Three news to start your week: May 8
"Corrupt costs the world 5% of global GDP": President of ECOSOC
(United Nations)
At a special meeting to combat corruption and boost the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Lachezara Stoeva, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), said that corruption and its staggering costs have hobbled sustainable development in all countries.
"Corruption drains over 5% of global GDP," stated Stoeva, translating into at least $3 trillion for public spending. "A resolute response to corruption, anchored in SDG 16, would pave the way for bringing the ambition of the 2030 Agenda closer to reality."
However, corruption's costs go beyond money. "Corruption contributes to the loss of natural resources, exacerbates poverty and inequality, erodes trust and social cohesion, and undermines economic and political stability," Stoeva added.
US extends once again sanctions carve-out for Russia energy sales
(The Wall Street Journal)
The US has once again kept an exception to its sanctions that lets financial institutions handle transactions linked to the sale of Russian energy.
The Office of Foreign Asset Control said Friday in a formal notice that the Treasury Department will let energy deals with some Russian banks go on until November 1, 2023. The break-out was supposed to end on May 16.
In March 2022, the US stopped letting other countries bring Russian oil and gas. However, financial companies can still take payments for Russian energy in other countries. Many trades of energy are done in US dollars.
US officials assessing possible 'manipulation' on banking shares
(Reuters)
The White House has promised to watch "short-selling pressures on healthy banks." An undisclosed source familiar with the case told Reuters that federal and state officials are investigating whether "market manipulation" caused the recent volatility in banking shares.
Regional bank stocks fell again last week after the failure of First Republic Bank, which was the third mid-sized US bank to fail in the past two months. Analytics company Ortex says that short sellers who bet against certain regional banks made $378.9 million in paper profits on Thursday alone.
The source said that federal and state officials and regulators have recently paid more attention to short-selling and share volatility since the sector's fundamentals are strong and there is enough cash.
