GAP

"Fed's megaphone": The Federal Reserve is considering adjusting its balance sheet reduction plan to address the debt ceiling challenge

ChainCatcher news, according to Wall Street Journal reporter and "Fed whisperer" Nick Timiraos, Federal Reserve officials will consider adjusting their $6.8 trillion asset reduction policy. For the past three years, the Fed has been reducing its holdings of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities accumulated during previous stimulus programs, including measures to stabilize the market during the pandemic in 2020.Currently, the Fed may choose to pause or slow down this tapering process. This move aims to avoid a repeat of the situation in 2019, when balance sheet reduction led to stress in the overnight funding market, forcing the Fed to pivot and expand its holdings.Roberto Perli, the executive in charge of overseeing the balance sheet at the New York Fed, stated this month that pausing the tapering would be a "tactical decision" that "would not change the ultimate goal." RBC Capital Markets interest rate strategist Blake Gwinn pointed out that pausing the tapering makes sense because "the debt ceiling will distort these signals."Currently, the Fed allows up to $25 billion in Treasuries and $35 billion in mortgage-backed securities to mature each month without reinvestment. As holdings decrease, bank reserves also decline. However, the debt ceiling issue could interfere with this process, as the Fed is also the government's banker.Analysts expect that the Fed may pause the tapering for several months until the debt ceiling is raised and the Treasury rebuilds its cash balance before resuming. Gwinn stated that if the economy worsens, this "pause" could also turn into a "stop," prompting officials to terminate this form of policy tightening.

Singapore's largest money laundering case criminal Wang Shuiming may be extradited back to China, and his accomplice is the mastermind behind the Hong Kong crypto platform scam AAX

ChainCatcher news, according to NetEase Qingliu Studio, Wang Shuiming, a native of Anxi, Fujian, who was arrested in connection with Singapore's largest money laundering case, has been captured in Montenegro and will be extradited back to China. Wang Shuiming's partner, Su Weiyi, has been confirmed as the mastermind behind the Hong Kong cryptocurrency platform scam AAX, and was arrested by Hong Kong police in July 2024.In November 2022, Atom Asset Exchange suddenly became unable to process withdrawals and subsequently collapsed, with Su Weiyi absconding with 16.74 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 15.675 million RMB). In July 2024, Su Weiyi was arrested by Hong Kong police. It is worth mentioning that Su Weiyi co-owns other companies with other partners, who are linked to the convicted former Filipino mayor Alice Guo (Guo Huaping).On August 15, 2023, over 400 Singaporean police launched a raid, successfully cracking down on the largest money laundering case in Singapore's history, involving an amount of 3 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 16 billion RMB). The Singapore police arrested 10 suspects on the spot. These suspects, aged between 31 and 44, are all originally from Fujian and are referred to by outsiders as the "Fujian Gang." They held passports from multiple countries and used forged documents, shell companies, and cryptocurrencies to "clean" the proceeds from illegal gambling and fraud in Southeast Asia, investing in high-end assets in Singapore and overseas.According to the investigation results of the Singapore police, Wang Shuiming also possesses substantial assets outside of Singapore. Domestically, Wang Shuiming's company has an investment amount of up to 32 million RMB; he owns a factory worth several million RMB; he has two apartments in Xiamen worth a total of 20 million RMB; and there is a bank account in Hong Kong under Wang Shuiming with a deposit of 2 million Hong Kong dollars and cryptocurrencies valued at 110,000 USD.
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