$1 trillion is leaving Britain because of Brexit www.cnn.com

London (CNN Business)Brexit hasn't happened yet but it's already shrinking the United Kingdom's financial services industry.

Banks and other financial companies have shifted at least £800 billion ($1 trillion) worth of assets out of the country and into the European Union because of Brexit, EY said in a report published Monday.
Many banks have set up new offices elsewhere in the European Union to safeguard their regional operations after Brexit, which means they also have to move substantial assets there to satisfy EU regulators. Other firms are moving assets to protect clients against market volatility and sudden changes in regulation.
The consultancy said the figure represented roughly 10% of the total assets of the UK banking sector, and was a "conservative estimate" because some banks have not yet revealed their contingency plans.
"Our numbers only reflect the moves that have been announced publicly," said Omar Ali, head of financial services at EY. "We know that behind the scenes firms are continuing to plan for a 'no deal' scenario."
EY has tracked 222 of the biggest UK financial services companies since the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union in just 81 days, but Prime Minister Theresa May still needs to win support in the UK parliament for the divorce deal she struck with the rest of the European Union.

Parliament is due to vote on the deal next week. If May ultimately fails to push the agreement through, the chances of the country crashing out of the European Union without a deal will soar.
The Bank of England said the fallout from that scenario would be worse than the 2008 financial crisis.
For financial institutions, a no-deal Brexit would be a nightmare. The country's agreements with EU regulators would cease to exist and banks would find themselves in a legal vacuum, meaning they would be unable to continue doing some of their business across the bloc.
While the European Union has said it will implement some steps to avoid a complete meltdown, it said its contingency plan is only a short-term solution aimed at protecting its own interests.
"Financial services firms have no choice but to continue preparing on the basis of a 'no deal' scenario," Ali said.

EY said that the companies it tracks have already created around 2,000 new jobs elsewhere in the European Union in response to Brexit.
Deutsche Bank (DB), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Citi (C) have already moved parts of their business out of the United Kingdom. Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris were the most popular destinations.
EY said financial companies were likely to move more assets and create more jobs in other European cities over the coming weeks. "The closer we get to March 29 without a deal, the more assets will be transferred and headcount hired locally or relocated," Ali added.
London has been Europe's undisputed financial capital for decades, and is home to the international headquarters of dozens of global banks.
The financial services industry employs 2.2 million people across the country, and contributes 12.5% of GDP. It generates £72 billion ($100 billion) in tax revenue each year, according to the City of London Corporation.
The UK economy has already suffered from Brexit. Inflation spiked and consumer confidence dropped, hurting the country's retail sector. Business investment has fallen dramatically, as companies put plans on hold because of the uncertainty. Major manufacturers, including Airbus, have warned they may have to quit the United Kingdom if there's a no-deal Brexit.
German engineering group Schaeffler is closing two plants in the United Kingdom because of the uncertainty.
The latest evidence of the pain came on Monday, when the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said new car registrations in the country fell 6.8% in 2018. It was the second consecutive year of declines

Why Russia isn’t worried about lower oil prices www.rt.com

Even as Saudi Arabia has scrambled to prevent a bust in the oil market, so far failing to head off a dramatic price slide, Russia seems just fine with prices where they are.
Russia is a key piece of the oil price puzzle. OPEC, once a coalition of oil-producing members that made joint decisions to maintain market stability, has morphed into a Saudi-led cartel that desperately needs Russian cooperation to strengthen the group’s efforts. Many OPEC members are either at maximum capacity, are suffering from production declines at aging fields, or are characterized by instability, making any promises to boost or cut production hollow. The only countries unaffected by such issues are Saudi Arabia and its new strategic partner, Russia.

But Russia is not as desperate for higher oil prices as is Saudi Arabia. There are a few reasons for this. One of the key reasons is that the Russian currency is flexible, so it weakens when oil prices fall. That cushions the blow during a downturn, allowing Russian oil companies to pay expenses in weaker rubles while still taking in US dollars for oil sales. Second, tax payments for Russian oil companies are structured in such a way that their tax burden is lighter with lower oil prices.

Saudi Arabia needs oil prices at roughly $84 per barrel for its budget to breakeven. The international outrage over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has also left Riyadh isolated. The hyped-up economic reform plans from crown prince Mohammed bin Salman are in tatters, and Saudi Arabia is back at the drawing board, in desperate need of higher oil prices.

Russia is more stoic in the face of an oil price meltdown. “The drop in oil prices hardly bother us because our budget is based on $42 a barrel,” First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters in Moscow on December 26. “The price can stay around $40-$50 for a time — six months or a year,” Siluanov said, before adding: “We think this won’t last long.” But even if the price downturn does persist, Russia won’t be in trouble because of its ample foreign exchange reserves, he said.

Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, said that oil prices “should have stabilized, because everyone was supposed to be scared” by the enormous OPEC+ production cuts. “But nobody was scared,” he said, according to Bloomberg. He blamed the Federal Reserve’s rate tightening for injecting volatility into the oil market, because traders have sold off speculative positions in the face of higher interest rates.

The bottom line is that Russia does not feel the same urgency as Saudi Arabia. It was only a matter of days after Russia agreed to the OPEC+ agreement — which called for production cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) beginning in January — that Russian officials suggested that their output would only decline slightly at the start of the New Year.

Russia’s oil minister Alexander Novak said in mid-December that output could dip by a modest 50,000 to 60,000 bpd in January, far short of the roughly 230,000 bpd of cuts Russia is supposed to take on. That would put Russian output at about 11.35 mb/d, not far from the post-Soviet high of 11.41 mb/d hit in October. “Everything will depend on technological and climate possibilities. We will get proposals from the companies,” Novak said, according to Reuters. “We will see how the situation would evolve.”

At the same time, Novak offered the market some assurances that the OPEC+ coalition would step in to stabilize the market if the situation deteriorates, suggesting that OPEC+ has the ability to call an extraordinary meeting. He told reporters in late December that the market still faces a lot of unknowns. “All these uncertainties, which are now on the market: how China will behave, how India will behave... trade wars and unpredictability on the part of the US administration... those are defining factors for price volatility,” Novak said.

Nevertheless, Novak predicted the 1.2 mb/d cuts announced in Vienna would be sufficient.

Some analysts echo Novak’s sentiment that, despite the current panic in the market, the cuts should be sufficient. “We are looking at oil prices heading towards $70 to $80…quite a recovery in 2019. That’s really predicated on the thought that first of all, OPEC still is here. And I think that the market is underestimating that they are going to cut supply by 1.2 mb/d,” Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management told CNBC. “And demand looks healthy…so we might find ourselves into 2019 in a situation where the market is actually tight.”

Elon Musk breaks ground on first Tesla factory outside US www.bbc.com

Tesla boss Elon Musk has broken ground at a new factory in Shanghai, the electric carmaker's first manufacturing plant outside the US.

Iran, Mongolia foreign ministers arrive in Delhi www.sify.com

[India], Jan 8 (ANI): Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Damdin Tsogtbaatar, the Foreign Minister of Mongolia arrived here on Monday. The two are expected to attend the fourth edition of the Raisina Dialogue which will begin on Tuesday. The inaugural address will be delivered by the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to attend the inaugural session of the event. Several Foreign Ministers are attending the three-day conference on geo-politics and geo-economics, co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). The speakers at the event include Foreign Ministers of Spain, Iran, Australia, Mongolia and Nepal, besides India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. Other global leaders taking part in the conference include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is tipped to succeed incumbent Mahathir Bin Mohamad, will deliver the valedictory address. Ministers and leaders from Africa, West Asia, U.S., Europe and Russia are among the speakers at the Dialogue. India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba will also speak at the conference. (ANI)

Ownership of Asgat silver deposit to be transferred to Erdenes Mongol LLC www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat of Government G.Zandanshatar received the executives of Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority, Erdenes Mongol LLC and Mongolrostsvetmet LLC.

Mongolian engineers earned MNT 11 billion from aircraft maintenance www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Aircraft Maintenance Department of MIAT Mongolian Airlines obtained a revenue of MNT 11 billion in 2018. The department repaired 12 foreign airplanes last year. Chief of the Production Planning Division at MIAT J.Chuluunjav noted that the company provided aircraft maintenance services to 62 foreign airplanes since 2014.

Metal Mania From Mongolia Invades YouTube With Guitar Riffs, Guttural Singing www.sputniknews.com

Centuries after Genghis Khan raged across Eurasia, Mongolians have launched a new kind of offensive, which might outshine the conquests of their ancestors. The band Hu, mixing rock music with traditional themes, has found inspiration in their country’s long history, making nomadic life great again.

Michael S.Klecheski appointed as Ambassador of the USA to Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The United States House of Representatives confirmed the nomination of to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the US to Mongolia Michael S.Klecheski on January 2.

Cabinet ratifies President-initiated bill on dissolving Parliament www.zgm.mn

Chief of Staff to the President of Mongolia Enkhbold Zandaakhuu submitted a draft bill on Amendment to the Law on the Procedure of the Plenary Session of the Parliament to Speaker Enkhbold Miyegombo last week. The bill was then approved by the Cabinet.

New railway for coal transport opens in north China www.en.silkroad.news.cn

TAIYUAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A new railway for coal transport has opened in north China, according to China Railway Taiyuan Group.