Commerzbank Financial News

By Elisa Martinuzzi, Christian Kraemer and Tom Sims

El Nino & Food Production The El Nino weather phenomenon, which brought dryness to large parts of Asia this year, is forecast to continue in the first half of 2024, putting at risk supplies of rice, wheat, palm oil and other farm products in some of the world's top agricultural exporters and importers. Traders and officials expect Asian rice production in the first half of 2024 to drop as dry planting conditions and shrinking reservoirs are likely to cut yields.

interest rate path. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3% by 0817 GMT, on track to snap a two-day streak of gains. In a broad market selloff, shares of automobile and parts led the declines, falling 0.3%, while rate-sensitive real estate stocks slipped 0.6%. Focus will now shift to the final estimates of U.S.

Bonds rallied and equities paused as a fresh batch of soft inflation data boosted the likelihood of interest-rate cuts, but also underscored the risk of an economic downturn.

The new equity will further Fnality's goal of establishing a global liquidity management ecosystem for new digital payment models in both wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenised asset markets. The lead investors were joined in the round by DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura and WisdomTree.

Stocks fell and gold climbed to a six-month high as data showed a sharp slowdown in China’s industrial profits, which reinforced investor concerns about its sluggish economy.

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank is set to launch crypto trading services in 2024, joining a slew of European banks breaking into the digital asset custody business. 

Leading German bank Commerzbank has received a crypto custody license from government regulators.

Commerzbank AG has received a crypto custody licence, providing more evidence that European banks are growing warmer toward the asset class. The license will allow the bank to “build up a broad range of digital asset services, with particular emphasis on crypto assets,” the Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement on Wednesday. It’s the “first German full-service bank” to get the license, it said. The move shows how Europe’s lenders are carefully entering the crypto market after initially shying away from the asset class given the associated risks and potential for money laundering. The push comes during a recovery in the price for Bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency, following a slump that ensued last year when a string of high-profile businesses collapsed and fraud scandals hit the industry. Other banks are making similar moves which they say reflect client demand. In July, Societe Generale SA’s blockchain unit received the first license issued under France’s new crypto rules. Earlier this month, German cooperative lender DZ Bank AG said it has started a platform for the custody of digital assets. Unlike other European countries, Germany requires banks to get a formal expansion of their existing licenses if they want to provide crypto services including custody. That requirement means the country’s crypto applications afford European banking regulators some transparency into the market.

The German bank Commerzbank has been granted a crypto custody license by local regulators, according to an announcement released by the lender on Nov. 15. 

Germany introduced a new licensing regime for crypto services in 2020 along with an amendment to the EU's Money Laundering Directive, in order to encourage regulated firms to enter the crypto market.Commerzbank first applied for a licence in April 2022. German rival Deutsche Bank followed suit in June this year.Commerzbank has yet to release details of the technology stack for the venture, but says that it aims "to establish a secure and reliable platform with full regulatory compliance to support its institutional clients by providing custody for crypto assets based on blockchain technology".The initiative reognises the de-thawing of banking interest in the market following the recent 'crypto-winter'.

The new equity will further Fnality's goal of establishing a global liquidity management ecosystem for new digital payment models in both wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenised asset markets. The lead investors were joined in the round by DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura and WisdomTree.

Investing.com — European stock markets traded in a subdued fashion Wednesday, as investors awaited comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell while digesting more quarterly corporate earnings.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is ramping up its efforts on the issuance of a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC).

The pilot, called Helvetia Phase III, marks the first time the central bank has moved from test environments into production, making wholesale CBDC available for the settlement of real bond transactions. The banks involved will carry out the transactions on the DLT platform as intermediaries for issuers and investors.

private payrolls data, leading investors to reduce bets the Federal Reserve will hike rates again this year. After touching an 11-month high earlier this week, the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies including the euro and yen, edged 0.07% lower to 106.68 after Wednesday's data showed U.S. private payrolls increased far less than expected in September. Although analysts said more evidence was needed to be sure how fast the labour market is cooling, money markets cut their bets for a Fed rate hike in November, and are now seeing an almost 80% chance the central bank will keep its rates steady.

By Robert Harvey

LONDON — The dollar rose against the yen to an almost 11-month high on Monday following last week's gains, keeping traders focused on Japan intervention risks. The yen fell 0.17% to 148.66 per dollar, touching its lowest since late October and adding to Friday's declines after the BOJ maintained ultra-low interest rates, while Governor Kazuo Ueda stressed the need to spend more time assessing data before raising interest rates. The Japanese currency remained within striking distance of 150, a level which some market watchers saw as a line in the sand that would spur forex intervention from Japanese authorities similar to that of last year. «According to BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda there was no sign yet of stable inflation on a sustainable basis so that the BoJ will patiently continue with monetary easing under the current framework. That was a clear dampener for the yen,» said Esther Reichelt, FX analyst at Commerzbank. A yen overshooting would be seen by many as a catalyst for renewed interventions to strengthen the Japanese currency, similarly to last year, she added. «It is possible of course that exactly such fears of interventions might have prevented a weaker yen for now». The dollar index, which on Friday touched an over six-month high, firmed at 105.64 and was last 0.06% higher. Last week, the Federal Reserve kept rates on hold at its policy meeting, but surprised markets by signalling U.S.

By Joice Alves

Crypto trading platform Bitfinex has unveiled a feature that allows its Turkish customers to directly deposit Turkish Lira into their accounts without incurring any charges.

Italian banking shares took a beating on Tuesday morning after Italy's cabinet approved a 40% windfall tax on lenders' «excess» profits in 2023.