Headlines

China has told state-owned banks to roll over existing local government debt with longer-term loans at lower interest rates, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as part of Beijing's efforts to reduce debt risks in a faltering economy, Reuters reported. Debt-laden municipalities represent a major risk to the world's second-largest economy and its financial stability, economists say, amid a deepening property crisis, years of over-investment in infrastructure and huge bills to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, founded the Belt and Road Initiative a decade ago to use the country’s economic might to enlarge its geopolitical heft and counter the influence of the United States and other industrialized democracies. China has since disbursed close to $1 trillion to mostly developing countries, largely in loans, to build power plants, roads, airports, telecommunications networks and other infrastructure, the New York Times reported. Mr.

The Bank of Israel underscored the urgency of steadying the shekel following its slide to an eight-year low, reversing expectations among traders who bet on a big interest-rate cut as soon as next week, Bloomberg News reported. Israel’s wartime monetary policy is taking clearer shape 10 days into a crisis that started with the deadly Hamas assault on Israel. Concerns over the impact of a prolonged war on the $520 billion economy initially fueled wagers on easing.

The Bank of England is reviewing its rules that determine when international banks are required to set up a formal subsidiary after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank showed it was easier to seize control of such operations in the event a bank fails, Bloomberg News reported. Silicon Valley Bank operated as a branch in the UK for a decade before regulators finally required it to subsidiarise, Sam Woods, chief executive officer of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, said in prepared remarks during the City Banquet at Mansion House.

More Canadian firms see inflation easing over the next two years than in the previous quarter, while the business outlook fell to its lowest level since the pandemic, the Bank of Canada said on Monday in a third-quarter survey, Reuters reported. About a third of firms expect a recession over the coming year, the same level as the previous quarter, the survey said. The Bank of Canada has hiked rates 10 times since early 2022 to fight inflation but left rates at 5% at its Sept. 6 meeting, and noted the economy had entered a period of weaker growth. Its next policy decision is due on Oct. 25.

Cryptocurrency issuer Tether has frozen 32 crypto wallet addresses containing a combined $873,118 it said were linked to "terrorism and warfare" in Israel and Ukraine, the company said on Monday, Reuters reported. Israeli police said last week they had frozen crypto accounts used to solicit donations for Hamas on social media. Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,300 people. Tether's first Israel-related freeze was on March 16, 2023, while the first Ukrainian-related freeze was on June 16, 2021, a Tether spokesperson told Reuters via email. TRM Labs, a major U.S.

Global banking regulators on Tuesday proposed a standardised format for major banks to disclose their holdings of cryptoassets from January 2025 to support "market discipline" by giving a complete picture to investors, Reuters reported. The Basel Committee of banking regulators from the world's main financial centres agreed new rules last December on how much capital banks should hold to cover different types of cryptoassets. On Tuesday, they set out for public consultation how the holdings should be disclosed to investors.

China is tightening curbs on short-selling activities as authorities step up efforts to shore up a struggling stock market, Bloomberg News reported. The Securities Regulatory Commission said with effect from Oct. 30, hedge funds wishing to short sell a stock must hold 100% of the value of the transaction in their account while other investors need to have at least 80%. Other rules that came into force Monday restrict lending of shares by strategic investors and senior management and increase the supervision of “various arbitrage activities,” it added in a statement on Saturday.

China's central bank ramped up liquidity support to the banking system as it rolled over medium-term policy loans on Monday, but kept the interest rate unchanged amid concerns about the risk of more sharp yuan declines, Reuters reported. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is walking a tightrope between keeping liquidity ample to aid a struggling economy and stabilising the yuan amid expectations of "higher for longer" U.S. rates.

Hui Ka Yan, once one of the world’s richest men, led China Evergrande through its rise and fall. His failures in the aftermath made the property developer’s collapse a bigger problem for the country’s slumping housing market. In 2021, when Evergrande slid into financial distress, the real estate giant turned to government officials for help resolving a mountain of debt that it couldn’t repay. Chinese authorities and regulators agreed to help defuse the developer’s risks—with conditions.