Category: Movie

US financial regulator intensified its crackdown on crypto in recent years

A report by Cornerstone Research shows that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought a total of 97 enforcement actions worth $2.35 billion against participants in the digital asset marketplace since 2013.

According to the research, 58 of those actions were litigations and the remaining 39 were administrative proceedings. Of the total $2.35 billion in penalties, $1.71 billion was charged in litigation and $640 million in administrative proceedings.

The majority of those charged were “firm respondents only,” racking up $1.86 billion of the total. Individual respondents were charged the remaining $490 million. 

“Of the 20 enforcement actions brought in 2021, 65% alleged fraud, 80% alleged an unregistered securities offering violation, and 55% alleged both,” the report noted.

READ MORE: Crypto job growth outpacing Big Tech

According to the document, the recent crackdown on crypto may be linked to the appointment of SEC chair Gary Gensler in April 2021, as enforcement had been “notably high” between the end of May and mid-September. 

Those tough measures are expected to continue into the new year, Cornerstone Research Vice President Abe Chernin said. “Given the SEC’s continued focus on this space, in 2022, we may see further scrutiny of certain market participants such as DeFi platforms.”

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Tensions between nations have helped send European energy bills to a historic high

The price of energy across the world has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels in a trend that is being exacerbated by geopolitical pressures, says the European Commission.

The soaring cost of gas has clearly impacted energy prices on the continent, according to European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

However, strife between and within nations has inevitably had a knock-on effect too.

February futures prices at the Netherlands’ Title Transfer Facility, a virtual trading point for natural gas, reportedly surged to $915 per 1,000 cubic meters on Friday, or €78 ($88.5) per megawatt hour in household terms.

In December, they hit a record high in Europe of nearly $2,200 per 1,000 cubic meters, which constituted an almost 400% rise since the start of the year.

Read more

“This is a particularly important time for the energy sector, both for its current state and for its future,” Simson said after a meeting with European energy ministers in France on Saturday.

“In the short term, we are faced with unusually high energy commodity prices – a trend intensified by geopolitical tensions.”

She affirmed that the current astronomically high prices for electricity and gas were placing an intolerable burden on homeowners and businesses alike across the European Union, but said national leaders were taking all possible steps to cushion them from future market shocks.

“These actions taken by member states to protect the consumers amount to more than €21 billion – a remarkable and swift effort by the EU governments,” Simson said.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

International tourism won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 at the earliest

Global tourism saw a 4% increase last year, compared with 2020, which was the worst year on record as international arrivals plunged by 73%, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said. The highly contagious Covid-19 Omicron variant, though mild, will “disrupt the recovery” in early 2022, it added.

According to the UN body, tourism arrivals around the globe are not expected to return to their pre-pandemic levels until 2024 at the earliest.

“The pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across world regions due to varying degrees of mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and traveler confidence,” the UNWTO said.

In Europe and the Americas, foreign visitor arrivals rose by 19% and 17%, respectively, last year over 2020.

READ MORE: Covid could cost global tourism $1 trillion

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, arrivals declined by 24% last year, while in the Asia-Pacific region they were 65% below 2020 levels, and 94% down from pre-Covid levels.

The agency forecast a rise of 30% to 78% in international arrivals this year over 2021, while remaining far below 2019 levels.

It said that tourism revenue in 2020 was down 72% on the previous year.

“The economic contribution of tourism in 2021 [measured in tourism direct gross domestic product] is estimated at $1.9 trillion, above the $1.6 trillion in 2020, but still well below the pre-pandemic value of $3.5 trillion,” the UNWTO said.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Wealth of world’s 5 richest people tumbled by $85 billion in a brutal week for tech stocks

The world’s five richest tech billionaires collectively lost $85.07 billion of their wealth in the first few weeks of 2022 due to a market rout. Stock markets dropped the most last week since the outbreak of the pandemic on fears of rising interest rates and inflation. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index slid 8% last week and is down 13% this year.

The losses sent the fortune of the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, down to $243 billion. The net worth of the SpaceX and Tesla founder tumbled $27 billion since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Data shows it is nearly $100 billion lower than November 2021, when Musk’s net worth peaked at $335 billion. 

The world’s second-richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has lost around $25 billion in 2022. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates saw a $9.5 billion drop in his net worth since January 1, while Google co-founder Larry Page’s net worth declined by $12 billion. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth (sixth on Bloomberg’s rich list) also nosedived by about $12 billion so far this year. All of them saw losses in their tech stock holdings. 

READ MORE: Tesla tycoon Elon Musk declared richest person in the world, edging out Amazon’s Bezos

The only billionaire in the top five who avoided losses last week was French luxury fashion mogul Bernard Arnault. Even so, the wealth of the chairman and CEO of the luxury giant LVMH is down $10.5 billion so far this year. Arnault is on the cusp of re-taking the number two spot in the Bloomberg index from Bezos.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Positive trade balance underpins growth of national currency as overseas demand for Chinese-made goods surges

In 2021, Beijing’s trade surplus reached an all-time high of $676 billion, boosted by buoyant demand for Chinese-made goods across the world, while a major decline in outbound travel amid the Covid pandemic also limited the deficit in services trade.

The surplus on China’s current account climbed to an eight-year high of $224.2 billion, while the capital account surplus hit $83.2 billion, the highest since records began in 2010, Bloomberg reports, citing calculations based on data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The reported figures reflect the nation’s robust trade surplus during the coronavirus pandemic and inflows into yuan-denominated bonds, according to Stephen Chiu, chief Asia FX at Bloomberg.

The soaring surplus bolstered a rallying yuan that strengthened by 2.7% against the US dollar in 2021, extending the gains of 6.7% recorded for the previous year. China’s national currency is climbing toward 6.33 per dollar, a level last recorded in December, when the People’s Bank of China increased the foreign-currency reserve ratio to cool the gains.

Read more

“In 2022, overall forex settlements are likely to be similar to last year, especially in terms of a robust current account surplus,” Chiu told Bloomberg.

“Even though global economic growth may slow cyclically, China’s exports are likely to continue to constitute a large share globally because the pandemic continues.”

Last year, foreign investors reportedly expanded their holdings of Chinese sovereign bonds by 575.6 billion yuan ($90.9 billion), marking the fastest pace on record.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange settlement under securities investment in the capital account jumped to $23 billion in December, the highest since records began in 2010.

The big returns of yuan-denominated assets along with the stability of the yuan exchange rate attracts foreign capital, according to Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, as quoted by Bloomberg.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section