>>> What to look at today - 28th of November 2025

Stocks lost momentum on the last trading day of the month even as growing bets on an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve kept a global gauge of equities on track for its best week since June. Trading was affected by a glitch at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Trading of futures and options on the CME was halted due to technical issues. The glitch impacted, among others, trading in US Treasuries futures and S&P 500 Index contracts. Forex trading on the EBS platform was interrupted amid the CME halt, traders said. Meanwhile, the MSCI All Country World Index was little changed as equities struggled for direction following the US Thanksgiving holiday. Even so, the gauge held on to a 3.1% gain for the week. Asian shares were flat, putting them on course for their first monthly decline since March. Stocks have rallied this week as investors firm up bets on Fed easing, with futures pricing in roughly an 80% chance of a quarter-point cut next month and leaning toward three more by the end of 2026. That momentum brought global equities to within touching distance of erasing all their November losses after concerns over frothy AI valuations triggered a selloff earlier in the month. Regarding CME, trading was halted due to a cooling issue at one of the data centers, a spokesperson said. Contracts including those for US crude oil, gasoline and palm oil — which trades on the Bursa Malaysia exchange via the CME’s electronic platform — were affected. CME is one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges across a range of assets from equities and bonds to currencies and commodities. Core exchanges operated by CME include the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Commodity Exchange. Back to the equities market, Asian stocks and global equities have gained for seven consecutive months through October as investors bet on a boom in artificial intelligence. But with valuations soaring, Wall Street chief executives warned of a possible correction.  Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon were among Wall Street executives who flagged at the start of the month a possibility of a significant selloff. Investors grew more conscious after the S&P 500 rallied more than 40% from lows in April, driven by tech megacap companies. Those concerns eased, and a steady stream of Fed officials signaling the need for lower rates helped revive market sentiment later in November. Outside of stocks, attention was on the commodities market. Silver traded near $54 an ounce, just below a record high set in October. The precious metal is on track for a seventh monthly gain, the longest such run since 1980. Gold is on track for a fourth monthly gain, on heightened expectations for another rate cut in the US. Rate cuts typically lift the price of the metal, a non-yielding asset. Bullion has gained nearly every month this year, and is on track for its best annual performance since 1979. Brent crude oil was steady above $63 a barrel, on course for a fourth monthly drop in November, the longest such streak since the period through May 2023. OPEC+ nations meet on Sunday and are expected to stick with a plan to pause output increases in early 2026. In China, property firms were in focus after China Vanke Co. was rejected by at least two big local banks as it tried to secure a short-term loan to quell the default fears that have fueled a plunge in its bonds this week.

Nikkei +0.11% Hang Seng -0.34% CSI +0.19% Shanghai +0.25% Shenzen +0.83%

Eur$ 1.1595 CNH 7.0731 CNY 7.0770 JPY 156.37 GBP 1.3223 CHF 0.8048 RUB 77.9709 TRY 42.5140 WTI$ 59.08 +0.73% Gold 4,188 +0.74% BTC 91,300 -0.12% ETH 3,011 -0.71% SOL 139.53 -1.71%

S&P +0.10% Nasdaq +0.18% EuroStoxx +0.05% FTSE +0.14% Dax +0.07% SMI -0.03%

Macro :
- China EV Profit Woes Fuel Market Anxiety Over Challenging 2026
- China Warns of Bubble Risks in Booming Humanoid Robots Arena
- Viktor Orban heads to Moscow to secure energy supplies for Hungary

Keep an eye on :
- ALLFG NA : Deutsche Börse confirms talks to buy Allfunds
- AAL LN : Ottawa Clears Anglo’s Teck Deal on Natsec Grounds, Globe Says
- CA FP : Poland May Seek to Buy Carrefour’s Local Operations
- CATL IM : Caltagirone Group Cooperating With Authorities on Milan Probe
- CPI AV : CPI Europe 9M Net Income EU236.9M Vs. EU50.9M Y/y
- CTPNV NA : Dutch Logistics Developer CTP Plans €1 Billion Italian Expansion
- DHER GY : Delivery Hero Investors Are Said to Push for Sale, Divestments
- ELI BB : Elia Group Maintains FY Net Income Forecast
- GIMB BB : Tinc, Infravest to Invest €100M in Interparking
- INTU US : Intel Dismisses Reports of New Hire Offering TSMC Tech
- INT SS : Intellego Auditor Deloitte to File Report of Accounting Fraud
- KWS GY : Norway Fund Backs KWS Saat on 7 of 8 Proposals at Dec. 3 AGM
- MC FP : Armani May Name to the Board LVMH’s Belloni, Bizzarri: Corriere
- MB IM : Delfin Says Board Acted in Full Compliance With Mkt Rules, Laws
- MBG GY : Mercedes Topples Diesel-Scandal Recall on Procedural Grounds
- PUM GY : Asics Denies Report on Interest in Acquisition of Puma
- PLT NO : PoLight Offering by Holder Prices at NOK6.50/Share
- Quantum Systems IPO : Quantum Systems Considering IPO as Exit Option, CFO Says: FT, German spy drone maker Quantum Systems secures €3bn valuation
- SMCP FP : Alix Partners Says Lazard Adviser on Sale of up to ~51% in SMCP
- SON PL : Sonae Reports 3Q Adj EBITDA of EUR 312 Million
- 2202 HK : China’s Markets Rattled as Vanke Revives Property Crisis Fears
- VGP BB : VGP and Areim Agree on Third Closing in 50:50 Saga JV

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 28th of November 2025

>>> Up
* EasyJet Raised to Outperform at Bernstein; PT 560 pence
* Eutelsat Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 1.90 euros
* Ferragamo Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 7.50 euros
* Heineken Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 84 euros
* Moncler Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 70 euros
* Proximus Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 10.88 euros
* Sampo Raised to Neutral at Goldman; PT 10.30 euros
* Sika Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 185 Swiss francs

>>> Down
* AB InBev Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT 59 euros
* Allfunds Cut to Neutral at Grupo Santander; PT 8.73 euros
* Azelis Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 10 euros
* Burberry Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 950 pence
* Cyfrowy Cut to Sell at Ipopema Securities SA; PT 8.50 zloty
* Evonik Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 14 euros
* IMCD Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 82 euros
* J. Martins Cut to Neutral at Grupo Santander; PT 23.30 euros
* Johnson Matthey Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 2,250 pence
* KPN Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 4.60 euros
* Sunrise Communications Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan
* Telenor Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 170 kroner
* Telia Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 46 kronor
* Wacker Chemie Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 50 euros
* Whitbread Cut to Underperform at Bernstein; PT 2,500 pence

>>> Initiation
* Addtech Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 370 kronor
* Boliden Rated New Buy at SB1 Markets; PT 540 kronor
* Gjensidige Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 315 kroner
* Halma Reinstated Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 3,950 pence
* Ilkka Oyj Cut to Reduce at Inderes; PT 3.75 euros
* IMI Reinstated Outperform at BNPP Exane; PT 3,100 pence
* Indutrade Rated New Neutral at Goldman; PT 255 kronor
* Knorr-Bremse Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 108 euros
* Lifco Rated New Neutral at Goldman; PT 371 kronor
* Rational Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 771 euros
* Rotork Reinstated Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 370 pence
* Smiths Group Reinstated Outperform at BNPP Exane; PT 3,000 pence
* Spirax Reinstated Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 7,250 pence
* Trelleborg Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 482 kronor
* Tryg Rated New Sell at Goldman; PT 154 kroner
* Vesuvius Reinstated Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 385 pence
* Weir Group Reinstated Outperform at BNPP Exane; PT 3,450 pence

>>> Call

>>> Stoxx 600 Pre-Market Indications

  • Delivery Hero (DHER TH) +3.3%
    • Delivery Hero Investors Are Said to Push for Sale, Divestments
  • Rational (RAA TH) +2.3%
    • Rational Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 771 euros
  • Kongsberg (KOZ1 TH) +1.4%
    • Germany Set to Approve €2.9 Billion in Arms in Defense Surge
  • Knorr-Bremse (KBX TH) +1.3%
    • Knorr-Bremse Rated New Buy at Goldman; PT 108 euros
  • EasyJet (EJT1 TH) +1.2%
  • Saab (SDV1 TH) +1.1%
    • Germany Set to Approve €2.9 Billion in Arms in Defense Surge
  • BP (BPE5 TH) +1.1%
    • OPEC+ Set to Hold Output Steady as Surplus Pushes Oil Toward $60
  • Evonik (EVK TH) -1.1%
    • Evonik Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 14 euros
  • Puma (PUM TH) -2.9%
  • KPN (KPN TH) -3.2%
    • KPN Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 4.60 euros

>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

MDAX:
  • Delivery Hero (DHER TH) +3.8%
    • Delivery Hero Investors Are Said to Push for Sale, Divestments
  • Hensoldt (HAG TH) +1%
  • Evonik (EVK TH) -1.1%
    • Evonik Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 14 euros
  • Puma (PUM TH) -2.6%
    • YESTERDAY: China’s Anta Sports Is Said to Weigh Potential Bid for Puma

WSJ : Fresh Scandal Forces Lloyd’s of London to Confront Controversial Past

Fresh Scandal Forces Lloyd’s of London to Confront Controversial Past
Effort to change insurance market’s alcohol-soaked, testosterone-fueled culture appears imperiled

  • Lloyd’s of London faces renewed scrutiny over its workplace culture following misconduct allegations against its former chief executive.
  • A 2019 survey revealed 8% of market participants who responded witnessed sexual harassment in the previous 12 months.
  • Women are now more than 40% of the Lloyd’s market workforce, but the new investigation has revived discussion of how they are treated.

Lloyd’s of London, the world’s biggest insurance marketplace, is no longer a bastion of white, male privilege. Or so the white men running it say. A reputational crisis is putting the iconic British institution under pressure to prove it has changed.

“Lloyd’s is a huge, protective club,” said Inga Beale, its first and only female chief executive, who left in 2018.

A yearslong fight that she began to change Lloyd’s alcohol-soaked, testosterone-fueled culture now appears imperiled. Her successor faces allegations of misconduct related to an office relationship, even as he lectured others on the need for equality and diversity in the 60,000-person market.

“A lot has been tolerated for way too long,” Sandra Lewin, who left Lloyd’s as a portfolio manager in 2021 and now hosts an industry podcast, wrote on social media.

The alleged misconduct, previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, is reverberating worldwide. The influence of Lloyd’s reaches far beyond its steel-and-glass-sheathed London office, with it insuring everything from planes to cyberattacks in more than 200 countries. Lloyd’s alumni fill C-suites in the U.S. and beyond.

The uphill nature of Lloyd’s battle to stamp out sexism and racism reflects endemic issues in the wider insurance world, according to people close to Lloyd’s.

Efforts to level the playing field for women can fall afoul of the industry’s male-dominated mindset, where client relationships are forged on the golf course and child care is seen as a weakness, the people said.

Lloyd’s in a statement said its new leadership team is committed to building a culture that is inclusive, transparent, consistent and values-led.

The clubby Lloyd’s market connects thousands of buyers and sellers of risks daily, with deals struck in a cavernous underwriting room or the nearby bars, thronged by underwriters and brokers every lunchtime. Their conduct is overseen by the Lloyd’s Corporation, a self-described “regulator that acts to protect and maintain the market’s reputation.”

The corporation this summer bid farewell to John Neal, Beale’s successor as its chief executive, with a champagne toast. Central to the achievements of his six-year stint, according to his own LinkedIn post: “transforming the culture of our market.”

The self-congratulation went down badly with some of his audience, according to the people close to Lloyd’s. The gossipy, close-knit market had for years buzzed with rumors that Neal had unfairly promoted an employee, Rebekah Clement, with whom he was having an alleged affair, the people said.

Her meteoric rise in 2023 to the newly created role of director of corporate affairs, with a seat on Lloyd’s executive committee, sparked complaints to Lloyd’s then-chairman, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, according to the people close to Lloyd’s.

Neal and Clement didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Lloyd’s council in 2023 commissioned an internal review of how Clement was appointed, which came up clean, one of the people close to Lloyd’s said. Neal and Clement both remained in their jobs until this year.

Lloyd’s new set of leaders decided in October to take a fresh look at Neal’s alleged behavior. After an initial review, Lloyd’s engaged a law firm to conduct a full investigation. The moves reflected a perception within Lloyd’s that the earlier review had failed to get to the bottom of the matter, some of the people close to Lloyd’s said.

A spokesman for Lloyd’s declined to comment on the substance of the investigation.

Word of the probe prompted American International Group to withdraw a lucrative job offer that would have made Neal one of its top executives, according to people familiar with the matter.

AIG is paying him $2.7 million under a “mutual agreement” that he forfeit a coveted role as its heir apparent, according to securities filings.

The furor ramps up the pressure to reform Lloyd’s, which has a centurieslong history of product innovation and marked cultural conservatism.

Lloyd’s has often been ahead of its time when it comes to its core role of insuring risks. Its underwriters were the first to cover a car—the 1904 policy described the newfangled vehicle as a “ship navigating on land”—an airplane and a satellite. It is famed for bespoke policies, from soccer star David Beckham’s legs to singer Celine Dion’s vocal cords.

But its tradition-steeped premises have often seemed detached from changes to the world outside. Lloyd’s banned women from its trading floor until 1973 and had no Black brokers until five years after that. It took until 1996 for a woman to head one of Lloyd’s syndicates, or groups of underwriters.

In 2020, Lloyd’s apologized for the market’s extensive historic links to slavery, dating back to its origins: Founder Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse is cited in 1689 newspaper advertisements as the place to return captured freedom seekers, known as runaway slaves, according to the Lloyd’s website. The markets’ archives include a copy of a 1794 policy for a Spanish ship, insuring transported slaves as part of its cargo.

Beale said she was shocked by what she found when she assumed the chief executive role in 2014. “It hadn’t changed much since I worked there in the 1980s and 90s,” she said.

Women working for syndicates, which typically operate from a so-called box of desks, were still being referred to as “box bunnies” or “box bitches,” Beale said. “I thought: How can this be happening?”

Beale’s attempt to modernize Lloyd’s culture and technology provoked a “complete backlash right from the beginning,” including a stream of hostile emails and letters, she said.

Moves such as a ban on daytime drinking made press headlines. A male executive mocked her efforts to promote gender equality, asking if she was going to make them all learn to crochet, Beale recalled.

Part of the problem was the market’s strict adherence to ancient traditions. Lloyd’s to this day has liveried staff called waiters, a throwback to its 1688 beginnings in Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse close to the River Thames.

The head waiter records losses of ships in a book with a quill pen and book, and rings the Lutine bell, salvaged from a vessel that sank in 1799, to mark major events, such as the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

An attempt to tweak Lloyd’s dress code in 2014, by allowing men in the market to work in shirt sleeves on a blazing hot day, provoked an instant revolt, Beale said.

“By 9:30 a.m. I had a revolution on my hands. The chair said, ‘What are you doing?’ Someone had complained I was allowing hoodies into the building. So by 10 a.m., the code was back on.” Several years later, the requirement for men wearing a tie on the underwriting floor was relaxed.

Soon after Neal took over the helm at Lloyd’s in 2018, he faced a media uproar. A Bloomberg News story in 2019 revealed pervasive mistreatment of women at Lloyd’s. In a survey later that year, 8% of the market participants who responded reported witnessing sexual harassment in the market in the previous 12 months.

He spearheaded action to polish the market’s tarnished image, including fines for managers who turned a blind eye to abuses and new codes of conduct. The moves had an effect, surveys and market participants suggest.

There have been “huge cultural and structural changes” since 2019, according to Sheila Cameron, chief executive of the Lloyd’s Market Association, a trade group. More than 40% of the Lloyd’s market workforce is now women, and 14% ethnically diverse, the latest data show.

But the investigation into Neal has reanimated the discussion about the treatment of women.

Cameron and others welcomed the new investigation but called on the regulator to reveal what it found. Lloyd’s normally keeps the results of such probes private.

“We look forward to seeing these results made public and concrete actions taken,” Cameron said.

FT : Belgium says using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine will endanger a pe

Belgium says using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine will endanger a peace deal
Premier Bart De Wever sets out conditions that would resolve his objections to a proposed €140bn EU loan to Kyiv

Belgium’s prime minister has claimed that rapid finalisation of an EU plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine would wreck the chances of a potential peace deal to end the almost four-year long war.

Bart De Wever’s objections to the EU proposal, outlined in a letter to the European Commission, come three weeks before the bloc’s leaders are set to use a summit to decide how to continue funding Kyiv.

The letter, seen by the Financial Times, also coincides with US President Donald Trump’s new initiative to try to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has largely bypassed EU capitals.

The European Commission has proposed using Russian state assets — frozen after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to finance a €140bn EU “reparations loan” to Ukraine that would keep the country solvent for the next two years.

A majority of EU countries support the loan but Belgium, where most of the assets frozen by the bloc are held, in the Brussels-based central securities depository Euroclear, has pushed back.

Belgium fears Russia could retaliate against the country, and is also concerned about the risk that it could be sued should something go wrong with the EU loan, given it is the keeper of the assets.

In his letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, De Wever said: “Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal.”

The EU has frozen Russian state assets worth about €210bn since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of which about €185bn are held at Euroclear.

As a precondition to supporting the EU plan, De Wever demanded that member states provide Euroclear with binding commitments to cover the €185bn held at the depository, should the loan go sour or sanctions against the Russian assets be lifted.

He said EU countries must sign up to “legally binding, unconditional, irrevocable, on-demand, joint and several guarantees” in relation to the €185bn by the time of the leaders summit in Brussels in December.

De Wever also requested that other EU countries agree to share the financial burden of any legal proceedings arising from the loan.

And he demanded frozen Russian assets held in other EU countries be used for the loan.

His letter, which describes the EU loan proposal as “fundamentally wrong”, echoes arguments made by Euroclear in a separate letter to von der Leyen.

Both argue that EU governments would face higher debt costs as a result of the loan, that it would be perceived as “confiscation” outside the bloc while also spooking investors in European sovereign debt. 

Instead, De Wever, a right-wing Flemish politician, proposed that the EU use untapped borrowing powers under its shared budget to provide €45bn to Ukraine, which would cover its financial needs for 2026, as estimated by the commission. 

“Such an option would, as a matter of fact, come cheaper than other options, in particular the option of reparations loan, if all risks are factored in,” he wrote in his letter.

He added: “When we talk about having skin in the game, we have to accept that it will be our skin in the game. Talk is cheap but helping Ukraine will unfortunately be expensive.”

Von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the commission “is ready to present a legal text” for the EU loan plan soon.

FT : OpenAI partners amass $100bn debt pile to fund its ambitions

OpenAI partners amass $100bn debt pile to fund its ambitions
Cloud companies and developers rely on lossmaking start-up to repay huge loans

OpenAI’s data centre partners are on course to amass almost $100bn in borrowing tied to the lossmaking start-up, as the ChatGPT maker benefits from a debt-fuelled spending spree without taking on financial risks itself.

SoftBank, Oracle and CoreWeave have borrowed at least $30bn to invest in the start-up or help build its data centres, according to FT analysis.

Investment group Blue Owl Capital and computing infrastructure companies such as Crusoe also rely on deals with OpenAI to service about $28bn in loans.

A group of banks is in talks to lend another $38bn for Oracle and data centre builder Vantage to fund further sites for OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.

OpenAI executives have said they plan to raise substantial debt to help pay for these contracts, but so far the financial burden has fallen to its counterparties and their lenders.

“That’s been kind of the strategy,” said a senior OpenAI executive. “How does [OpenAI] leverage other people’s balance sheets?”

The scale of the loans that depend on OpenAI will add to scrutiny of the $1.4tn of deals it has signed this year to procure computing power from chipmakers and data centre companies over the next eight years.

These commitments far exceed the start-up’s expected annualised revenue of $20bn this year.

The start-up has little debt on its own balance sheet, according to people close to the company. OpenAI has a $4bn credit facility with several US banks, which it secured last year but has yet to draw.

It needs vast computing power to train and run the advanced models behind its chatbot and other tools such as video generators.

OpenAI said: “Building AI infrastructure is the single most important thing we can do to meet surging global demand . . . The current compute shortage is the single biggest constraint on OpenAI’s ability to grow.”

SoftBank, Vantage, CoreWeave, Crusoe and Blue Owl declined to comment. Oracle did not respond.



The San Francisco-based start-up, which recently became the world’s most valuable private company worth $500bn, believes it needs even more capital to fund data centres, chips and power in its push to create “artificial general intelligence” — systems that surpass human abilities.

The $100bn of bonds, bank loans and private credit deals tied to OpenAI are equivalent to the net debt directly held by the six largest corporate borrowers in the world — including carmakers Volkswagen and Toyota and telecoms groups AT&T and Comcast — according to a 2024 report by asset manager Janus Henderson.

Debts linked to OpenAI may already be significantly higher. Many of the start-up’s partners, including SoftBank and CoreWeave, have borrowed greater sums this year that have not been explicitly tied to the start-up.

SoftBank has raised about $20bn this year for its AI investments, with OpenAI by far the largest. A person close to SoftBank said $1bn of its $8.5bn bridge loan to fund its capital injection into OpenAI has been repaid. They added that several billion dollars it raised this year were used to redeem existing bonds rather than for new investments.

CoreWeave has large contracts to supply computing power to Microsoft, and has borrowed more than $10bn to lease data centre space to meet those obligations. Some of that capacity may ultimately flow to OpenAI through its Microsoft deals.

Debts linked to OpenAI are likely to grow as its partners try to fulfil their huge contracts with the start-up.

Oracle has already sold $18bn in corporate bonds to pay for infrastructure commitments to OpenAI. Analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets predict that Larry Ellison’s tech group will have to borrow $100bn over the next four years to deliver its OpenAI contracts.

That is likely to include the $38bn debt package for data centres being developed for Oracle by Vantage Data Centers in Texas and Wisconsin.

Many data centre loans have been made to special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including more obscure structures such as variable interest entities, which serve to shield investors and developers from risk in the event of a default.

Vantage is preparing to use SPVs for the loans on the Texas and Wisconsin sites, according to people close to the talks.

Blue Owl and Crusoe set up a joint SPV to build OpenAI’s first US data centre in Abilene, Texas. The joint venture borrowed about $10bn from JPMorgan to fund construction, which will be repaid via Oracle’s 17-year lease on the site.

The loan, however, has no recourse to Blue Owl or Crusoe, meaning JPMorgan would take ownership of the land and data centre if Oracle failed to pay.

Blue Owl also used a wholly owned SPV to borrow $18bn from a group of mostly Japanese banks for a second site in New Mexico, which Oracle is leasing for OpenAI.

>>> US After Hours Sum?: CRSR +8.5% as CEO bought 50000 shares; NUTX +6.4% (wed)

After Hours Summary: CRSR +8.5% as CEO bought 50000 shares; NUTX +6.4% responds to short seller report

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: None

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: CRSR +8.5% (CEO bought 50000 shares worth ~$305K), NUTX +6.4% (responds to short seller report), BKSY +1.1% (files for $250 mln mixed securities shelf offering), FLUT +0.9% (quantifies impact of changes to UK online gaming taxation), EXEL +0.9% (Director bought 27532 shares worth ~$1.19 mln), CELC +0.5% (to present updated data from Phase 3 VIKTORIA-1 Trial), ZTS +0.3% (European Commission grants marketing authorization for Lenivia), BA +0.2% (to build 96 AH-64E Apache Helicopters for Poland)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: None

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: AVR -8.9% (stock offering by selling shareholders), STEM -1.8% (files for $200 mln mixed securities shelf offering), RGNX -1.7% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), SWX -0.4% (names new CFO), SGHC -0.3% (comments on UK Autumn Statement)

WSJ : Iranian Funds for Hezbollah Are Flowing Through Dubai

Iranian Funds for Hezbollah Are Flowing Through Dubai
U.S. is concerned as Tehran taps emirate’s money exchanges to rebuild battered ally

  • Iran has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah over the past year through Dubai-based money exchanges and businesses, people familiar with the matter said.
  • Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the U.S., urgently needs funds to rebuild and rearm after its conflict with Israel last year.
  • The U.S. Treasury Department reported that Iran’s Quds Force transferred over $1 billion to Hezbollah since January.

Iran has sent the Lebanese militia Hezbollah hundreds of millions of dollars over the past year via money exchanges and other businesses in Dubai, as Tehran seeks new ways to funnel money to its ally, people familiar with the matter said.

Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, is in desperate need of funds to rebuild and rearm its militia and pay other costs stemming from its bruising fight with Israel last year, the people said. Its smuggling routes through Syria were disrupted by the fall of the Iran-aligned Assad regime a year ago, and Lebanese authorities have made strides cracking down on couriers bringing suitcases of cash through the Beirut airport.

The limitations of those routes have forced Iran and Hezbollah to lean more heavily on alternatives like Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ increasingly important global financial entrepôt that Tehran has long used to launder funds and evade sanctions, said the people familiar with the matter, who include a senior U.S. official.

Earnings derived from oil sales are sent to Iran-linked exchange shops, private companies, businessmen and couriers in Dubai, who move them to Hezbollah in Lebanon via the Hawala method, a centuries-old system that allows users to transfer money from one point to another entirely on the basis of trust, the people said. Funds are deposited with a dealer in Dubai and paid out by a dealer in Lebanon, with the two dealers netting out or otherwise settling accounts later.

A U.A.E. official said the country is committed to preventing misuse of its territory for illicit finance and was working with international partners to disrupt and deter it.

Spokesmen for Hezbollah and the Lebanese prime minister’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. Iran’s mission at the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“Hezbollah is highly focused now on rebuilding,” said David Schenker, director of the program for Arab politics at the Washington Institute. “Iran is not backing away from its commitment to its premier regional proxy.”

Iran’s Quds Force, tasked with supporting the country’s allied militias overseas, has transferred more than $1 billion to Hezbollah since January, mostly through money exchange companies, the Treasury Department said in early November, naming and sanctioning three Hezbollah operatives.

The militant group, once the world’s best-armed nonstate militia, was battered in a two-month conflict last year when Israel launched a heavy air campaign against its armaments and killed its top leadership. Israel said it was responding to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel, which began shortly after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that left 1,200 dead.

Israel’s campaign crippled Hezbollah’s ability to fight and imposed a heavy financial burden. The group has promised to rebuild homes destroyed in the war and pay stipends for dead and wounded fighters while also expanding its recruiting efforts and trying to rebuild its armaments.

A year after a cease-fire ended the heaviest fighting, the group is still struggling to meet its financial needs. “One billion used to be their entire annual budget, but after the war they need a lot more,” said Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute.

The U.A.E. long had a reputation for being a hub for illicit funds and was placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list” in 2022 for not doing enough to confront money laundering and terror finance. The global watchdog removed the country from the list two years later saying it had made significant improvements in oversight, though some anticorruption groups said further progress needed to be made.

The U.S. is also concerned about funds being smuggled to Hezbollah through Turkey and Iraq, the senior American official said.

John Hurley, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, stopped in the U.A.E. and Turkey before visiting Lebanon earlier this month to discuss combating Iranian money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The cease-fire deal that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah requires Lebanon to secure the country’s ports of entry and prevent the flow of arms to nonstate militias, primarily Hezbollah. Lebanon has taken steps including banning direct flights from Iran and beefing up screening efforts at the airport and other ports of entry.

To get around the tighter airport controls, Iran is sending larger numbers of travelers with smaller amounts of cash or jewelry that don’t have to be declared and can more easily be hidden, the Arab officials said.

The cat-and-mouse game to prevent Iran from smuggling funds to Hezbollah underscores the challenge the U.S. and Israel have in stopping the resurrection of a group that is deeply embedded in the fabric of Lebanon and which is a key source of Iranian power and deterrence.

Hezbollah also has its own sources of funding via global networks reaching as far as West Africa and South America that trade drugs, diamonds and services like money laundering, the Arab officials said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. pushed back against a plan for Lebanon’s government to make disability payments to people injured by Israel’s pager attack last year on Hezbollah’s rank and file, the senior U.S. official said. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam later reversed the decision, the senior U.S. official said.

A spokesman for the prime minister said he isn’t aware of any contact between the U.S. and Salam on the matter and that a number of applicants for the country’s disability allowance didn’t meet the criteria for eligibility.

The U.S. is also demanding that Lebanon shutter Hezbollah’s key financial institution, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a U.S.-sanctioned bank that was established in the 1980s and which offers financial services including loans and ATMs to many Lebanese. Al-Qard Al-Hassan is structured as a charity and operates outside the purview of Lebanon’s central bank.

The cease-fire requires Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah in the south before moving on to the rest of the country as per a previous agreement.

Hezbollah is refusing to disarm, arguing it needs its weapons to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty. Its stance, and the inability of Lebanon’s weaker army to force disarmament, is heightening tensions with Israel and the U.S.

FT : Monte dei Paschi CEO under investigation for alleged market manipulation

Monte dei Paschi CEO under investigation for alleged market manipulation
Luigi Lovaglio served with notice by Milan prosecutors in probe linked to Mediobanca takeover

The chief executive of Italian bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is under investigation for alleged market manipulation and obstruction of supervisory functions in connection with its takeover of rival Mediobanca.

MPS said on Thursday that it had received a search warrant and its chief executive Luigi Lovaglio had been served a “notice of investigation by Milan’s prosecutor’s office in his capacity as chief executive officer”.

Shares in MPS ended the day more than 4 per cent lower in Milan.

Milanese prosecutors are also investigating MPS and its top shareholders Delfin and Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone for alleged market manipulation and obstruction of regulatory functions, according to three people familiar with the details of the investigation.

Delfin and Caltagirone were also top shareholders in Mediobanca.

The investigation was first reported by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Delfin declined to comment. Caltagirone did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

MPS said it was “confident it can provide all the necessary information to clarify the correctness of its actions and expresses its full trust in the competent authorities, with whom it confirms its full co-operation”.

People close to the investigation said prosecutors alleged the €13.5bn takeover of Mediobanca, launched in January, was pre-agreed between MPS and both banks’ billionaire shareholders. The investors have been under investigation for months, according to the people.

The takeover of Mediobanca by its smaller rival, in which Italy was the single largest shareholder, shocked markets and analysts this year.

It came only two months after Delfin and Caltagirone, both longtime shareholders in Mediobanca and insurer Generali, had also taken stakes in MPS. Mediobanca is the top investor in Generali with a 13 per cent stake.

Mediobanca’s former chief executive Alberto Nagel fought for months to fend off the takeover bid. In March the Milanese lender lodged a complaint with the European Central Bank, alleging there was concealed concerted action between Delfin and Caltagirone.

However, the ECB approved the takeover, which completed in September after MPS added a €750mn cash sweetener to its offer. The shareholder acceptance rate was well above initial expectations, leading to Nagel’s resignation.

Milanese prosecutors now allege that the actions of Delfin, Caltagirone and MPS, including their initial investment in MPS last year, were co-ordinated but that the investors failed to communicate it to regulators.