Business

Turkish lira flirts with record low as Doha eyes trouble

The Turkish lira briefly slid 1 percent on Monday, again nearing record lows touched last week as concerns persisted over President Tayyip Erdogan’s rate-cutting drive and Qatar said it was keeping an eye on its ally’s economic troubles.

In Doha, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Qatar was looking at any opportunities that arise from Turkey’s economic challenges.

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Alongside him at a press conference, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey was not asking for any money.

At 1005 GMT, the lira had recovered to 13.77 after earlier weakening to 13.88 versus the dollar. It touched an all-time low of 14.00 last week after a 30 percent plunge over the last month.

The selloff has been driven by aggressive monetary easing that Erdogan sought, but that economists and opposition politicians say is reckless. Inflation jumped to a three-year high of 21.3 percent last month.

Despite its depleted reserves, the central bank intervened in markets twice last week over what it called unhealthy prices, keeping the lira below 14 to the dollar.

Last year, Qatar’s central bank expanded to $15 billion a foreign-currency swap line it had with its Turkish counterpart.

Credite Suisse said the interventions, inflation figures, and Governor Sahap Kavcioglu’s remarks to investors last week suggest the bank may hold steady or cut rates by 50-100 points at its next meeting on Dec. 16.

On investor conference calls, Kavcioglu signaled the easing would likely pause in January after one more cut this month. One participant told Reuters that the bank, in response to a question, said the chances of holding rates at 15 percent in December had increased due to the selloff.

“Deputy Governor Mustafa Duman said that the MPC will decide between a rate cut and a pause on 16 December, and Governor Kavcioglu intervened by saying that the ‘chances of no rate cut on 16 December increased’,” Credit Suisse said in a client note.

Under pressure from Erdogan, the central bank has slashed its policy rate by 400 basis points since September and is expected to ease policy again this month.

Turkey’s real rates are deeply negative, a red flag for fleeing investors and for Turkish savers who have flocked to hard currencies to protect their wealth.

Erdogan said on Saturday he hoped that volatile foreign-exchange and inflation rates would stabilize shortly and again promised low interest rates.

He has repeated in recent weeks that rate cuts are needed to boost exports, credit, jobs and economic growth, adding elections will be held as planned in June 2023.

Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Monday the volatility in the exchange rate was not based on economic fundamentals, adding the economy was being subjected to “manipulative attacks.”

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Business

Swiss government suspends forms of variable remuneration at Credit Suisse

Switzerland's finance department has issued an order to Credit Suisse to temporarily suspend certain forms of variable pay for the bank's employees, the Swiss government said.

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“This measure relates to already granted but deferred remuneration for the financial years up to 2022, for example in the form of share awards,” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement.

The government said that deferred payments that were already in the process of being paid out were exempt from the order.

The Swiss government also instructed its finance department to propose further measures on variable remuneration for Credit Suisse.

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Business

Yellen vows to safeguard US bank deposits, may need more interventions

The US banking system is stabilizing after strong actions from regulators, but further steps to protect bank depositors may be needed if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that threaten more contagion, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bankers on Tuesday.

In prepared remarks to an American Bankers Association conference, Yellen said government steps taken in recent days to protect uninsured deposits in two failed banks and create new Federal Reserve liquidity facilities have shown a “resolute commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors’ savings and the banking system remain safe.”

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Yellen, speaking more than a week after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) closed the failing Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, said the “decisive and forceful” actions were strengthening public confidence in the US banking system and protecting the American economy.

“The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks. Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader US banking system,” Yellen said in the remarks released by the Treasury.

“And similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion,” she added.

She said she believed the actions by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury had reduced the risk of further bank failures that would have imposed losses on the bank-funded Deposit Insurance Fund.

Yellen did not provide details on what further actions may be warranted.

Some banking groups have called for temporary universal guarantees on all US bank deposits, a step that requires approval by Congress under expedited procedures. However, the conservative Republican House Freedom Caucus opposes expanding deposit guarantees beyond the FDIC’s current $250,000 limit per depositor, a major roadblock to swift action aimed at stemming a deeper crisis.

Guarantees for uninsured deposits in specific troubled banks would require Yellen, President Joe Biden and “supermajorities” of the Fed and FDIC board to determine that the bank qualifies for a “systemic risk exception” – actions taken in the SVB and Signature cases.

Yellen said the Fed’s new Bank Term Funding facility and discount window lending were working as intended to provide liquidity to the banking system and aggregate deposit outflows from regional banks have stabilized.

A move by large banks to deposit $30 billion into troubled First Republic Bank last week “represents a vote of confidence in our banking system,” Yellen added.

She also said it was important to maintain a “dynamic and diverse banking system” to support the U.S. economy, with large, mid-sized and small banks all playing a role to support households, small businesses and increasing competition in financial services.

Yellen said she was keeping in close contact with bankers, state and federal regulators, market participants and international counterparts about the banking situation.

She added that the situation was “very different” from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, when subprime mortgage assets put many banks under stress.

“We do not see that situation in the banking system today. Our financial system is also significantly stronger than it was 15 years ago.”

The Treasury chief said that in coming weeks, regulators will examine the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, “but we will need to reexamine our current regulatory and supervisory regimes and consider whether they are appropriate for the risks that banks face today.”

Business

Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns

Google has suspended the Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo on its app store after malware was discovered in versions of the app from other sources.

Google said in a statement Tuesday that it suspended the Pinduoduo app on the Google Play app store out of “security concerns” and that it was investigating the matter.

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The suspension of the Pinduoduo app –- mainly used in China –- comes amid heightened US-China tensions over Chinese-owned apps such as TikTok, which some US lawmakers say could be a national security threat. They allege that such apps could be used to spy on American users.

Pinduoduo is a popular e-commerce app in China which often offers discounts if users team up to buy multiples of an item. Google warned users Tuesday to uninstall any Pinduoduo app not downloaded from its own Play store.

“Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps,” Google said in its statement. “Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app.”

It was unclear if there are similar security concerns around the Pinduoduo app for Apple users, and Pinduoduo was still available to download from Apple’s iOS store Tuesday.

PDD Holdings Inc, which operates Pinduoduo, did not immediately comment. Hong Kong traded shares in the company tumbled 14.2 percent on Tuesday.

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