By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has signed a deal to buy out goods.ru (Marketplace), a Russian e-commerce company selling a wide range of consumer goods, among them electronics, car accessories, furniture, toys and medicines. Sberbank is going to acquire an 85 per cent stake in goods.ru by buying part of Russian electronics retailer… Continue Reading
Russian gold miner GV Gold puts off IPO over market ‘volatility’
GV Gold, one of Russia’s largest gold miners, has postponed a planned initial public offering (IPO) because of what its chief executive officer has described as “elevated levels of market volatility in global and Russian capital markets”. The IPO was to be held on the Moscow Exchange. Trading had been scheduled to start on March… Continue Reading
Financial literacy in UK not very high – Uswitch survey
By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by British price comparison service Uswitch suggests that the average Briton is not too savvy about financial terminology with about one-fifth of the British failing to fully understand the term “pension” and about a quarter not being completely sure what “interest rate” means. Investment jargon is a set of financial… Continue Reading
Interest in cryptos high in U.S., Asia but Europe less excited – Invezz.com
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United States is the country most interested in cryptocurrency and there is wide-scale interest in crypto in Asia but Europe is far less excited, according to online investment intelligence company Invezz.com. India is in second place as regards interest in cryptocurrency, according to an Invezz.com study that evaluated the degree of… Continue Reading
Olga Turischeva hired from VC firm to head Sber University
Sberbank Corporate University (Sber University), an institution belonging to Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, has a new rector, Olga Turischeva, who has been hired from Russian venture capital firm RTP Global, the bank said in a statement. Turischeva’s record includes jobs at Russia’s search engine Rambler, consumer electronic retail chain M.video and telecommunications company Vimpelcom. Sber… Continue Reading
Sberbank offers support for Serbian exports to Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has presented opportunities and offered financial support for Serbian consumer goods exports to Russia during an online meeting between a key Russian retail group and Serbian companies. Eight Serbian firms producing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) presented products to X5 Retail Group during the event, organised by the lender’s… Continue Reading
Russia’s GV Gold plans IPO with Goldman Sachs, Sber, UBS, VTB, Raiffeisen, Sova as bookrunners
By Andrei Skvarsky. GV Gold, one of Russia’s largest gold-mining companies, plans an initial public offering (IPO) of shares with Goldman Sachs, SberCIB, UBS Investment Bank and VTB Capital as joint bookrunners and Raiffeisen Bank International and Sova Capital as co-bookrunners. The stake to be on sale will consist of ordinary shares and will be… Continue Reading
Regulator to use Colombia’s oldest bank in testing crypto transaction models, risks
By Andrei Skvarsky. Banco de Bogota, Colombia’s oldest commercial bank, will test cryptocurrency transaction models and risks in a planned digital pilot project this month organised by the financial regulator of a nation that is one of the world’s main users of cryptocurrencies. A selected group of clients would make digital transfers of money to… Continue Reading
Spain’s Debex auctioneer: bids up 32 pct during 3-month delinquent debt sales
By Andrei Skvarsky. Debex Espana, a Spanish company running online auctions, has sold delinquent debts worth a total of 41.6m euros ($49.4m) over the past three months, according to a statement from its parent group Debex. The debts made up eight portfolios and 33,500 accounts. Bids went up by an average of 32 per cent… Continue Reading
Guernsey Finance rep to promote Guernsey financial services in S. Africa
Guernsey Finance, a public-private agency for the promotion of Guernsey’s financial services industry, has appointed its first dedicated representative to South Africa, giving the role to Grant McLeod, who has had a long career in the African country’s financial sector. McLeod’s duties will include promoting the Channel island’s financial industry not only in South Africa… Continue Reading
Cashless society idea disliked in the West but popular in Asia – MoneyTransfers.com
By Andrei Skvarsky. The idea of complete replacement of banknotes and coins with electronic money is by and large rejected by Western society but has majority support in larger Asian nations, research by the MoneyTransfers.com consultancy and polling company YouGov suggests. Just a quarter of Americans would like the United States to go cashless, according… Continue Reading
EVENTS: March 23-24 Family Office Winter Forum to review investing during pandemic
The Family Office Winter Forum, a virtual event on March 23-24 organised by Opal Group, will address what has happened in family office investment business since the outbreak of COVID-19. What will be the eighth annual event in the Opal-organised Family Office Winter Forum series will go over a variety of topics, including conventional, alternative,… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: Pound’s good showing reflects expectations of ‘big economic rebound’ in UK
London-based broker ActivTrades attributes sterling’s current steady winning of ground from the U.S. dollar and euro to generally successful anti-COVID vaccinations in Britain, which have enabled the government to set a roadmap to lifting COVID-related restrictions by June. The scrapping of restrictions is expected to bring about a “big economic rebound”, an outlook that “is… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Reuters Events webinar on Feb 25 to take up social aspects of ESG investment
A free webinar on February 25 organised by Reuters Events will address social aspects of responsible investment. You may register for the webinar, Integrating the ‘S’ in ESG: Modern Slavery, Conditions of Work and Employment, here. The event starts at 1400 GMT (3pm BST). It is part of the Reuters Events ESG calendar of events… Continue Reading
ActivTrades analyst: U.S. rates unlikely to rise, so dollar likely to edge down
A key analyst at London-headquartered financial brokerage ActivTrades on February 23 reiterated his earlier forecast that interest rates in the United States are unlikely to rise any time soon and that this would make the dollar edge down. “Any hints” to a Federal Reserve plan to raise interest rates in reacting to rising inflation could… Continue Reading
Russia’s Fix Price retailer reaffirms London, Moscow IPO plan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fix Price, Russia’s largest discount retailer, has reaffirmed a plan for an initial public offering of shares (IPO) in London and Moscow, having hired BofA Securities, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and VTB Capital as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. The final offer price will be announced when the book building… Continue Reading
ActivTrades analyst: U.S. labour market data likeliest cause of dollar’s Feb 19 drop
The U.S. dollar’s further slide in the morning on February 19 after losses the day before was most likely a reaction to rather bleak statistics on employment in the United States, argues Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at London-based foreign exchange broker ActivTrades. According to Evangelista, the greenback’s February 18 dip was attributable to a Federal… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: Fed policy may push dollar further down after currency’s slight setback
A key analyst at London-based foreign exchange broker ActivTrades predicts possible further weakness for the U.S. dollar, which was on the back foot during the start of February 18 trade after winning some ground from other major currencies during the first half of the week. ActivTrades senior analyst Ricardo Evangelista bases his forecast on the… Continue Reading
Russia’s Sberbank stops clients from losing $838m to cyber rogues in 2020 – CEO
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank prevented online fraudsters from stealing 57bn roubles ($838m) from its clients in 2020, a year that saw a dramatic global cyber crime surge triggered by coronavirus, Sberbank chief executive officer Herman Gref said on February 16. “We have achieved the highest level of security in the world,” Gref… Continue Reading
ActiveTrades expects WTI’s Feb 11 price to stay on for a while, is bullish on gold
London-based foreign exchange broker ActiveTrades said it did not believe that WTI oil, after going up for a few days and staying between $58 and $58.50 per barrel on February 11, was currently strong enough for a further rise. However, the price might get a boost from potential future stimulus measures by central banks, according… Continue Reading
RenCap: Russian GDP to grow faster than most analysts expect
By Andrei Skvarsky. Investment bank Renaissance Capital predicts economic growth of between 2 and 6 per cent for 2021 for the majority of former Soviet republics and expects Russia to end the year with a gross domestic product increase of 3.8 percent. The Russian percentage is higher than the consensus forecast, RenCap’s economist for Russia… Continue Reading
EVENTS: Opal-organised online forum on Feb 10-11 to explore Covid effects on investment in U.S. pension system
The Public Funds Summit, a virtual conference on February 10-11, will focus on effects of Covid-19 on investment in the U.S. public pension system. The event has an extensive programme with presentations, panel discussions and plenty of time for networking. Please email the summit organiser, New York-based event management company Opal Group, at info@opalgroup.net for a copy… Continue Reading
Russia’s GV Gold boosts gold production by 5% YoY
By Andrei Skvarsky. GV Gold, one of Russia’s top gold mining companies, has reported gold output of 272 kilo ounces (koz) for 2020 or five per cent up on 2019 and announced it expects to produce between 290 and 300 koz in 2021. The statistics are combined figures for the parent company and the subsidiaries,… Continue Reading
Moscow’s Japanese-owned SBI Bank to get investment from sovereign funds
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two state-owned investment promotion funds, one of them Russian and the other Russian-Japanese, have pledged to make a joint investment in SBI Bank, a Russian lender owned by Japanese group SBI Holdings. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Russia-Japan Investment Fund, which has been instituted by RDIF and a subsidiary… Continue Reading
Swiss bank Julius Baer hires six relationship managers for Hispanic America business
By Andrei Skvarsky. Swiss bank Julius Baer has hired six relationship managers for its Hispanic America operation, with five of the newcomers joining from Zurich-based bulge bracket bank Credit Suisse and two having worked at Spanish lender BBVA. All six are due to take their jobs on February 1 and will be based in Zurich,… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: Pound doing better than dollar, euro, due to good start of UK Covid vaccination
London-based foreign exchange broker ActivTrades has reported the British pound to have done better than the dollar or the euro in early January 27 trading, attributing this to perceived investor optimism brought about by Britain’s successful start of Covid-19 vaccination. Markets see the successful roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain, where coronavirus has killed… Continue Reading
Russia’s Sovcombank says receiving its first ESG loan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sovcombank, one of Russia’s largest banks by assets, has announced it has signed an agreement to receive its first loan to be based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. Financing Sovcombank’s buy-now-pay-later Halva card programme is the purpose of the ESG tranche of a two-tranche syndicated loan of $350m arranged for… Continue Reading
ActivTrades broker abolishes some fees, offers to sell fractional shares
ActivTrades, an online foreign exchange (forex) and contract for differences (CFD) broker, has started off 2021 with special offers, abolishing some of its trading fees and allowing purchases of parts of shares rather than full shares. There will be no trading fees for any European, British or U.S. stocks sold to non-leveraged retail investors. Nor… Continue Reading
Waning of risk-on feelings getting the dollar up – ActivTrades
London-headquartered financial brokerageActivTrades argues that recent risk-on sentiments in financial markets about U.S. monetary policies are going away and that this explains the current edging up of the dollar versus other principal currencies. With the Democrats having won control of the White House and both houses of Congress, the Federal Reserve is likely to move… Continue Reading