bankman-Fried siphoned money from FTX to his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, despite proclaiming on social media and in television advertisements that the exchange prioritized the safety of customer funds. Alameda used the money to pay its lenders and to make loans to Bankman-Fried and other executives - who in turn made speculative venture investments and donated upwards of $100 million to U.S. political campaigns in a bid to promote cryptocurrency legislation the defendant viewed as favorable to his business, according to prosecutors. Bankman-Fried took the calculated risk of testifying in his own defense over three days near the close of trial after three former members of his inner circle testified against him. He faced aggressive cross-examination by the prosecution, often avoiding direct answers to the most probing questions. He testified that while he made mistakes running FTX, such as not formulating a risk-management team, he did not steal customer funds. He said he thought Alameda's borrowing from FTX was allowed and did not realize how large its debts had grown until shortly before both companies collapsed. "We thought that we might be able to build the best product on the market," Bankman-Fried testified. "It turned out basically the opposite of that." 'HE THOUGHT THE RULES DID NOT APPLY' Prosecutors had a different view. "He didn't bargain for his three loyal deputies taking that stand and telling you the truth: that he was the one with the plan, the motive and the greed to raid FTX customer deposits - billions and billions of dollars - to give himself money, power, influence. He thought the rules did not apply to him. He thought that he could get away with it," prosecutor Danielle Sassoon told the jury on Thursday. The jury heard 15 days of testimony. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, testifying for the prosecution after entering guilty pleas, said he directed them to commit crimes, including helping Alameda loot FTX and lying to lenders and investors about the companies' finances. The defense argued the three, who have not yet been sentenced, falsely implicated Bankman-Fried in a bid to win leniency at sentencing. Prosecutors may ask Kaplan to take their cooperation into account in deciding their punishment. Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August after Kaplan revoked his bail, having concluded he likely tampered with witnesses. https://www.reuters.com/legal/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-thought-rules-did-not-apply-him-prosecutor-says-2023-11-02/

2023-11-02 20:42

TSX ends up 2.9% at 19,626.34 Posts biggest advance since November 2022 Shopify, Lightspeed lift tech sector Bombardier rallies on quarterly results beat Nov 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index jumped to a two-week high on Thursday as investors cheered upbeat earnings from e-commerce firms Shopify and Lightspeed and grew optimistic that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking campaign is at an end. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended up 547.34 points, or 2.9%, at 19,626.34, its highest closing level since Oct. 17 and its biggest advance since November last year. Wall Street's three main stock indexes also closed sharply higher after the Fed on Wednesday held interest rates steady and Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the impact of a recent surge in bond yields on the economy. "The TSX is certainly benefiting from full-blown risk-on sentiment today," said Elvis Picardo, a portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth. "That follows from Fed Chairman Powell's comments yesterday that many interpreted as a potential end to these interest rate hikes." The Toronto market's technology sector rallied 6.1% as shares of Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) jumped 21.3% after the company returned to profit in the third quarter and posted quarterly revenue above market expectations. Lightspeed Commerce Inc (LSPD.TO) also beat revenue estimates. Its shares advanced 14.9%. "On the TSX, we've got a plethora of dividend paying stocks - financials, utilities - and those are up quite strongly on the day," Picardo said. The interest-rate sensitive utilities sector rose 4.3% and financials, the most heavily-weighted sector on the Toronto market, ended 2.9% higher. All ten of the TSX's major sectors gained ground, with energy advancing 2.4% as oil settled 2.5% higher at $82.46 a barrel. Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) shares were also a standout, climbing 11.3% as the company reported third-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates, helped by robust demand for pricier business jets. https://www.reuters.com/business/tsx-futures-climb-commodity-boost-fed-verdict-lifts-mood-2023-11-02/

2023-11-02 20:36

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN.O) on Thursday beat estimates for third-quarter revenue, but saw trading volumes decline for the second quarter in a row, sending shares of the company down in after-hours trading. Trading volumes at the crypto exchange in the third quarter came in at $11 billion, compared with $26 billion a year earlier, mirroring a similar fall in the prior quarter ended June 30. Total revenue in the three months ended Sept. 30 was $674.1 million, compared with analysts' estimate of $653.19 million, according to LSEG data. Shares of the crypto exchange fell more than 4% in extended trading after results as investors weighed the waning trading volumes. "Although we continue to be in a down market with volatility the lowest we've seen in years, Coinbase is financially healthy," said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on a post-earnings call with analysts. Investor sentiment toward cryptocurrencies has been lukewarm this year after a string of high-profile collapses in 2022 led to outflows of more than a trillion dollars from the sector. The decline in trading volumes comes as Coinbase continues to battle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sued it and rival Binance in June, alleging it traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities without registering them with the regulator. Both have denied the allegations. In its previous earnings call, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said he expects Coinbase to prevail in the case. In its shareholder letter, Coinbase said it generated approximately $105 million of total transaction revenue in October as the price of bitcoin - the world's largest cryptocurrency - enjoyed a bounce, but the company urged caution in extrapolating those results. https://www.reuters.com/technology/coinbase-revenue-declines-previous-quarter-trading-volumes-remain-muted-2023-11-02/

2023-11-02 20:36

WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sweeping new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, targeting Russia's future energy capabilities, sanctions evasion and a suicide drone that has been a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment, among others, in sanctions on hundreds of people and entities. The latest measures target a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of a massive project in Siberia known as Arctic-2 LNG, the State Department said in a statement. The project expected to ship chilled natural gas, known as liquefied natural gas to global markets. Washington also targeted the KUB-BLA and Lancet suicide drones being used by the Russian military in Ukraine, designating a network it accused of procuring items in support of their production as well as the creator and designer of the drones. The Biden administration on Thursday added a dozen Russian companies to a trade blacklist for supporting Russia's military with drones that could be used to aid in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Commerce Department said in a statement. The U.S. also cracked down on sanctions evasion in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China, as the Treasury Department said companies based in the countries continue to send high priority dual-use goods to Russia, including components Moscow relies on for its weapons systems. Seven Russia-based banks and dozens of industrial firms were also hit with sanctions by the Treasury Department, including Gazpromneft Catalytic Systems LLC, which Treasury said manufactures chemical agents for advanced oil refining in Russia. The Kremlin said on Thursday ahead of the action that it expected the West to impose ever tougher sanctions on it over the war, but that there was a growing sense that such penalties hurt Western interests while Russia's economy was adapting well. China's foreign ministry said the move by the United States was economic coercion and unilateral bullying. "The United States should immediately correct its wrong practices, stop containing and suppressing Chinese firms," a spokesperson for the ministry said at a regular media briefing on Friday when asked about the sanctions. LNG, LANCET DRONE With the sanctions on limited liability company Arctic LNG 2, and previous measures imposed on the project in September, the U.S. is trying to target Russia's upcoming energy production, similar to how it targeted its future deep-sea, shale and Arctic oil production after Moscow's invasion of Crimea in 2014. All of these hard-to-produce projects depend on Western technology. The U.S., itself a large LNG producer that exports to Europe, is also trying to reduce Russia's LNG shipments to Europe, which has only banned Russian gas sent via pipeline. Arctic-2 LNG has been expecting to start exporting soon and it is uncertain how much Russian LNG would be blocked by the new measures. The largest Russian LNG producer Novatek (NVTK.MM) said in September it would start shipments from Arctic-2 LNG early next year. The United States, European Union and other Western nations have imposed rafts of sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, including targeting Russian banks and President Vladimir Putin, as the partners seek to hold Russia to account for the conflict that has killed thousands and reduced cities to rubble. "We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to raise the cost for Russia of waging this war and promote accountability for its atrocities and abuses in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Thursday's action marks the first measures Washington has taken directly targeting the Lancet drone, an angular grey tube with two sets of four wings that has been an increasing threat on Ukraine's frontlines, according to Ukrainian solders. Washington targeted limited liability company ZALA Aero, a Russia-based manufacturer the State Department said designs, manufactures and sells loitering munitions and suicide drones to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as A Level Aerosystems CST, a Russia-based entity manufacturing and selling drones under the ZALA brand. The owner of the companies, Aleksandr Zakharov, was also targeted, as were his wife, daughter and sons, and companies they own. The State Department said Zakharov is the creator and designer of the drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the measures in his nightly video address as "just what is needed." "And every sanctions decision must work in full, so that there is no chance for Russia to bypass them." Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, welcomed sanctions tied to the Lancet drone. "I am very pleased that... restrictions are being tightened against companies associated with the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation," Yermak said on Telegram. SANCTIONS EVASION Washington has stepped up diplomatic pressure on countries and private companies globally to ensure enforcement of the barrage of sanctions it has unleashed on Moscow. Among those designated on Thursday were Turkish and UAE firms, including companies that sent high-priority goods to Russia and firms that have shipped aviation parts and equipment. Three Chinese entities - two that the Treasury said have conducted hundreds of shipments of electro-optical equipment, cameras and other items, and one that has shipped radar components to Russia-based firms - were also targeted. The State Department also imposed sanctions on multiple defense-related entities and procurement companies in the UAE. Construction companies, Russian officials and a metals and mining company implementing a project to develop the largest titanium ore deposit in the world located in Russia were also hit with sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-imposes-sweeping-new-sanctions-targeting-russia-over-war-ukraine-2023-11-02/

2023-11-02 20:26

Nov 2 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil producer EOG Resources (EOG.N) on Thursday soared past Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit and raised its annual production forecast amid resilient fuel demand. U.S. WTI crude prices climbed 9.4% on an average, sequentially, during the quarter as OPEC+ members Russia and Saudi Arabia extended output cuts, encouraging energy producing companies to drill more. Shares of EOG rose 1% after the bell. The company's production averaged at 998,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the quarter, rising from 919,200 boepd in the previous year, helped by a rise in natural gas liquids production. Oil and gas production in the United States has been on the rise, even with fewer drilling rigs in operation, with the industry looking to improve efficiency and mitigate the effects of declining oil prices. The company said its average crude oil prices fell nearly 13% to $83.60 per barrel, compared to last year, when it soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EOG also raised its full-year production outlook in the range of 971,900 boepd to 992,100 boepd, from its previous outlook of 965,300 boepd to 991,500 boepd. The company said it is increasing its cash return commitment to a minimum of 70% of annual free cash flow from 2024. It also raised its quarterly dividend by 10% to 91 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, the Houston, Texas-based company earned $3.44 per share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, while analysts had expected $3.02 per share, according to LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eog-resources-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-2023-11-02/