Peru’s ousted president faces 20-year sentence

  Bloomberg Pedro Castillo, the Peruvian leader ousted for trying to dissolve congress, faces as many as 20 years in prison if found guilty of the crime of rebellion, at a time when Mexico is offering him political asylum. Judge Juan Carlos Checkley ordered Castillo held through December 13 for additional investigations, considering him a flight risk. The seriousness of ...

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Dhaka arrests politicians before protest

Bloomberg Two senior Bangladeshi opposition leaders were arrested by plainclothes police officers as part of a crackdown ahead of a planned demonstration in the capital to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and call for elections. Bangladesh has come under pressure in recent months as higher food and fuel costs have eaten into foreign currency reserves, prompting Hasina’s ...

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S Korean truckers vote to end two-week strike

Bloomberg South Korean truck drivers voted to end a two-week strike that has disrupted supply chains of key export industries. A majority of union members who voted agreed to return to work, according to an emailed statement. That came after the government ordered striking truckers in the steel and petrochemical industries back to work. The truckers’ strike has added to ...

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China embargo on Taiwan fish deepens in wake of Pelosi trip

Bloomberg China has dramatically scaled back purchases of Taiwanese fish this year, as Beijing seeks to punish the island’s democratically elected government for expanding ties with the US and its allies. China imported $56 million worth of fish and crustaceans in the six months from May to October, compared with $138 million during the same period a year earlier, according ...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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