Finance

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey denied that relations between the central bank and government had soured over delays to Revolut’s bank license.
Last week, it was reported that a meeting arranged by the U.K. Treasury with Revolut and a unit of the BOE was cancelled after intervention from Bailey.
“There’s been no falling out between [Reeves] and I on this, or indeed on anything,” Bailey told CNBC’s Ritika Gupta in an interview Thursday.

Revolut cards is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on March 29, 2024. 
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

LONDON — Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told CNBC there hasn’t been a “falling out” with the U.K. government over delays to fintech giant Revolut’s long-awaited bank license.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that a meeting arranged by British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves with Revolut and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) — an arm of the BOE that oversees banks — was cancelled after an intervention from Bailey.

Authorizing Revolut as a fully licensed bank has become an important issue for the U.K. government, particularly as key figures in the tech industry have challenged tax changes that affect the wealthy.
However, in an interview with CNBC’s Ritika Gupta on Thursday, Bailey denied any suggestion that relations between the BOE and Treasury had soured over delays to Revolut’s bank license approval process.
“There’s been no falling out between [Reeves] and I on this, or indeed on anything,” he said. “Actually, we have very good relations, and I think both the Bank and the Treasury have made that clear.”
Bailey added that while he couldn’t comment too much on Revolut specifically, the Prudential Regulation Authority is working things through with the digital banking startup during its “mobilization” process.

The fintech giant was granted a banking license with restrictions in July 2024 from the U.K.’s PRA, bringing an end to a years-long application process that began back in 2021.

This key victory moved Revolut into what’s known as the “mobilization” phase of a company’s journey toward becoming a full-fledged bank.
During this period, firms are limited to holding only £50,000 of total customer deposits — well below the hundreds of billions of pounds customers deposit with major high street lenders such as Barclays, HSBC and Santander.
Revolut customers in the U.K. are also still served by the company’s e-money unit, instead of its banking entity. This means they are not directly insured by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects customers up to £85,000 if a firm fails.
Delays to Revolut have been a point of contention for the government, which has come under fire from the U.K. tech industry for not doing enough to ensure the country can compete effectively with the U.S. and other key hubs.
Bailey stressed that there was “no trade off between financial stability and growth in the economy.” However, he suggested that he was open to rule changes to enable the fintech sector to flourish.
“We are very open to making changes where they’re appropriate,” he said. More

A major exchange-traded fund provider is getting ready to launch a fund designed to ease investors’ tax burdens from a record-setting stock market.
Even though ETFs are considered more tax efficient than mutual funds, Astoria Portfolio Advisors plans to launch the Astoria U.S. Enhanced Core Equity ETF (LCOR) in October. The fund uses a tax-mitigation strategy that’s known as an exchange or conversion under Section 351 of the tax code.

When a stock has a huge run-up, investors may end up overconcentrated in that name, putting them on the hook for large capital gains taxes if they try to sell down the position. With a Section 351 exchange, investors may be able to reallocate some of that position without triggering capital gains taxes. They transfer those assets to a newly created ETF and receive shares of that fund in exchange.
Bruce Lavine, the firm’s chief operating officer and head of ETFs, thinks LCOR is particularly relevant as Big Tech’s outperformance can leave investors with a pretty hefty tax bill if they take profits.
“The idea behind a 351 fund is that you have a lot of stocks that get stuck from a tax perspective because they’re up so much. Think about buying Nvidia two years ago. Perhaps you bought Microsoft 10 years ago,” he told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.
Based on Thursday’s close, Nvidia has gained 83% over the past year, while Microsoft has jumped 31% in the same period. As of July 15, Big Tech stocks comprise one-third of the S&P 500, according to S&P Global.
VettaFi Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth suggests Astoria is tapping into growing yearning for more tax efficiency.
“ETFs in general are a tax-efficient vehicle, so you don’t pay capital gains unless you’re buying and selling,” he said. “This is really focused for people who have a concentrated individual stock position and want to move that in instead of buying an ETF and holding it necessarily the same way.”

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Americans age 60 and older are reporting being victims of imposter scams in increasing numbers, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
They sometimes lose all the savings held in a bank account or 401(k), the agency said.
There are ways to avoid getting scammed.

10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images

Criminals are increasingly pilfering the retirement and other financial accounts of older Americans via so-called “imposter” scams, the Federal Trade Commission reported Thursday.
The frauds tend to go like this: Scammers conjure a fake crisis and pose as trustworthy sources — perhaps a representative for a bank or companies like Amazon, Apple or Microsoft, or workers at a federal agency like the Social Security Administration or FTC — who can supposedly help them fix it.

In the process, they persuade unsuspecting victims to transfer their money to “keep it safe” or for another bogus reason, the FTC said.
In 2024, the FTC received 8,269 reports from adults age 60 and older, claiming to have lost at least $10,000 to an imposter scam. That figure is up 362% from 1,790 reports in 2020, according to FTC data.
Total losses among older Americans amounted to $700 million in 2024 — a more than fivefold increase from $122 million in 2020, the FTC said.

Sometimes, financial loss amounts to households’ entire life savings.
“Some people 60+ have reported emptying their bank accounts and even clearing out their 401ks,” the FTC wrote.

Losses over $100,000 swell 700%

Losses among those older adults who lost at least $100,000 have swelled to $445 million in 2024 from $55 million in 2020, according to the FTC.
The increase in imposter scams tracks an increase in overall elder fraud reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Internet crime led to $4.9 billion in losses from 147,127 consumer complaints in 2024. Those figures represent a 43% increase in losses, and a 46% jump in complaints from 2023, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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“The reported losses are most likely much higher because older Americans are less likely to report fraud because they either don’t know how to report it, are embarrassed, or don’t know they have been scammed,” the FBI wrote in June.
Losses over $100,000 were three times as likely to be reported by adults 60 years and older compared with younger households, according to the FTC’s 2024 data.

How to avoid imposter scams

Here are a few ways the FTC suggests to avoid falling victim to imposter scams:

Don’t move money to “protect” it. Never transfer or send money, cryptocurrency or gold to anyone you don’t know — no matter who they say they are — in response to an unexpected call or message, the FTC said.

Don’t believe people who say to quickly move your money to “protect” it. Anyone who tells you that is a scammer, the agency said.

Hang up and verify. Even if the scams start online, they generally still rely on phone calls at some point in the process. Contact the company or government agency in question using a phone number, website or email address you know is real. “Don’t trust what an unexpected caller says, and never use the phone number in a computer security pop-up or an unexpected text or email,” according to the FTC.

Block unwanted calls. Learn about call blocking options through your carrier that can stop scammers before they reach you. More

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he has selected Stephen Miran, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, replacing Adriana Kugler.
“He has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled — He will do an outstanding job,” Trump said.
Miran likely will serve in the position only through January 2026, the balance of Kugler’s unexpired term, and not as a potential replacement for Chair Jerome Powell.

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he has selected Stephen Miran, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, to a pivotal seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, replacing Adriana Kugler, who resigned Friday.
The nominee will serve out Kugler’s term, which expires Jan. 31, 2026.

“In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, indicating that the nominee for the full 14-year term on the board could be someone else and Miran may just be in a caretaker role.

Stephen Miran, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, following a television interview outside the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“He has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled — He will do an outstanding job,” Trump added. “Congratulations Stephen!”
In addition to the Kugler vacancy, which officially takes effect Friday, current Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires in May. Likely candidates for that position include current Governor Christopher Waller as well as former Governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
Miran’s appointment comes amid continuing speculation that Trump would seek to nominate a “shadow chair” whose job it would be mainly to act as a gadfly on the board. Trump said Wednesday that the nominee for the Kugler seat would be temporary rather than a permanent replacement for Powell.
The president has been pushing for sharply lower interest rates. Miran is a past critic of the Fed, specifically its aggressive stimulus actions during the Covid crisis.

In addition, he is an author of the controversial “Mar-A-Lago Accord,” a plan to devalue the dollar as a way of managing the current account deficit problem for the U.S. He was critical of previous Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s decision to purchase short-term Treasurys as a way to manage the national debt.
“By selecting Miran, Trump has made a stop-gap appointment and given himself until January to make the main call,” Marco Casiraghi, senior economist and strategist at Evercore ISI, said in a note. “This way Trump did not tie his hands, keeping his options open regarding the choice of the new Fed governor and especially the new Fed chair.”
Miran still needs Senate confirmation to the seven-person board, something unlikely to happen until the upper house reconvenes in September. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, of which he would be a permanent voting member, meets next Sept. 16-17. Markets widely expect the committee to approve its first cut since December 2024.
With a vote likely weeks away on the nomination, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (S.C.) in a statement praised Miran as “an accomplished economist” who “has been instrumental in advising on economic policy and advancing a pro-growth agenda in his role as CEA Chair.”
Scott, who has been critical of the Fed’s expansion project at two of its Washington buildings, added that he looked forward to “hearing more about his plans to increase transparency and accountability at the Federal Reserve to ensure the agency prioritizes its mandate and avoids politics.”
Prior to serving in the first Trump White House as senior advisor for economic policy under then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Miran was senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital Management and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
While at Treasury, he played a key role in developing the Paycheck Protection Program following the Covid economic shutdown in 2020. He has since spoke in favor of reciprocal tariffs, which Trump has used extensively this year as part of a global trade war, and he also has been strongly pro-crypto.
In addition to voting on interest rates, Miran’s role as governor would include financial regulation.
However, his most pressing role between confirmation and January could be as an antagonist to Powell.
Trump has fiercely criticized the central bank chief, calling him a barrage of names, requesting his resignation and even mulling the legally questionable possibility of firing him. Current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the past has advocated for a shadow chair, reasoning that even if the Fed does not meet the administration’s demands, Powell’s positions could be counteracted by a dissenting voice on the board who would voice the White House’s positions on monetary policy.
At last week’s FOMC meeting, two governors — Trump appointees Waller and Michelle Bowman — dissented from the decision to hold the overnight funds rate steady. It was the first time multiple governors voted against a rates decision in more than 30 years. More

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller converses on the sidelines of a monetary policy conference at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, California, U.S., May 9, 2025.
Ann Saphir | Reuters

The odds that Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller will be named the next chairman crossed above 50% for the first time on prediction market Kalshi.
Waller’s probability spiked from just about 16% on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that President Donald Trump’s advisors like his openness to adjust monetary policy based on forecasting, rather than current data. It also reported that Waller has met with Trump’s team about the Fed chief role but hasn’t met with the president himself.

Waller’s chance on Kalshi has exceeded previous front-runners former Fed official Kevin Warsh and current National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, whose odds stand at 20% and 35%, respectively.

Arrows pointing outwards

Trump nominated Waller to the Fed in 2020. In the most recent Fed decision, in July, Waller, along with Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, publicly dissented with the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady. Waller said the Fed’s wait-and-see approach is “overly cautious.”
“Waller is an ideal choice for investors given his recent dovish posture and political independence credibility,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note.
Hassett and Warsh have advocated for lower interest rates. Current Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May 2026, has been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism for keeping rates elevated.
On Polymarket, another popular prediction platform, Waller is also the front-runner with the chance rising to 35%. Hassett has a chance of 22%, while Warsh is currently at 11% on Polymarket. A total of 31% of participants wagered that no announcement will be made by December.

On Tuesday, Trump told CNBC that he had four candidates in mind for the top slot but appeared to give the nod to both Warsh and Hassett.
“He’s very good,” Trump said, referring to Warsh. “Sometimes they’re all very good, until you put them in there, and then they don’t do so good. But … I think he’s a very good guy. I’d say Kevin and Kevin, both Kevins are very good.”
Those comments immediately sparked a flurry of activity that sent the odds for Hassett and Warsh higher on Kalshi.

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President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday to allow alternative assets into 401(k)s, CNBC has learned.
The executive order will direct the U.S. Secretary of Labor to review fiduciary guidance on private market investments in 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans.
An executive order would mark a major victory for private asset managers, who have pushed for greater adoption of alternative assets in defined contribution plans during Trump’s second term in office.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves from the roof of the West Wing of the White House as he takes a tour on August 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative assets such as private equity, cryptocurrencies and real estate into 401(k)s, according to a senior White House official.
The executive order will direct the U.S. Secretary of Labor to review fiduciary guidance on private market investments in 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans that are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The federal law sets minimum standards for most retirement plans.

Trump has an executive order signing scheduled at noon. The development was first reported by Bloomberg News.
An executive order would mark a major victory for alternative asset industry, which has pushed for greater adoption of private assets in defined contribution plans under Trump’s second term in office.
Bitcoin jumped on Thursday in response to the news. Private equity stocks such as Apollo Group were slightly higher on Thursday in early trading.
Private market assets have traditionally been excluded from 401(k)s, even as they’ve been embraced by pension funds and university endowments, because their high fees, lack of transparency and longer lockup periods make them riskier investments.
Yet, private market exposure in 401(k) plans was considered permissible in 2020, when the Department of Labor under the first Trump administration issued an information letter saying it could be appropriate for defined contribution plans under certain conditions. The guidance was later affirmed by the Biden-directed agency.

Its presence has already grown. Asset managers and plan sponsors have created products for retirement vehicles in which Americans collectively hold roughly $8.7 trillion in assets, according to data on 401(k)s at the end of the first quarter of 2025 from the Investment Company Institute.
In June, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said it’s launching a 401(k) target date fund in the first half of 2026 that will include a 5% to 20% allocation to private investments. In May, Empower, the country’s second-largest retirement plan provider, said it’s joining asset managers such as Apollo to start allowing private assets in some accounts later this year.
—With reporting by CNBC’s Megan Cassella More

Xiongan, China’s “city of the future” and a pet project of Xi Jinping, the country’s supreme leader, has become a byword for costly vanity projects. Central-government and provincial planners have spent at least 835bn yuan ($116bn) on the city since 2017, when they broke ground in what had been marshy farmland 125km south of Beijing. It has been touted as a solution to China’s urban maladies, with residents promised short commutes through leafy parks instead of cough-inducing traffic jams. The city is part, officials say, of a “one-thousand-year plan” in civilisation-building. A book about Xiongan from a state publisher lists its creation alongside the works of mythical emperors who supposedly lived 5,000 years ago. More

Time for your annual check-up. After what feels like an eternity in the waiting room, flicking through dog-eared copies of the world’s finest publications (did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?), your name is called at last. A smiling professional awaits you, only this time the room smells not of disinfectant, but of the solvents used in whiteboard markers. Instead of a fold-out bed, there is a Bloomberg terminal behind the modesty curtain in the corner, flashing green or red with every tick of the market. The economist will see you now. More