TheChek News Flow

05-Dec-2022 16:17:36

Recasts headline and lead

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months since an explosion tore through one of the Kremlin chief's showcase infrastructure projects.

The 12-mile (19 km) road and rail bridge, which was personally opened by Putin in 2018, was bombed on Oct. 8 in an attack Russia said was carried out by Ukraine.

Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, was shown on state television behind the wheel of a Mercedes, asking questions about where the attack took place.

"We are driving on the right hand side," Putin said, as he drove across the bridge. "The left side of the bridge, as I understand it, is in working condition, but nevertheless it needs to be completed. It still suffered a little, we need to bring it to an ideal state."

Putin also walked along parts of the bridge, Europe's largest, to inspect sections that are still visibly scorched.

Ukraine never claimed responsibility for the bombing of the bridge on the morning of Oct. 8, a day after Putin's 70th birthday. Russia's Federal Security Service said the attack was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence.

The explosion wrecked one section of the road bridge, temporarily halting traffic across the Kerch Strait. The blast also destroyed several fuel tankers on a train heading towards the annexed Crimean peninsula from neighbouring southern Russia.

Russia in 2014 annexed Crimea, which was transferred from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine in 1954 by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and recognised by Russia in 1994 after the collapse of the USSR.

Ukraine has vowed to return Crimea, which relies on the bridge for supplies.

Putin's ally Arkady Rotenberg's company built the vast structure, which is Europe's longest bridge. Putin has long lauded the project, boasting at one point that Russian Tsars and Soviet leaders had dreamed of building it but never did.

The luxury watchmaker unveiled a line of 500 one-of-one customizable timepieces.

Owners of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs will soon be able to show off their PFPs on their wrist, enshrined in a one-of-a-kind TIMEX watch.

The collaboration between TIMEX and the Bored Ape Yacht Club community will bring the release of 500 timepieces that will display an owner’s Ape or Mutant prominently on the watch’s face. Those who buy the watch will be able to customize it, with a choice of case, strap, and selected etchings.

The sale of Timepiece Forge Pass NFTs began today, which can be minted for 2 ETH, or around $2,500 as of this writing. Around mid-December, Forge Pass owners will be able to design their own watch on TIMEX’s website.

Each physical watch will be accompanied by an identical, digital version as an NFT, separate from the Forge Pass NFT. But they won’t arrive in time for the holidays and are expected to be shipped to purchasers sometime in the second quarter of 2023.

"Timex is entering Web3 by keeping creativity and community at the forefront," said Shari Fabiani, Timex Group’s senior vice president of global marketing and creative services. “We are redefining and pushing the boundaries of physical, virtual, and now phygital products."

Just last month, Timex declared itself "timekeepers of the metaverse" with a release of a branded challenge in the game Fortnite.

The creative direction for the BAYC watch collaboration was provided by longtime members of the Ape community, including Josh Ong and CryptoVonDoom. "As a part of the OG Bored Ape community, it's been dope to collaborate with the OGs of watchmaking," VonDoom said in the announcement.

A presale took place at an invite-only party for the Ape community that ran alongside Art Basel in Miami on Friday. The event represented the continued emergence of brand-name NFTs as a force in the world of art and fashion. A few custom-made timepieces from TIMEX featuring Apes were visible at the art fair, where the watchmaker hosted an event.

At Art Basel, All Seeing Seneca—the pseudonymous lead artist behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club—made moves as well. Three of Seneca’s animated artworks minted as NFTs were sold through auction house Phillips, in addition to her first physical piece of artwork.

Mohammed bin Salman could invest $500 million to back CS First Boston and CEO-designate Michael Klein

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and a U.S. private-equity firm run by Barclays BCS -0.89% PLC’s former chief executive are among investors preparing to invest $1 billion or more into Credit Suisse’s CS 9.39% new investment bank, people familiar with the matter said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considering an investment of around $500 million to back the new unit, CS First Boston, and its CEO-designate, Michael Klein, some of the people said. Additional financial backing could come from U.S. investors including veteran banker Bob Diamond ‘s Atlas Merchant Capital, people familiar with that potential investment said. Credit Suisse previously said it had $500 million committed from an additional investor it hasn’t named.

Credit Suisse has received a number of proposals from investors interested in CS First Boston. Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann at a conference on Thursday said it has other firm commitments in addition to the $500 million from the unnamed investor. The bank hasn’t received a formal proposal from any Saudi entity, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

Credit Suisse is spinning off the New York-based investment bank as part of a fresh start after being buffeted by scandals, regulatory scrutiny and steep losses. It is raising $4.2 billion in new stock that separately will make Saudi National Bank its largest shareholder. It isn’t clear if Prince Mohammed would make the investment through that bank, or another investment vehicle. He is chairman of the country’s sovereign-wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, which along with another government fund is Saudi National Bank’s main owner.

Credit Suisse’s stock scraped lows in recent days from the new share sale and a warning from the bank that customers pulled $88.3 billion in investments and deposits. The stock rebounded 9% Friday following comments by Mr. Lehmann that the outflows largely stopped.

Separating CS First Boston would give it a clean balance sheet and move it beyond Credit Suisse’s wider losses and thorny legal issues. Many of its bankers defected to rivals this year. Those staying are being promised a share of profits through a partnership model. The name revives the First Boston brand that made Credit Suisse a force on Wall Street after expanding beyond Switzerland in the 1970s, with Mr. Diamond among its alumni. Analysts say the separation could be lengthy and complex.

Mr. Klein is to lead the new firm after a career as one of the world’s most sought after deal makers for companies and investors. As a Credit Suisse board member since 2018, he led a review of the investment bank’s strategy over the summer, then got tapped by the bank’s other board members to run the spinoff.

Making CS First Boston independent could take around two years, Mr. Lehmann said Thursday at the FT Global Banking Summit. He said its balance sheet, structure and governance are being discussed with the Federal Reserve.

Mr. Klein’s involvement opened the door to Prince Mohammed’s potential investment, people familiar with the talks said. Mr. Klein is a trusted adviser in the kingdom from deals such as the 2019 initial public offering of state-owned oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Prince Mohammed has encouraged Saudi investment into businesses as diverse as electric-vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors Inc., Twitter Inc., Uber Technologies Inc., Citigroup Inc. and the Premier League soccer club Newcastle United, making the kingdom an increasing force in the U.S. and globally.

Saudi National Bank is to become Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder with a 9.9% stake through the $4.2 billion stock sale being completed this week. Chairman Ammar al-Khudairy said the investment would foster deal-making and bring more banking know-how to the country, and that it might invest in CS First Boston too.

Atlas Merchant’s potential investment was first reported by Global Capital. The private-equity firm typically forms consortia with other investors to buy stakes in financial companies.

While at Barclays, Mr. Diamond tapped Mr. Klein for advice in taking over U.S. operations of Lehman Brothers, a complex carve-out similar to the one going on at Credit Suisse. An Atlas Merchant operating partner, Tom King. worked with Mr. Klein at Citigroup.

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