Headlines

The derivatives-based investment strategy that tipped the U.K.’s pension sector into crisis started with good intentions: Help companies fulfill promises they made to employees to pay a steady income through retirement, the Wall Street Journal reported. Behind the push into that strategy, say pension trustees and their advisers, was the Pensions Regulator, the U.K.’s powerful watchdog, charged with safeguarding the savings of millions of private-sector workers. The regulator steered private pension funds to adopt liability-driven investments, known as LDIs, linked to returns on U.K.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will impress upon EU leaders meeting this week the need for a gas price cap and to ensure any financial support measures allow fair competition, Reuters reported. EU governments have debated a gas price cap for weeks, without reaching agreement. While a majority of EU members support some form of cap, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are opposed, citing concerns over security of supply.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed a petition filed by around 368 homebuyers who had purchased properties from Lavasa Corporation, the Economic Times of India reported. The petition had alleged misconduct in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of the company and mistreatment of the homebuyers as a class of creditors.

A smaller-than-anticipated rate hike in Australia has fueled talk that global monetary tightening will slow as the growth outlook turns, Reuters reported. For some, the debate is premature with the likes of the U.S. Federal Reserve unlikely to ease up on the brakes until inflation shows clear signs of slowing.

The National Bank of Poland (NBP) kept its main interest rate on hold at 6.75% on Wednesday, it said, opting to leave borrowing costs unchanged despite soaring inflation as it warned of an economic slowdown in the coming months, Reuters reported. With regional peers finishing monetary tightening cycles, Polish policymakers had also signaled that the end of rate hikes was near. However, with inflation rising to 17.2% in September, the highest since 1997, most economists had predicted that the cost of credit would continue to rise.

Hungary's central bank accepted 2.093 trillion forints ($4.90 billion) worth of bids from banks at its first floating-rate two-month deposit tender on Wednesday as part of its efforts to drain forint liquidity and tighten monetary conditions further, Reuters reported. The National Bank of Hungary (NBH), which ended its cycle of rate hikes last month taking the base rate to 13%, has said it would deploy an array of tools to tighten liquidity conditions from this month, including the new deposit instrument.

Romania unexpectedly pressed ahead with a robust pace of monetary tightening, raising borrowing costs to the highest level in over a decade to combat persistent inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank in Bucharest lifted its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 6.25% on Wednesday, following a similar decision at its last meeting in August. Only five out of 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the move, while most analysts saw a step of 50 basis points; one predicted a 25 basis-point hike.

Ukrainian Central Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko abruptly submitted his resignation on Tuesday, citing health reasons in a Facebook post, Reuters reported. "Due to health-related issues that can no longer be ignored, I have made a difficult decision for myself. I am leaving the post of the head of Ukraine's National Bank," he said. Shevchenko, who assumed the post in July 2020 promising to maintain the bank's independence and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, said he had submitted his letter of resignation to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and asked him to accept it.

European Union countries reached a compromise on a new package of Russia sanctions that includes support for a price cap on oil sales to third countries, with a formal agreement expected on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported. EU ambassadors on Tuesday night discussed ways to mitigate the impact the new package would have on countries with large shipping industries. Greece, Cyprus and Malta expressed concerns about curbs on transporting Russian oil and have been pushing for assurances on the effectiveness of the new mechanism and its potential impact.

The world sorely needs more grains and Canada has a bin-busting harvest this year -- but shippers fear there aren’t enough rail cars to transport it all, Bloomberg News reported. There were almost 2,400 outstanding grain-car orders for the nation’s two major carriers, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., according to the latest data from Ag Transport Coalition. “We have to make up these orders,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Winnipeg-based Western Grain Elevator Association, said Tuesday in a phone interview.