dChan
Anonymous ID: 2575a2 Dec. 6, 2020, 12:33 p.m. No.19194   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9190 >>9204 >>9248 >>9278

Banks Pledge to Back Banxico (Mex. Central Bank) Against Forced Dollar Purchases

 

Mexico’s major banks on Friday told the country’s central bank they would support its efforts to fight a proposal in the Senate that would force the Banco de Mexico to buy cash that policymakers fear may be tainted with drug proceeds, people familiar with the talks said.

 

Central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon spoke with top executives from banks including BBVA Mexico, Citibanamex and Santander in a private virtual meeting about the unexpected bill, the people said. The central bank, known as Banxico, and lenders in the meeting didn’t immediately respond to electronic requests for comment on Sunday.

 

The legislation would force Banxico to buy up foreign currency from local banks if they can’t find another bank to take them.

 

Fewer and fewer major banks want to handle U.S. cash deposits due to strict anti-money laundering regulations and limits on deposits from people and companies. Once banks end up with big vaults of dollar deposits, they can no longer find institutions prepared to buy them back. The number of U.S. banks willing to take bulk cash shipments withered during the last decade in the wake of money laundering scandals at HSBC and Wachovia. It’s not much of a problem for global banks operating in Mexico, but it crimps business for local lenders.

 

Ricardo Monreal, the Senate leader of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena party, introduced the bill late last month. The Morena senator who leads the finance committee, Alejandro Armenta, said lawmakers would incorporate input from the central bank, but he said the bill would probably get a vote this week in the Senate, where Morena has a majority with its allies, and then head to the lower house. At Friday’s meeting, representatives of the country’s bank association ABM discussed putting out a press release supporting Banxico’s stance. So far, the group has remained silent on the bill and a representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/banks-pledge-to-back-banxico-against-forced-dollar-purchases-1.1532627

funny dey are worried about it now as it never stopped them in the past.

Anonymous ID: 2575a2 Dec. 6, 2020, 1:04 p.m. No.19202   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9248 >>9278

Department of Defense @DeptofDefense-Ezra A. Cohen Retweeted

 

“Enjoying the sound of freedom from the F22s of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, at a refueling stop.” A/SD Chris Miller

 

2:09 AM · Dec 6, 2020·Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1335496558591291394

 

From yesterday

SAM248 USAF C-32A on approach for Elmendorf-from JBA depart earlier in the day

Anonymous ID: 2575a2 Dec. 6, 2020, 1:16 p.m. No.19208   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9248 >>9278

Japan sends top diplomat on Africa trip to offset China tilt

 

With Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi's tour of four African countries starting Tuesday, Tokyo hopes to build stronger economic ties and affirm support for the idea of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" in a region where China has already established a firm foothold.

 

Motegi will stop in Tunisia, Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius on his first visit to the continent since becoming foreign minister in September 2019. Motegi and the government face the task of showing Japan to be a more attractive business partner than China, which has been expanding its presence on the continent through active investment in infrastructure, particularly through the Belt and Road initiative. Tokyo looks to use the trip to draw a contrast with Beijing, with an emphasis on building a transparent business environment.

 

While Western countries portray China as burdening poor countries with debt for big Belt and Road projects, Beijing stresses its contributions to Africa's development. "China has built for Africa over 6,000 km of railways and the same mileage of roads, nearly 20 ports and over 80 large-scale power plants, and more than 130 medical facilities, 45 stadiums and 170 or so schools," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a November speech for the 20th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, adding that this has "made a big difference in Africa's economic and social development." And although reports of discrimination against Africans in China during the nation's coronavirus response have stoked distrust of Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to prioritize African countries in distribution of its COVID-19 vaccines.

 

Motegi's stop in Tunisia – which will host the next Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD, in 2022, represents an opportunity to affirm that Tunis and Tokyo are on the same geopolitical page. The Yokohama Declaration issued after last year's TICAD stated that members "take good note of the initiative of a free and open Indo-Pacific announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe" at the 2016 gathering in Nairobi, marking the first mention of the concept in a TICAD statement.

 

Motegi's visit is meant to signal that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is following in Abe's footsteps. "Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius are located at the easternmost point of a free and open Indo-Pacific," he told reporters Friday. Building stronger business relationships with South Africa and Mozambique is also on the agenda. South Africa is the sole African member of the Group of 20, and more Japanese companies do business there than anywhere else on the continent. Mozambique is growing more prominent as a producer of liquefied natural gas, a key energy source for resource-poor Japan.

 

The visit to Mauritius follows a massive oil spill from a Japanese-owned bulk carrier this summer. Motegi plans to discuss the response to the incident and longer-term support measures, such as supplying equipment for small fishing businesses.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Japan-sends-top-diplomat-on-Africa-trip-to-offset-China-tilt