Aurelia Butler

CHRISTIANSTED, St. Croix (Reuters) -G7 leaders will discuss a new legal theory that would enable the seizure of $300 billion in frozen Russian assets when they meet in February, two sources familiar with the plans and a British official said on Thursday.U.S. and UK officials have worked in recent months to jumpstart efforts to confiscate Russian assets immobilized in Belgium and other European cities, and hope Group of Seven leaders agree to issue a stronger statement when they meet in late February, around the second anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the three sources said.The discussion takes place as U.S. President Joe Biden faces Republican opposition to his request for another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, with U.S. officials warning of dire consequences for the Ukraine war effort.The United States, backed by the UK, Japan and Canada, has proposed that G7 working groups develop options for G7 leaders, the sources said, but cautioned against expecting “an actual announcement” about asset seizures at the late February meeting.The new legal theory would allow asset seizures in “very specific circumstances” involving an aggressor country, one of the sources said.”The U.S. has been able to develop a legal theory for how Russia could be held accountable that we think will be held up internationally in the courts and will be widely recognized as legitimate,” the source said.No decisions had been made, and several countries – including the United States and Britain – would require legislative changes to establish the needed authorities to carry out such seizures, two of the sources said.The Financial Times reported earlier Thursday that Washington had proposed setting up three working groups to examine the legal issues around confiscation; the method of applying such a policy and mitigating risks; and options for how to best channel the support to Ukraine.G7 leaders have long argued that Russia is obligated under international law to end its war and pay for the damage it has caused, which already exceeds $400 billion dollars, according to the World Bank.In a Dec. 6 statement, G7 leaders said they would “explore all possible avenues to aid Ukraine in obtaining compensation from Russia, consistent with our respective legal systems and international law” and directed their relevant ministers to continue working on the issue.One of the sources said there was still more work to be done, including convincing other countries to join in.”This is something that the international community would need to collectively do in order to ensure it can be done effectively,” the source said, adding that some countries would only proceed if all European countries signed on.The Financial Times noted that some European countries, including Italy – which takes over the G7 presidency in 2024 – were wary, fearing the possible implications for financial stability as well as retaliatory action from Russia.Moscow has already threatened to take retaliatory action against countries that seize its assets. More

The country’s economy depends heavily on financial support from partners and Kyiv has been concerned whether it will continue as new aid packages have been recently blocked both in the European Union and in the United States.Bloomberg reported earlier on Thursday that Shmyhal had sent a letter this month to an international group coordinating funds for Ukraine saying it was “imperative that we receive sufficient, prompt, and predictable external financing, beginning January 2024.” The letter also asked donors to meet in January ahead of a scheduled meeting the following month, the report said.”We explain: You should not panic. This is part of systemic work with partners,” Ukrinform said in a post on Telegram linking to its coverage of Bloomberg’s report. “This was reported to Ukrinform by a high-ranking source familiar with the situation, commenting on the report by Bloomberg,” Ukrinform’s Telegram post added.On its website, Ukrinform quoted the unnamed source as saying the letter was sent to participants in the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform, which coordinates funds for Ukraine, after it met on Dec. 19 and “determined that budget support was to be the main direction” of its work in 2024.”This is part of systemic work with partners,” Ukrinform quoted the source as saying. The platform’s steering committee is made up of senior officials from Ukraine, G7 countries and the EU.Shmyhal said on Dec. 21 that Ukraine had received the last 1.5 billion euro ($1.65 billion) tranche from the 18 billion package expected from the European Union for 2023.For 2024, Ukraine hopes to receive 18.5 billion euros from the EU and more than $8 billion from a U.S. package that also contains vital military assistance. Voting on both packages was moved to the beginning of the next year. More

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The ETF aims to boost liquidity for state coffers and strengthen the government’s ability to obtain financing, said Contreras.He did not detail the sovereign debt instrument’s expected yield or its overall cost. More

The package aims to completely replace the text of an approved bill that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed, just to have it overturned by Congress two weeks ago.Speaking at a press conference, Haddad said that all measures would constitute an executive order to be released this year. Once signed by Lula, the measures would be immediately effective for four months, but would require Congress approval to go past that period.The changes erase rules approved by lawmakers for small towns and scale back tax benefits to companies, and they are likely to face political scrutiny, said Senator Efraim Filho, the author of the bill targeted by the replacement proposal.”The issuance of the executive order contradicts a decision made by a broad majority in Congress. It will face resistance right from the start,” he wrote on social media.Haddad, who reiterated the government’s intention to pursue balanced public accounts in 2024, had previously indicated that the government would present a substitute proposal for the bill.It originally extended payroll tax exemptions for 17 labor sectors until 2027, and its impact had not yet been incorporated into the 2024 budget.The minister clarified on Thursday that the majority revenue loss, around 15 billion reais ($3.09 billion), was expected to arise from a change contained in the text that reduced the contribution rate on payroll for smaller municipalities from 20% to 8%.According to Haddad, the executive order is now set to remove this whole part, which will be subject to further negotiation.The remaining impact of the bill, amounting to 12 billion reais, will be compensated in the new measure with tax adjustments on three fronts, said the secretary of the revenue service, Robinson Barreirinhas. The government will propose a phased end to payroll tax exemptions for the benefited sectors, suggesting that, in exchange for the standard 20% rate on the payroll, companies pay 10% or 15%, depending on their category, on the equivalent of one minimum wage for each of their formal workers.According to Haddad, this alternative has an annual cost of 6 billion reais, which will be offset by changes aiming to reduce post-pandemic tax benefits granted to the event industry through the “PERSE” program, eventually eliminating it by 2025.A third measure will restrict the ability of taxpayers to offset taxes annually, added the minister. Barreirinhas stressed that the annual ceiling for tax compensation is not yet established and will be further regulated, but 30% is a parameter that could be adopted.”The idea is to implement a scaling, the higher the value, the longer the period of use (of the tax credit), but limited to five years,” he said, adding that the limitation will only apply to tax credits received in judicial cases above 10 million reais.In a note to clients, analysts’ at XP (NASDAQ:XP) positively assessed the proposal, mentioning a “good probability of achieving fiscal gains” with the measures, which may mitigate current distortions. “For now, we maintain our primary deficit projection of 91.6 billion reais (0.8% of GDP), but the risks are tilted to the upside.”($1 = 4.8584 reais) More

Following a visit to Mexico by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the countries said they would seek to strengthen a sponsorship initiative for Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants and look to tackle the root causes of migration.The delegations, who are set to meet again in Washington next month, also discussed regularizing the situation of beneficiaries of the U.S. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – the so-called Dreamers who were brought into the country illegally as children – and long-time undocumented Hispanic migrants living in the United States.The talks came after the U.S. temporarily shuttered some border crossings to redeploy agents toward enforcement, sparking a trade slowdown and criticism by Republicans of the Biden administration’s border policies. Immigration and the border are expected to be top issues in the U.S. 2024 elections, where President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is running for a second term.Earlier Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the two parties had agreed to keep border crossings open after the temporary closures.”This agreement has been reached, the rail crossings and the border bridges are already being opened to normalize the situation,” Lopez Obrador told a morning press conference.Lopez Obrador said Wednesday’s meetings with the U.S. delegation were “direct,” and he praised the Biden administration’s relationship with Mexico.’FAITH IN GOD’More than half a million migrants this year crossed the dangerous Darien Gap jungle connecting South America with Central America – double last year’s record – with many fleeing crime, poverty and conflict to seek better prospects in the United States.The latest of a series of caravans of migrants and asylum seekers, many with small children, is slowly walking across southern Mexico, heading towards the U.S border. Lopez Obrador estimated that the caravan counts some 1,500 people but some activists and local media have put the figure at 7,000.”We have to have faith in God,” Honduran migrant Marvin Mejias said as he traveled with his son, who has had foot surgery. Mejias said he hoped the governments had reached a deal which would help him enter the U.S. and be able to work there.Lopez Obrador said the issue of fentanyl, a powerful and deadly opioid that Mexican cartels have been trafficking into the U.S., was “hardly discussed” in Wednesday’s meeting. The United States has been pressing Mexico to do more to combat fentanyl trafficking, while Mexico has been pushing for stronger U.S. controls to prevent U.S. firearms from reaching the powerful cartels. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Pending U.S. home sales were unchanged in November, data released Thursday showed, signaling traffic from prospective buyers is slow to recover despite interest rates easing on the most common type of home loan.An index gauging contracts to buy existing homes measured at 71.6 in November, level with October’s revised reading, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. Economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 1%.On a yearly basis, pending home sales have declined 5.2%.”Although declining mortgage rates did not induce more homebuyers to submit formal contracts in November, it has sparked a surge in interest, as evidenced by a higher number of lockbox openings,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR. “With mortgage rates falling further in December – leading to savings of around $300 per month from the recent cyclical peak in rates – home sales will improve in 2024.”Mortgage interest rates climbed to nearly 8% in October, coinciding with the lowest reading of pending home sales since the index was created in 2001. After the Federal Reserve left its benchmark policy rate unchanged again in November, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.61%, the lowest since May, for the week ended Dec. 28, Freddie Mac said. Existing home sales fell precipitously this year from 2022 as high mortgage rates encouraged homeowners locked into cheaper rates to keep their homes, shortening inventory and eroding buyer traffic.The West and Northeast regions experienced the biggest gain in contracts signed, by 4.2% and 0.8% respectively. Pending home sales in the South fell by 2.3%. More