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HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank’s UK business

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

LONDON — HSBC has acquired the British assets of the now-defunct Silicon Valley Bank, the U.K. Treasury announced today. No U.K. taxpayer money is involved, and customer deposits have been protected, according to the announcement.The news provides a welcome relief to local startups and venture capitalists who had spent the weekend worrying about their futures after the American bank collapsed.“Today the government and the Bank of England have facilitated a private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK; this ensures customer deposits are protected and can bank as normal, with no taxpayer support,” Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the United Kingdom’s treasury chief, said in a statement. The U.K. deposits of the California bank are estimated to be worth a combined $7 billion.“I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver that promise,” Hunt said.HSBC saw off competition from other rivals, including the Bank of London, looking...

US Treasury, regulators unveil bank rescue plan to stem crisis

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. federal authorities took aggressive action Sunday to end days of global uncertainty and panic, agreeing to backstop all depositors for two failed lenders — and to prevent runs on any other financial institutions.The Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and FDIC vowed that taxpayers would not bear losses from the moves to bolster the depositors at the two shuttered lenders, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The agencies said Silicon Valley Bank’s depositors would have access to all their money on Monday.In a stunning move, the Fed also announced that it would offer cash loans of up to a year for any bank putting up safe collateral — an action that in theory would allow banks to handle deposit withdrawals of any amount. The goal: to reassure people that they don’t need to take their money out at all.The agencies were praised by lawmakers from both parties for taking swift action to stem a financial panic. But Federal Financial Analytics managing partner Karen P...

HSBC will buy UK subsidiary of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The UK Treasury and the Bank of England have “facilitated the sale″ of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC, ensuring the security of 6.7 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) of deposits.British officials worked throughout the weekend to find a buyer for the UK subsidiary of the California-based bank that failed last week.“This morning, the government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC,″ Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said in a Tweet. “Deposits will be protected, with no taxpayer support. I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver that promise.”HSBC said it will acquire Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd for one pound.The Associated Press

Asian shares mixed despite jitters after US bank failure

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Monday, shaken by a Wall Street tumble that set off worries the biggest United States bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world. But the falls were relatively subdued because of reassurances from U.S. officials that financial shocks would be mitigated, sending U.S. futures higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1% to finish at 27,832.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,108.80. South Korea’s Kospi recouped earlier losses to gain 0.8% to 2,412.84. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.9% to 19,683.23. The Shanghai Composite rose nearly 1.1% to 3,263.88, as Chinese shares tracked a gain in U.S. futures. Dow futures were up 1.2% at 32,552.00. S&P 500 futures rose 1.7% to 3,964.00. Oil prices vacillated throughout the day.Recent developments in Chinese politics have worked as a stabilizing factor. Major posts, including the governor of the Bank of China, were announced, s...

Russia’s economy holds up, but growing challenges test Putin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

Western sanctions have hit Russian banks, wealthy individuals and technology imports. But after a year of far-reaching restrictions aimed at degrading Moscow’s war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn’t look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine.There’s no mass unemployment, no plunging currency, no lines in front of failing banks. The assortment at the supermarket is little changed, with international brands still available or local substitutes taking their place. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu.“Economically, nothing has changed,” said Vladimir Zharov, 53, who works in television. “I work as I used to work, I go shopping as I used to. Well, maybe the prices have risen a little bit, but not in such a way that it is very noticeable.”Russia’s economy has weather...

Japan’s Kenzaburo Oe, awarded Nobel for poetic fiction, dies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose darkly poetic novels were built from his childhood memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son, has died. He was 88. His publisher, Kodansha Ltd., said in a statement Monday that Oe had died of old age on March 3. The publisher did not give further details about his death and said his funeral was held by his family. Oe in 1994 became the second Japanese author awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.The Swedish Academy cited the author for his works of fiction, in which “poetic force creates an imagined world where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.”His most searing works were influenced by the birth of Oe’s mentally disabled son in 1963. “A Personal Matter,” published a year later, is the story of a father coming to terms through darkness and pain with the birth of a brain-damaged son. Several of his later works have a damaged or de...

Michelle Yeoh’s mom tearful, proud of ‘little princess’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Michelle Yeoh’s mother cried for joy for her “little princess” when the Malaysian performer became the first Asian to win the best actress Oscar. Yeoh’s family and two Cabinet ministers were among the supporters roaring with joy at Yeoh’s win during a special Academy Awards viewing party in Malaysia on Monday morning. Her trophy for her performance as a laundromat owner was one of seven Oscars for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including best picture.Janet Yeoh, 84, praised the actor as intelligent and hardworking and a filial daughter.“I so love my daughter and she has made Malaysia proud,” Yeoh told a news conference after the viewing at a cinema in Kuala Lumpur. ”Malaysia Boleh (Malaysia Can)! ”Janet Yeoh said she was immensely proud of “my little princess,” who wanted to be a ballerina before entering the movie world. Yeoh said she pushed her daughter out of her cocoon despite protests from her late husband, a lawyer whom she described a...

An EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence to ensure a stronger and more resilient EU

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

On 10 March, the Commission and the High Representative presented for the first time a Joint Communication on a European Space Strategy for Security and Defence. In the current geopolitical context of increasing power competition and intensification of threats, the EU is taking action to protect its space assets, defend its interests, deter hostile activities in space and strengthen its strategic posture and autonomy.The Strategy outlines the counterspace capabilities and main threats in space that put at risk space systems and their ground infrastructure, building on a common definition of the space domain. The Strategy proposes actions to strengthen the resilience and protection of space systems and services in the EU. It also outlines concrete measures to mobilise relevant EU tools to respond to space threats, including to: expand the existing space threat response mechanism, better detect and identify space objects, characterise inappropriate behaviours in orbit and protect EU a...

The 10 most expensive reported home sales in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton the week of Feb. 27

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

A house in Danville that sold for $2.1 million tops the list of the most expensive real estate sales in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton in the past week.In total, 10 real estate sales were recorded in the area during the last week, with an average price of $1.6 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $741.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Feb. 27 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $1.2 million, single-family residence in the 2700 block of Mountain Ash LaneThe sale of the single-family home in the 2700 block of Mountain Ash Lane, San Ramon, has been finalized. The price was $1,180,000, and the new owners took over the house in February. The house was built in 2005 and has a living area of 1,647 square feet. The price per square foot was $716. The house features 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.Mountain Ash Lane9. $1.3 million, townhouse in the 500 block of Rolling Hills LaneThe prop...

No masks required, but Japanese fans still wear them at WBC

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese government relaxed its mask-wearing guidelines on Monday, but the vast majority of fans at the Tokyo Dome watching the World Baseball Classic still wore them.Nippon Professional Baseball also issued new guidelines. Spectators will now be allowed to cheer at the Tokyo Dome without wearing masks, which had been prohibited until Sunday, though some bent the rules.The vast majority of people attending games at the Tokyo Dome on Monday were wearing a mask. But there were more maskless fans than the day before, though it was clear many did not know the guidelines had changed.“Most Japanese are still wearing masks, and I’m doing it because I don’t want to be in the minority,” 19-year-old Kanon Shibuya said, standing inside the stadium.The shift away from masks has been slow in Japan, where much of the public wore them even before the COVID-19 pandemic.The Japanese pro team Fukuoka Softbank Hawks announced over the weekend that fans and employees could use their ow...