Category: Payments

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PNRR: România va primi astăzi o a doua tranșă de prefinanțare în valoare de 1,9 miliarde de euro!

În data de 13 ianuarie 2022, odată cu intrarea în vigoare a Acordului de împrumut (Mecanismul de redresare și reziliență) între Comisia Europeană și România, va fi virată suma aferentă prefinanțării din componenta de împrumut, în cuantum de 1.942.479.890 euro, reprezentând 13% din valoarea totală a împrumutului.

Această sumă vine în completarea primei tranșe a prefinanțării, pe componenta de grant, plătită de către Comisia Europeană la data de 2 decembrie 2021, în valoare de 1,85 miliarde euro.

Astfel, până la acest moment, o sumă totală de 3,79 miliarde euro a fost acordată României, de la momentul aprobării și demarării implementării PNRR, la 3 noiembrie 2021.

„Împrumuturile din acest program, atrase în condiții foarte avantajoase, vor fi utilizate pentru finanțarea unor proiecte de anvergură pentru România, fie că vorbim de sute de kilometri de autostradă, zeci de mii de locuințe racordate la rețele de apă și canal, facilități pentru digitalizarea a câtorva mii de IMM-uri sau zeci de mii de hectare de reîmpăduriri. Accesul la aceste fonduri este condiționat însă de îndeplinirea reformelor asumate prin PNRR, și de aceea este nevoie de un efort comun al tuturor cordonatorilor”, a declarat ministrul Investițiilor și Proiectelor europene, Dan Vîlceanu.

Conform Deciziei de punere în aplicare a Consiliului din 3 noiembrie 2021, sumele împrumutului vor fi disponibilizate în 10 tranșe, în baza îndeplinirii de partea română a jaloanelor și țintelor în cadrul reformelor și investițiilor asociate împrumutului.

Responsabilitatea îndeplinirii jaloanelor și țintelor stabilite în cadrul PNRR și care stau la baza tragerii tranșelor în cadrul împrumutului revine coordonatorilor de reforme și investiții, adică ministerele (entitățile) responsabile de implementarea reformelor și/sau a componentelor aferente reformelor și/sau investițiilor, precum și ministerele care au în subordine/coordonare/sub autoritate entități responsabile de implementarea componentelor aferente reformelor și/sau investițiilor.

Prefinanţarea va fi dedusă procentual din valoarea tranşelor care vor fi disponibilizate ulterior din împrumut, până la compensarea în totalitate a acesteia, România putând însă solicita accelerarea compensării prefinanţării prin deducerea unor sume mai mari din tranşei/tranşele ulterioare.

Sumele trase din împrumut, inclusiv prefinanțarea din împrumut disponibilizată de Comisia Europeană, şi virate în contul în valută deschis pe numele Ministerului Finanţelor la Banca Naţională a României se utilizează pe măsura necesităţilor de finanţare a deficitului bugetului de stat şi de refinanţare a datoriei publice guvernamentale, precum și pentru finanțarea reformelor și investițiilor prevăzute în Planul Național de Redresare și Reziliență.

Aplicarea prevederilor Acordului de împrumut se va realiza de către Ministerul Finanţelor, în calitate de împrumutat, şi Ministerul Investiţiilor şi Proiectelor Europene, în calitate de coordonator naţional al Planului Naţional de Redresare şi Rezilienţă.

Prin Planul Național de Redresare și Reziliență, pe componenta de împrumut, vor fi finanțate reforme și investiții care contribuie la redresarea economică și socială, precum și la dezvoltarea pe termen lung a țării.

Ministerul Investițiilor și Proiectelor Europene va transmite, în prima parte a anului 2022, prima cerere de plată către Comisia Europeană, în baza îndeplinirii celor 24 de ținte și jaloane aferente trimestrului I 2022 (din totalul de 507 asumate la nivelul întregului plan).

Suma aferentă implementării planului de redresare și reziliență al României este de 29.181.842.750 euro. România a solicitat sprijin financiar nerambursabil în valoare de 14.239.689.750 euro și împrumuturi în valoare de 14.942.153.000 euro în cadrul Mecanismului de redresare și reziliență. Împreună, acestea reprezintă 13,09 % din PIB-ul din 2019. Planul conține 171 de măsuri (64 de reforme și 107 investiții), structurate în jurul a șase piloni și a cincisprezece componente.

Planul abordează o parte semnificativă din provocările structurale mai vechi care au rămas nesoluționate, astfel cum au fost identificate în recomandările relevante specifice adresate României de către Consiliu în 2019 și în 2020. Principalele obiective ale planului sunt realizarea tranziției verzi și a tranziției digitale, consolidând, în același timp, asistența medicală, educația, coeziunea socială și incluziunea.

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For the first time in history, the Bitcoin holdings of a nation is greater than Gold reserves: Bulgaria, $2 vs $1.8 Billions

Bulgaria has been covertly stockpiling Bitcoins, so much so that their BTC reserve has surpassed its gold holdings. Back in May 2017, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Centre (SELEC) issued a press release that the country has over 200,000 BTC (around $2.1 billion) as opposed to just 40 tons in gold (around $1.8 billion). The release stated:

“It was determined that the members of the organized crime group invested the money obtained from these illegal activities in bitcoins, around 200,000 being discovered in the virtual space.”

The investigators determined that they had precisely 213,519 BTC. Strangely enough, the Bulgarian Government has remained relatively silent regarding their alleged holdings. There have been several rumors floating around about these mysterious Bitcoins. One of these rumors stated that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry sold the stash to fund a new air force squadron. Various crypto media outlets immediately trashed this. The Government’s continued reluctance to reveal the Bitcoin addresses hints that they are likely still in control of the Bitcoin holdings.

For the first time in history, the bitcoin holdings of a nation state have surpassed their gold reserves, and it happens to be Bulgaria.

The country is believed to hold more than 200,000 bitcoins, now worth about $2 billion, while their gold reserves of 40 tones are worth only $1.8 billion.

Making it the first time a nation state has more value stored in bitcoin than in gold reserves.

That’s per a May 2017 press release by the Southeast European Law Enforcement Centre (SELEC) which announced in a headline: “More than 200,000 bitcoins in value of 500 million USD found by the Bulgarian authorities.” They further said:

“With SELEC’ support, the Bulgarian authorities successfully finalized the joint investigation…

The organized criminal group consisted in Bulgarian nationals having connections in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hellenic Republic, Romania and Republic of Serbia.

The modus operandi used was recruiting corrupted Customs officers in all involved countries with the purpose to infiltrate a virus in the Customs’ computerized systems. Once the virus installed, from distance, the offenders were able to finalize various transports, as in the Customs’ system appeared that the cargo was already checked and passed.

The Bulgarian authorities have searched more than 100 addresses, suspects and vehicles. A large quantity of money was seized, as well as equipment, devices for communication, computers, tablets, bank documents, etc…

It was determined that the members of the organized crime group invested the money obtained from these illegal activities in bitcoins, around 200,000 being discovered in the virtual space.

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Procedure on the way to end Federal Reserve and return to the Gold Standard ! President Trump meetings continue

As President-elect’s Donald Trump’s transition rolls on, more and more attention is being paid to possible selections for a variety of high-ranking positions and meetings that might help decide these appointments.
On Monday, Trump will meet with John Allison, the former CEO of the bank BB&T and of the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute.
There have been reports that Allison is being considered for Treasury secretary.

Trump’s has on the campaign trail questioned the future of the Federal Reserve’s political independence, but Allison takes that rhetoric a step further. While running the the Cato Institute, Allison wrote a paper in support of abolishing the Fed.

“I would get rid of the Federal Reserve because the volatility in the economy is primarily caused by the Fed,” Allison wrote in 2014 for the Cato Journal, a publication of the institute.

Allison said that simply allowing the market to regulate itself would be preferable to the Fed harming the stability of the financial system.

“When the Fed is radically changing the money supply, distorting interest rates, and over-regulating the financial sector, it makes rational economic calculation difficult,” Allison wrote. “Markets do form bubbles, but the Fed makes them worse.”

Allison also suggested that the government’s practice of insuring bank deposits up to $250,000 should be abolished and the US should go back to a banking system backed by “a market standard such as gold.”

Allison also argued for higher capital reserves of up to 20% of assets at banks. On the other hand, he also argued that the government should repeal three of the broadest banking regulations.

“We should raise capital standards, but it is even more important to eliminate burdensome regulations — including Dodd-Frank, the Community Reinvestment Act, and Truth in Lending,” Allison wrote. “About 25 percent of a bank’s personnel cost relates to regulations. Banks cannot pay the regulatory costs and have high capital standards.”

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FinCEN Files, 2500+ documents, $2000 BILLIONS dirty money in International Banks

Leaked documents involving about $2000 Billions of transactions have revealed how some of the world’s biggest banks have allowed criminals to move dirty money around the world.

The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017. They raise concerns about what their clients might be doing. These documents are some of the international banking system’s most closely guarded secrets.

Today, the FinCEN Files — thousands of “suspicious activity reports” and other US government documents — offer an unprecedented view of global financial corruption, the banks enabling it, and the government agencies that watch as it flourishes. BuzzFeed News has shared these reports with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news organizations in 88 countries.

Money laundering is a crime that makes other crimes possible. It can accelerate economic inequality, drain public funds, undermine democracy, and destabilize nations — and the banks play a key role. “Some of these people in those crisp white shirts in their sharp suits are feeding off the tragedy of people dying all over the world,” said Martin Woods, a former suspicious transactions investigator for Wachovia.

What has been revealed?

  • HSBC allowed fraudsters to move millions of dollars of stolen money around the world, even after it learned from US investigators the scheme was a scam.
  • JP Morgan allowed a company to move more than $1bn through a London account without knowing who owned it. The bank later discovered the company might be owned by a mobster on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
  • Evidence that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates used Barclays bank in London to avoid sanctions which were meant to stop him using financial services in the West. Some of the cash was used to buy works of art.
  • The husband of a woman who has donated £1.7m to the UK’s governing Conservative Party’s was secretly funded by a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Putin.
  • The UK is called a “higher risk jurisdiction” and compared to Cyprus, by the intelligence division of FinCEN. That’s because of the number of UK registered companies that appear in the SARs. Over 3,000 UK companies are named in the FinCEN files – more than any other country.
  • Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich once held secret investments in footballers not owned by his club through an offshore company.
  • The United Arab Emirates’ central bank failed to act on warnings about a local firm which was helping Iran evade sanctions.
  • Deutsche Bank moved money launderers’ dirty money for organised crime, terrorists and drug traffickers. More details (BuzzFeed News)
  • Standard Chartered moved cash for Arab Bank for more than a decade after clients’ accounts at the Jordanian bank had been used in funding terrorism.

  • One of America’s oldest banks wired over a hundred million dollars in funds linked to the crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin, according to a trove of documents leaked from the U.S.’ financial crimes watchdog.

    In February 2017, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) flagged a number of transactions with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) it deemed suspicious as they appeared to be “layered” – a money-laundering technique that hides the source of funds through sending multiple transactions.

    Worth a combined $137 million, the bank said these transactions came from entities linked to OneCoin – a crypto scheme the U.S. government accused of being a Ponzi. It’s estimated OneCoin raised a total of $4 billion from investors, making it one of the most successful schemes of its kind ever.

Why is this leak different?

There have been a number of big leaks of financial information in recent years, including:

 

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Denmark propose the use of Blockchain Platforms for fighting against corruption on government and institutional levels

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark published a report explaining the use of IT technologies and services including blockchain, e-governance, big data, and crowdsourcing to fight administrative, or day-to-day, corruption as well as political corruption.

Presented during the International Anti-Corruption Conference, or IACC, the report emphasizes the use of blockchain as a technology that will build a more transparent governance and transaction system, further adding that it will also give individuals greater rights over their own data.

According to the report, blockchain can be used as a potential anti-corruption tool as it has the ability to store records immutably and transparently. A public database such as blockchain also provides every individual equal access to the data stored in the ledger, thus allowing individuals to claim their rights over aid, land and money without depending on any middlemen.

The report further says that blockchain “reduces or eliminates the need for institutions” such as banks, land registries, accountants, registry of births and deaths, and vehicle registration whose main job is to validate transactions.

The technology would help entities efficiently and securely share resources with people without formal identities or bank accounts, the report adds.

The public sector may also use blockchain to secure records and certificates from any alterations and use blockchain’s ability to trace all activities to reduce the chances for corruption.

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Farmers Could Soon Be Hedging Their Risks With Decentralized Weather Data

Farmers are likely the hardest hit by weather unpredictability. For many, severe weather conditions can lead to the loss of their livelihood, or even starvation. Although farmer insurance has been around for decades — if not centuries — according to Jha, it is unaffordable for the vast majority:

“If you had less than two hundred thousand dollars in premium to spend, you actually had no real access.”

Arbol blockchain infrastructure. Source: Arbol.

Jha claims that Arbol both lowers the entry barrier and makes hedging less expensive. With blockchain, settlements and payouts can be instant, whereas in the centralized world, participants may have to wait weeks, if not months. 

Farmers can hedge against various adverse weather conditions having a negative impact on their crops. They can buy a hedge — for example, if a temperature in their region reaches a critical level, which will trigger an automatic payout. By adding Chainlink’s oracalized weather data feeds, the company’s platform has become more decentralized and resilient. 

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ECB official says the central bank is working on a ‘retail’ digital currency, floats decentralized token model

The European Central Bank is working on a “retail central bank digital currency” as part of an investigative task force, according to a member of its Executive Board.

Yves Mersch, who also serves as vice chair of the ECB’s Supervisory Board, made the remarks during an early-morning keynote address for CoinDesk’s Consensus 2020 conference. In a published version of his speech, Mersch talked about the task force and the work it is conducting, mostly notable the retail CBDC versus a “wholesale” focused one.

Mersch acknowledged that such work is taking place against the backdrop of an economy in which the vast majority of euro area transactions – some 76% – are in the form of cash. And to that end, “[t]he ECB’s debate on CBDCs is therefore mainly analytical,” he noted.

“The lack of a concrete ‘business case’ for a CBDC at present should and does not stop us from seriously exploring the optimal design of a CBDC so that we will be well prepared should we ever take a policy decision to issue a digital currency,” he went on to say. “To this end, we have set up a task force on a CBDC within the Eurosystem
— Citește pe www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/64692/ecb-retail-central-bank-digital-currency-token

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Buffett ‘Killed His Reputation’ by Being Stupid About Bitcoin ! His Company Reported $50 billions Q1 loss

On May 2, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a $50 billion Q1 loss, with Buffett admitting a major investor mistake. Keiser subsequently argued that the legendary 89-year-old investor “killed his reputation by being stupid about BTC.”

He tweeted on May 3:

“Now that Buffett is out of the game and stock buybacks are rightly being called out as fraudulent, investors will ask… If Buffett was dead wrong about so much, was he also wrong about #Bitcoin and Gold? ANSWER: YES. Buffett killed his reputation by being stupid about BTC.”
Keiser further tweeted that it is time to leave Buffett in the past, outlining that millennials and Gen Z should look to Bitcoin. The Bitcoin bull also highlighted that Buffett “was already way overrated,” as he missed not only Bitcoin investment, but also gold, Apple and Amazon.

Pomp says that Buffett has enough cash to “buy every Bitcoin” in the circulating supply

By the end of March, Buffett’s Berkshire had a record $137 billion in cash and equivalent instruments. Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, tweeted on May 2 that Buffet is able to buy all circulating bitcoins with that amount. Pomp said:

“Warren Buffett has $137 billion in cash. That is almost enough to buy every Bitcoin in the circulating supply.”

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Facebook Libra 2.0 Explained in 5 minutes, planned for World Payments Systems Disruption in 5 years

What is Libra

Libra is a permissioned, blockchain-based stablecoin payment system.

The Libra payment system will support single-currency stablecoins and a multi-currency coin (LBR) that will be a digital composite of some of the single-currency stablecoins available on the Libra network.

All Libra coins will be fully backed by cash & cash equivalents and short-term government securities held by a geographically distributed network of custodian banks.

History

Libra’s origins can be traced back to 2017 when Libra co-creator and Calibra head of strategy, Morgan Beller, became the first person at Facebook’s secret blockchain initiative. Month’s later, CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed his desire to “go deeper and study the positive and negative aspects of” cryptocurrencies in his New Year’s resolution post.

On May 8, 2018, Facebook Vice President David Marcus announced that he would be moving from Facebook’s Messenger division to lead Facebook’s blockchain initiative, kicking the initiative into high gear. By February 2019, there were more than 50 engineers working on the project.

In May 2019 it was confirmed that Facebook planned to launch a stablecoin backed by multiple currencies as part of a payments network designed to enable billions of users to make online purchases and transfer money between each other.

Announcement

On June 18, 2019 Facebook officially unveiled Libra: it’s permissioned blockchain-based payment system. It’s token, Libra, would be a stablecoin fully backed by a basket of fiat currencies and government securities, held in the “Libra Reserve.” Facebook also announced that it would develop a digital wallet for the project under its new subsidiary called Calibra, led by Libra co-creators Morgan Beller, David Marcus and Kevin Weil.

The Libra blockchain and Libra Reserve would be governed by the Libra Association: a Swiss based membership organization responsible for the governance of the Libra network and development of the Libra project. The 27 members planned to invest $10 million a piece to receive Libra Investment tokens and become validators of the Libra network.

Although the project would be permissioned at launch, the association aimed to begin transitioning to permissionless governance and consensus within five years.

Regulatory Pushback

Libra received immediate pushback from regulators around the world who expressed concerns over privacy and the potential challenge to various nation’s monetary sovereignty. As a result, just one month after the project was announced, Facebook assured that Libra would not launch until all regulatory concerns were fully addressed. Facebook executives proceeded to go through a series of hearings and meetings with US Congress and various governments in an attempt to alleviate regulatory concerns.

In September 2019, it was reported that the Libra reserve basket would consist of 50% US dollars, 18% Euro, 14% Japanese Yen, 11% Pound sterling and 7% Singaporean dollars. This US friendly composition wasn’t enough to quell anxieties and regulatory pressures persisted. In October 2019, PayPal became the first company to walk away from the Libra Association, with several other high profile founding members following suit, including Visa and Mastercard.

In January 2020, it was reported that the Libra Association was weighing a shift to a multiple stablecoin framework with each backed by their own individual currencies. This differed from their initial approach of a single stablecoin backed by a composite basket of fiat currencies.

Libra’s Revised Plan

On April 16, 2020 Libra unveiled its revised plan. As rumored, Libra transitioned to a framework featuring multiple single-currency stablecoins, in addition to its multi-currency Libra coin. Under the new model, each single-currency stablecoin will be backed by its respective fiat currency and government securities – i.e. the US dollar stablecoin will be backed by a reserve of US dollars and US government securities.

The multi-currency Libra coin on the other hand would be a composite of some of the single-currency stablecoins available on the Libra network. This differs from the initial proposal for a standalone currency backed by a basket of various fiat currencies and government securities sitting in a single reserve. The new Libra Coin proposal looks less like a currency and more like the SDRs maintained by the IMF. Libra Coins represent a claim on stablecoins held in various reserves within the network. This is one step removed from representing a direct claim on multiple fiat currencies and government securities sitting in the Libra Reserve.

According to the revised white paper, these changes were made to address policymaker’s key concerns. The revised plan further includes a more comprehensive compliance framework, the abandonment of plans to transition to a permissionless system and plans for strengthening the Libra Reserve design. Also to the delight of policymakers, t will allow for easier integration of central bank digital currencies to replace corresponding single-currency stablecoins.

According to the head of policy for the Libra Association, Dante Disparte, the Libra network is working toward a late 2020 launch.

Go Deeper

To learn more about Libra’s roadmap, regulatory history, team and participating organizations, the Libra Coin, launch, consensus and emission, underlying technology and governance, read our full Libra profile page.
— Citește pe messari.io/article/libra-2-0-explained-in-5-minutes