The investment is expected to create 35,000 temporary construction jobs and 12,000 permanent jobs, Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a speech at CERAWeek, the world’s largest gathering of energy executives.

“Exxon Mobil is building a manufacturing powerhouse along the US Gulf Coast,” said Woods. “These businesses are leveraging the shale revolution to manufacture cleaner fuels and more energy-efficient plastics.”

US President Donald Trump praised the company’s spending plans as an example of ‘a true American success story’.

“This is exactly the kind of investment, economic development and job creation that will help put Americans back to work,” Trump said.

Woods also spoke about climate change and how Exxon is doing its bit.

“I believe the assumption that affordable energy and a cleaner environment are a zero-sum game is mistaken,” he said. “It underestimates the power of technology.”

Woods highlighted Exxon’s research into carbon capture sequestration, biofuels and other areas as ones helping the company expand its operations beyond oil and gas.

“The only way to keep winning in a competitive market is to keep innovating,” he said.

The post Trump lauds Exxon efforts to create local jobs appeared first on International Finance.

Processing of regular H1-B applications which aren’t premium takes between three to six months. The suspension is effective April 3, and could last up to six months, according to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The H-1B visa programme is the main pathway for highly skilled foreigners to work in US companies. The visas are doled out by a lottery and the number of applicants continues to swell each year with outsourcing firms flooding the system.

There have been calls for reform of visas for highly skilled workers. There is a proposal to eliminate the lottery system in favour of a preference system created by USCIS to give priority to foreign students educated in the US. This is to weed out foreign outsourcing firms, which are said to exploit the system.

These visas are used extensively by tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Apple. President Trump has been reported to be considering larger restrictions on the H-1B program, to address concerns that the program is taking jobs away from domestic tech workers.

According to the earlier draft memo obtained by Bloomberg News, Trump’s larger overhaul would require companies to attempt to hire American workers first. If they did recruit foreign workers, priority would be given to the highest-paid, in an effort to open entry-level positions to Americans.

– See more at: http://www.internationalfinancemagazine.com/article/US-temporarily-suspends-premium-processing-of-H1B-visa.html#sthash.Q8qBrCMm.dpuf

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Enacted in 2010 by a Democrat-controlled Congress and signed into law by Barack Obama, FATCA is virtually unknown to most Americans but has been wreaking havoc with the global financial system outside the US. Touted as a weapon against ‘fat cat’ tax evaders stashing funds offshore, FATCA is instead an indiscriminate information dragnet requiring all non-US financial institutions (banks, credit unions, insurance companies, investment and pension funds, etc.) in every country in the world to report data on all specified US accounts to the IRS.

If any country refuses to comply, FATCA provides for its financial sector to be hit with crippling penalties that will tank its economy.

“FATCA,” says Green, is “an extraterritorial diktat that burdens other countries’ financial institutions and their clients, which violates other countries’ sovereignty, and which is detrimental to their consumers and taxpayers. FATCA turns law-abiding, middle-class Americans living overseas, of whom there are approximately eight million, into financial pariahs,” leading to record numbers of US citizenship renunciations.

With Obama in the White House, doing away with FATCA was virtually impossible, despite repeal bills introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). “FATCA is a textbook example of a bad law that doesn’t achieve its stated purpose but does manage to unleash a host of unanticipated destructive consequences,” states Sen. Paul.

But now, with Donald Trump’s election and a GOP-led Congress expected to pass a comprehensive tax reform package this year, the situation has changed.

Most importantly, the 2016 Republican Platform calls for FATCA’s repeal, denouncing the law’s “warrantless seizure of personal financial information without reasonable suspicion or probable cause” and its threat to the “ability of overseas Americans to lead normal lives.”

As his co-leader of the campaign to Repeal FATCA, Green has turned to former US diplomat and longtime Senate leadership staffer Jim Jatras of the media and government relations firm Global Strategic Communications Group (GSCG). Jatras, a leading authority on FATCA, edits the online publication www.RepealFATCA.com, which is dedicated to getting rid of what he calls “the worst law most Americans have never heard of”.

On Green’s initiative, Jatras is assembling a team of experienced DC professionals to push the repeal effort over the top (Twitter @RepealFatca). “Nigel’s deciding to step up to the plate is just tremendous,” says Jatras. “Billions of dollars have been wasted worldwide complying with FATCA, billions of words have been written complaining about it. Now it’s time for action. When that tax bill gets to President Trump’s desk, we want FATCA repeal in it.”

The post Nigel Green launches campaign to repeal Obama-era FATCA law appeared first on International Finance.

Nigel Green

February 1, 2017: US President Donald Trump’s ban on visitors from seven Muslim-majority nations has spooked markets, but clued-up investors won’t be panicking, they’ll be seeking out bargains.

The American markets fell on Monday below 20k, taking their cue from weak European and Asian markets.

For the past few months, a Trump presidency has been widely regarded as positive for stocks. But it appears that the rose-tinted glasses have come off as the travel ban for seven Muslim-majority countries has indicated to investors that there are major geopolitical headwinds brewing as the controversy intensifies.

The markets have been reacting to the fact that last Friday, Trump put a 120-day hold on permitting refugees into the States, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria, plus a 90-day ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya and four other nations. Many nations, including long-standing US allies, have called the measures divisive and discriminatory.

The markets are jittery, but this is more a bump in the road than a major obstacle – for the moment at least. Markets typically have a knee-jerk reaction to unexpected or controversial geopolitical events.

There is also the argument that markets were overvalued and investors might have been looking for an excuse to sell, and this measure by Trump provided them with that.

Despite Trump’s Muslim ban spooking markets, clued-up investors won’t be panicking, they’ll be seeking out bargains – and perhaps hoping that the sell-off continues.

They will be aware that the world is changing fast. Change means volatility.

Whilst some people are put off investing because of volatility, many of the most successful investors welcome it.  This is because profitable opportunities are found where there are fluctuations and portfolios can be topped- up and advantage can be taken of lower entry points.

Nigel Green is the founder and CEO of deVere Group

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January 27, 2017: Republican or Democrat, American or not, it’s hard to avoid the inexplicable rise to fame of The Apprentice star and occasional professional wrestler, Donald Trump. The billionaire’s pledges around immigration, healthcare, and employment have drawn significant media attention but Trump’s ascendency has ramifications for just about every facet of Western life.

Satoshi Nakamoto

One of the more significant developments of the post-Obama United States could be a rapid increase in the value of Bitcoin, a type of money traded exclusively on the internet and without any coins or notes to speak of. Estimates of Bitcoin’s future price and its penetration into mainstream society are almost uniformly positive.

It’s easy to see why; Bitcoin is already accepted at major outlets like Microsoft, Tesla Motors, Expedia, and Steam. It also has quite a large following in casino, a niche that (arguably) gave Satoshi Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency its first major outing as a payment option. Many iGaming sites now accept Bitcoin exclusively.

Vegas Casino, in particular, has built its entire business around Bitcoin, expanding to include a sportsbook and 18 rooms with live dealers. To streamline the transition from fiat currencies to crypto, A visit to Vegas Casino also provides gamers with a link to a currency exchange right from the homepage. It’s both a novel approach to business and a strong show of support in digital money.

Transition Team

With Trump now firmly entrenched in the White House, there are two factors that could affect Bitcoin’s price going forward.

Firstly, the real estate magnate has a number of Bitcoin advocates on his transition team, a situation that could further enmesh Bitcoin with wider society. For example, Peter Thiel, a man perhaps best known as one of the founders of PayPal, is on Trump’s executive committee. Thiel has interests in Bitcoin currency exchange BitPay, and 21.co, a development platform that supports Bitcoin microtransactions. Jim O’Neill, a cohort of Thiel at Mithril Capital, another of the PayPal founder’s businesses, and Balaji Srinivasan, of 21.co, have both been touted for the role of Head at the Food and Drug Administration.

Ignoring the pair’s almost comical inadequacy for the role (O’Neill has no medical experience while Srinivasan reportedly has a vendetta against the FDA, recently deleting tweets to hide that fact), Donald Trump has nevertheless injected some support for Bitcoin and modern payment methods into the structure of his new government.  

Obamacare

Perhaps the biggest factor influencing Bitcoin’s value going forward though is President Trump’s potential for causing global economic instability. If any of his more extreme pledges ever make it off the drawing board – axing the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare”, for example – the dollar could take a dive.

Bitcoin’s price climbs in response to financial strife. It happened after Brexit, gaining $100 (£80) overnight, after November’s presidential election result (+4.6%), and as a response to the Chinese yuan’s dramatic collapse towards the end of 2016 (+10%). In every case, the hike is caused by investors in conventional currencies looking for somewhere safe to hoard their money.  

Bitcoin’s newfound status as an alternative commodity to gold (attained on January 4 this year, when it was briefly more valuable than bullion) means that it’s now used just as frequently as a “hedge” against inflation. With that in mind, it’s easy to see Bitcoin’s value becoming more stable in the future, especially if the pace of its mainstream adoption continues.

So, what about Bitcoin’s value? A Danish bank called Saxo Bank has been at the centre of that conversation since late last year. Saxo Bank predicted that Bitcoin would close at $2,100 (£1,687) per coin by the end of 2017, a surge of 165% from December 7, 2016. It’s not beyond the realms of imagination (Bitcoin gained more than 120% last year) but the bank itself admitted that it was an “outrageous” forecast.

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In a presentation to opposition lawmakers, Governor Agustin Carstens said Mexico’s liberalisation of fuel prices would have a transitory but ‘undesirable’ impact on inflation. He does not expect inflationary pressure to arise from aggregate demand, facilitating the convergence of Mexico’s headline inflation rate to the bank’s target in 2018.

During his electoral campaign, Donald Trump said that he would build a wall between southern US border and Mexico, deport illegal immigrants, impose higher tariffs on certain products, and even scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Mexico’s peso struggled through the US presidential campaign, falling when Trump was ahead in polls and rising when Trump was behind. When Trump emerged as the forty-fifth President of America, the peso fell to record lows.

The post Mexico Cenbank flags potential risks to growth from US policy appeared first on International Finance.

The People’s Daily, the flagship paper of China’s Communist Party, devoted an entire page to critiquing Western democracies, quoting former Chairman Mao Zedong’s 1949 poem asking people to “range far your eyes over long vistas” and saying the ultimate defeat of capitalism would enable Communism to emerge victorious.

“Western style democracy used to be a recognised power in history to drive social development. But now it has reached its limits,” said another article on the same page. “Democracy is already kidnapped by the capitals and has become the weapon for capitalists to chase profits.”

Trump’s inauguration speech did not directly reference the country, but he spoke about foreign industries being “enriched” at the expense of American jobs. Trump also added that the new administration would put America first as far as its foreign policy was concerned.

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump constantly targeted China branding the Beijing government “currency manipulators” and threatened to levy huge taxes on China’s imports.

Trump is most likely to implement protectionist policies and relook trade agreements that are not beneficial to America. However, China’s Ministry of Commerce holds that a trade spat between US and China could hurt both countries.

The post Chinese media warns that Trump administration could bring about dramatic changes appeared first on International Finance.

The People’s Daily, the flagship paper of China’s Communist Party, devoted an entire page to critiquing Western democracies, quoting former Chairman Mao Zedong’s 1949 poem asking people to “range far your eyes over long vistas” and saying the ultimate defeat of capitalism would enable Communism to emerge victorious.

“Western style democracy used to be a recognised power in history to drive social development. But now it has reached its limits,” said another article on the same page. “Democracy is already kidnapped by the capitals and has become the weapon for capitalists to chase profits.”

Trump’s inauguration speech did not directly reference the country, but he spoke about foreign industries being “enriched” at the expense of American jobs. Trump also added that the new administration would put America first as far as its foreign policy was concerned.

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump constantly targeted China branding the Beijing government “currency manipulators” and threatened to levy huge taxes on China’s imports.

Trump is most likely to implement protectionist policies and relook trade agreements that are not beneficial to America. However, China’s Ministry of Commerce holds that a trade spat between US and China could hurt both countries.

The post Chinese media warns that Trump administration could bring about dramatic changes appeared first on International Finance.

January 12, 2017: CAMRADATA, a leading provider of data and analysis for institutional investors, has collated the top 10 global investment trends for 2017 from a range of its asset management clients.

Sean Thompson, Managing Director, CAMRADATA says, “Our asset management clients have predicted that 2017 will be an extremely interesting year for investors. We are in a midst of a sea change in the global environment that will create both opportunities and risks.”

The top investment trends for 2017 from asset management firms:

A year of volatility in global markets

The political uncertainty in both the USA and Europe following the election of Donald Trump, Brexit negotiations and the forthcoming French and German elections are all going to have a big influence on the markets and continued volatility.

According to Mark Burgess, Chief Investment Officer EMEA and Global Head of Equities at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, “2017 will be a year of volatility as markets make sense of the promises and policies that politicians have promoted, and that volatility in markets provides the perfect opportunity for active management.”

Steven Bell, Chief Economist at BMO Global Asset Management EMEA, believes that Trump’s victory will be the ‘key driver of change’ and that the global economy is starting to heal. “A number of key indicators suggest that the world’s economy has been healing for some time. Monetary policy has played an effective role in this healing process but seems to have reached its limits with negative rates having disappointing effects in Europe and Japan. The baton should be passed to the fiscal authorities and Trump looks set to run ahead with it. Whether other countries will follow suit remains to be seen.”

Interest rate rises and falls

Most companies are predicting interest rate rises in the USA, but a fall in emerging markets.

Ricardo Adrogué, Head of Emerging Markets Debt at Barings, says, “Over the next year, global interest rates will likely move in different directions. As the US economy continues to gain steam, rates will likely increase while Europe and Japan appear on track to continue their accommodative policies. On the whole, EM local interest rates continue to fall as inflation remains healthy and growth remains tepid.”

Global inflation on the rise

Ricardo Adrogué, Head of Emerging Markets Debt at Barings, says, “Global inflation may rise but will likely remain relatively subdued over the next several years. Due to the lower inflationary pressures, we expect to see lower overall interest rates for EM local bonds where nominal yields offer significant compensation for risk.”

Bonds poised for solid performance

Robert Tipp, Managing Director, Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Global Bonds at PGIM Fixed Income, says, “Between the Brexit vote and the Trump sweep, 2016 was a year of surprises and bumps, but it was a generally productive year for the bond market. And, when we look at 2017, our best guess is that the opportunity in the bond market will once again outweigh the risks and that bonds are poised for solid performance.”

Embracing credit risk

Jan Straatman, Global CIO at Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM), and Salman Ahmed, Chief Investment Strategist at LOIM, point out that in the world of largely low or negative rates, investors should consider increasing their exposure to credit risk through an allocation to corporate credit in 2017.

However, they say investors need to look beyond the higher-rated, investment-grade segment of this market where duration risk is a dominant force.

They comment: “We believe that to increase yield sufficiently, investors should move further down the credit spectrum. In our view, the so-called ‘crossover’ universe, which spans the lower quality investment-grade (BBB) and higher-quality high-yield (BB) rated issuers, provides significant return enhancement relative to investment-grade issuers while not exposing investors to the excessive default risk that is a feature of high-yield debt (rated B and below).”

Growth of global equities

The move into equities is another key trend.

Mark Burgess, CIO EMEA and Global Head of Equities of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, says, “Compared to their longer-term history, equities still offer better value than bonds – though this might change, should the ‘bond bubble’ burst in 2017.”

Steven Bell, Chief Economist at BMO Global Asset Management EMEA, says, “Higher US rates and a strong US dollar will see markets struggle to make much headway and although equities are our favoured asset class, stronger economic data could see bonds rally and shares fall at some point. In terms of sectors, recent trends look set to continue with cyclically orientated areas outperforming and bond proxies struggling. The prospects for emerging markets remain difficult as dollar strength and rising rates outweigh the benefits of better growth. But 2017 might be the year in which European equities finally outperform, ending half a decade of disappointment.”

Impact of technology

Technology will also have a significant impact in 2017.

According to Richard Turnill, Global Chief Investment Strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, “Technological change is sweeping through industries, overhauling business models, reducing traditional jobs and limiting inflation. The rapid pace of technological change is causing disruption across industries and displacing jobs − and is arguably fuelling populist politics.”

Advances in artificial intelligence could have an even bigger impact on better-paying white-collar jobs in services industries such as finance. And fossil fuel companies risk being upended by renewables once energy-storage technologies improve.

Tony Kim, Portfolio Manager at BlackRock’s Global Opportunities Group says, “Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new electricity. The big bang is upon us. We have all this data, but we can’t do anything with it. AI is the solution.”

Opportunities for active investors to increase

Mark Burgess, CIO EMEA and Global Head of Equities at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, predicts that 2017 will be an active time for investors, and expects opportunities for discerning investors to increase. “Amid rising political uncertainty, fundamental analysis and expert asset allocation will be critical in order to achieve long term returns. The tide of global QE that had previously lifted all boats will begin to ebb in some regions and flow in others, and in that environment it will make sense to differentiate within and across asset classes.”

Challenges in Asia and Emerging Markets

Burgess predicts challenges for Asia and the Emerging Markets (EMs) that are exposed to the threat that Trump poses with protectionist policies. These include China, Mexico, Colombia, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand.

BlackRock Investment Institute also highlights China and the worries around China’s capital outflows and falling yuan. However, they also say China’s stabilising growth has eased some of the anxiety that rattled investors in early 2016. Nevertheless, there are still challenges ahead as ‘China is attempting a difficult balancing act: prioritising near-term economic growth while tackling debt issues for the longer-term good’.

Emiel van den Heiligenberg, Head of Asset Allocation at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), points out one of the key risks for 2017 is a significantly weaker Chinese currency driven by capital leaving the country. “Our base case is that the Chinese will manage a 5% real currency fall at the cost of lower foreign currency reserves and tighter capital controls, particularly given the Communist Party’s power transition in late 2017. We do not expect a sharp slowdown in growth. However, the risk of a faster devaluation is not immaterial and, as we saw in 2016, that would likely lead to weaker global equity markets.”

Major challenges in Europe

John Greenwood, Chief Economist at Invesco Ltd, predicts the challenges in Europe will lead to poor economic growth. The slow progress of bank resolution, the weakness of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) QE programme and the consequent descent into negative interest rates are among the headwinds holding back economic recovery.

He also highlights double-digit unemployment levels, leading to disruptive populist and xenophobic political movements, and referenda or elections in Italy, Holland, France and Germany. “At some stage, one or more of these electorates could overwhelm the governing elites, posing an existential threat to the established order – the European Union (EU) or even the Eurozone. Real GDP growth is likely to remain around 1.5% at best, with inflation falling far short of the ECB’s target of ‘close to but below 2%’.”

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Trump had threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, impose high tariffs on certain products and even build a wall on the southern US border. Trump also said that he would send all illegal immigrants back to Mexico.

Following criticism that Mexico has been too tepid in its reaction to Trump’s threats, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray defended Mexican immigrants in the US, who Trump labelled as criminals, saying in most cases they’re the best of Mexico.

“There are voices being raised that are promoting a strategy of conflict, confrontation and… insults,” Videgaray said on Monday. “Other voices are forecasting embarrassing submission. Mexico shouldn’t opt for any of those… We will negotiate with intelligence and common sense.”

The peso plunged to new lows after Ford Motor Co. cancelled a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and Trump threatened General Motors Co. with tariffs for importing a version of its Chevrolet Cruze from Mexico.

Trump will take office on January 20, post which he is likely to announce a policy for Mexico.

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