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August 24th - This week, bond investors will be closely watching Federal Reserve Chairman Warshs speech in Jackson Hole. The market is seeking his response to persistent inflation and fiscal issues, and long-term Treasury bonds may face further sell-off risks. Warsh has rarely provided forward-looking policy guidance since taking office in May. His speech following the last monetary policy meeting triggered a massive sell-off in the bond market, highlighting the markets high sensitivity to his speech on Friday. Molly Brooks, U.S. interest rate strategist at TD Securities, said, "I think if he continues to not provide more information, the market will be disappointed, which could further exacerbate the recent sell-off in long-term Treasury bonds." Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at National Mutual Insurance, said that factors continuing to weigh on the bond market remain, including fiscal concerns, inflation, and market uncertainty about the Feds response. Dhiraj Narula, interest rate strategist at HSBC, said this provides Warsh with an opportunity to reassure investors by clarifying his policy outlook. He said, "In our view, if Chairman Warsh can make some judgments about potential inflationary pressures, it could be enough to reduce the term premium associated with uncertainty."On August 24th, the UKs Office for Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz continued to decline over the past 48 hours, with shipping activity suppressed and the number of vessels passing through in both directions in single digits. The UKMTO report stated that no confirmed attacks or interference incidents were detected, but noted that Iranian threats and harassment activities persist, including drone overflights, targeted surveillance of merchant ships, and occasional VHF radio calls. These actions "continue to demonstrate Irans intention to maintain a presence along key shipping lanes and to continue to exert pressure on transit vessels." Meanwhile, the UKMTO stated that commercial traffic in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has also "continued to decline" following the Houthi blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20th.The UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO) stated that shipping traffic in both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has declined.On August 24, Canadian Ambassador to the United States Mark Wiseman stated that trade negotiations between Canada and the US broke down on the evening of August 22 due to multiple issues, including discrepancies between the written text of a potential agreement and what Canada believed to be the consensus reached between the two sides. In an interview on August 23, Wiseman said that no single issue led to the failure of the negotiations. The breakdown in negotiations subsequently triggered a new round of tariffs and could further escalate the Canada-US trade dispute.Iraqi Prime Ministers Security Advisor: We have proposed to Iran and Saudi Arabia the establishment of a unified security coordination committee.

Major cryptocurrency cases probed by U.S. authorities

Skylar Shaw

Dec 15, 2022 15:17


The allegations made by US authorities against Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on Tuesday were some of the most well-known ones ever made against a participant in the industry. It was the most recent of many instances involving digital assets that American authorities and prosecutors are investigating.


A list of some of those civil and criminal cases, together with their verdicts, is provided below:

Bitfinex Hack 

A husband-and-wife duo was charged by the US Justice Department in February with conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that had been stolen in 2016 when a hacker got into the digital currency exchange Bitfinex and started more than 2,000 unlawful transactions. According to court documents, the two are in discussions with prosecutors regarding a potential plea.

Bitmex

This year, BitMEX employees, including the company's founders, entered guilty pleas for wilfully failing to create, execute, and maintain anti-money laundering measures. In federal court in New York, the company's co-founders entered guilty pleas and each agreed to pay a $10 million fine.


Another employee of the company entered a guilty plea and agreed to pay a $150,000 fine.

The criminal charges were first filed by federal prosecutors in 2020.


The exchange consented to pay a civil fine in 2021 to resolve separate complaints from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) division of the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.


This Monday, a representative for BitMEX refused to comment on the accusations made against its former workers.


The company's chief executive officer stressed its strong compliance and anti-money laundering skills at the time the issue was resolved with the CFTC and FinCEN.