2024-08-23 12:21
AMSTERDAM, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Oil trader Vitol is under investigation in the Netherlands, the public prosecutor's office said on Friday, confirming a report by Dutch investigative news site Follow The Money (FTM). FTM on Thursday reported that the prosecutors' office was investigating alleged bribery in Kazakhstan. Neither the prosecutors' office nor the company would confirm the focus of the probe. A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said an investigation had been launched but could not reveal its "nature or scope". Vitol also confirmed it had been contacted by "a Dutch authority regarding certain historic activities in Kazakhstan" and said it would cooperate. However, it said the FTM report contains inaccuracies. The FTM report linked the investigation to a fine levied in 2021 on Dutch trust office JTC, which oversaw a holding company containing Vitol companies active in Central Asia. The fine, issued by the Dutch central bank, was for failure to properly disclose suspicious transactions to a consultant in Kazakhstan in 2018. Vitol, a major player in Kazakhstan's oil market, held a minority stake in the holding company JTC oversaw, but was not fined or named in the matter at the time. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dutch-authorities-confirm-vitol-probe-after-ftm-report-2024-08-23/
2024-08-23 12:09
PORTICELLO, Italy, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Italian divers have retrieved the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, who was the last person still unaccounted for after the family's luxury yacht sank this week, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/body-found-by-italy-rescue-divers-is-mike-lynchs-daughter-source-2024-08-23/
2024-08-23 12:01
https://www.reuters.com/business/jackson-hole-live-fed-chair-jerome-powell-2024-08-23/
2024-08-23 11:56
MUMBAI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab rose by $4.5 billion and stood at $674.66 billion as of Aug. 16, but were just shy of record highs, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday. The forex reserves had fallen by $4.8 billion in the previous week, the biggest decline in four months. The reserves had reached a record high of $674.92 billion in the week to Aug. 2. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves. Foreign exchange reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. In the week ending Aug. 16, the rupee was flat on a week-on-week basis. The RBI has routinely intervened via state-run banks to help the rupee hold above the 84-handle, a psychologically important support level for the currency, traders said. The rupee settled at 83.89 on Friday and strengthened marginally week-on-week. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars) --------------------------------------------------------- Aug 16 Aug 09 2024 2024 --------------------------------------------------------- Foreign currency assets 591,569 587,960 Gold 60,104 59,239 SDRs 18,341 18,282 Reserve Tranche Position 4,650 4,638 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total 674,664 670,119 ---------------------------------------------------------- Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx , opens new tab) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-forex-reserves-rise-67466-bln-aug-16-2024-08-23/
2024-08-23 11:50
HANOI/OSLO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Norway's state-controlled energy giant Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab has cancelled plans to invest in Vietnam's offshore wind sector, a company spokesperson told Reuters, in a setback for the Southeast Asian country's green power ambitions. Vietnam has attracted international interest in its renewables plans because of its strong winds in shallow waters near coastal, densely populated areas, according to the World Bank Group, but delays in regulatory reforms have recently pushed some would-be investors to reconsider their plans. "We have decided to discontinue our business development in Vietnam and to close our office in Hanoi," Magnus Frantzen Eidsvold, an Equinor spokesperson, said in an interview. It is the first time Equinor has closed an international office focused on offshore wind development. The company has previously exited more than a dozen countries where it had oil and gas activities over the last few years to focus on renewables and low-carbon systems. Equinor's exit deals a further blow to Vietnam after Danish offshore wind company Orsted (ORSTED.CO) , opens new tab, another major player in the industry, said last year it would pause its plans to invest in large offshore wind farms in the country. Vietnam has no current offshore wind projects but wants to install wind farms for 6 gigawatt (GW) by 2030, equal to 4% of its planned capacity, as part of plans to reduce coal and reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century. Its plans, however, have been repeatedly delayed, as recent political turbulence in the country has paralysed reforms and projects. The industry is also considered sensitive by Vietnamese authorities because projects would be developed in the contested South China Sea, a crucial shipping waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety. The industry ministry in the Communist-ruled country is pushing to assign to state-owned companies the first pilot project on offshore wind, a move that foreign investors said would slow down the development of the industry because domestic firms do have not enough capabilities. The Vietnamese industry ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Two Vietnam-based offshore industry executives, who dfeclined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to media, said in the best scenario Vietnam could install only about 1 GW of capacity by the end of the decade because of regulatory hurdles. They said talks are underway to convince the government to allow a foreign partner to co-develop the pilot project. Equinor had decided to quit Vietnam after a regular review of its portfolio of renewable assets, Eidsvold said. "The offshore wind sector has been facing significant headwinds lately and we need to be disciplined in our approach," he added. Equinor opened a representative office in May 2022 in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, describing the nation of 100 million as having a "high potential to become an interesting growth market for offshore wind," according to Equinor's website. "The country has among the best wind resources in Asia," the website said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/equinor-halts-vietnam-offshore-wind-plans-close-hanoi-office-2024-08-23/
2024-08-23 11:46
MUMBAI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee closed stronger on Friday, tracking gains in most Asian currencies, as investors awaited remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, expected to shape market expectations for rate cuts in the world's largest economy. The rupee closed at 83.89 against the U.S. dollar, higher than its close at 83.9525 in the previous session. The currency strengthened marginally week-on-week. Most Asian currencies were higher by 0.1% to 0.7% while the dollar index held steady at 101.4. With an interest rate cut already priced in for the Fed's September meeting, Powell's remarks will help investors determine whether the central bank will reduce rates by 25 or 50 basis points. He is expected to "indicate more confidence that the Fed will begin lowering rates from the next policy meeting in September, although a larger 50 basis points cut will likely require further evidence of labour market deterioration," MUFG Bank said in a note. The odds of a 50 bps rate cut are currently at about 24%, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Dovish remarks from Powell should help the rupee "slightly," but are expected to have more of an impact on dollar-rupee forward premiums, a trader at a foreign bank said. The 1-year implied yield should "move towards 2.15%," if odds of a 50 bp cut rise after the remarks, the trader added. The 1-year implied yield was at 2.09% on Friday. Despite positive global cues, strong dollar demand from local importers and outflows from local equities have kept a lid on the rupee's gains over recent sessions. Overseas investors have withdrawn about $2.1 billion from Indian stocks over August so far, according to stock depository data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-closes-higher-focus-turns-powells-remarks-2024-08-23/
