For months now Russia has been moving into the blockchain space in a serious way. I’ve talked about these moves in previous articles(here, here and yes, even here)
But, the latest news is one that should have every one stand up and take notice.
Russian Mobile phone operator, Megafon, issued RUB500 million in zero-coupon blockchain-based bonds recently. This was purely a proof of concept issuance. Continue reading
Brent crude prices fall below $30 for the first time since April 2004 and could make fuel cheaper than water
Petrol will soon cost less than bottled water as the relentless decline in oil prices sends fuel down to 86p a litre, it has been claimed.
Brent crude fell to below $30 a barrel for the first time since 2004 on Wednesday evening – and has fallen by more 73pc since reaching highs of $115 last summer.
Motoring group RAC said pump prices now could fall back to levels last seen in the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009, if the commodity plunges to as low as $10, a forecast made by Standard Chartered bank earlier this week.
The Bank of England is to impose a series of tests on major UK banks to establish whether they are able to withstand a dramatic slowdown in China, a contraction in the eurozone, the worse deflation since the 1930s along with a fall in UK interest rates to zero.
The Co-operative bank – which failed last year’s tests – is no longer included in the annual assessments of the industry’s financial strength as it is too small, leaving six banks and the Nationwide building society to be tested. Continue reading
A RMB Yuan (CNY) clearing bank will be officially appointed in the United Kingdom (UK) in June, said Mark Boleat, policy chairman for the City of London Corp, in an interview at the weekend.
“There will be a clearing bank in London. In due course, there will be an announcement,” Mr. Boleat said. The news will be an endorsement for London’s efforts to become an offshore yuan center. Other European financial centers in the race to become a Yuan center include Frankfurt, Paris, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
An official clearing bank facilitates efficient clearing of offshore Renminbi transactions, achieved through the appointed bank’s direct cooperation with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) , the country’s central bank. Continue reading
At least 40 central banks have invested in the yuan and several others are preparing to do so, putting the mainland currency on the path to reserve status even before full convertibility, Standard Chartered said.
Twenty-three countries have publicly declared their holdings in yuan, in either the onshore or offshore markets, yet the real number of participating central banks could be far more than that, said Jukka Pihlman, Standard Chartered’s Singapore-based global head of central banks and sovereign wealth funds.
The growing stature of the Chinese yuan in global trade and finance has brought exciting opportunities in yuan-related businesses, said Standard Chartered Group CEO Peter Sands in Beijing on Tuesday.
The renminbi is now among the most actively traded currencies in the world as the Chinese government moves to make it easier for the yuan to flow across its borders.
“We are very excited at the prospects of the renminbi becoming even more integrated into the global economy,” said Sands, who is accompanying British Prime Minister David Cameron on his second visit to China since taking office. Continue reading
AFP – With deals from London to Singapore, China is seeking a greater role for its yuan currency in global markets to challenge the hegemony of the almighty dollar.
The most attention-grabbing reform planned for Shanghai’s new free trade zone is free convertibility of the yuan — also known as the renminbi, or “people’s money” — an unprecedented change which would allow greater use of the currency. Continue reading
Investors holding local stocks and bonds did not want to see the US dollar value of their investment tank alongside the currency, a problem that Hong Kong has long managed to avoid with its dollar peg.
“Stability is key to Hong Kong’s status as a financial centre,” said Kelvin Lau, a senior economist at Standard Chartered. “The peg anchors confidence. This has served Hong Kong’s industries well, particularly the financial services sector.” Continue reading
China’s growing success in internationalizing the RMB has both political and economic implications.
A Bank of International Settlements survey released on September 5 reveals that the renminbi (RMB) is now among the 10 most actively traded currencies in the world. This comes on the back of China’s recent draft plans to allow full convertibility of the RMB within the newly approved Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Both events are intricately linked and are linked to deeper plans by the Chinese government to both internationalize the RMB and consolidate its influence and standing in global financial markets. This suggests that China’s global integration is no longer limited to trade, but is fast spilling over into the realm of finance. Continue reading
An excellent and well-sourced article by Kevin D. Freeman. Click the link for the full story.
There is a story out today about how Standard Chartered allegedly hid $250 billion in 60,000 transactions with Iran that could have been used to fund nuclear development or even terror activities. This story, if true, blows away the arguments that no one would work against U.S. interests in the financial realm. The size and volume of the transactions is extraordinary. And, the investigation uncovered an attitude that is clearly against American interests. If all of this is true, we hope that it will wake up regulators to even more serious vulnerabilities in our system. Remember, we documented how a single one billion transaction roiled our Treasury markets a little over a year ago. These transactions total a quarter-trillion dollars!
We have pointed out the extraordinary arrogance contained in the idea that the world’s financial system is U.S. centric. In fact, in our previous post on this subject, Our Paper or Their Oil, we said the following:
A high-stakes drama is playing out now between the United States and Iran. On this blog, in our book Secret Weapon, in speeches and media interviews, we have been warning about the reality of global economic warfare. For several years, our government has ignored this reality. The good news is that just recently the government has begun to recognize economic weaponry. The bad news is that the government has approached the subject with typical American arrogance. The worse news is that we may all be hurt as a result.
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The news from Standard Chartered, a British-based multinational bank operating in 70 countries, provides a decent proxy of world opinion. The primary reason that the world continues to deal with Iran is that they have Oil. We are fighting with paper. Here is a telling quote from the CNBC story:
Regulators, quoting a New York bank branch officer, said the group director replied: “You f—ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we’re not going to deal with Iranians.”
Here are important quotes from the New York Times story:
The bank “left the U.S. financial system vulnerable to terrorists, weapons dealers, drug kingpins and corrupt regimes,” the agency said in an order sent to the bank Monday …
The department accused the bank of undermining the safety of New York’s financial system through a range of violations including “falsifying business records” and “obstructing governmental administration,” according to the order.
Suspecting that Iranian banks were using their financial institutions to finance its nuclear weapons program, the United States Treasury Department banned certain transactions between Iranian banks and United States financial institutions in 2008.
Make no mistake, this is a global economic war. The international financial system is not serving American interests and as we have proven can be used as a weapon in the global economic war (seewww.SecretWeapon.org). Sadly, this is a shock to most Americans.
Full article: Standard Chartered Takes Sides with $250 billion against America? (Kevin D. Freeman)
Global Geopolitics 