finance Archives - Zxcoachoutlet

Reef Finance Raises $3.9M for Cross-Chain DeFi on Polkadot

September 30, 2020

As the limitations and costs of running decentralized finance (DeFi) apps on Ethereum continue to ride high, a growing list of projects are lining up on competing blockchains.

Adding to this trend, Polkadot-based Reef Finance has closed a $3.9 million seed funding round for its cross-chain suite of DeFi services, the company announced Wednesday. Included in the round were NGC Ventures, AU21 Capital, QCP Capital, Kenetic Capital and Woodstock Fund.

Reef aims to solve the high technical barrier investors face when attempting to participate in DeFi, said Reef Finance CEO Denko Manceski, not to mention doing away with gas fees on Ethereum that are currently running at near-record highs.

Related: First Mover: ChainlinkÃ¢ÂÂs Sorry September Returns Shows DeFi Hysteria Deflating

Ã¢ÂÂThe average retail investor entering the DeFi landscape is confused,Ã¢ÂÂ said Manceski. Ã¢ÂÂThey donÃ¢ÂÂt know the names of the projects or how to keep up with the best strategies and

Silverlake adds a $2 billion “longterm” hedge fund backed by Abu Dhabi to its tech finance toolkit

September 30, 2020

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Silver Lake Partners, the multi-billion dollar tech-focused investment firm, is adding a longterm hedge fund backed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, to its array of investment vehicles to finance technology companies.

The move into multi-strategy investing represents the diversification of financing vehicles that companies have at their disposal and gives the private equity firm the tools it needs to compete in a world awash with capital and new ways for companies to access public market financing.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the public-private, long-only, investment structure is happening as more tech companies are eschewing later stage financing to find cash on public markets through things like special purpose acquisition companies (SPACS).

Almost everything you need to know about SPACs

According to a statement from the firm, the new strategy has a 25-year deployment life cycle and can be invested across structures, geographies and industries. The agreement makes

The Finance 202: Trump’s false claims about his economic record typified chaotic debate

September 30, 2020

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He repeated one of his most common refrains, for example, that before the pandemic struck, his administration built “the greatest economy in history.”

Coming into the year, the Trump team aimed to make that argument the spine of its reelection pitch to voters. And it’s true, as Reuters’s Howard Schneider writes, that before the coronavirus forced an economic shutdown, “record-low unemployment and rising wages were helping the less well-off, while a record stock market buoyed richer Americans.”

In the first half of his term, Trump’s signature tax cuts and a major spending package gave the economic expansion he inherited a turbo-boost of fiscal stimulus. But as they faded, and Trump launched a multi-front trade war that weighed on investment and spending by businesses, growth slowed from 2.9 percent in 2018 to 2.3 percent last year, well short of the 3 percent pace he promised to lock in, at a minimum.

British Finance Chief In Balancing Act Over Virus Plan

September 30, 2020

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Sunak has already pumped billions into virus-related health spending and jobs support schemes

JOHN SIBLEY

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UK finance minister Rishi Sunak, battling record deficits and soaring debt due to his government’s emergency coronavirus response, faces a politically dangerous balancing act to pay the bill, analysts say.

As the outbreak raged, total public debt rocketed above £2.0 trillion for the first time, striking a record high proportion of 102 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Commentators argue that a combination of taxation, inflation, spending cuts, and even economic growth could help balance the books for Sunak.

But the public purse also faces the additional threat of a potential no-deal Brexit at the end of this year.

Public sector net borrowing — the state’s preferred measure of the deficit — hit a record £173.7 billion in the first five months of its 2020-2021 fiscal year, or April to August.

That was

Amazon to Take Citigroup Office Space in Singapore’s Finance Hub

September 30, 2020

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The Citigroup Inc. logo is displayed atop Tower 1 of Asia Square in Singapore.

Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg

Amazon Inc. is planning to take over some of Citigroup Inc.’s office space in Singapore at a time when a number of the e-commerce giant’s Chinese tech rivals expand in the city state.

The online retail giant will lease three floors covering about 90,000 square feet (8,360 square meters) at Asia Square Tower 1 in the heart of the financial district, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Staff will move into the new offices early next year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans aren’t public.

Citigroup, currently the building’s largest tenant with nine floors, is trimming its office space to better use its real estate as its 10-year lease is due to expire soon, the people said.

Personal-finance firm Credit Karma to launch checking account in U.S.

September 29, 2020

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By Anna Irrera

Sept 29 (Reuters) – Personal-finance company Credit Karma said on Tuesday it would launch a checking account to U.S. members this year, making it the latest fintech to join the crowded digital banking market.

Credit Karma Money Checking will initially be available only to those members who hold a savings account with Credit Karma, the San Francisco-based company said.

Opening a checking account will require no minimum balance or deposit requirements, it added.

The service will be available more widely in early 2021 with offerings being added throughout the year.

Credit Karma, which has 100 million members in the United States, Canada and the UK, is best known for letting customers access their credit scores and some other personal finance tools for free. It also offers third-party credit cards and loans to customers, tailored to their credit history.

Several fintechs have been expanding the types of

Zambia aims to clinch debt restructuring deal by April – finance minister

September 29, 2020

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Adds details, background

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Zambia hopes to reach a debt restructuring agreement with creditors by April and hopes to get nearly $1 billion of debt service relief from its requests to official and commercial creditors, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu said on Tuesday.

One of the world’s largest copper producers, Zambia had been wrestling with growing public debt even before the coronavirus outbreak forced lockdowns around the world and cut demand for raw materials.

“We have engaged systematically with our official creditors for debt service suspension as well as our commercial creditors to seek similar debt service treatment, including the rescheduling of past due arrears accumulated throughout the year,” Ng’andu told creditors in a webcast.

“We hope to be in a position to reach an agreement in principle with our external creditor community on a debt treatment and with the IMF on a staff level agreement

Ghana cocoa regulator signs $1.3 bln finance deal for 2020/21 season

September 29, 2020

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Adds quote, background

ACCRA, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Ghana’s cocoa board (Cocobod) signed on Tuesday a $1.3 billion pre-export finance deal for the 2020/21 cocoa season through a syndicated loan, following reports earlier this year that its usual lenders had declined to underwrite the risk.

A coalition of 28 local and international banks and financial institutions, including ABN Amro ABNd.AS, Standard Chartered STAN.L and Bank of China 601988.SS, were party to the loan, which is repayable in seven months, said Cocobod CEO Joseph Boahen Aidoo at the signing ceremony.

He said Cocobod expected purchases of 900,000 tonnes for the 2020/21 season.

“We never defaulted in repaying the loans since the 1992/1993 crop season when the first one was signed,” Aidoo said, adding last year’s loan was re-paid two months ahead of schedule.

A parliamentary report in August said the loan would carry annual interest of one month

Former Amazon finance manager Laksha Bohra and family charged with insider trading

September 29, 2020

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A former finance manager for Amazon.com and two of her family members were charged on Monday with insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the family of making $1.4 million from unlawful trading.

© Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images
SEATTLE, WA – APRIL 30: A person walks by an Amazon Go store at the downtown Amazon campus on April 30, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon recorded sales of $75.4 billion in the first three months of the year as many consumers increased their online purchases, up 26% over last year, but with net income for the same period falling nearly 31% due to costs of managing the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)

The complaint alleges that Laksha Bohra, a senior manager in Amazon’s tax department, leaked confidential information about the company’s financial performance to her husband Viky Bohra. The husband and his father then traded on the

The Finance 202: The wealth gap kept widening even before the pandemic, Fed report finds

September 29, 2020

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The latest Survey of Consumer Finances, a triennial look at American households’ financial condition, provides a detailed snapshot of the country just before it was rocked by a recession that arrived with hurricane force out of the blue sky of the longest economic expansion on record.

It reveals low- and middle-income earners were finally starting to see some wage increases as unemployment dropped to 3.5 percent. And their average wealth climbed as home values and the stock market both gained value.

Yet the gains weren’t enough to make a dent in the wealth gap. The top 1 percent own about a third of the nation’s wealth, near the 30-year high for that population. The poorer half of the country, meanwhile, claim roughly 2 percent of the overall wealth.

The richest tenth of households have seen their share of the wealth increase over the past three decades, while the other

Sunak has already pumped billions into virus-related health spending and jobs support schemes