December, 2022

• 9 December

  Trafigura records $7b profit in blowout year

  

    Bloomberg Trafigura group earned a record $7 billion in its last financial year, more than the previous four years combined, as the commodities trader cashed in on wild price swings and arbitrage opportunities driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Earnings more than doubled in the 12 months through September, Trafigura said, while revenue surged to $318.5 billion. The oil ...

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• 9 December

  German utility inks 25-year deal to import gas via new terminal

  

    Bloomberg German utility EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG agreed to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and green ammonia for 25 years as the country substitutes lower Russian supplies. The company signed a long-term capacity booking for 3 billion cubic meters of LNG per year at a terminal in the northern town of Stade, EnBW’s trading executive director Peter Heydecker said ...

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• 9 December

  European natural gas prices jump

    Bloomberg European natural gas prices jumped for a third session as a blast of unusually cold weather across the northern half of the continent tests its resilience to a historic energy crisis. Benchmark futures surged 6.5% after settling at the highest level since mid-October. From London to Latvia, temperatures are set to drop below freezing in the coming days ...

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• 9 December

  Big Oil betting billions on global ‘climate catastrophe’

  

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest oil producers are spending billions of dollars on fossil fuel projects that will only be needed if the world misses key climate goals, according to Carbon Tracker, a non-profit think tank. Companies invested $58 billion in oil and gas projects in 2021 and 2022 that will only be required if fossil fuel demand grows to a ...

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• 9 December

  Canada bank regulator raises capital buffer as risks mount

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s banking regulator increased a key capital requirement for large banks — and raised the potential range of the measure — giving it more power to protect the country’s financial system from elevated risks. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said that it’s lifting the domestic stability buffer to 3% by February 1, up from its ...

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• 9 December

  Euro-zone banks return $472bn in ECB funding

  

  Bloomberg Euro-area banks are returning another €447.5 billion ($472 billion) in cheap loans to the European Central Bank after officials toughened the terms of the program to help fight double-digit inflation. The repayment will shrink the outstanding amount of so-called TLTRO loans, which were used during the pandemic to keep credit flowing to households and businesses, by about 25%. The ...

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• 9 December

  China’s Xiamen International Bank considers $1.3bn Hong Kong IPO

  

    Bloomberg Xiamen International Bank Co, set up almost four decades ago with both local and foreign investors, is considering a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion), according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese lender is working with advisers for preparation of the share sale, which could take place as soon ...

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• 9 December

  UK to consult on central bank digital currency

  

  Bloomberg The UK government will bring forward a consultation on the case for a central bank digital currency “in the coming weeks,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said. The Bank of England will also release a paper setting out technology considerations informing the potential build of a digital pound, Hunt said in a written statement to Parliament. Hunt announced ...

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• 9 December

  Bond-buying added to Bank Indonesia in law overhaul

    Bloomberg Indonesia is one step closer to requiring the central bank to come to the government’s aid through crisis bond-buying, while dropping earlier proposals to expand the monetary authority’s role. A parliament commission has approved a draft of the financial sector omnibus law that retained a provision calling on Bank Indonesia (BI) to undertake debt monetisation in times of ...

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• 9 December

  Pound went on a wild ride close to dollar parity in 2022

  

    Bloomberg Three prime ministers, four finance ministers and one ill-fated budget dragged the pound within an inch of parity versus the US dollar in 2022. It was a wild ride for the currency, which suffered as political chaos engulfed the UK throughout the year. But everything went into overdrive in September, when the government’s gamble on a huge tax ...

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