According to a July 4, 2023 press release from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, Denmark’s Saxo Bank has been instructed to liquidate its holdings of cryptocurrency assets. The financial regulator maintains that Saxo Bank’s portfolio of crypto assets falls “outside the legal business area of financial institutions” and is in violation of the country’s Financial…
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The Bank of England made an impactful move last Thursday, June 22, 2023, as it raised the benchmark bank rate to 5%, marking a significant 0.5 percentage point increase. This decision catapults the central bank’s rate to its highest level since 2008 and represents the most substantial surge in three months. Coinciding with this development,…
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The Bank of Tanzania (BOT) has reiterated that shillings remain the East African country’s sole legal tender. The apex bank said residents quoting prices in foreign currency or those refusing payment in Tanzanian shillings are in violation of the Bank of Tanzania Act 2006. The central bank said only commercial banks and Bureaux de Change…
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The Tanzanian central bank said on May 31 that foreign currency dealers are required to trade all transactions that exceed $1,000,000 within “interbank foreign exchange market prevailing quoted prices.” According to the Bank of Tanzania, the latest directives are intended to “foster macroeconomic stability and safeguard the stability of the financial system.” Forex Dealers Must…
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The South African central bank has said the that perception that the African nation has aligned itself with Russia could result in the imposition of secondary sanctions which threaten financial stability. The bank also warned in its latest financial stability review that such a perception poses “a future threat to the participation of South African…
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On Friday Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that bans the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the state. Following the bill SB 7054 being signed into law, Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) now explicitly forbids the use of a federally adopted CBDC as money. Florida Puts the Brakes on CBDCs The…
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The Nigerian Federal government said on May 3 it had passed what it called the “national blockchain policy.” The Nigerian minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami, said the new policy is a product of consultations with 56 institutions and personalities. Lucky Uwakwe, the founder of the technology service delivery company Sabi Group, said…
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The South Korean central bank is set to be granted the right to investigate virtual assets after the Financial Services Commission (FSC) dropped its opposition to the move. According to a report, the FSC dropped its opposition to the central bank’s bid after it was accused of seeking to make itself the country’s sole regulator…
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There is a lot of discussion lately about the U.S. government’s debt ceiling and whether Congress will act before defaulting. In a recent interview, Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said she is confident the U.S. can maintain its debt obligations. However, she warned that if the U.S. were to default…
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Roughly 26 days ago and in the following days, the U.S. witnessed two significant bank failures when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed. After speaking at an event on Monday at Yale University, Janet Yellen, the current U.S. Treasury secretary, told reporters that she was closely monitoring the banking industry. Yellen insisted that “matters…
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