Headlines

Most countries lack “travel rule” laws that could help prevent illicit use of cryptocurrency by criminals and terrorists, a global anti-money-laundering watchdog said on June 30, the Wall Street Journal reported. The rules would require companies and service providers to share information about senders and recipients in cryptocurrency transactions. Only about 30% of jurisdictions surveyed by the Financial Action Task Force said they have passed such legislation, and only a small subset of the group has started enforcement of the laws.

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday lifted its benchmark interest rate for a third time in three straight months, changing the cash rate to 1.35% from 0.85%, Reuters reported. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s half a percentage point rise was the same size as its June increase. When the bank lifted the rate by a quarter percentage point at its monthly board meeting in May, it was its first rate hike in more than 11 years. Increases at the June and July board meetings were widely expected.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández appointed a little-known public servant as economy minister as his administration was facing soaring inflation and a weakening currency, which risk leading to social unrest, the Wall Street Journal reported. Silvina Batakis, an economist aligned with the ruling Peronist coalition’s far-left faction, took over the government’s top economic post Monday, two days after the surprise resignation of Martín Guzmán, a moderate aligned with the president. In past interviews and messages on her Twitter account, Ms.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak resigned on Tuesday, saying he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that "we cannot continue like this," Reuters reported. "The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning," he said on Twitter.

Rising interest rates in Europe are making investors worry about an old ghost haunting Italy’s banks: the “doom loop,” the Wall Street Journal reported. The European Central Bank is expected to unveil a special bond buying program later this month to shield highly indebted eurozone economies—and their banks—from rising borrowing costs. The “anti-fragmentation” program is a response to a widening of bond yields in Italy in particular and a punishing selloff in bank stocks in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

Telecom Italia (TIM) is looking to fetch a valuation of at least 25 billion euros ($26 billion) including debt for its grid under a plan to separate its fixed-line assets from its services arm, Reuters reported. The price tag is closer to the 31 billion euro figure sought by TIM's top shareholder Vivendi in any potential network deal than initial estimates provided by two sources in line with analysts estimates. In May sources had told Reuters TIM has started looking at a valuation of around 20 billion euros, including debt and before any synergies, in a potential network deal.

A day after its pilots went on strike, SAS, the Scandinavian airline, said on Tuesday that it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, the latest reverberation in a summer of turmoil for European airlines, the New York Times reported. SAS described the filing, made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, as the “next step” in a reorganization that would address the money-losing airline’s financial difficulties, including cost reductions of more than $700 million.

China Evergrande Group is reaching out to its offshore creditors for their support to fight a lawsuit in a Hong Kong court aimed at liquidating the embattled property developer, Reuters reported. Evergrande, which is deemed to be in default on its nearly $23 billion of offshore debt and is working on a debt restructuring plan, aims to submit the backing of creditors as part of the evidence to the court ahead of the first hearing on the winding-up petition on Aug. 31.

An international conference to support Ukraine after the devastating Russian invasion has outlined a series of principles to steer Kyiv's recovery and condemned Moscow's actions, Reuters reported. Representatives from more than 40 countries and international organisations like the European Investment Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) signed up to the Lugano Declaration at the two-day conference in Switzerland.

Germany's government will have the power to bail out utilities under proposed legislative changes approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, according to the economy ministry, Reuters reported. "The situation on the gas market is tense and unfortunately we cannot rule out a deterioration in the situation," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement. New amendments to the Energy Security Act will give the government additional tools to help utilities if they falter under rising energy prices as Russian gas imports decline.