Headlines

A dual citizen of Sweden and the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to U.S. fraud and money laundering charges on Friday for selling a fake cryptocurrency alongside one of the United States' most-wanted fugitives, a woman referred to as the 'Cryptoqueen,' Reuters reported. Karl Greenwood, 45, was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the United States in 2018 for his role in selling the purported cryptocurrency OneCoin, which federal prosecutors in Manhattan call a pyramid scheme that defrauded investors out of $4 billion. He has been detained since his arrest.

A U.S. court of appeals determined this week that cases against Lebanese commercial banks can be tried outside Lebanon, according to a decision seen by Reuters, paving the way for more cases by depositors seeking to unlock their frozen funds, Reuters reported. The court decision, issued on Dec. 15 in a case brought by Lebanese depositors against leading lender Bank Audi, overturned a lower district court's decision that said Beirut courts had "exclusive jurisdiction" to try cases against Lebanese banks.

Ecuador has fully financed its budget for next year and is not looking for a new credit agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country's economy minister said on Friday, adding that the government will maintain close ties with the fund, Reuters reported. The IMF this week concluded the latest review of its $6.5 billion financing agreement with Ecuador, opening the way for a final disbursement of $700 million to the South American nation.

The Central Reserve Bank of Peru on Friday slightly reduced its economic growth projection for 2023 to 2.9% from 3.0%, according to a report published by the central bank, Reuters reported. Annual inflation in the copper-rich South American country is seen reaching 8.2% in 2022 before declining to 3% in 2023, the central bank said. It sees a 2022 fiscal deficit of 1.6% of gross domestic product, compared to a previous forecast of 1.9%, the report noted.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will limit ticket sales for flights to London's Heathrow Airport during planned strikes by border agents over Christmas and New Year's Eve to reduce disruption, the airlines said on Friday, Reuters reported. UK Border Force workers at several major British airports including the country's busiest, Heathrow, will go on strike for eight days this month in a dispute over pay, threatening to slow processing of passengers arriving from abroad during the holidays.

Shares in Brazilian telecom firm Oi SA soared on Thursday after it revealed it was exiting bankruptcy protection, marking the closure of a restructuring process that lasted more than six years, Reuters reported. Oi filed in June 2016 for Brazil's then-biggest ever bankruptcy protection after running out of time to reorganize operations and restructure a multibillion-dollar debt amid a harsh recession in Latin America's largest economy.

A ninth interest rate hike in a row by the Bank of England looks to be a foregone conclusion on Thursday and investors will be looking for clues on how many more will be needed with the economy sliding into recession but inflation still above 10%, Reuters reported. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has faced both encouraging and worrying news on the economy since a majority voted in early November to raise rates by 0.75 percentage point, the biggest hike since 1989.

China's economy lost more steam in November as factory output growth slowed and retail sales extended declines, both missing forecasts and clocking their worst readings since May, hobbled by surging COVID-19 infections and widespread virus curbs, Reuters reported. The data suggested a further deterioration in economic conditions as lockdowns in many cities, a persistent property-sector crunch and weakening global demand pointed to a bumpy road ahead even as Beijing looked to ditch some of the world's toughest anti-virus restrictions.

China's new home prices fell for a fourth month in November in monthly terms, weighed by a sluggish economy and a still-ailing property sector, official data showed on Thursday, but recent favourable policies and a relaxation in COVID curbs have burnished the outlook, Reuters reported. New home prices in November fell 0.2% month-on-month after a 0.3% slide in October, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. Prices dropped 1.6% year-on-year, falling for the seventh straight month. Prices slid 1.6% year-on-year in October.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday raised its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 50 basis points to 4.75%, hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a rate hike of the same margin, Reuters reported. The U.S. central bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point and projected at least an additional 75 basis points of increases in borrowing costs by the end of 2023, as well as a rise in unemployment and a near-stalling of economic growth. "Rate hike in the U.S.