Crypto hedge fund executive Marco Lim spent Monday racing to open bank accounts in Hong Kong after the sudden collapse of three U.S. lenders, Reuters reported. The hedge fund, MaiCapital, is based in the city and had cash at one of the fallen institutions, Signature Bank. MaiCapital needs alternatives and managing partner Lim was pressing lenders to speed up account opening. “The two biggest crypto friendly banks are gone,” Lim said, referring to Signature and Silvergate Capital Corp., which also had many crypto clients and said Wednesday it would liquidate.
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The Bank of England said it would place Silicon Valley Bank’s U.K. subsidiary into insolvency procedure following the collapse of its parent in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. In a statement late Friday, the BOE said Silicon Valley Bank’s U.K. arm will stop making payments or accepting deposits. “The Bank of England, absent any meaningful further information, intends to apply to the court to place Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd. into a bank insolvency procedure,” it said. Silicon Valley Bank’s branch in the U.K.
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Canada’s banking regulator seized control of SVB Financial Group’s branch in the country Sunday and said it will seek a legal order to wind up the operation, Bloomberg News reported. Peter Routledge, the country’s financial superintendent, “took this action to preserve the value of the assets held at the branch” after US regulators shut down the California-based parent bank on Friday, his office said in a statement. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke with banking executives and Bank of Canada officials on Sunday evening, and said the government continues to watch the situation.
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The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said on Monday it was seeking more information from Australian banks regarding any impact form the collapse of U.S. startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group, Reuters reported. "While the Australian banking industry has limited connections with the US-based Silicon Valley Bank, APRA is intensifying supervision of the local banking industry and is seeking more information from them on any potential impacts," APRA said in a statement.
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Liquidators for defunct crypto exchange FTX asked a judge to approve the sale of its interest in a fund of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to an Abu Dhabi state-backed investment firm, in a deal valued at $45 million, Bloomberg News reported. FTX agreed to sell the interest in the Sequoia Capital Fund, which previously belonged to its sister trading outfit Alameda Research’s venture arm, to Al Nawwar Investments RSC Limited on Wednesday, its estate said in a filing to Delaware’s bankruptcy court late that same day.
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Loyalty Ventures Inc. filed for bankruptcy Friday, blaming its financial problems largely on its 2021 spinoff from its parent company, a move that it said left the new business with substantial debt and limited cash flow, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Dallas-based loyalty-programs operator filed for chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston and said it plans to sell its customer-rewards programs including its Air Miles Reward Program, a loyalty program popular in Canada, and its Europe-based BrandLoyalty program for grocers and other retailers.
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Toronto-Dominion Bank said Monday it agreed to pay more than $1.2 billion to settle a lawsuit by investors claiming it aided R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme more than a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. Settlements also were reached with HSBC Holdings Plc, which will pay another $40 million, and Independent Bank Group Inc., formerly known as Bank of Houston, which will pay $100 million, according to Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver for Stanford International Bank.
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U.S. subsidiaries of Australian coal mining company Allegiance Coal Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chapter 11 filing includes the New Elk and Black Warrior coal mines located in Colorado and Alabama, respectively, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., by Allegiance Coal USA Ltd. The Australian parent company said last week that it is switching away from the production of thermal coal because of a decline in prices for thermal coal delivered to Europe.
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Shares of Cineworld slumped as much as 22% on Wednesday after media reports said the world's second-largest cinema operator had received 40 non-binding bids, but none for its UK and U.S. assets or nearing its $6 billion secured debt load, Reuters reported. The reports cited company counsel Joshua Sussberg's comments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston on Tuesday, where he also said the initial bids received by a Feb. 16 deadline were all for the rest of Cineworld's global assets, mainly for theatres in central Europe, eastern Europe and Israel.
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In the realm of global economic policy, Friday Nov. 13, 2020, was meant to be about hope — not the trigger for another pandemic-era fright. That’s when Group of 20 finance ministers announced final agreement on a blueprint for the US, China and other relatively new creditor countries like India to cooperate on debt relief for more than 70 low-income nations facing a collective $326 billion burden, and deliver it in a “timely and orderly” way, Bloomberg News reported.
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