Finance & Tax Heath Tarbert, a top Treasury Department official, is slated to be nominated by the White House to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a person familiar with the matter. Tarbert, who was sworn in last year as assistant Treasury secretary for international markets, is expected to be named soon to succeed Chris Giancarlo as chairman of the U.S. derivatives regulator in 2019, the person said. Giancarlo’s term ends in April 2019, and his departure from the agency was expected.Story Continued Below The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Senate voted 87-8 in September 2017 to confirm Tarbert to his Treasury post, a level of bipartisan support that suggests he'll have little trouble getting through the CFTC confirmation process. The CFTC regulates derivatives, such as oil and corn futures. But after the 2008 financial crisis, it was also tasked with overseeing derivatives traded over-the-counter, a … [Read more...] about Treasury official tapped to head Commodity Futures Trading Commission amid Brexit tension
U s commodity futures trading commission
Oil climbs on prospect of OPEC cuts despite lingering U.S.-China trade concerns
By Henning GloysteinSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose by around 1 percent on Monday amid expectations that top exporter Saudi Arabia will push producer club OPEC as well as perhaps Russia to cut supply toward year-end.Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $67.41 per barrel at 0746 GMT, up 65 cents, or 1 percent, from their last close.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were up 76 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $57.22 per barrel. "Oil prices continued to recover...(as) the market will be watching closely for the possible impact of a (supply) cut." said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of Indian energy consultancy Trifecta. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), de facto led by Saudi Arabia, is pushing for the producer group and allies to cut 1 million to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply to adjust for a slowdown in demand growth and prevent oversupply. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that Russia, which is not an OPEC … [Read more...] about Oil climbs on prospect of OPEC cuts despite lingering U.S.-China trade concerns
Why Gold’s Tumble Signals Confidence in U.S. Economy
By Amrith Ramkumar Amrith Ramkumar The Wall Street Journal BiographyAmrith Ramkumar @AmrithRamkumar [email protected] June 22, 2018 11:18 a.m. ET 1 COMMENTS Gold slumped nearly 3% in the past week, hitting its lowest levels of the year—the latest sign that investors are betting on continued U.S. growth and shrugging off trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Gold’s prolonged retreat comes after months of rangebound trading that followed three straight quarterly gains. The recent slump is causing some bullish investors to wonder whether the haven metal’s yearslong rebound might be coming to an end. While gold stayed above $1,300 a troy ounce for much of the year, investors are watching to see if further volatility pushes prices below Thursday’s close of $1,267.20. Some say that rising inflation could lead some investors to turn to gold as a hedge. Photo: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg News With prices still well … [Read more...] about Why Gold’s Tumble Signals Confidence in U.S. Economy
Bitcoin Price: Crypto Crash Blamed on U.S. Probe, South Korea Exchange Hack
Tech & Science Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Ethereum The crypto markets took a hit on Sunday as the price of bitcoin dropped to its lowest value in two months—from around $7,280 to under $6,700, according to Coindesk statistics. EOS, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple and Litecoin all suffered minor losses of between 5 and 10 percent this weekend based on metrics from CryptoCompare, another website that tracks the pricing of the major digital coins. Charles Hayter, the founder of the platform, told Newsweek that two reasons for the recent stumble included a recent crypto-exchange hack in South Korea and an article published Friday by the Wall Street Journal which detailed an ongoing market manipulation probe in the U.S. Crypto-exchanges, Hayter said, are currently “caught between a rock and a hard place” thanks to jurisdictional issues and legal disputes, but he characterized Sunday’s price drop as “relatively minor.” At the time of writing, the … [Read more...] about Bitcoin Price: Crypto Crash Blamed on U.S. Probe, South Korea Exchange Hack
France’s Societe Generale hit with $1.3B in U.S. fines
WASHINGTON - One of France's largest banks, Societe Generale, is pleading guilty in the U.S. and paying a total of $1.3 billion in penalties, including a $585 million fine for bribing Libyan officials to win government investments. The bank is also paying $750 million to settle U.S. charges of manipulating a key global interest rate. The actions were announced by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Under an agreement with the Justice Department, Societe Generale will avoid criminal prosecution on charges of manipulating the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, and will pay a $275 million fine. The bank is paying a $475 million civil penalty in a separate settlement with the CFTC. "Together with approximately $475 million in regulatory penalties and disgorgement that Société Générale has agreed to pay to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in connection with the LIBOR scheme, the total penalties to be paid … [Read more...] about France’s Societe Generale hit with $1.3B in U.S. fines