Insight Weekly: Russia-Ukraine crisis a year later; insurers on war costs; recession fears ease

Russia-Ukraine war splinters Europe's banking industry

Western banks' exposures to Russia are at their lowest level in nearly 20 years following the Ukraine invasion, while big Russian lenders have had to abandon key European markets amid a slew of western sanctions.

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Metals and the invasion: Russian war reconfigures commodity supply flows

One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, metals buyers are looking more closely at their supply chains and nearshoring certain materials.

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Europe needs US LNG for now, but war has pushed continent toward renewables

Europe is at an inflection point after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It will shift to using more renewable energy in the long term while relying on Qatar and U.S. to meet its immediate needs with natural gas.

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PE withdrawals distance Russia from global investment flows, tech promise

Western private equity firms and investors have pulled back indefinitely from Russia, with long-term implications for innovation.

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Financial Research: As deposit betas increase, some banks buck the trend

Banks' deposit costs rose at a rapid clip in the fourth quarter, but a few institutions avoided the pressure by opting to let funds walk out the door in search of higher rates.

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Overdraft fee income decline steepens for US banks in Q4'22

Overdraft income at U.S. banks fell 12.4% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2022, an acceleration from the 9.5%, 9.6% and 7.7% declines reported in the first, second and third quarters of 2022, respectively.

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Japanese megabanks' margins may abate decline on economic revival, credit growth

As most central banks continued to raise rates through 2022 to tame inflation, the Bank of Japan was an outlier, keeping its benchmark rate at negative 0.10%.

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Banks, funds on alert as Europe's enforcement of Russia sanctions ramps up

Financial institutions likely face greater scrutiny and further fines in the coming years as authorities shift focus from introducing new sanctions to more rigorously enforcing existing ones.

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Insurers unable to tally up true cost of Ukraine war

The political risk, aviation and marine markets are among the most affected business lines as the conflict heads into its second year.

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Latest entrant to annuity reinsurance market a product of P&C pivot

The majority owner of a reinsurer that has diversified its product appetite once touted the business of reinsuring runoff books of non-life risks as one characterized by "really limited competition" and "significant opportunity."

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US REIT average short interest down 5 basis points in January

Hotel-focused real estate investment trusts saw a 39-basis-point increase in average short interest in January, the biggest gain across all sectors. Conversely, the advertising segment posted the largest drop on average, declining 52 basis points.

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Private equity sentiment indicators rise as Q4'22 earnings improve

The four largest publicly traded alternative asset managers reported AUM increases and are forecast to boost dividends in 2023 on an improving performance outlook.

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Malaysia records buoyant GDP growth in 2022

The Malaysian economy showed rapid annual economic growth in 2022 amid robust exports and a rebound in private consumption.

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UK recession risks ebb as flash UK PMI signals resurgent economic growth in February

UK business activity surged back into life in February after six months of continual decline, according to the flash PMI survey data compiled by S&P Global.

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Short sellers boost bets against communication services stocks in January

Short interest in the sector that includes movie theaters and entertainment companies rose even amid a stock rally.

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RRA Research: Water ROEs trend higher on small dataset

The 10 water utility rate cases completed nationwide in 2022 had an average return on equity of 9.61%, up from an average of 9.46% in 2021.

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A year into the war, Ukraine's energy system battles outages, huge damage

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused unprecedented damage to the country's energy system, with local operators working around the clock to restore power and heat to homes and businesses — often at huge personal risk.

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NJ executive orders preview state's path to building electrification

Gov. Phil Murphy directed state agencies to plot a course to electrifying 10% of the state's buildings by 2030 but may have indicated certain policy preferences in a pair of executive orders.

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451 Research: How organizations, vendors can address the top workplace technology challenges

Organizations and workplace technology providers should not only view the challenges around connection, customization and time as productivity issues to address, but as factors that can negatively impact employee engagement and attrition.

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Metals and Mining Research: CES 2022 – Iron ore exploration budgets inch up to 7-year high

Iron ore exploration budgets in 2022 rose to the highest since 2015 but remained a quarter of the 2012 peak.

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Securing semiconductor supplies in the EU

The European Parliament is starting negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the EU member states on the final version of the European Chips Act.

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Some states backtrack on anti-ESG efforts, citing 'unintended consequences'

Efforts in Kentucky, Indiana and North Dakota to rid public funds of environmental, social and governance investment criteria ran into roadblocks. Economic and fiduciary concern over the anti-ESG drive will continue to grow, an observer said.

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Banks face higher hurdles in M&A review as regulators sharpen CRA focus

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NRG could alter $5.2B deal after Vivint hit by court verdict, payout – analysts

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Deal Profile: LINKBANCORP, Partners Bancorp combining in $167.8M all-stock deal

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European M&A activity limps into 2023

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