Latest news with #Compenswiss
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
GE Vernova CEO sees order backlog stretching into 2028
Advertisement FINANCE State Street risks losing $52 billion Swiss pension mandate A view of the State Street headquarters in Boston. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff State Street Corp. is at risk of losing a $52 billion pile of Swiss pension assets as citizens start to worry that their savings might become a bargaining chip in President Trump's deepening trade war with Europe. Lawmakers in Bern are scheduled to vote on Thursday on a bill that seeks to order the state agency Compenswiss to move custody of the assets back to a hometown bank. It would be the latest sign that the US banking behemoth is at risk of losing key business in Europe after State Street had mandates pulled by pension funds in the UK and Scandinavia. 'The custody of assets entrusted by Compenswiss in Switzerland is the core business of State Street,' a spokesperson for the Boston-based firm said ahead of the vote. 'The bank carries out this mandate with due diligence, drawing on its over 230 years of experience in this field. State Street does not comment on the political decision-making process.' The vote showcases nervousness in Switzerland — a nation famed for its obsession with the preservation of wealth — at the advent of the new Trump administration. While the US president hasn't yet threatened the country with tariffs — as he's done to the neighboring European Union — memories linger of how Switzerland was branded a currency manipulator during his first term in office. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up MEDIA Advertisement White House defends banning AP, says Trump has wide discretion Television screens in the White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room display a "Victory" sign after a judge refused to grant the Associated Press immediate access to the press pool on Feb. 24. Chip Somodevilla/Getty The White House asked a federal judge to deny the Associated Press's request to restore access for its reporters, arguing that the First Amendment doesn't preclude government officials from favoring particular journalists. In a court filing late Tuesday, White House chief of staff Susan Wiles and other officials urged a judge to rebuff the wire service's request for a court order that would lift the ban while its lawsuit over full access plays out. The filing is the latest development in a suit the AP filed last month after its journalists were banned from parts of the White House for continuing to use 'Gulf of Mexico' in its popular style guide after Trump's executive order renaming the body of water 'Gulf of America.' The wire service said that in addition to blocking its reporters from their traditional participation in the White House press pool — in which a smaller group of reporters is designated to cover the president in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One — its journalists have been banned from larger events, including press conferences with foreign leaders visiting the White House. The 'core issue' of the case is whether the First or Fifth Amendments to the Constitution 'compel' Trump to grant AP special access to 'the most intimate of his work and personal spaces — the Oval Office, Air Force One, and the Mar-a-Lago Club,' the White House said in the filing. — BLOOMBERG NEWS ECONOMY Egg prices are still surging, hitting consumers' wallets A customer shopped for eggs at a grocery store in Chicago. Scott Olson/Getty Egg prices continued their upward climb in February despite some easing in overall inflation, further straining consumers seeking relief from rising prices in the grocery aisles. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday showed that egg prices rose 10.4 percent from the previous month, to nearly $5.90 for a dozen large Grade A eggs, as an outbreak of bird flu continued to contribute to a nationwide shortage. That is slightly lower than the 15 percent-plus surge in January, the largest monthly increase in egg prices in a decade. But since last year, egg prices are up nearly 60 percent. Food prices more broadly rose 0.2 percent in February, or 2.8 percent compared with the same time last year. Eggs have driven overall increases in grocery prices in recent months. During the presidential campaign in the fall, President Trump blamed the Biden administration for inflation and vowed to bring down prices. But the steep rise in consumer staples, including eggs, has complicated that promise as his tariff policies stoke further concern about inflation. — NEW YORK TIMES Advertisement TECH Musk's Starlink could help remote parts of India get online under deals with telecoms Elon Musk during an event with President Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. Alex Brandon/Associated Press Elon Musk's Starlink signed an agreement with India's top telecom operator on Wednesday to bring the US satellite internet giant's services to the world's most populous country, a day after announcing a similar agreement with the country's second-largest provider. The deals with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which together control more than 70 percent of India's telecom market, could help bring internet connections to millions of people who live in remote areas. But they depend on Starlink obtaining government approval to enter India. The partnership announcements come weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk in Washington. — ASSOCIATED PRESS E-COMMERCE FTC asks judge to delay Amazon trial due to resource constraints An Amazon delivery truck in Richmond, Calif. Justin Sullivan/Getty The Federal Trade Commission asked a federal judge on Wednesday to delay a trial in a case accusing Amazon of using deceptive practices in its Prime subscription program, citing staffing and budgetary challenges at the government agency. Jonathan Cohen, a lawyer for the FTC, made the request before US District Judge John Chun, who is overseeing the legal proceedings from a 2023 lawsuit the commission filed against the e-commerce giant in Washington state. 'Our resource constraints are severe and really unique to this moment,' Cohen said during a status hearing on Wednesday. 'We have lost employees in the agency, in our division and on the case team.' When the judge asked if the agency's challenges were due to recent cuts in the federal government, Cohen said it was, adding that some employees chose to leave the FTC following the 'Fork in the road' email sent by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in January. Staff members who resigned for other reasons also have not been replaced due to a government hiring freeze, he said. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement LEGAL Indonesian fishermen sue Bumble Bee, say the canned tuna giant knew of abuse in its supply chain A Bumble Bee tuna processing plant in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Nick Ut/Associated Press Lawyers representing four Indonesian fishermen who say they were beaten and trapped on vessels that were part of the global supply chain that provided tuna to Bumble Bee Seafoods filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the canned seafood giant. It is believed to be the first such case of forced labor at sea brought against a US seafood company, the men's lawyer, Agnieszka Fryszman, said. US companies that benefit from forced labor and undercut other businesses need to be held accountable, Fryszman said. 'What you see is really devastating,' she said. The lawsuit accuses the company headquartered in San Diego of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The law allows foreigners who suffered from human trafficking to sue US businesses that knew or should have known that they were profiting from forced labor. Bumble Bee said in an email to the Associated Press that it does not comment on pending litigation. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State Street Risks Losing $52 Billion Swiss Pension Mandate
(Bloomberg) -- State Street Corp. is at risk of losing a $52 billion pile of Swiss pension assets as citizens start to worry that their savings might become a bargaining chip in Donald Trump's deepening trade war with Europe. Trump DEI Purge Hits Affordable Housing Groups NYC Congestion Pricing Toll Gains Support Among City Residents Electric Construction Equipment Promises a Quiet Revolution Open Philanthropy Launches $120 Million Fund To Support YIMBY Reforms Inside the 'Not Architecture' of High Line Designers Diller Scofidio + Renfro Lawmakers in Bern are scheduled to vote on Thursday on a bill that seeks to order the state agency Compenswiss to move custody of the assets back to a hometown bank. It would be the latest sign that the US banking behemoth is at risk of losing key business in Europe after State Street had mandates pulled by pension funds in the UK and Scandinavia. 'The custody of assets entrusted by Compenswiss in Switzerland is the core business of State Street,' a spokesperson for the Boston-based firm said ahead of the vote. 'The bank carries out this mandate with due diligence, drawing on its over 230 years of experience in this field. State Street does not comment on the political decision-making process.' The vote showcases nervousness in Switzerland — a nation famed for its obsession with the preservation of wealth — at the advent of the new Trump administration. While the US president hasn't yet threatened the country with tariffs — as he's done to the neighboring European Union — memories linger of how Switzerland was branded a currency manipulator during his first term in office. 'The risk of the US authorities freezing the assets of the AHV compensation fund was analyzed by Compenswiss as part of the tender process and deemed highly unlikely,' Eric Breval, chief executive officer of Compenswiss, said in a statement to Bloomberg. 'Even with a Swiss bank as the global custodian, the AHV fund would not be protected from sanctions.' A Recent Win State Street is not the only US bank coming under scrutiny in Switzerland. This week, two socialist lawmakers also questioned Zurich's cantonal government about $36 billion held at JPMorgan Chase & Co. by the canton's BVK pension fund. A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment. To be sure, as a custodian of the assets State Street has appointed local depository banks to handle the funds, meaning no Swiss savings have actually left the country. But anxiety around US-European ties is now such that any American involvement in money management is starting to make locals uneasy. Thomas Matter, a lawmaker for the right-wing Swiss People's Party who pushed for the bill, acknowledged to Zurich's Tages-Anzeiger that the risk of the US sanctioning Switzerland is low. 'But we have to avoid even the smallest risk, because these assets are ultimately the substance of our retirement funds,' he said. State Street only began providing custodial services for Switzerland's public pension system, known locally as AHV, last year after it won the mandate away from UBS Group AG, which had previously held the mandate for more than two decades. The move was done in order to save Switzerland as much as 5 million francs in the coming years and the government has warned it could face added costs if the mandate is revoked from State Street within the first five years. Problematic Precedent Switzerland's banking lobby has argued against the bill, saying it could set a problematic precedent for foreign banks looking to do business in the country. 'We are of the clear view that private companies need to be able to trust formal procurement processes,' the Swiss Bankers Association said in a statement. 'If you start excluding a banking group when giving a mandate, that harms the Swiss financial center.' For State Street, the vote in Switzerland comes as Danish pension fund AkademikerPension recently informed the bank's asset management division that it's pulling a mandate worth 3.3 billion kroner ($482 million) after it joined other US-based money managers in backing away from Climate Action 100+, the world's biggest investor group devoted to tackling global warming. A spokesperson for State Street said the pension manager's decision to reduce 'the use of external managers was prompted by an exercise to increase insourcing capabilities.' The representative added that State Street looks forward to continued discussions with the Danish fund about future opportunities. State Street also recently lost mandates with UK-based the People's Pension. The US money manager's decision to abandon the climate group coincided with growing attacks — including threats of litigation — by Republican states on pro-environmental strategies. All three mandates are a relatively small slice of State Street's business, which has $46.6 trillion in assets under custody. Still, the company has been increasingly looking to overseas markets for growth. If the Swiss parliament's lower house votes in favor of the bill this week, it will be presented to the upper house for a vote, which could come as early as June. 'Before Trump, I had no worries,' said Heidy Kälin, a 73-year-old Swiss pensioner from the town of Einsiedeln. 'But now the political situation is so unpredictable that I'm very afraid. My husband and I have both worked all our lives, and this is our retirement money.' (Updates with State Street's further comment in fifteenth paragraph.) 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Bloomberg
12-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
State Street at Risk of Losing $52 Billion Swiss Pension Mandate
State Street Corp. is at risk of losing a $52 billion pile of Swiss pension assets as citizens start to worry that their savings might become a bargaining chip in Donald Trump's deepening trade war with Europe. Lawmakers in Bern are scheduled to vote on Thursday on a bill that seeks to order the state agency Compenswiss to move custody of the assets back to a hometown bank. It would be the latest sign that the US banking behemoth is at risk of losing key business in Europe after State Street had mandates pulled by pension funds in the UK and Scandinavia.
