UniCredit Renews Commerzbank Merger Pitch as Germany Stands Firm
Orcel renewed his push for a deal that he says would create a European banking champion, in a June 18 letter addressed to top German officials including Klingbeil and Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Klingbeil responded by urging Orcel to direct any proposals to Commerzbank's management and reiterated the government's support for the bank's independence, emphasizing it should not become the target of a hostile takeover, the people said.
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Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trending tickers: Shell, Tesla, Jio Financial Services, FWD Group and Glencore
Shares in oil major Shell (SHEL.L) fell 3.2% on Monday, after the company warned that it expected to report lower trading and production results for its gas division in the second quarter. Shell lowered the top end of its production guidance for the integrated natural gas division to 900,000 to 940,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) for the quarter, compared with a range of 890,000 to 950,000 previously given. The upper end of its outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production was also lowered, to 6.4 to 6.8 million metric tons compared with a previous range of 6.3 to 6.9 million tons. Read more: FTSE 100 falls as Trump threatens extra 10% Brics tariff Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "Shell's latest quarterly results teaser has created trepidation that the numbers will be a dud. "Shell will be announcing its upcoming earnings amid considerable volatility in the energy market and the wider global economy. "Shell may face further questions when it unveils its results in full later this month about its intentions with regards to BP. Despite widespread speculation, Shell has denied it has any intention of merging with its stricken counterpart, but the story refuses to go away as BP's struggles continue." Shares in Tesla (TSLA) slid more than 6% in pre-market trading on Monday after CEO Elon Musk said he was launching a new political party. Musk asked X users in a poll on the Independence Day holiday on Friday whether the "America Party" should be created. In another post on Saturday, Musk said: "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." Read more: Stocks to watch this week: Shell, TSMC, Levi Strauss, Vistry and Jet2 Musk had said during his public feud with US president Donald Trump that he would look to form a new party. His latest comments came after Trump signed his "big, beautiful bill" into law on Friday, to which Musk was strongly opposed. In response to Musk's plans, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that the Tesla CEO had gone "off the rails". "He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States - The System seems not designed for them," Trump said. Veteran tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush said on X on Sunday that Musk diving deeper into politics "is exactly the opposite direction that most Tesla investors want him to take during this crucial period" for the company, adding that it was causing "exhaustion" for many investors. Shares in India's Jio Financial Services ( originally a subsidiary of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, rose 1.3% on Monday. The rise came after Jio BlackRock Asset Management, a joint venture between Jio Financial Services and BlackRock (BLK), had raised more than $2.1bn (£1.5bn) across three cash or debt mutual fund schemes, according to a Reuters report. The investment adviser reportedly said in a statement that its first three-day offer received investments from more than 90 institutional investors and more than 67,000 retail investors. On the Hong Kong market, shares in FWD Group Holdings ( rose in their trading debut on Monday. Shares in the insurer, which was founded by billionaire Richard Li, rose as much as 2.1% in Monday's session, according to Bloomberg, before closing just above the flatline. The company's initial public offering (IPO) reportedly raised HK$3.5bn (£328m). In a statement on Monday, Li said: "FWD Group is an international team of financial professionals focused on the fastest-growing insurance market in the world – Asia. Today's listing is an important milestone for our customers, our partners and our teams across Asia, and highlights Hong Kong's continued strength as a good listing destination." Back on the UK market, miner Glencore (GLEN.L) was one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares down 1.6% on Monday morning. Shares were under pressure as trade uncertainty weighed on the UK blue-chip index more broadly, after Trump threatened to impose a new 10% tariff on any country that aligns itself with the Brics group of nations – which includes China, Russia and India. Glencore was down despite the miner announcing the start of a share buyback programme worth up to $1bn. The company said in a statement on Monday that it planned to complete the buybacks by the release of its 2025 full-year results in February 2026. Read more: Key investing trends in June, from defence stocks to Tesla's sales slump What are premium bonds and what are the odds of winning? How the government's benefits changes could affect your taxesError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
33 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Privacy is blockchain's missing link—and America's opportunity to lead
In my last job, I was fortunate to join Circle as one of the earliest employees. And as blockchain technologies evolved over recent years, edging closer to mainstream adoption, I noticed a deep contradiction has emerged. The transparency that defines public blockchains—the very feature designed to build trust—has become their Achilles' heel. Every transaction on-chain is etched into a public ledger for all to see. This means that user addresses, financial behavior, and asset holdings are exposed permanently and immutably. In traditional financial systems, such data is closely guarded. In crypto, it's open by default. This is not just a theoretical concern. The lack of privacy on public blockchains is exposing individuals to real-world risks: profiling, extortion, digital surveillance, and even physical threats. Anyone with a blockchain wallet is a potential target—whether they are a Ukrainian citizen receiving aid, a whistleblower relying on digital assets for safety, or a consumer simply transacting online. The stakes are escalating. According to Chainalysis, nearly $46 billion worth of crypto was transferred through illicit channels in 2023, with many transactions linked to sanctioned entities. Blockchain's radical transparency makes tracing those funds technically feasible, but it also means innocent users may be swept up in guilt-by-association logic, flagged by automated compliance systems, or monitored by adversarial nation-states exploiting open ledgers for intelligence purposes. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter. Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters We are at an inflection point. On one hand, blockchain has evolved from an experimental idea into a foundational layer for decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, cross-border payments, and digital identity. On the other, the absence of privacy threatens to stall its momentum. Without privacy guarantees, Web3 won't scale into a secure, inclusive internet economy—it will remain a risky, self-surveilling shadow of its potential. It's not just user safety at stake. Institutional adoption, long seen as the tipping point for crypto's maturation, is lagging in part because privacy solutions are underdeveloped. Financial institutions and enterprises cannot embrace systems that force them to reveal business-sensitive transactions to competitors and regulators alike. Privacy is not the enemy of compliance; it's a prerequisite for serious engagement. The road ahead The good news? A path forward exists. Recent regulatory tailwinds—particularly in the United States—point to a growing willingness to integrate blockchain into the regulated financial system. Lawmakers are increasingly exploring frameworks for stablecoins, digital asset custody, and decentralized finance. And with the emergence of advanced cryptographic tools such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), we now have the technical foundation to reconcile transparency with confidentiality. Zero-knowledge cryptography allows users to prove the validity of information—such as identity or solvency—without revealing the underlying data. In practical terms, this means users can comply with regulations (e.g., AML, KYC) without exposing every transaction to the world. ZKPs are already being piloted by privacy-forward networks and could become the industry standard if policy and investment align. And alignment is possible. In 2024, the European Union began implementing its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, while Hong Kong and the UAE continue developing regulated environments for digital assets. Yet the U.S. retains a unique advantage: its history of open innovation, its global financial leadership, and its robust civil liberties tradition. If it embraces blockchain privacy not just as a feature but as infrastructure—akin to encryption on the internet—it can set a global standard. advertisement The stakes for leadership are high. In a world defined by rising geopolitical tension, blockchain privacy is becoming a matter of national security. Adversarial governments are already using blockchain analytics to trace and target users, conduct financial espionage, and undermine dissident movements. Without privacy, blockchains risk becoming tools of surveillance rather than instruments of freedom. At the same time, user demand for private, secure financial tools is surging. A recent survey by the Electric Coin Company found that 84% of crypto users consider privacy to be a critical feature of digital finance. And among developers, privacy-preserving technology is one of the fastest-growing areas of investment, according to Electric Capital's 2023 developer report. A host of solutions So what can be done? First, policymakers must move past the false binary of privacy versus compliance. These are not mutually exclusive goals. Clear guidelines that embrace advanced cryptography, establish safe harbors for privacy-preserving innovation, and differentiate between consumer protection and surveillance will enable the next generation of secure digital finance. Second, industry leaders need to elevate privacy to the level of consensus mechanisms, scalability, and user experience. Just as we wouldn't launch a blockchain without validating transactions or securing the network, we shouldn't deploy them without protecting users. Privacy must be a baseline, not a bonus. Finally, public-private collaboration is essential. The early internet thrived because of cooperation between universities, startups, civil society, and government. Blockchain deserves the same collaborative energy. By fostering research, funding privacy innovation, and supporting interoperability standards, the U.S. can lead the world in building a safer, more trustworthy digital economy. In the end, privacy is not a fringe concern. It is the cornerstone of user trust, the foundation of financial inclusion, and the safeguard of democratic values in the digital age. Blockchain has the potential to reshape the global financial system—but only if we build it securely. The time to act is now.
Bloomberg
40 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Why Dutch Pensions Overhaul Will Reverberate in Swaps Market
The Netherlands is overhauling its pension system to adapt to an aging population and the fact that people no longer remain with the same employer for their entire working lives. The Dutch occupational pension system is the largest in the euro area, with almost €1.8 trillion ($2.1 trillion) of assets under management as of the first quarter of 2025. It's embarking on a complex transition from so-called defined-benefit pensions to a new system involving defined contributions.
