2024-06-26 19:01
BELGRADE, June 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria will press charges against fugitive Ruja Ignatova, the so-called Cryptoqueen who co-founded a cryptocurrency scheme that regulators believe defrauded investors of more than $4 billion, the chief prosecutor said on Wednesday. Bulgarian-born Ignatova, who has German citizenship, has been on the FBI's top 10 most wanted list since 2022 for fraud and money laundering. The U.S. agency is offering $5 million for information leading to her arrest for what it called "one of the largest global fraud schemes in history." The Balkan country's authorities will conduct a joint investigation with the FBI into Ignatova, who founded OneCoin in Sofia in 2014, chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov said. "She will also be charged in absentia in our country, which will allow the start of a procedure for the confiscation of her illegally acquired property." Another OneCoin co-founder, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, was sentenced to 20 years in U.S. prison in September and ordered to forfeit $300 million for creating the pyramid scheme. OneCoin's former head of legal and compliance was sentenced in April to four years in U.S. prison. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bulgaria-press-charges-against-fugitive-cryptocurrency-fraudster-2024-06-26/
2024-06-26 18:32
June 26 (Reuters) - Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM.TO) New Tab, opens new tab said on Wednesday two Alaska native village corporations had sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its veto against the Canadian miner's proposed Pebble mine in the state's southwest region. Iliamna Natives Limited and Alaska Peninsula Corporation, which represent the communities closest to the copper and gold mining project, sued the EPA for exceeding its authority related to the veto, Northern Dynasty said in a statement. This lawsuit follows the one filed by the company in March against the EPA's 2023 decision to prohibit the discharge of mining waste in Alaska's Bristol Bay over concerns the materials would degrade the watershed and harm vital fishing ecosystems. "Those who oppose Pebble have not provided any alternative that would improve the economy of this area. These two Native Village Corporations understand that the EPA and our opposition care little about their future," said John Shively, CEO of the Pebble project. The EPA, which claims the project would permanently destroy more than 2,000 acres of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act, said it has no further information to provide as it is a pending litigation. The proposed Pebble mine, which aims to tap one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits, had gone thorough a lengthy approval and permitting process for decades, but its construction is yet to start. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/alaska-natives-sue-epa-over-pebble-mine-veto-northern-dynasty-says-2024-06-26/
2024-06-26 18:30
June 26 (Reuters) - Legal & General's (LGEN.L) New Tab, opens new tab investment management unit said on Wednesday that it is selling its stake in global commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L) New Tab, opens new tab this year on concerns over its production of thermal coal. Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) is also selling its stake in New York-listed retailer TJX (TJX.N) New Tab, opens new tab, it said, raising the number of divestments under its Climate Impact Pledge to 16, across funds covering around 176 billion pounds ($223 billion) in assets under management. Glencore and TJX declined to comment. "While divestment is one of the many stewardship tools we use as a mechanism for driving change, we see it as a last resort and by no means the last stage of engagement," said Stephen Beer, LGIM Senior Manager Sustainability and Responsible Investment. UK-based LGIM said that its decision on Glencore followed a shareholder resolution last year requesting the miner to disclose how its thermal coal production aligns with the Paris Agreement's objective to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Glencore mines and trades thermal coal, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It also has coking coal assets. It plans to run down its thermal coal mines by the mid-2040s, closing at least 12 by 2035. LGIM has a 0.44% stake in Glencore, LSEG data shows. "We remain concerned that Glencore does not meet our red line asking mining companies to disclose whether they plan to increase thermal coal capacity," LGIM said. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing boomed in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic as low oil prices spurred more investors to diversify beyond fossil fuels, and as fund managers sought to be more climate-conscious. Through its Climate Impact Pledge, LGIM assesses more than 5,000 companies across 20 'climate-critical' sectors. It has previously highlighted concerns about climate risk management with Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) New Tab, opens new tab and Nippon Steel (5401.T) New Tab, opens new tab. ($1 = 0.7907 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/legal-general-unit-divest-glencore-stake-over-thermal-coal-plans-2024-06-26/
2024-06-26 18:15
MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - A passenger train derailed in Russia's far northern Komi region on Wednesday, overturning carriages next to the railbed and injuring 20 passengers, the region's governor said. The Investigative Committee, Russia's most important investigating authority, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that no deaths had occurred in the incident outside the town of Inta. Nine carriages left the rails. Komi regional governor Vladimir Uyba, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said 20 people were injured, three of whom were in serious condition. A total of 215 passengers had been aboard. News agencies quoted police and emergency services as saying injuries included fractures, bruises, cuts and head trauma. Video posted online showed passengers being hoisted through smashed windows of overturned cars before being led away from the accident. Several carriages were seen lying on their side on the edge of the railbed. Russian news agencies quoted officials as saying that two auxiliary trains and investigators had been dispatched to help evacuate passengers from the area, made up largely of forest and swamp. Officials were checking the safety standards of the affected rail line. Tass news agency quoted police as saying that recent floods had caused an erosion of the railbed. The train was on its way from Vorkuta, a mining town just above the Arctic Circle, to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in southern Russia. Russian State Railways, quoted by the news agencies, said traffic had been suspended on the line. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/passenger-train-carriages-derail-russias-north-least-8-injured-2024-06-26/
2024-06-26 18:05
Canadian dollar weakens 0.3% against the greenback Trades in a range of 1.3651 to 1.3704 Flash estimate shows wholesale trade down 0.9% in May 10-year yield touches a 2-week high at 3.476% TORONTO, June 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as the greenback notched broad-based gains, with the currency unable to take advantage of the boost it got from hot domestic inflation data the day before. The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at 1.37 to the U.S. dollar, or 72.99 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3651 to 1.3704. On Tuesday, the currency touched its strongest intraday level in three weeks at 1.3626 as Canadian inflation unexpectedly accelerated to an annual rate of 2.9% in May from 2.7% in April, reducing expectations the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates further next month. "The market was caught flat-footed yesterday as CAD failed to build on initial gains," said George Davis, chief technical strategist at RBC Capital Markets. Broad-based U.S. dollar strength has helped to push USD-CAD higher today, Davis added. The U.S. dollar (.DXY) New Tab, opens new tab moved higher against a basket of major currencies as the yen dropped to its lowest level against the greenback since late 1986. Preliminary data showed Canadian wholesale trade falling 0.9% in May from April, while the price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, was up 0.7% at $81.42 a barrel. Canadian government bond yields rose across the curve, adding to the previous day's move. The 10-year was up 8.2 basis points at 3.464%, after earlier touching its highest level since June 11 at 3.476%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-weakens-boost-cpi-data-fades-2024-06-26/
2024-06-26 16:07
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - Japanese authorities were "seriously concerned and on high alert" about the yen's rapid decline, said the country's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda, escalating warnings as the currency languished at its weakest level in almost 40 years. "It is generally accepted that the current weakness in the yen is not necessarily justified, therefore believed to be driven by speculators," Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters on Wednesday. The weak yen has become a headache for Japanese policymakers by boosting the cost of imported raw materials, pushing up inflation and hurting consumption. Kanda said the recent moves in the currency were rapid and "definitely one-sided", moving away from his recent stance of not commenting on the ongoing market situation. “We have been preparing to act against excessive volatility," Kanda said, signalling his readiness for another intervention to support the yen. Despite Kanda's warnings, the yen continued its downturn, touching 160.50 per dollar, the weakest in about 38 years. The market has widely seen 160 yen to the dollar as authorities' line in the sand, even though Kanda and other government officials have repeatedly said they had no specific levels in mind on when to intervene. Japan spent 9.8 trillion yen ($61.6 billion) intervening in the foreign exchange market in April and May, after the Japanese currency hit a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar on April 29. But those steps failed to reverse the yen's weakness as a delay in U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts has kept the wide U.S.-Japan interest rate differential. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan is dropping signals that its quantitative tightening (QT) plan in July could be bigger than markets think, and may even be accompanied by an interest rate hike, as it steps up a steady retreat from its still-huge monetary stimulus. ($1 = 159.9700 yen) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/japans-top-currency-diplomat-escalates-warning-against-rapid-yen-falls-2024-06-26/
