>>> Up
* Eltel Raised to Accumulate at Inderes; PT 9.70 kronor
* Entra Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 140 kroner
* Freeport Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT $50
* Frequentis Raised to Neutral at Oddo BHF; PT 81 euros
* International Paper Raised to Buy at Stifel; PT $57.80
* Note Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 206 kronor
* Note Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 206 kronor
* Sanoma Raised to Buy at Nordea; PT 12.60 euros
>>> Down
>>> Down
* Lassila & Tikanoja Cut to Reduce at Inderes; PT 10.50 euros
* Sligro Cut to Neutral at Oddo BHF; PT 12 euros
>>> Initiation
* Sligro Cut to Neutral at Oddo BHF; PT 12 euros
>>> Initiation
* BP ADRs Rated New Equal-Weight at Wells Fargo; PT $37
* Shell ADRs Rated New Equal-Weight at Wells Fargo; PT $76
>>> Call
*
* Shell ADRs Rated New Equal-Weight at Wells Fargo; PT $76
>>> Call
*
Stocks fell and investors sought the safety of government bonds after shares of US regional banks tumbled on concerns about lending standards. Gold was poised for a ninth week of gains. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.8%, with financial companies among the biggest losers. US equity-index futures fell 0.4%, after the underlying gauges dipped Thursday. Contracts indicated European shares were also set for a weaker open. Regional lenders slid in the US after the fallout from the collapse of subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings spread beyond Wall Street. As investors positioned for safe havens, gold and silver hit new all-time highs, powered by fears about credit quality in the US economy and US-China trade tensions. Treasuries extended gains with the two-year yield falling to the lowest level since 2022 and the 10-year yield below 4%. An index of the dollar declined, while the yen strengthened past the 150 against the greenback. The Swiss franc also gained.
The moves highlighted growing concerns about the US credit market, serving as the clearest evidence of the nervous undercurrents recently plaguing Wall Street, after stocks rallied to record-high levels. That’s adding to a list of worries facing investors, including the US government shutdown, fears of an AI bubble and renewed US-China trade tensions. In other corners of the market, shares in Hong Kong dropped 1.6%, leading losses in Asia as tensions with the US continued to weigh on sentiment. A gauge of technology shares in Hong Kong tumbled 2.8%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. dropped 1.7% in Taipei. The Treasury 10-year yield dropped three basis points to 3.94%, while similar-maturity Australian yields fell six basis points to 4.10%, the lowest level since April. “The rally we’re seeing in Treasuries today is a hunt for havens story,” said Anna Wu, cross-asset strategist at Van Eck Associates. “There’s arguably some knee-jerk reaction amid spikes of uncertainty from the credit woes.” Earlier, the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index plunged 6.3% on Thursday, its biggest decline since April’s tariff-induced selloff and an echo of the losses that rocked the sector during a crisis in 2023. Zions Bancorp fell 13% after a $50 million charge-off tied to a California Bank & Trust loan, while Western Alliance Bancorp dropped 11% after revealing exposure to the same borrowers. Two high-profile collapses in short order — last month’s implosion of auto lender Tricolor and the bankruptcy of auto-parts supplier First Brands Group — have put traders on alert for more bad news waiting in the wings. Asian bank stocks dropped as well. In trade news, the White House is poised to ease tariffs on the US auto industry, a move that would deliver a major win for carmakers that have aggressively lobbied to stem the fallout from record-level import duties. US-China trade tensions are once again emerging as a drag on equities, and the selloff in Asia and emerging markets could overshoot expectations given their stretched valuations, according to Morgan Stanley. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated that the bank will continue normalizing policy if confidence in achieving its economic outlook strengthens — keeping the door open for a near-term interest-rate hike. Also in Japan, the likelihood of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party forming a new coalition with opposition party Ishin is 50-50, the leader of the smaller party said Friday, as key talks continue ahead of a parliamentary vote on who will lead the nation. In geopolitical news, President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to meet in Budapest during a two-hour phone call. The conversation took place a day before Trump’s White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Oil headed for a third weekly decline as investors focused on oversupply and the fallout from renewed US-China trade tensions. Brent was near $61 a barrel as Trump said he would hold a second meeting with Putin, raising the prospect that an increase of barrels from the OPEC+ member will exacerbate a global glut. US after Hours CSX +2.4% tracks higher on earnings; KZR +44.6% sharply higher on program update; LBRT -4.5% and IBKR lower on earnings; NVO -3.9% lower as President Trump says the cost of Ozempic will be reduced, according to Reuters.
Nikkei -1.42% Hang Seng -1.76% CSI -1.38% Shanghai -1.19% Shenzen -1.89%
Eur$ 1.1715 CNH 7.1247 CNY 7.1227 JPY 149.93 GBP 1.3457 CHF 0.7900 RUB 80.1416 TRY 41.9477 WTI$ 57.30 -0.28% Gold 4,361.58 +0.81% BTC 108,853 +0.89% ETH 3,921 .1.76%
S&P -0.69% Nasdaq -0.80% EuroStoxx -0.94% FTSE -1.11% Dax -1.26% SMI -1%
Macro :
- Platt’s BlueCrest Hires Former Macquarie Senior Oil Trader Volz
- Brussels to launch European space shield
- Goldman Says $3.4t of Options to Expire Friday
- US Chamber Sues to Block Trump $100,000 Fee for H-1B Workers
- Lutnicks’ Cantor Eyes a $25 Billion Fortune on Tether Fundraise
- Chinese Tourists Are Spending Less. Hotel Giant H World Says That's a Good Thing -- Interview
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
- AIR FP : French Antitrust Allows Airbus Purchase of Some Spirit Assets
- AAPL US : Apple’s iPhone Air sells out in minutes in China after CEO Tim Cook’s visit
- ASC LN : Asos Faces Custom Duties Claims From German Tax Authorities: FT
- ASMDEE SS : Asmodee Holder PAI Offers About 3.3m Shares: Terms, Asmodee Offering by Holder PAI Prices at SEK114.50/Share: Terms
- AZA SS : Avanza 3Q Operating Income Beats Estimates
- BFIT NA : Basic-Fit Maintains FY Revenue Forecast
- BBVA SM : BBVA’s Sabadell Takeover Bid Fails in Blow to Chairman Torres
- BITF CN : Bitfarms Prices Upsized $500m Convertible Senior Notes Due 2031
- BC IM : Brunello Cucinelli Confirms 3Q Results, FY25 Guidance
- CLNX SM : Cellnex to Sell French Data Centers for €391M
- COTN SW : Comet Sees FY Sales Low End of CHF460M to CHF500M
- CON GY : Continental Prelim 3Q Sales About EU5 billion
- CRWV US : CoreWeave Reaffirms Commitment to Proposed Core Scientific Deal
- EDF FP : EDF Must Review Ground Reinforcement for French Nuclear Project
- LLY US : Lilly, Novo Fall After Trump Touts ‘Much Lower’ Ozempic Price
- ENGI FP : Engie Energía Chile secures US$400mn multilateral loan facility
- EL FP : EssilorLuxottica 3Q Revenue in Constant Currency Beats Estimates
- RACE US : Ferrari Cut UK Vehicle Sales to Stem Falling Residual Values: FT
- GM US : GM, Vale Pause Battery Material Plans in Canada on EV Pullback
- GM US : GM, Vale Pause Battery Material Plans in Canada on EV Pullback
- IBE SM : Iberdrola Held Talks on Potential Scottish Power Merger: FT
- KVUE US : Kenvue Shares Sink as Citi Flags ‘Major’ Baby Powder Lawsuit
- MMB FP : Lagardere 3Q Revenue EU2.55B
- LULU US : Lululemon Faces More Pressure From Rival Alo’s Push into Brazil
- MC FP : LVMH-backed L Catterton invests around $30 million in Healing Hands Clinic
- MRK GY : Trump Strikes Deal With German Merck on Tariffs and IVF Costs
- NORION SS : Norion Bank 3Q Operating Profit Misses Estimates
- NOVOB DC : Lilly, Novo Fall After Trump Touts ‘Much Lower’ Ozempic Price
- NBG6 GY : Austria’s VIG to Buy Rival Nuernberger for About €1.4 Billion
- ORCL US : Oracle Rallies After Saying AI Cloud Gross Margin Can Be 35%
- ORA FP : Orange Denies Having Offered €4.8 Bln for 50% Masorange Stake
- P911 GY : Volkswagen CEO Blume to Give Up Porsche AG CEO Role, Bild Says
- ROG SW : Roche’s Xofluza Launches as Direct-To-Patient Program in US
- SAN FP : FDA Gives National Priority Vouchers to Nine Sponsors
- SMIN LN : Smiths Group to Sell Smiths Interconnect to Molex Electronic
- SLNO US : Soleno May Be Working With Advisers on Deal, Betaville Says
- STAA US : STAAR Says No Acquisition Proposals Received Other Than Alcon
- STLA US : Future of Ontario Stellantis Plant Hinges on USMCA, Carney Says
- 2330 TT : TSMC Drops as Traders Lock in Gains After Strong 3Q: Street Wrap
- TOM NO : Tomra 3Q Gross Margin 44% Vs. 43% Y/y
- VIG AV : Austria’s VIG to Buy Rival Nuernberger for About €1.4 Billion
- VIRP FP : Virbac Boosts FY Organic Revenue at Constant FX, Scope Forecast
- VOLVB SS : Volvo 3Q Net Sales Meet Estimates, Volvo 3Q Adjusted Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- WDP BB : WDP 9M Adjusted EPS EU1.15 Vs. EU1.09 Y/y
- YAR NO : Yara 3Q Adjusted Ebitda Beats Estimates
- EssilorLuxottica (ESL TH) +6.7%
- EssilorLuxottica Sales Get Boost From Meta Smart Glasses (1)
- Continental (CON TH) +3.4%
- Continental Posts Better-Than-Expected Margin After Cost Cuts
- BBVA (BOY TH) +3.2%
- Watch BBVA, Sabadell as Hostile Takeover Bid Fails; BBVA Buyback
- Leonardo (FMNB TH) -3%
- Watch European Defense Stocks on Trump-Putin Ukraine Summit
- Thales (CSF TH) -3%
- Watch European Defense Stocks on Trump-Putin Ukraine Summit
- Tomra (TMRA TH) -3%
- Tomra 3Q Gross Margin 44% Vs. 43% Y/y
- Volvo (VOL1 TH) -3.4%
- Volvo Sees North America Weakness Lasting Next Year on Tariffs
- flatexDEGIRO (FTK TH) -4%
- Aurubis (NDA TH) -4.2%
- Rheinmetall (RHM TH) -4.3%
- Watch European Defense Stocks on Trump-Putin Ukraine Summit
- Hensoldt (HAG TH) -4.5%
- Watch European Defense Stocks on Trump-Putin Ukraine Summit
- Novo (NOV TH) -4.9%
- Lilly, Novo Fall After Trump Touts ‘Much Lower’ Ozempic Price
- RENK Group (R3NK TH) -5.8%
- Watch European Defense Stocks on Trump-Putin Ukraine Summit
DAX:
- Continental (CON TH) +3.4%
- Continental Posts Better-Than-Expected Margin After Cost Cuts
- Siemens (SIE TH) -1.6%
- Mercedes (MBG TH) -1.7%
- Commerzbank (CBK TH) -1.9%
- Regional Banks Tumble as Traders Sell First, Ask Questions Later
- Deutsche Bank (DBK TH) -2%
- Regional Banks Tumble as Traders Sell First, Ask Questions Later
- Rheinmetall (RHM TH) -4.4%
- Trump’s Plan for a Second Putin Meeting Undercuts Ukraine Push
MDAX:
- Lanxess (LXS TH) -2.6%
- Aurubis (NDA TH) -3.5%
- flatexDEGIRO (FTK TH) -4.1%
- Nestlé Shares Book Best Day Since 2007: Stoxx 600 Sector Wrap
- Hensoldt (HAG TH) -4.2%
- Trump’s Plan for a Second Putin Meeting Undercuts Ukraine Push
- RENK Group (R3NK TH) -6.2%
- Trump’s Plan for a Second Putin Meeting Undercuts Ukraine Push
SDAX:
- Formycon (FYB TH) +1%
- Douglas AG (DOU TH) -1.3%
- Deutz (DEZ TH) -1.9%
- Salzgitter (SZG TH) -2.1%
- SUSS MicroTec (SMHN TH) -2.7%
- Heidelberger Druck (HDD TH) -4.4%
The Auto Industry Is Panicking About Another Potential Chip Shortage
Chinese-owned chip maker Nexperia has told suppliers it won’t ship product after Dutch government took control of company
- Nexperia, a Dutch chip maker with a 40% market share in basic automotive chips, halted shipments due to a Dutch government takeover from its Chinese owner.
- The disruption could affect global vehicle production within weeks, as Nexperia’s chips are essential for various car systems.
- Automakers and suppliers are seeking alternative chip sources and have asked Chinese authorities to lift export restrictions on Nexperia.
The auto industry is digesting a new and potentially damaging supply-chain disruption from an unlikely source: a small Dutch semiconductor manufacturer with an outsize influence on how cars and trucks are made.
Nexperia notified customers last week that it was stopping shipments of parts, people familiar with the matter say. The company’s chips are used in everything from lights to electronics. The move came after the Dutch government wrested control of the company from its Chinese owner. Nexperia declared the continuing situation a “force majeure” event, the people say, citing a provision that generally can excuse companies from contractual obligations when facing an extraordinary situation.
While Nexperia is a small player in the automotive-chip market overall, it is the market leader for a basic category of chips mainly consisting of transistors and diodes, said Ian Riches, a vice president at TechInsights, a chip data and intelligence provider. In that category, Nexperia has about a 40% market share, he added.
“They go into everything and anything,” Riches said. “If you’re building a complicated product, it only takes a shortage of one basic component to stop the whole thing.”
Nexperia, whose parts end up in cars from BMW, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, produces high volumes of semiconductors and basic transistors that are used in vehicle systems, including electronic control units. Car companies and parts makers are now racing to understand their exposure and find alternative sources of chips, saying that if Nexperia can’t ship then vehicle production could be affected in the next few weeks.
General Motors in recent days sent a survey to its suppliers asking whether they buy chips from Nexperia and how many, people familiar with the situation said.
Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, which makes brands including Jeep, Ram and Peugeot, said they are talking with suppliers and assessing potential impacts.
The situation is the latest supply-chain disturbance to hit global automakers. This year there were production stoppages resulting from China’s stranglehold on rare-earth magnets, a disruption in aluminum supplies after a fire and President Trump’s costly tariffs.
Automakers have been monitoring a parallel threat in recent days over China’s rare-earth minerals, after the country tightened exports and increased tension with the U.S. Toyota heard last week from some suppliers that Chinese facilities were unable to ship products, a person familiar with the situation said. Toyota initially thought the delay was related to China’s limits on rare-earth minerals, but later found out it was tied to the Nexperia situation, the person said.
Toyota is actively assessing the situation and studying alternative sources of supply, the company said.
The extraordinary dispute over Nexperia resulted from the Dutch government’s decision late last month to seize control of it from China’s Wingtech Technology, which is on a U.S. trade blacklist, citing a need to keep Europe from losing “technological knowledge and capabilities” necessary for its economic security.
In early October, the Chinese government ordered Wingtech to suspend Nexperia’s exports from China, where 80% of its products are processed before being delivered to customers.
Shipments have yet to resume from Nexperia’s factories in Europe and China, the people said.
A Nexperia spokesman referred to an earlier statement that said it is “positive” that day-to-day operations can continue.
Wingtech is “actively communicating with suppliers and customers to sustain the basic stability of workforce, production systems and distribution channels,” according to an email the company sent to investors on Thursday that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Car manufacturers and suppliers this week asked Chinese authorities to lift their restrictions on Nexperia exports from China and help de-escalate the disputes with the Dutch side, according to people familiar with the situation. The companies in the request included automakers Volkswagen and BMW, as well as suppliers Bosch and Aumovio, one of the people said.
The auto industry is only a few years removed from a semiconductor crisis that dramatically affected production and left dealers with a shortage of new cars to sell. Many suppliers have adjusted and diversified their production since then. Nexperia has been sending most chips made at factories in Europe to facilities in China for packaging and testing before shipments go out to customers, leaving it exposed to significant disruptions, some of the people said.
Automakers and suppliers have alternative sources of the same type of chips, but the situation could result in production disruptions if Nexperia’s shipment stoppage is protracted, the people added. Companies with multiple sources can have their other suppliers increase production, but those who relied entirely on Nexperia for some components could take weeks to get a new part cleared for production by an automaker.
Identifying alternative chip sources will take time, even though the industry has tried to diversify, said Collin Shaw, a president of MEMA, the auto suppliers trade association.
“This goes to show the fragility sometimes of the supply chain,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wingtech is preparing to sue the Dutch government and Nexperia’s Western executives, some of the people said. The Dutch government moved to take control of the chip maker following a warning from U.S. officials, detailed in a Dutch court document, that Nexperia could be ensnared by a trade blacklist of companies that pose national security risks, unless it removed its Chinese chief executive.
How dozens of Trump’s donors have benefited from his second term
While previous presidents have introduced policies that have helped supporters, such incidents are now more common and overt
Some have won legal relief. Others have been pardoned for their crimes, or benefited from policy changes. But what unites them is donations made to the favoured groups of President Donald Trump.
At least 30 individuals or companies that have collectively donated more than $116mn to Trump’s causes have received benefits or advantages from White House moves, according to FT analysis. Sometimes, the administration acted just days after donations were made.
The donors range from crypto and tech billionaires who have developed close ties to the first family and been granted access to the president, to big insurance firms, tobacco companies and even a manufacturer of bandages from human tissue. Funds were given both before and after his inauguration.
There is no evidence of bribery or illegal conduct, but the volume of favourable outcomes for donors raises the question of whether a culture of quid pro quo exists at the heart of the administration.
Corporations and individuals regularly give hefty donations to both Republicans and Democrats seeking the presidency, often in the expectation of policies favourable to their interests.
Previous administrations of both parties have introduced policies that benefited large donors. Individuals connected to solar panel manufacturer First Solar, for example, spent at least $1.5mn on Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and stood to benefit from massive green energy subsidies in the former president’s flagship Inflation Reduction Act.
But under Trump, who has made little secret of his openness to accepting gifts or devising policy favourable to donors, such incidents have become more common and more overt.
“Past administrations have confronted accusations that money buys favours,” says Bob Bauer, former White House counsel under Barack Obama. “What is unique about this presidency is the open transactionalism that characterises Donald Trump’s governance style.”
After Trump won re-election last November, America’s wealthiest companies opened their wallets. Trump’s inauguration fund, for example, reaped a record $240mn in donations, far eclipsing the $62mn raised by Biden.
The inflows have not stopped. Of the $116.8mn paid by individuals and companies that have benefited from his administration’s actions, more than $92.5mn arrived after the election — even though Trump is constitutionally barred from running again.
Many of the donations were made to his Maga Inc Super Pac, which formally exists to support Trump’s presidential campaigns. The funds may also be used to pay for expenses related to his presidency, experts say, including legal fees or for non-profits such as Trump’s presidential library fund. In the first half of this year alone, it amassed almost $200mn in donations.
Some of the donors to these funds have quickly seen their interests met by the White House. Public records from the Federal Election Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice show a repeated pattern of pardons, regulatory relief and favourable policies granted to generous patrons.
The White House rejects any claims of doing favours. “Any allegations of special treatment are false and lack any basis in reality — the Trump administration and the president make decisions based on what is in the best interest of the American people, and nothing else,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.
But many ethics groups and lawmakers say the number of cases of Trump donors potentially benefiting from White House actions is unparalleled.
“We’re in an unprecedented new world of financial conflicts of interest, and industry overlap with politics,” says Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, director of government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, a non-profit watchdog.
The crypto industry had high hopes for Trump’s second term as president, and some of its largest companies have spent lavishly on his interests as a result.
Having once warned that the sector could facilitate “unlawful behaviour”, Trump promised on the campaign trail to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”. He and his family now have extensive business interests in the sector, selling memecoins, tokens and stablecoins.
Once in office, Trump set up a lighter-touch regulatory regime. The justice department disbanded its cryptocurrency enforcement unit. In a memo at the time, deputy US attorney-general Todd Blanche said it was better for regulators like the SEC to oversee digital assets “outside the punitive criminal justice framework”.
The president also appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to chair the SEC, which has been scrapping the aggressive enforcement and regulatory agenda adopted by his predecessor Gary Gensler.
Some donors say this aligns with their priorities. Tim Draper, a billionaire crypto investor who has donated to both parties in the past, says he gave $1mn to Maga Inc in April in part because he believes the country “needed a more business-friendly SEC” than under Biden.
Nonetheless, FT analysis shows a number of cases where the SEC has terminated investigations into cryptocurrency companies whose owners or backers have donated to Trump’s interests, sometimes soon after making their gifts.
One example is the business of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who have donated more than $3mn combined to Trump Pacs, including $1mn to Maga Inc in January.
Weeks later, the SEC closed a long-running investigation into their crypto exchange Gemini. The twin brothers have since invested in American Bitcoin, a crypto mining company co-founded by Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric, and funded a new Pac to “support champions of President Trump’s crypto agenda”. Gemini recently listed on Nasdaq and has a market capitalisation of about $2.5bn.
In a sign of how the Winklevoss twins expected the Trump administration to do the bidding of the crypto industry, the founders are alleged to have lobbied the White House’s pick for chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintenz, for his assistance.
Quintenz last month published a private exchange in which Tyler Winklevoss asked him to review a case brought against Gemini by the agency under the Biden administration. “Rectifying what happened to us should be the highest priority,” Winklevoss wrote.
The messages show that Quintenz, whose nomination was subsequently withdrawn by the White House, declined to offer an opinion on the matter. “I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise,” Quintenz said on X. He claimed Tyler Winklevoss then went to the White House, and tried to get his nomination pulled.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and Gemini declined to comment.
In another example, Coinbase and its co-founder Fred Ehrsam each donated $1mn to Trump’s inauguration. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, whose firm was a big, early investor in Coinbase and more than 100 other crypto companies, have donated nearly $14mn to Trump-aligned Pacs since July 2024.
In February, the SEC withdrew a major lawsuit against Coinbase, ending a years-long battle. Coinbase, Ehrsam and Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to requests for comment.
The parent company of Crypto.com, another donor to Trump’s inauguration, gave $10mn to Maga Inc on February 14. Six weeks later, the SEC closed its investigation into Crypto.com. In August, the Trump family’s media group also signed a multibillion-dollar deal to buy the token issued by Crypto.com. Its price soared. Crypto.com declined to comment.
The SEC has also dropped cases against Nova Labs, the company behind the Helium blockchain network, and trading platform OpenSea — both backed by Andreessen Horowitz. Nova Labs and OpenSea did not respond to requests for comment.
Another crypto tycoon to see his fortunes change after spending money on Trump-related groups is China-born Justin Sun. As a foreign citizen, Sun is prohibited from directly donating to US political elections. But between November and January he spent $75mn on tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company controlled by Trump’s family.
In February, a federal court accepted the SEC’s and Sun’s request to pause a case the agency had brought against him and his companies.
Sun spent millions of dollars more on the $TRUMP memecoin, becoming its top holder and securing an invitation to dinner hosted by the president at the Trump National golf club in May. He later pledged to buy a further $100mn worth of the memecoin. “My new title: TOP fan of Trump,” Sun wrote on X that month.
In June, World Liberty Financial began minting its USD1 token on Sun’s blockchain Tron, boosting its volumes and fees. But a few months later, Sun claimed the tokens he held in the project had been frozen “unreasonably” by the company.
Democrats have called for an investigation into Sun’s company, citing “significant national security” issues and “concerning ties to President Trump and his family”. Sun and Tron did not respond to requests for comment.
The SEC has dropped or swiftly concluded cases against at least 10 crypto firms this year, including companies with no recorded donations to Trump, both before and after Atkins was confirmed as chair.
In a statement, Paul Atkins said: “Under my leadership the SEC will conduct a transparent regulatory agenda rather than regulate by enforcement. Politics will be removed from the commission’s work. The SEC is enforcing the law, period.”
But ethics experts say the sheer number of cases of potential conflict of interest identified by the FT is deeply troubling. “It looks like a pay-off,” says Virginia Canter, a former White House associate counsel to Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton, and ethics lawyer at the SEC.
Many presidents have pardoned allies. Clinton pardoned the sanctions-busting oil trader Marc Rich, whose ex-wife was a donor to Democrats and the Clintons. Biden drew widespread condemnation for pre-emptively pardoning his son, Hunter, in his final weeks before leaving the White House.
But certain pardons granted by Trump came soon after donations to his causes. These include the case of Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle maker Nikola, who in 2023 was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding investors. Milton donated $920,000 to a Trump-aligned Pac in October 2024, during the final weeks of the White House race.
Trump pardoned Milton in March, suggesting the Utah businessman had been targeted for his political views. On September 11, the SEC also dropped its case against Milton. He declined to comment for this story.
In April, Florida businesswoman Elizabeth Fago donated $1mn to Trump’s Maga Inc. Weeks later, the president pardoned her son, Paul Walczak, a former nursing home boss who had been convicted for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes and spending the money on a luxurious lifestyle. Fago, via Walczak’s lawyer, declined to comment.
Trump has also pardoned people who have no record of donating to him. He has pardoned or commuted the sentences of at least 1,600 people so far in his second term, having made only 237 acts of clemency in his first four years in office. But more than 1,500 of these were for supporters convicted for their roles in the violent insurrection at the US Capitol in Washington on January 6 2021.
One outstanding pardon request comes from billionaire Changpeng Zhao. The crypto tycoon, known as CZ, led exchange Binance and in 2023 pleaded guilty to a US criminal charge of failing to protect against money laundering and spent four months in US prison in 2024. Like Sun, he is not permitted to donate to US politicians as a non-citizen.
In March, Binance accepted a $2bn investment from Abu Dhabi’s MGX that was paid entirely with a stablecoin, USD1, issued by World Liberty Financial. The Abu Dhabi group said it chose to use USD1 based on factors including its “compliance history.”
If Binance were to decide to sell out — converting the stablecoin balance into dollars or another currency, for example — the Trump family stands to lose out on the interest and fees World Liberty Financial earns from Binance’s holdings of USD1, which have so far amounted to about $40mn, according to FT estimates.
In May, after Binance’s big USD1 transaction, the SEC dropped a lawsuit against the exchange and its co-founder. CZ is yet to secure a pardon.
Lawyers for Binance and CZ said the case was one of a number of crypto-related lawsuits rightfully dismissed, after Trump moved to “correct the prior ‘weaponisation’ of the US legal system” against the crypto industry. They added that the MGX transaction was not “in any way” connected to any request for a pardon.
Trump’s policy moves and decisions — including notable reversals — have sometimes benefited his donors.
In his first term, Trump promised to ban TikTok, considering the video app founded by Chinese entrepreneurs to be a national security threat. His successor, Biden, followed up in 2024 with an ultimatum to Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app to a US-approved buyer or face a ban.
But Trump’s stance on TikTok shifted when he returned to the presidency — signing an executive order to delay the ban on his first day back in the Oval Office.
Silicon Valley executive Jeff Yass, a major investor in ByteDance, gave $16mn to Maga Inc this year, the vast majority on March 6, the same day the US president said that he would “probably” further extend the deadline.
Even as Trump took the US into a new trade war with China this year, the worked to find a US buyer for an app he believed had helped him win re-election.
On September 25, the White House said it had struck a deal. The existing US investors, including General Atlantic — run by Trump megadonor Bill Ford — and Yass’s Susquehanna would maintain stakes. Neither responded to a request for comment.
MGX, the Abu Dhabi fund that made a large transaction in World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, would also receive a lucrative ownership stake in the US arm of TikTok as part of the deal brokered by Trump.
Other policy moves have either followed or been followed by large donations to Trump’s Super Pac.
Tobacco company RAI Services donated $10mn to the main pro-Trump Super Pac in 2024, after which the Trump administration scrapped a Biden-era plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars. RAI and another tobacco group Altria later donated $2mn and $1mn, respectively, to Maga Inc. Neither RAI nor Altria responded to requests for comment.
UnitedHealthcare Services donated $5mn to Maga Inc in January. Three months later the Trump administration finalised higher 2026 Medicare Advantage rates than first proposed, a sector-wide tailwind for United Healthcare, the system’s largest insurer. The company declined to comment.
Several companies and individuals who donated large sums to Trump have not fared well under his presidency. Pharma giants including Merck and Johnson & Johnson donated to the inauguration, for example, but have since been hit by tariffs and the administration’s plans to reduce drug pricing.
Large tech companies including Meta, which donated to Trump’s inauguration, are still facing antitrust lawsuits and other investigations under the Trump administration.
But even in the most niche industries, small tweaks in regulations have had an impact on donors’ businesses.
Last year, the Biden administration moved to limit Medicare coverage of extremely costly, paper-thin bandages from waste human tissue. So-called “skin substitute” products cost the agency $10bn in 2024, and the change came as the White House was seeking to cut “wasteful spending on Big Pharma.”
In February, soon after Trump took office, Extremity Care — a leading provider of the bandages — donated $5mn to Maga Inc. Its co-owners Scott Madden and Oliver Burckhardt also donated $2.5mn apiece. So did its affiliated companies Collie Paw Holding and Buco One.
About six weeks after the $15mn haul for Maga Inc, the Trump administration delayed the policy change until 2026.
In a sign of the continuing close relationship between the White House and donors, dozens of contributors to Trump causes joined the president on Wednesday evening for a glitzy dinner to raise funds for the new White House ballroom he has long coveted.
Among the attendees were representatives of Coinbase, Altria and RAI, and the Winklevoss brothers.
Europe is the biggest loser in US-China rare earth wars
Its dual dependence on America’s digital services and Beijing’s critical mineral processing industry leaves it highly vulnerable
Tech wars between west and east are nothing new. During the cold war, the US and its allies competed fiercely with the Soviet Union in space exploration and weapons systems. More recently, competition between the US and China has been heating up. Ironically, this time Europe stands to be the biggest loser.
The US and its allies founded the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls in 1949 to prevent the eastern bloc gaining access to western technology that might enhance its military and economic capability. The committee’s impact increased significantly under President Ronald Reagan with a ban on the sale of microprocessors, computers and oil extraction technology to Warsaw Pact countries. From the late 1970s, western technological advances created an unbridgeable strategic gap, helping to speed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The last three US administrations have followed a similar strategy against China, curbing the export of high-end microchips and the machines that make them. But unlike the Soviet Union, China can fight back by imposing controls on rare earths and mineral processing technology. Last week, Beijing expanded controls to 12 of the 17 rare earth metals, claiming this was “to safeguard national security interests”.
Until the inauguration of President Donald Trump, both Europe and the US emphasised the importance of critical minerals for promoting the green energy transition. Now, another sector is expressing concern at the Chinese move; defence industries in the west are fretting. Whether in drone, tank, submarine or missile technology, China has a firm grip on the supply of many key components necessary for their production.
In the first week of the Iran-Israel conflict in June this year, approximately 800 missiles were exchanged. Each contained anywhere between two and 20 kilogrammes of rare earth elements, including two, dysprosium and terbium, now subject to Chinese export controls. Based on conservative estimates from the limited data, this means anywhere between 1.6 and 16 metric tonnes of rare earth elements were vaporised in that conflict in seven days.
Ukraine’s extraordinary recent performance in its drone war against the Russian invasion is almost entirely dependent on electronics and magnets imported from China. Ukraine is now less concerned about whether European arms deliveries will arrive on time and more worried about the flow of tech imports from China.
In the past 30 years, China has become the world leader in the processing of most of the 54 raw minerals that the US Geological Survey classifies as critical for US industry, including the defence sector. Currently the Chinese can process virtually any mineral 30 per cent more cheaply than its competitors. To compete with this, western governments would need to offer subsidies to their own industry. While China leverages its rare earth monopoly, Washington is using its influence to limit China’s access to the most powerful microprocessors (although the great majority are physically produced by TSMC in Taiwan).
China’s latest restrictions on the export of rare earths and products containing them fall into a broader framework of the US-China tech war. Both governments believe that whoever wins the race in key industries — notably AI, missile technology, quantum computing, robotics and drones — will enjoy a decisive advantage in economic and military competition over the next 30 years.
However, a group of industry and academics experts meeting at a conference on critical raw materials earlier this week in Vienna, concluded that the biggest loser in all this is neither China nor the US. It is Europe.
Trump’s America may be turning its back on solar and wind, but these renewable energy technologies are central to Europe’s 21st-century identity. European companies were pioneers in solar and wind while EVs are gradually increasing their share of the automotive industry. But now China dominates all three industries, along with lithium-ion battery production.
While the US slowly rebuilds its rare earth industry and exerts influence over producers of other critical minerals such as South America’s vast lithium stocks, Europe is barely at the races. True, Brussels has developed a critical raw materials strategy but attempts to exploit its own key mineral resources have encountered stiff political resistance from environmental groups.
Europe’s dual dependence on America’s digital services and China’s critical mineral processing industry leaves it highly vulnerable to external pressures. EU investment in key high-tech industries is risible compared with the trillions that China and the US are pouring into the sector. If Brussels is unable to mobilise member states soon, the EU will end up as a permanent supplicant to either China, the US or both.
London set to loosen planning rules in drive to boost housebuilding
UK housing secretary and mayor in talks to make provisions on windows and bicycles less onerous as construction slumps
London’s planning rules for new residential properties are set to be eased under “emergency” provisions being drawn up by the government to arrest a rapid decline in development in the capital city.
Housing secretary Steve Reed is in talks with London mayor Sadiq Khan to tweak the rules on windows and bicycle storage to revive housebuilding in the city, where construction has slumped over the past 18 months.
The changes are likely to loosen the application of design standards for apartment blocks, including on the placing of openable windows and on the amount of bicycle storage provided, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
London’s current housebuilding plan tells the city’s planning authorities to maximise the number of “dual aspect dwellings” that are built, meaning homes that have windows that open on at least two external walls.
Such dwellings have more natural light and better ventilation, but drive up costs for developers because the design of flats in high-rise buildings becomes more complicated.
“The plan makes clear there is a desire for dual aspect except in exceptional circumstances, and many boroughs have applied that guidance meticulously, blocking projects even where they have very high levels of dual aspect,” one official said. “We want to see more flexibility.”
Developers are also currently required to provide a certain amount of bicycle storage, depending on the type of building and whether people live there permanently.
Reed is expected to make an announcement before the end of the month about the “emergency measures” which, although temporary, could last for up to three years, according to those familiar with the discussions.
The Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government said: “We do not comment on leaks. No decisions have been made. This government is building the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.”
A spokesperson for the mayor said Khan had met Reed to discuss the challenging conditions facing housebuilding. “Sadiq will always prioritise getting as many affordable homes built as possible — and has shown that by completing more new homes of all tenures in London than any time since the 1930s prior to the pandemic,” he said.
“The mayor is not seeking to weaken planning standards but is working with the secretary of state to look at how greater flexibility can rapidly increase the rate of building in every borough.”
While the Greater London Authority sets an overall approach to housebuilding, each of the city’s boroughs makes individual planning decisions on development in their area.
The measures come as the number of new housing starts in London slumped to 2,040 in the first half of this year — 55 .9 per cent lower than a year ago, according to the MHCLG. The number falls well short of the 88,000 new homes per year the government says are needed in the capital.
The slump is the result of factors ranging from a lack of affordability to the stifling effect of the Building Safety Regulator, said the Construction Products Association, a trade body. The BSR was set up after the Grenfell fire to more closely monitor the delivery of tall buildings, of which London has a higher preponderance than elsewhere.
Only 15,000 to 20,000 new homes will be under construction at the start of 2027 in London, the housing research firm Molior predicted on Monday.
That compares with 60,000 to 65,000 homes under construction at any given time between 2015 and 2020, according to the firm’s data.
The Financial Times revealed last month that the GLA is set to cut the proportion of affordable homes developers must provide when trying to fast-track planning, in a bid to spur housebuilding.
The current plan for London is to reduce the affordable housing threshold from 35 per cent for non-public land to about 15-20 per cent.
Likewise, the current 50 per cent target that applies to developments on public land is likely to be cut to roughly 35 per cent, according to people familiar with the situation.
Talks have also been held about reducing the “community infrastructure levy” that developers must pay to fund local improvements, they added.
One person close to the discussions said: “The general view is that if you can build twice as many homes with half the threshold you still get the same amount of new, affordable homes in the end.”
Officials hope to have a consultation on the new system before the end of the year and to put in place early in 2026.
Khan is also expected to take a more interventionist role in the city’s planning system, with the mayor “calling in” more projects to get them built.
The GLA is seeking to get the government to approve amendments to the Town and Country Planning order 2008, which controls the mayor’s planning powers, so that the mayor could play a bigger role in approving developments on greenbelt sites.
After Hours Summary: CSX +2.4% tracks higher on earnings; KZR +44.6% sharply higher on program update; LBRT -4.5% and IBKR lower on earnings; NVO -3.9% lower as President Trump says the cost of Ozempic will be reduced, according to Reuters
After Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CSX +2.4%, CNS +2.2%, FNB +1.6%, SFNC +1%, GBCI +0.1%,
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: KZR +44.6% (regulatory update on Zetomipzomib program), IRON +19.1% (receipt of FDA Commissioner's National Priority Voucher for Bitopertin), PRAX +5.7% (proposed public offering), NEXT +4.4% (final decision on Train 5), NMAX +4% (crypto plan for asset reserve), CTEV +3.6% (renews contracts), ATAI +2.2% (FDA breakthrough therapy designation granted to BPL-003; also proposed public offering of shares), GPRK +0.9% (completes acquisition from Pluspetrol), EQT +0.7% (increases dividend), EBC +0.3% (election deadline for merger and anticpated delisting of HarborOne (HONE), CVS +0.2% (to be core parter in TrumpRx fertility program), FIBK +0.1% (Security First bank to acquire branches from First Interstate Bank),
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LBRT -4.5%, OZK -2.8%, IBKR -1.7%,
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: SLI -12.5% (proposed public offering of $120 mln of common shares), LLY -4.5% (President Trump says the cost of Ozempic will be reduced, according to Reuters), NVO -3.9% (President Trump says the cost of Ozempic will be reduced, according to Reuters), LXEO -3.6% (proposed offering of common stock and pre-funded warrants), TSHA -2.6% (regains full rights to lead TSHA-102 program), CWK -2.4% (shareholders approve re-domiciliation), CRWV -0.4% (reaffirms rationale behind CORZ acquisition; appoints new CRO), COMM -0.3% (shareholders approve sale of Connectivity and Cable Solutions business to APH), TXN -0.2% (names new Chair), IMAB -0.2% (strategic transformation to global biotech platform; to pursue Hong Kong IPO; rebrand as NovaBridge Biosciences), APH -0.1% (COMM shareholders approve sale of Connectivity and Cable Solutions business to APH) EFX -0.1% (launch of Equifax Ignite AI Advisor), CIO -0.1% (stockholders approve merger by MCME Carell Holdings), ROG -0.1% (current Chair to not stand for re-election; appoints new Chair)