Coinbase Vs. SEC over $150m in unlocked tokens LeapRate

January 15, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

Coinbase Vs. SEC over $150m in unlocked tokens

Set to take place in Manhattan’s federal court on Wednesday, 17 January, the SEC states that Coinbase “violated national securities laws” by selling 13 unregistered crypto tokens. Its second accusation notes that Coinbase did not register its staking-as-a-service (StaaS) program, a method of verifying cryptocurrency transactions that rewards participants on their holdings. Coinbase, on the…

January 15, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

Bank of America’s equities revenue up 13% in Q4

BAC’s Global Markets segment, which provides a range of equity and debt-related services, performed well. Sales and Trading revenue rose 3% to $3.6bn while Equities revenue spiked 13% to $1.5bn. However, Fixed, Income, Currencies and Commodities revenue dropped 4% to $2.1bn. The overall report was mixed as BAC’s earnings per share of 70 cents beat…

January 12, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Metro Bank’s CFO Has Stepped Down Less Than 2 Years in the Role

The bank has confirmed that Cristina Alba Ochoa will assume the role of interim CFO starting January 15. Meanwhile, the search for a permanent replacement for Hopkinson is underway. Following this news, Metro Bank's shares opened 1.5% lower but later saw a smaller decline of 0.3% by 0910 GMT. The bank’s stock experienced a 69%…

January 12, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

China Is Looking To Coordinate Housing Sector Financing Better

The two regulatory bodies have declared their intention to establish a system that will more effectively address the financing requirements of real estate projects. This initiative is geared towards fostering stable growth within the housing sector, as detailed in a joint statement they released last Friday. Since mid-2021, China's real estate industry has been struggling…

January 12, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Citigroup Reports a $1.8Bn Q4 2023 Loss on Multiple Charges

Fraser has initiated a multi-year plan aimed at reducing administrative complexity, enhancing profitability, and improving the performance of the company's stock, which has historically underperformed compared to its counterparts. For the quarter ending December 31, Citigroup reported a loss of $1.16 per share. This result was negatively impacted by $3.8 billion in charges and reserves,…

January 12, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

European Central Bank suggests rate cuts could come soon

The reductions come at a time when tensions between ECB officials and the market are high. Investors, however, continue to predict rate cuts as soon as March/April this year; policymakers are opting for what they term a more realistic timeframe of mid-year. Market and authority attention will now be fixed on Chief Economist Philip Lane,…

January 12, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

Bitcoin ETFs debut with a flair on Wall Street

This Thursday, 11 January debut follows a day after the SEC approved direct investing in bitcoin. In total, the regulator approved 11 ETFs, steered by financial wealth managers such as BlackRock Inc. (BLK), Fidelity Investments (FBTC), and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC). Bloomberg reports that approximately $4.6bn did the rounds after a fierce first day…

January 12, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

Movements in China’s imports and exports may give its economy a much-needed boost

According to Reuters, Chinese policymakers are relieved about the uptick in global trade as it could signal lower borrowing costs. Others, however, are quick to point out that the second-largest global economy still faces issues in its property market, overly careful consumers, and geopolitical hurdles that may hobble any gains. The year-on-year December comparison between…

January 11, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

MultiBank unveils next-gen trading platform

Dubbing its 2024 refresh “the New MultiBank Era”, the broker’s MultiBank-Plus Platform app’s most notable features include a swift account-opening process taking only three minutes, tools that help its users make better informed financial decisions, and an interface that works to a high quality on mobile devices. The app, currently available in Germany, the UK,…

January 11, 2024 BY Elizabeth Anderson

Forecasters predicting a strong annual performance for JPMorgan

Bolstered by its acquisition of First Republic and better loan margins, predictions are that JPMorgan’s year-on-year bottom line will be 30% more. This means that the bank will outperform competitor Bank of America (BAC) by more than $20bn. Should these Bloomberg predictions be on target, JPMorgan will also more than double the annual net profits…