Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for nearly two decades, outmanoeuvring his rivals with a combination of ruthlessness and skill to become the longest-serving premier in the country’s history. But on Monday, the wily politician was forced to reverse course — at least temporarily — on the drive by his far-right government to overhaul the
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According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the troubled bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was acquired by First Citizens Bank & Trust Company, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. First Citizens acquired all deposits and loans from SVB, as well as the 17 branches that SVB owned across the United States. Silicon Valley
Municipals were steady to start the week, while U.S. Treasuries sold off and equities ended mixed. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 60%, the three-year at 61%, the five-year at 62%, the 10-year at 65% and the 30-year at 89%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the two-year at
South Carolina’s embattled comptroller announced he will resign next month, after state investigators held him responsible for a multi-billion dollar accounting error. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, who’s held the position for the last 20 years and was unopposed in last year’s election, said in a letter of resignation Thursday he wanted to give legislators time
Experts are confounded by Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s debtor-centric interpretation of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. The Puerto Rico Oversight Board’s latest proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment would give bondholders a payout as little as 0.21%, and a ruling Swain made last week could
The news and events related to the banking crisis in the United States and Europe have led to a rotation of funds into investments considered less risky. According to the Financial Times, the U.S. money market funds in March witnessed an inflow of $286 billion. Along with money market funds, a portion of the money
Bancroft Capital has hired Dana Villanova as director of municipals, the firm announced on Monday. Villanova, who will be working remotely from Hawaii, will help expand Bancroft’s engagement with issuers, financial advisors and its underwriting partners, with a focus on the West Coast. She will also use her background in bond insurance and green bond verification to
Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said on Monday that recent financial turmoil would not stand in the way of the central bank controlling inflation with high interest rates. In a speech at the London School of Economics, Bailey stressed that the UK financial system was “resilient, with robust capital and liquidity positions,
Celebrating his narrow election as new leader of Scotland’s governing Scottish National party on Monday, a beaming Humza Yousaf told assembled SNP members he felt like the “luckiest man in the world”. The feeling may not last. Yousaf, 37, will certainly make history this week when he becomes the first member of an ethnic minority
After gaining 11% between March 16 and March 18, the total crypto market capitalization has been battling resistance at the $1.2 trillion level. This same level was reached on August 14, 2022 and was followed by a 19.7% decline to $960 billion over the next two weeks. During the lateralization period between March 20 and
After the recent bank collapses in the U.S., a number of people believe that more failures are coming following the Federal Reserve’s increase of the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps). American journalist Charles Gasparino insists that Wall Street’s “low-rate” junkies are ignoring the U.S. banking crisis. Quill Intelligence CEO Danielle DiMartino Booth
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to clamp down on conflicts of interest connected with the sale of asset- backed securities and certain other securitization transactions, as required by Dodd-Frank, should exempt municipal bonds as the proposal is unnecessarily broad and may negatively affect underwriters involved in certain transactions. The proposed rule as part of
The municipal market is a safe haven with stronger fundamentals and higher quality than the corporate market, as well as buying opportunities, according to Jennifer Johnston, director of research in the municipal bond group at Franklin Templeton. “We have significantly lower default rates and the ratings of the muni indices are even stronger when compared
The Irvine City Council is slated to vote Tuesday night on the issuance of $455 million in dirt bonds to further develop Orange County, California’s Great Park. Plagued by accusations of cronyism and improper management, the park located at the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, hasn’t lived up to its
The Federal Reserve’s top official on banking supervision has blamed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on a “textbook case of mismanagement”, saying the board of the US central bank had been briefed on the troubles at the California lender in mid-February. In congressional hearing testimony released ahead of an expected grilling on SVB’s failure
Bob Iger’s plan to attack streaming-boom era spending at Walt Disney will pick up steam this week as the company begins the process of cutting about 7,000 jobs. In a memo to staff on Monday, Iger said the cuts would start this week and last until the early summer, with the bulk taking place in
Saudi Aramco has agreed to acquire 10 per cent of a Chinese oil refiner for $3.6bn in the second in a pair of deals set to strengthen the relationship between the Middle Eastern state oil company and its biggest market. Under the arrangement with Shenzhen-listed Rongsheng Petrochemical Co, Saudi Aramco will supply 480,000 barrels a
To bolster its infrastructure and higher education divisions, Siebert Williams Shank & Co. has hired Marvin Markus and Mark Liff as managing directors, the firm announced Monday. Markus and Liff are municipal financial industry veterans with decades of experience between them. “With the addition of Marvin Markus and Mark Liff, our firm is adding two senior
It is a mark of Nicola Sturgeon’s impact on Scottish and UK politics that the contest to succeed her as Scotland’s first minister has drawn interest far beyond British shores. Yet the outgoing Scottish National party leader’s achievement in entrenching support for independence at a little under 50 per cent was not matched by her
On March 27, European cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares published its “Digital Asset Fund Flows Report,” which revealed that digital assets continue to attract investors’ attention as concerns over the stability of traditional finance (TradFi) continues to grow. According to the latest report, investment products in digital assets experienced inflows of $160 million last week, the largest
A US financial regulator has accused Binance and its chief executive Changpeng Zhao of operating illegally in the country, in a lawsuit that seeks fines and an injunction against the world’s largest crypto trading exchange. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged in a civil complaint filed on Monday that much of Binance’s reported trading volume