Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Finance has drafted an exposure draft of Accounting Standard Interpretation No. 22, tightening the conditions for applying the equity method to long-term equity investments. Investors holding under 20% of voting rights would need to meet four conditions simultaneously to qualify, and disclosure of bargain purchase gains under the equity method would be refined. With many A-share banks trading below book value, such gains would become harder to obtain.

TREE NEWS update: China’s securities regulator issued an institutional supervision notice on optimizing the registration of new-model floating-fee products, widening the reform from pilot to broader rollout. The notice loosens both the scope of eligible institutions and products and the conversion of legacy funds, opening a window for mid-sized fund managers. Multiple mid-sized fund companies are already preparing such products.

TREE NEWS update: An attorney for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook publicly condemned the new investigation opened against her by President Donald Trump in recent days. In a letter to the White House, the lawyer said Cook cannot meet Trump’s demand that she appear at a White House hearing on November 5.

TREE NEWS update: The FBI tallied $17 billion in losses tied to scam centers, as a coordinated enforcement week in West Africa led to 28 arrests. The DOJ said the operation removed more than 3.7 million online accounts, pages and groups and identified over $11 million in potentially freezable funds.

TREE NEWS reports: Statistics from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that losses related to scam centers reached $17 billion. The U.S. Department of Justice said a coordinated week-long law enforcement operation in West Africa led to the arrest of 28 people and the removal of more than 3.7 million online accounts, pages, and groups, while also identifying more than $11 million in funds that can be frozen.

TREE NEWS reports: Bank of America has been fined $1.2 billion over money laundering issues, the Financial Times reported. The penalty is tied to anti-money-laundering compliance failures at the US bank. No further details on the regulator or settlement terms were immediately provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the longer inflation persists, the heavier the impact it will have, adding that second-round effects in the UK have so far remained contained. He also warned that the longer the energy shock lasts, the greater the damage it will inflict. Bailey did not give new figures or signal a policy change.

TREE NEWS reports: Several small and mid-sized Chinese banks have received window guidance on their financial investment business, requiring that growth in financial investments not exceed loan growth and that the duration of newly added bonds not exceed that of existing holdings. The guidance is being advanced separately by some provincial regulators based on local conditions and is not yet a nationwide unified arrangement. Some banks are reassessing their bond allocation pace and maturity structure.

TREE NEWS update: The US Department of Justice announced two arrests in an Ohio indictment alleging a North Korean ‘laptop farm’ scheme that placed remote IT workers at more than 70 US employers and generated about $3 million. Prosecutors said the operation involved cryptocurrency transfers.

TREE NEWS update: Blockchain.com is seeking both exchange and futures-broker registrations from the CFTC to serve retail and institutional customers in the US derivatives and prediction markets. The proposed US offering still requires approval.

TREE NEWS update: A bipartisan group of US senators sent a letter to the White House urging greater attention to artificial intelligence safety issues. The letter presses the administration to treat AI risks as a priority. No specific policy measures or response from the White House were disclosed in the letter.

TREE NEWS reports: Germany’s economy ministry is advancing a plan to finance a proposed emergency natural gas reserve through a dedicated levy on consumers. The measure would shift the cost of building the buffer stockpile onto gas users.

TREE NEWS update: A UK court ruled that Chinese law governs victims’ claims to 61,000 bitcoin, rejecting their bid to rely on English law to establish ownership. The holding, worth roughly $5.1 billion, remains contested.

TREE NEWS reports: A recent change to the SEC’s quorum rules could make it easier for the agency to amend its approach to crypto regulation in the absence of a market structure bill. The shift reduces the number of commissioners required to advance certain actions, giving the agency more latitude to adjust crypto policy. No market structure legislation has been enacted.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bank for International Settlements said digital cash can achieve “cash-like privacy,” but the technology is not yet production-ready. The BIS flagged risks including bank data breaches as an obstacle to deployment. The assessment covers central bank and retail digital cash designs aimed at replicating the privacy of physical currency.

TREE NEWS update: Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has taken action against a group suspected of manipulating an initial public offering and suspended trading in ChaPanda shares, state broadcaster Yuyuantan Tian reported. The SFC did not name the group or specify the number of parties involved. ChaPanda, a Chinese tea-drink chain, listed in Hong Kong in April 2024.

TREE NEWS update: The Bank of Russia on Oct. 12 granted Sberbank an exchange registration under the country’s new crypto law, six days after the lender received digital depository status. Sberbank now appears on both of Russia’s crypto registers. The central bank’s decision clears the state-controlled lender to operate as a registered crypto exchange alongside its depository role.

TREE NEWS update: Sberbank has secured authorization to operate a crypto exchange, clearing Russia’s largest bank to offer trading in Bitcoin, Ether and Tether USDt ahead of a December launch. The approval makes Sberbank one of the first major Russian banks licensed to run digital-asset trading under the country’s crypto framework.

TREE NEWS reports: If Democrats win a majority in either chamber of the US Congress in the midterm elections, they would gain subpoena power and stronger investigative tools, potentially increasing scrutiny of Wall Street banks, prediction markets and crypto firms. Crypto industry figures are watching whether Representative Sean Casten could gain influence if Democrats retake the House Financial Services Committee. Casten has pushed for tougher crypto regulation and opposed the industry-backed CLARITY Act.

TREE NEWS update: A UK judge has ruled that Chinese law governs victims’ claims over 61,000 seized bitcoin worth about $5 billion, leaving ownership of the coins undecided. The High Court decision determines which jurisdiction’s law applies to the dispute but does not yet resolve who holds title to the assets. The bitcoin was seized by UK authorities.