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News Briefs (04-12-2020)

December 04, 2020 00:00:00


S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

LONDON, Dec 3 : S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of financial data provider S&P Global Inc, said on Thursday that it will launch cryptocurrency indices in 2021, making it the latest major finance company to enter the nascent asset class. The S&P DJI-branded products will use data from New York-based virtual currency company Lukka on more than 550 of the top traded coins, the companies said. S&P's clients will be able to work with the index provider to create customized indices and other benchmarking tools on cryptocurrencies, S&P and Lukka said in a joint statement. S&P and Lukka hope more reliable pricing data will make it easier for investors to access the new asset class, and reduce some of the risks of the very volatile and speculative market, they said. "With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable and user-friendly benchmarks," said Peter Roffman, global head of innovation and strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices.— Reuters

UK RPI decision allows greater linker issuance, DMO says

LONDON, Dec 3 : Britain will be able to issue more inflation-linked bonds over the next four months now that the government has decided that the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation will not be phased out before 2030, the UK Debt Management Office said on Thursday. Last week finance minister Rishi Sunak rejected calls from government statisticians to rapidly phase out the RPI measure used to calculate bond payments, saying it would be too disruptive to bond markets. Government statisticians say RPI tends to overstate inflation relative to newer measures of consumer price inflation, which leads to higher costs for the government if this is not factored into the bonds' initial sale price.— Reuters

Saudi sovereign fund PIF seeks loan of up to $7.0b

DUBAI, Dec 03 : Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is seeking a loan of up to $7 billion from banks, its third such debt raising since 2018, two sources familiar with the matter said. The move comes three months after it paid back a $10 billion bridge loan raised last year. Over the last two years, banks have lent billions to the fund, which is the engine of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's economic transformation plans for Saudi Arabia.— Reuters


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