1 ZANDANSHATAR GOMBOJAV APPOINTED AS PRIME MINISTER OF MONGOLIA WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      2 WHAT MONGOLIA’S NEW PRIME MINISTER MEANS FOR ITS DEMOCRACY WWW.TIME.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      3 ULAANBAATAR DIALOGUE SHOWS MONGOLIA’S FOREIGN POLICY CONTINUITY AMID POLITICAL UNREST WWW.THEDIPLOMAT.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      4 THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF) IN MONGOLIA, THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR SUPPORTING THE BILLION TREES MOVEMENT, AND CREDITECH STM NBFI LLC HAVE JOINTLY LAUNCHED THE “ONE CHILD – ONE TREE” INITIATIVE WWW.BILLIONTREE.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      5 NEW MONGOLIAN PM TAKES OFFICE AFTER CORRUPTION PROTESTS WWW.AFP.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      6 GOLD, MINED BY ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINERS OF MONGOLIA TO BE SUPPLIED TO INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY COMPANIES WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      7 AUSTRIA PUBLISHES SYNTHESIZED TEXTS OF TAX TREATIES WITH ICELAND, KAZAKHSTAN AND MONGOLIA AS IMPACTED BY BEPS MLI WWW.ORBITAX.COM  PUBLISHED:2025/06/13      8 THE UNITED STATES AND MONGOLIA OPEN THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MN.USEMBASSY.GOV  PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      9 MONGOLIA'S 'DRAGON PRINCE' DINOSAUR WAS FORERUNNER OF T. REX WWW.REUTERS.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      10 MONGOLIA’S PIVOT TO CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS: STRATEGIC REALIGNMENTS AND REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS WWW.CACIANALYST.ORG  PUBLISHED:2025/06/12      БӨӨРӨЛЖҮҮТИЙН ЦАХИЛГААН СТАНЦЫН II БЛОКИЙГ 12 ДУГААР САРД АШИГЛАЛТАД ОРУУЛНА WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/15     ОРОН СУУЦНЫ ҮНЭ 14.3 ХУВИАР ӨСЖЭЭ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/15     МОНГОЛ УЛСЫН 34 ДЭХ ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙДААР Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАРЫГ ТОМИЛЛОО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     SXCOAL: МОНГОЛЫН НҮҮРСНИЙ ЭКСПОРТ ЗАХ ЗЭЭЛИЙН ХҮНДРЭЛИЙН СҮҮДЭРТ ХУМИГДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.ITOIM.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     МОНГОЛ БАНК: ТЭТГЭВРИЙН ЗЭЭЛД ТАВИХ ӨР ОРЛОГЫН ХАРЬЦААГ 50:50 БОЛГОЛОО WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     МОНГОЛ ДАХЬ НҮБ-ЫН ХҮҮХДИЙН САН, ТЭРБУМ МОД ҮНДЭСНИЙ ХӨДӨЛГӨӨНИЙГ ДЭМЖИХ САН, КРЕДИТЕХ СТМ ББСБ ХХК “ХҮҮХЭД БҮРД – НЭГ МОД” САНААЧИЛГЫГ ХАМТРАН ХЭРЭГЖҮҮЛНЭ WWW.BILLIONTREE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     ЕРӨНХИЙЛӨГЧИЙН ТАМГЫН ГАЗРЫН ДАРГААР А.ҮЙЛСТӨГӨЛДӨР АЖИЛЛАНА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     34 ДЭХ ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙД Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАР ХЭРХЭН АЖИЛЛАНА ГЭЖ АМЛАВ? WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     “АНГЛИ ХЭЛНИЙ МЭРГЭШЛИЙН ТӨВ”-ИЙГ МУИС-Д НЭЭЛЭЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/13     Г.ЗАНДАНШАТАР БАЯЛГИЙН САНГИЙН БОДЛОГЫГ ҮРГЭЛЖЛҮҮЛНЭ ГЭЖ АМЛАЛАА WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/12    

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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China turns to blockchain to make markets clearer and cleaner www.reuters.com

 
Chinese banks are hiring blockchain experts as the government pushes use of the technology behind bitcoin to increase transparency and combat fraud in its financial sector.
Lenders have struggled for years with outdated and disparate technology. While four Chinese banks rank among the world's five largest by capital, many still use paper, faxes and traditional chop stamps to verify documents.
Now, spurred by regulators, they are looking to use blockchain to leapfrog a generation of technology and clean up the system, bankers and blockchain experts say.
Demand from Chinese banks for experience in blockchain more than doubled last year and will grow further this year, headhunters and blockchain professionals say, as lenders scramble to catch up with Western counterparts that have already invested $1.5 billion in the technology.
"Demand is increasing rapidly and shows no sign of slowing. We expect similar levels of year-on-year growth in 2017," said Simon Lance, managing director of executive search firm Hays in China, which is hiring for a number of Chinese banks.
Banks and headhunters are trawling Chinese universities for talent and luring tech start-up executives with 50 percent pay rises and salaries of up to 1.2 million yuan ($175,000).
Blockchain is a ledger system that processes, stores and tracks digital information, from crypto-currencies to loan agreements. Because blockchain documents all changes and is hard to tamper with, financial firms and regulators see it as a potential way to make transactions more transparent, auditable and secure.
Beijing wants banks to adopt the technology to help combat chronic fraud such as fake trade finance deals.
Banks including Ping An Bank (000001.SZ) and Bank of China (601988.SS) have unveiled blockchain investments and projects, and around ten banks are looking to hire some 30 blockchain professionals, said Steven Shen, a senior manager at executive search firm Robert Walters in Shanghai.
Six Chinese banks contacted by Reuters declined to comment.
Last year, multiple cases of fraud emerged in the archaic bills financing industry when it was found bills thought to have been kept in a safe were actually old newspapers, and the real documents had been used to raise margin financing.
According to business intelligence firm Kroll, 86 percent of companies surveyed in China reported fraud in 2016, four percentage points above the global average, and up 13 percent on 2015.
In October, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology identified blockchain as a fraud-fighting tool, and called on "every level of government" to encourage large firms to invest more in the technology.
The People's Bank of China, the top financial regulator, has also signaled support for blockchain, with the central bank's chief Zhou Xiaochuan telling local media last year it had spent "significant resources" researching the technology.
"China is really interested in blockchain," said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of the Hyperledger Project, one of the biggest global blockchain projects, and a former technology adviser to the White House. "They're looking at this as a leapfrog technology. Can you take a very backward, very paper based market, and reinvent that using blockchain?"
Banks are testing blockchain for know-your-client documentation, trade finance transactions, payments, and asset custody.
Over the past year, financial conglomerate Ping An has built a core blockchain team of around 35 people at group level to look at initiatives for asset registries, credit, payments and digital currencies, said Daniel Tu, group chief innovation officer at Ping An Insurance (601318.SS). If the projects are successful, Ping An subsidiaries will also assign full-time blockchain experts, he added.
Ye Xiaofeng, founder of blockchain start-up ZerOne.IO, said he was talking to two of China's four biggest banks looking to use blockchain for monitoring bills of exchange and credit tracking.
 
This means people with the skills to lead these projects are in demand.
 
"The market isn't lacking people who know how to design simple systems on blockchain, rather people who have a broader understanding of how to put blockchain to use," said Shen at Robert Walters, adding those individuals could command 50 percent pay rises when moving jobs.
 
A senior person with blockchain expertise and financial systems knowledge could expect a salary of between 600,000 yuan and 1.2 million yuan, he said, while a mid-level employee is paid 400,000-600,000 yuan.
 
Chinese banks are focused for now on hiring home-grown talent for language and cultural reasons, but increasing demand may force them to scout overseas, headhunters said.
 
HYPE CYCLE
 
About 80 percent of top global banks will have launched blockchain projects by next year, the World Economic Forum said in August, describing the technology as the future "beating heart" of the financial sector.
 
While China accounts for most of the global trading in the bitcoin crypto-currency, Chinese lenders lag Western rivals on blockchain adoption by up to 12 months, and are playing catch-up, industry insiders say.
 
China Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS), Ping An, China Merchants Bank (600036.SS) and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System last year joined R3, a U.S.-based blockchain consortium founded by nine global banks in 2014.
 
"They're still going through the hype cycle," said Tim Swanson, a director at R3, which is now backed by 75 financial institutions.
 
To be sure, many blockchain projects globally are still in their infancy, but the complexity of Chinese bank legacy systems could make it even tougher to apply the technology successfully, said Zennon Kapron, founder of market research firm Kapronasia.
 
"It's all nice you have a blockchain solution, but being able to integrate that back into your existing systems in a sensible way is where a lot of these organizations will be challenged."
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Alibaba's financial arm to acquire MoneyGram www.chinadaily.com.cn

 
HANGZHOU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ant Financial, e-commerce giant Alibaba's financial arm, announced late on Thursday that it has reached a deal to acquire U.S. money-transfer company MoneyGram for 880 million U.S. dollars.
"The acquisition of MoneyGram is a significant milestone in our mission to bring inclusive financial services to users around the world," said Eric Jing, chief executive officer of Ant Financial Services Group.
The company owns Alipay, one of China's biggest online payment platforms and controls the company that manages the country's largest money market fund, Yu'ebao.
The transaction will connect MoneyGram's money transfer network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts and 350,000 physical locations with Ant Financial's users, according to the statement.
MoneyGram will remain headquartered in Dallas and continue to operate under its existing brand, it said.
The transaction will help expand Ant Financial's business following its partnering with Paytm in India and Ascend Money in Thailand, it said.
Alex Holmes, CEO of MoneyGram, said Ant Financial is an ideal partner. "We will be able to expand our business, and in doing so, offer people around the world access to a reliable financial connection to loved ones," Holmes said.
The transaction is subject to approval of MoneyGram's stockholders and regulatory approvals. The acquisitions is expected to finish in second half of 2017.
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Philippines sustains robust economic growth under Duterte www.rt.com

 
The annual growth was the fastest since 2013, according to the government.
“Our economy remains robust and is growing at a healthy and steady pace,” said Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.
As for the fourth quarter last year, GDP slowed down to 6.6 percent from seven percent in the previous one due to a decline in agriculture and services.
The industrial sector showed the fastest growth at 7.6 percent from October through December, up from 6.5 percent in the same period the previous year.
Household consumption grew 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period the year earlier with business investment up 15 percent.
According to the Statistics Office, trade, manufacturing, real estate, renting and business activities were among the major drivers.
“The current government has sustained the economic policies that have been responsible for a trend growth of 6.2 percent in the last six years. The economic team is also a solid team and has a significant influence on the President's economic decisions,” said Joey Cuyegkeng, senior economist at multinational financial services company ING, as quoted by CNBC.
The latest numbers are partially the results of policies pursued by the previous Philippine administration that erased bureaucratic barriers to infrastructure spending.
“This momentum has sustained since then, and as a result, investment continues to make a near-record contribution to the structure of growth,” said Joseph Incalcaterra, an economist with HSBC, as quoted by FT.
“There are definitely some risks on the horizon stemming from protectionist policies in the US, but we think the Philippines is less at risk compared to other Asian economies,” the analyst added.
The Philippine economy is currently among the fastest growing in Asia, topping China's 6.7 percent growth. India is yet to reveal its economic data for 2016.
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Excise tax on petrol and diesel fuel reduced www.mongolia.gogo.mn

During its regular meeting on January 25, the Cabinet refixed the rate of excise tax imposed on petrol and diesel fuel in order to subdue the increasing price of petrol and diesel fuel in connection with a rise of oil price on global market, and maintain it.
The Cabinet resolution reduces excise tax on petrol from MNT 160 thousand to MNT 50 thousand /MNT 30 thousand for above 90 octane petrol/ and diesel fuel from MNT 180 thousand to MNT 70 thousand. Although state budget revenue will decrease by MNT 110 billion as a result, corresponding Ministry and organization see that such decision can subdue the rise of petrol and diesel fuel prices.
Ts.Dashdorj, Minister for Mining and Heavy Industry and B.Lkhagva, Director of Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection were assigned to see to the implementation of the resolution.
Previously, the Cabinet twice reduced the excise tax on petrol and diesel fuel.
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South Korea's Kia Motors drafts Trump contingency plan www.reuters.com

 
Kia Motors (000270.KS) said on Thursday it is drawing up a contingency plan to cope with the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, reflecting growing wariness by Asian exporters about the prospect of U.S. protectionism.
Trump has promised to revive U.S. industrial jobs by forcing automakers to stop making cars in Mexico, threatening to tax imports and promising to make it more attractive for businesses to operate in the United States.
South Korea-based Kia Motors last year started production at a new plant in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, while sister firm Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) will begin making cars at Kia's Mexico plant this year.
"We acknowledge that there are a lot of concerns about the uncertainty stemming from the new U.S. administration," Han Chun-soo, Kia's chief financial officer, said during an earnings conference call.
"While closely monitoring its policy directions, we are preparing to respond by setting up a step-by-step, scenario-based contingency plan."
Trump has warned German carmakers and Japan's Toyota (7203.T) of a "big border tax" if they build cars for the U.S. market in Mexico. So far however he has not commented on the South Korean carmakers' plans.
Kia plans to more than double its Mexico output this year to 250,000 vehicles and aims to boost U.S. sales by 8 percent to 699,000 vehicles. Hyundai and Kia together rank fifth in global car sales.
Hyundai Motor on Wednesday said it expected competition and protectionist measures to increase, after posting its lowest quarterly profit in about five years.
Hyundai Motor group, which includes Kia, last week said it planned to lift U.S. investment by 50 percent to $3.1 billion over five years and could build a new plant there.
Kia on Thursday said it planned to launch a small sport utility vehicle in South Korea this year, in a bid to take advantage of a booming segment.
The model would be a "crossover utility vehicle (CUV)" based on its Pride sedan, also known as the Rio, the carmaker said without elaborating.
Kia Motors already sells a small SUV called Niro, a gasoline-electric hybrid model.
It also planned to introduce a small SUV in Europe this year, it added.
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Investors pull most cash from U.S. stock funds since election: ICI www.reuters.com

 
Investors sold U.S.-based domestic stock funds at the fastest pace since equities leapt following the presidential election, Investment Company Institute data for the latest week showed on Wednesday.
Stock funds based and invested in the United States posted withdrawals of $3.7 billion during the week that ended Jan. 18, according to the trade group. That is the largest outflow for the funds since the election-week period ended Nov. 9, when outflows approached $6.4 billion.
President Donald Trump was sworn into office last Friday. He and his Republican party, which controls Congress, have touted potential new economic stimulus measures, such as tax cuts.
Those efforts could propel stocks, and investors on Wednesday lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI above the symbolic 20,000 threshold for the first time.
But domestic equity fund sales have taken a pause since they totaled $23 billion in November as investors take stock of an unformed policy agenda.
Meanwhile, taxable bond funds added $3.5 billion in their seventh straight week netting cash. Including municipal bonds, U.S.-based bond funds took in $4.7 billion altogether during the week, ICI said.
U.S.-based fixed-income funds lost $13 billion to withdrawals in November as stimulus policies raised the prospect of bond-harming inflation. Yet bond funds have continued to attract money since then.
Commodity funds, included those that buy gold, netted their first week of cash in 10, attracting $231 million, the data showed.
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J&J to buy Actelion for $30 billion www.reuters.com

 
Swiss biotech company Actelion (ATLN.S) said on Thursday it had agreed to be purchased by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) in a $30 billion deal.
The all-cash offer, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Actelion for $280 per share, payable in U.S. dollars, was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, Actelion and Johnson & Johnson said in a joint statement.
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Invaluable clean air www.mongolia.gogo.mn

 
It has been officially acknowledged that air pollution in Ulaanbaatar has reached disaster levels. Some were under the impression that the level of toxins decreased, but on the contrary, wintertime pollution in the capital is suffocating is citizens now more than ever.
The public has united in the fight against air pollution for the first time, as the people realise that our right to live in a healthy and safe environment is being violated. Authorities have taken the issue into account and have made some decisive moves.
The Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism in cooperation with the Ulaanbaatar City Mayor's Office organised a technology exhibition named "Your involvement in reducing air pollution" at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the 9th-10th of Jan in relation to this winter's hottest topic.
More than 50 enterprises participated in this exhibition and a variety of products were showcased, starting from equipment that reduces vehicle fuel consumption and gas emissions, to traditional water heaters, electric floor heaters, briquette, exhaust filters, Mongolian ger heating curtain and gas heaters.
At this crowded exhibition, a piece of technology that does not use solid fuel and is affordable for the average family caught my eye. Coal in small green sacks sold for MNT 3,000 is the main contributor to Ulaanbaatar's air pollution; hence, if air pollution is related to poverty, can be solved using technology?
Almost 40 companies that participated in the exhibition were offering electric heating. A common heater which does not require additional costs other than purchase and installation costs around MNT 600,000 and can fully heat a five-walled ger regardless of gas or electricity utilisation.
Floor heaters cost approximately MNT 60,000 per square metre. In addition to that, some additional costs will be incurred in choosing the right flooring materials and installation. It would cost MNT 2.3 million for an exhaust filter that neutralises toxic substances in smoke if you decide not to change out a traditional fire stove.
The salesmen said monthly electricity costs of a household becomes MNT 50-60,000 at the minimum depending on the type of electric heater. The monthly costs for gas heating are also about the same. Although the cost is lower than MNT 3,000 per day for coal, how much electricity you use or gas you purchase depends on the amount heat loss from your home. The above numbers are estimates that calculated heat loss at a minimum.
The reality is that people without the financial means to purchase 1.5 tonnes of coal for MNT 150,000 are purchasing small sacks of coal in order to have some money left to buy food. There are those who cannot even buy coal by the small sacks and turn to burning tyres, sacks and old jeans.
The majority of the people who came to the exhibition were interested in heating solutions for summer camps, garages, cellars and small storage units. The best-selling product here was oil that reduces vehicle fuel consumption.
Since the population of the capital has already reached 1.3 million, limiting rural-to- urban migration and subsidising night time electricity tariffs is not likely to be a full solution. Even though the "Khas" and "Ulzii" stoves which were provided to ger district residents showed no visible results, policies and programmes to supply technology that can replace ger district homes’ exhaust pipes are required.
 
 
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Brexit economy: weak pound stokes inflation as jobs market cools www.theguardian.com

 
The pressure on the pound from Britain’s vote to leave the EU is stoking inflation, denting household finances and putting a brake on spending, according to a Guardian analysis.
 
Official figures this week are expected to confirm the economy enjoyed a strong finish to 2016 as companies and consumers continued to shrug off the shock of the Brexit vote. But signs of a spending slowdown, corporate jitters around the triggering of article 50 and rising prices point to a more challenging growth outlook in 2017.
 
Seven months on from the referendum, the Guardian’s monthly tracker of economic news shows the weaker pound is being felt in the real economy more keenly than ever, as it raises the cost of imports such as energy and food and that gets passed on to consumers as higher prices in the shops.
 
To gauge the impact of the Brexit vote on a monthly basis, the Guardian has chosen eight economic indicators, along with the value of the pound and the performance of the FTSE.
 
The dashboard for January shows a worse than expected performance in four of the eight categories. Two were better than expected and unemployment was as expected. Inflation was higher than economists had forecast, hitting its highest level for more than two years in December.
 
Writing in the Guardian, a former member of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), Andrew Sentance, said two factors pointed to economic growth losing momentum: a slowdown in employment and rising inflation.
 
“For now, consumer spending and strong global growth are supporting the UK economy – and we have yet to see the negative impact on investment which many forecasters are expecting in 2017,” said Sentance, a senior economic adviser at the consultancy PwC.
 
“But the signals from the labour market are consistent with slower economic growth this year driven by heightened uncertainty following the Brexit vote. In 2017 and 2018, we should expect to see economic growth of close to 1.5%, below the 2% which the UK has achieved over the seven years of recovery so far.”
 
Among the more downbeat measures in the latest dashboard, the housing market lost momentum at the close of 2016, with property price gains easing and fewer sales. The UK’s trade position deteriorated further on the latest official measures as a jump in imports eclipsed a pick-up in exports. And in a worrying omen for an economy reliant on consumer spending, retail sales fell over the crucial Christmas period.
 
The public finances were in a slightly worse state than expected for December, but revisions to November figures improved the government’s chances of meeting its borrowing target for the full year.
 
On a brighter note, surveys from the manufacturing, construction and services sectors signal they all managed to expand again in December, beating economists’ forecasts and boding well for official GDP figures due on Thursday. That first snapshot of fourth-quarter economic growth is expected to show the economy expanded by 0.5%, almost matching the third quarter’s robust growth of 0.6%.
 
In the jobs market, unemployment remains low and wage growth is outpacing inflation, for now. But in a sign firms are growing more wary of hiring new staff, the number of people in employment has dropped and experts warn that firms’ rising costs will limit their ability and willingness to award pay rises this year.
 
It remains to be seen whether December’s unexpected drop in retail volumes will prove to be a blip or evidence of a squeeze on consumers. Publishing the sales figures, the Office for National Statistics warned against reading too much into one month alone. It instead highlighted quarterly data showing retail sales grew in the final three months of 2016. Reports on Christmas trading from retailers themselves meanwhile were largely positive, with some noting an early boost in November from Black Friday sales events.
 
But as inflation starts to bite and the jobs market shows signs of cooling, economists warn household budgets will deteriorate this year and retailers will struggle to keep sales rising. The industry itself is cautious in its outlook, with the British Retail Consortium flagging “growing inflationary pressures and persisting economic and political uncertainty”.
 
The Bank of England governor said this month that consumers appeared to have looked through Brexit worries to carry on spending. But in his first speech of 2017, Mark Carney also highlighted that the brisk pace of spending had been accompanied by a rise in household borrowing.
 
The Bank, which presents its latest outlook for the economy next week, expects pressures on consumers to rise further this year as a weak currency stokes inflation. The pound’s sharp moves over the last month have underscored its vulnerability to government announcements on the Brexit process. Sterling skidded to a three-month low against the dollar before Theresa May’s key Brexit speech as news leaked out that she would take the UK out of Europe’s single market. It then recovered as she confirmed any deal would be put to a vote but fell on this week’s supreme court ruling that MPs and peers must give their consent before the government can trigger article 50 and formally initiate Brexit.
 
David Blanchflower, also a former member of the MPC, said the pound was being buffeted by politics.
 
“The pound has been responsive to the May government’s many self-inflicted wounds,” said Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in the US.
 
“The pound moves down every time the prospect of a cliff-edge Brexit rears its ugly head. It strengthens on the possibility that the economic Neanderthals are not going to have their way.”
 
On stock markets, the pound’s loss has been the FTSE 100’s gain as the index continues to be flattered by a weak currency. The index hit a fresh record peak earlier this month and broke a near 20-year record for its longest run of closing highs. The drop in the pound has boosted the earnings of many of the companies in the FTSE 100 that report in dollars and it is up 13% since the 23 June referendum.
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RBS bank to set aside another £3bn for fines www.bbc.com

 
Royal Bank of Scotland will take another financial hit when it sets aside a further $4bn (£3bn) for fines.
As early as Thursday morning it will announce it has now put nearly $10bn in the kitty to pay a monster fine from the US Department of Justice.
It relates to the bank's role in the selling of risky mortgages - the so called subprime crisis - which was at the epicentre of the financial crisis.
This will plunge RBS, 72% owned by the taxpayer, further into the red.
It will make 2016 the ninth year in a row that RBS has lost money.
To be clear, this is not unexpected, nor is it a final settlement. The urgency to settle once and for all which existed around the beginning of this month (before the change of the guard in the US administration with a Trump presidency) has eased as a new administration and a new attorney general are now in place.
Guesses on the final bill from the US vary widely from $12bn-$20bn. If this $10bn did prove to be enough for the final bill, that would be considered a good result.
It remains to be seen whether the new US administration takes a tougher or more lenient approach to misconduct by European banks.
'Big bumps'
Barclays recently walked away from negotiations, preferring to fight the top US lawman in court, rather than pay what the bank considered a fine that was disproportionate to its involvement in the subprime market.
For RBS it is yet another of the "big bumps in the road" that chief executive Ross McEwan has previously warned lie between the RBS of the last nine years and the RBS he hopes it will one day be. Exclude the fines, and RBS is churning out a £1bn profit every three months.
But the sins of the past are grave, as are the penalties. The bank has paid well over £50bn worth since the financial crisis - more than the £45bn the UK taxpayer put in way back when.
RBS and the taxpayer will hope that as painful as this is, it is one step closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.
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