West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil price continues its decline for the third successive session, trading around $71.10 per barrel during Tuesday’s Asian hours. Crude Oil prices are facing downward pressure following a media report suggesting that Israel is willing to refrain from targeting Iranian oil facilities, easing concerns about potential supply disruptions.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the United States (US) that Israel plans to focus on Iranian military targets rather than nuclear or Oil infrastructure. Last week, Oil prices had gained support as investors feared supply risks after Israel indicated plans to retaliate against a missile attack from Iran.

On Monday, Crude Oil prices dropped nearly 5% following the release of the OPEC Monthly Market Report, which revised its global Oil demand growth outlook for 2024 and 2025. OPEC also cut its forecast for China's crude oil demand growth for the third consecutive month in October, citing the growing adoption of electric vehicles and sluggish economic growth as key factors.

The Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) suggests China's crude Oil demand will expand by 580,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2024. This estimate is down from the 650,000 bpd gain forecast in September and is also 180,000 bpd below the rise of 760,000 bpd OPEC was predicting in July for the world's biggest oil importer.

Saudi Arabia could ramp up production amid declining cohesion among OPEC+ members. Despite voluntary production cuts, OPEC+ producers have been overproducing by as much as 800,000 barrels per day. The Saudi oil minister cautioned that prices could fall to $50 per barrel if member countries do not adhere to the agreed-upon cuts.

Source: FXSTREET

New Zealand’s government is keeping the pressure on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to use its regulatory powers to encourage more banking competition.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis reiterated on Tuesday that she is prepared to consider legislative change if a planned rewrite of the RBNZ’s financial policy remit doesn’t achieve what she wants.

The new remit will make it clear that the RBNZ “needs to not only sustain competition but actually promote more competition and to effect that through its prudential and regulatory settings,” Willis told the INFINZ conference in Auckland.

“I’ve been consistent in saying [that] if changing the financial policy remit is not sufficient, then we would be prepared to make amendments to both the Deposit Takers Act and the Reserve Bank Act,” she said.

Willis is responding to a report that said the four largest lenders in New Zealand — all Australian-owned banks — are too dominant and profitable, and the lack of competition was hurting consumers. She wants the RBNZ to do more in its regulatory role, and is also assessing how to inject more capital into state-owned Kiwibank — the fifth biggest lender — to allow it to be a more effective rival.

She said the government is seeking a balance that allows for competition and new entrants, and that doesn’t overly advantage incumbents with significant market share.

Speaking later at the conference, RBNZ deputy governor Christian Hawkesby said the central bank has been making steps in that direction.

There is a growing appreciation internally that banking system resilience is only part of the picture and more needs to be done around competition, innovation, efficiency and inclusion, he said.

“There’ll be some things that we don’t have direct control over, but we can be part of that conversation,” Hawkesby said. “We can have the ability to draw the industry together, when there are other players who really need to take a lead in these areas as well.”

The RBNZ is looking at ways it can tailor regulations to smaller players, and is consulting on ways to make it easier for new entrants, for example by adopting lower minimum capital requirements to become a bank and by reviewing who is entitled to use the word ‘bank’.

While there are inevitably economies of scale that give large banks advantages, Hawkesby said the move to open banking will encourage those big players to compete more with each other. Open banking allows customers to share their financial data with other providers, making switching easier.

Hawkesby said the existing legislative structure the RBNZ works under has only recently been adopted, and needs time to bed in. He welcomed that Willis is initially using her powers under the remit to outline her expectations.

“It’s great that she’s not going straight to legislative change,” he said. “It gives us a chance to illustrate that we can take into account competition, efficiency and inclusion, and that it can be done under the legislative framework that we have at the moment.”

Source: The edge markets

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United States presidential candidate Kamala Harris is friendlier toward cryptocurrency than her boss, President Joe Biden, but not nearly as pro-industry as rival Donald Trump, Galaxy Research said on Oct. 14.

Harris promises to meaningfully improve the regulatory environment for US crypto firms, but she holds unfavorable positions on other relevant issues, such as taxes, Bitcoin mining and self-custody, according to a post by Alex Thorn, Galaxy’s research head, on the X platform.

“While trump is undoubtedly more favorable for the industry, we’re optimistic that harris could be more supportive than biden has been,” Thorn said.

How Trump and Harris stack up on crypto policy

The November US presidential election pits Republican nominee Trump — who has said he wants to make America “the crypto capital of the world” — against Democrat Harris, who has been comparatively quiet on the industry.

Under Biden, a Democrat, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has taken an aggressive regulatory stance on crypto, bringing upward of 100 regulatory actions against industry firms.

In July, Trump promised to “fire” Gary Gensler, who currently heads the SEC. 

Starting in September, Harris has upped her crypto game, listing blockchain technology among several emerging technologies where she wants the US to “remain dominant.”

That might translate into a softer crypto regulatory stance. Galaxy said “behind the scenes conversations […] suggest Harris is targeting a slightly more constructive approach” than Biden.

On Oct. 2, the SEC’s head of enforcement, Gurbir Grewal, stepped down, possibly signaling a pivot from within the current administration. 

According to Galaxy, Harris remains “extremely hostile” to the industry on taxes. Her plans include “rolling back Trump’s tax cuts,” likely resulting in higher capital gains taxes for crypto holders, Galaxy said.

Meanwhile, Trump has expressed support for Bitcoin mining, which he conflates with manufacturing. Trump wants more Bitcoin to be “made in America,” according to the report.

Trump has also pledged to “protect the right of self-custody,” meaning holding crypto assets in an owner-managed wallet instead of with a third-party custodian, Galaxy said.

Harris has not taken similarly favorable positions on Bitcoin mining or self-custody.

Notably, both candidates remain hawkish on imposing financial sanctions against foreign adversaries on crypto transactions, Galaxy said.

That likely limits both candidates’ support for “permissionless” decentralized finance protocols that flout Know Your Customer or Anti-Money Laundering rules.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

Singapore continues to draw strong investments despite global corporate shifts, with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) securing $5.4 billion in fixed asset investment (FAI) commitments in the first half of 2024.

This keeps the EDB on track to meet its medium-to-long-term investment commitment goal of $8 billion to $10 billion in FAI this year, Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Oct 14.

In 2023, the EDB attracted $12.7 billion in FAI commitments, following a record $22.5 billion in 2022, driven by a surge in semiconductor investments.

Mr Gan was responding to Member of Parliament Yip Hon Weng, who asked about multinational companies relocating, downsizing, or retrenching workers in Singapore, as well as the key factors driving these decisions and concerns over the local workforce’s competitive edge.

Tech giants Dyson, Samsung Electronics, Amazon and Google are among companies that have laid off employees in Singapore this year.

In his written response, Mr Gan said: “Singapore remains an attractive location for investments.”

He noted that firms, including large multinationals, may reduce or exit their operations in Singapore due to market shifts or changes in global strategies, he said. 

“In such situations, the government works closely with the companies and unions to assist the retrenched workers with skills upgrading and job matching,” he noted.

In May, cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) and pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca announced major investment commitments to the Republic.

AWS committed $12 billion for cloud and AI infrastructure over the next four years, while AstraZeneca will build a $2 billion facility for antibody drug conjugates.

“These investments will translate into good jobs for Singaporeans,” said Mr Gan, reiterating that some 60 per cent of locals earning over $12,500 a month work for foreign-owned firms. 

Source: Straitstimes