Headlines

London's internationally focused FTSE 100 gained on Wednesday as China's dismantling of COVID-19 restrictions pushed miners and banks higher, while the index still remained cautious of surging COVID cases, Reuters reported. The large-cap FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.3% each. China scrapped its quarantine rules for inbound travelers on Monday beginning Jan. 8, but global markets turned jittery as COVID cases rose in the world's second-largest economy.

Digital currency exchange Kraken will close down its operations in Japan next month, in another sign of consolidation in the battered crypto industry, CNBC reported. In a blogpost on Wednesday, Kraken said it would cease crypto trading services through its Japanese subsidiary, Payward Asia, and deregister from Japan’s Financial Services Agency on Jan. 31, 2023. It is the second time Kraken has left the Japanese market. The first was in 2018, when it closed four years after initially establishing operations in 2014.

The last Belgian locations of the international cash-and-carry store Makro will close their doors forever on Friday, RTL Info reports, the Brussels Times reported. In total, 1,300 employees will lose their jobs. The Makro group has been teetering on the verge of bankruptcy for many months. Following the legal reorganization in June, all of the company’s real estate assets were transferred to German rival Metro. Metro was recently bought out by Dutch retail group Sligro, saving nine out of eleven of the Makro locations and 500 jobs.

Calgary-based Swimco has returned to physical retail locations with an eye towards expanding to more stores in the future, CBC reported. It comes more than two years after the company went bankrupt, closing all of its locations across Canada after 45 years in business. At its peak, Swimco had 25 stores across Canada. Two stores opened on Boxing Day this year — one in Calgary and one in Edmonton — something the swimwear company's owner Dave Bacon said brought him "joy and relief….

An unusual number of cannabis companies have used a Canadian corporate insolvency law called the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in 2022, a trend that demonstrates both the marijuana industry’s financial challenges and one possible solution to keep businesses from slipping completely underwater, MJBizDaily reported. Fourteen of the 35 CCAA filings in Canada – or 40% – between Jan. 1 and Dec. 22 have involved companies operating in the cannabis space in one way or another.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday dismissed his fourth minister in two months to patch a scandal-tainted Cabinet that has raised questions over his judgment of staff credentials, the Washington Post reported. Kenya Akiba, minister in charge of reconstruction of Fukushima and other disaster-hit areas, has faced allegations of mishandling political and election funds and of ties to the Unification Church, whose practices and huge donations have raised controversy.

The rouble dived around 3% against the dollar on Tuesday, failing to consolidate a recovery from last week's slide as the market comes to terms with the prospect of lower export revenue in the wake of restrictions on Russian oil, Reuters reported. The rouble lost about 8% against the dollar last week and is on course for a hefty monthly decline after an oil embargo and price cap came into force. The finance ministry has said the recent slump was related to recovering imports.

Argentina's booming shale production in Vaca Muerta, a formation that rivals the U.S.'s Permian Basin, is at risk of running out of road as infrastructure to handle the oil and gas nears capacity, threatening to put the brakes on rapid growth, Reuters reported. The government is now racing to build out infrastructure: A major new gas pipeline is set to come online mid next year, and there are plans for new export terminals near Buenos Aires. The government is also working on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) law to send to Congress hoping to stimulate investment.

Genesis Global, a gaming operator that has had difficulty in several jurisdictions, has filed for bankruptcy and is shutting down its headquarters in Malta, casino.org reported. Genesis had to battle a $4-million fine in the U.K., a $5-million fine in Belgium, and a $418K fine in Sweden. All were due to the operator’s inability to properly comply with anti-money laundering (AML) rules and other violations. The company shut off 14 sites from the U.K. market, the largest gaming market in Europe, and parted ways with CEO Ariel Reem earlier this month.

The German government sees plans to pay Lufthansa executive board members a bonus for 2021 and 2022, despite the German airline receiving state aid at the time, as in breach of their agreement, said a German government spokesperson last Wednesday, Reuters reported. The bonus cannot be accrued and paid out at a later date, said the spokesperson, who added the government is in talks with Lufthansa.