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Last year, Mexico was the second-largest sovereign issuer of hard-currency debt in the developing world, selling about $9.5 billion in bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg) -- Mexico is tapping global bond markets for the second time this year and offering to buy back some of its outstanding debt. [Extracted from the article]

Last year, Mexico was the second-largest sovereign issuer of hard-currency debt in the developing world, selling about $9.5 billion in bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg) -- Mexico is tapping global bond markets for the second time this year and offering to buy back some of its outstanding debt. [Extracted from the article]

The Central American nation's overseas notes are the best-performing in emerging markets Tuesday, with the price of $348 million of bonds due in 2025 surging to the highest since September 2021. (Bloomberg) -- El Salvador's bonds are on a roll as investors cheer on signs that President Nayib Bukele's government is trying to shore up finances. [Extracted from the article]

"A less-tight monetary policy in the US is good for EMs", said Thierry Wizman, director of global currencies and interest-rate strategist at Macquarie Futures USA LLC in New York. (Bloomberg) -- The odds that just one final Federal Reserve interest-rate hike lies ahead is fueling a rally across emerging-market currencies. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The odds that just one final Federal Reserve interest-rate hike lies ahead is fueling a rally across emerging-market currencies. "A less-tight monetary policy in the US is good for EMs", said Thierry Wizman, director of global currencies and interest-rate strategist at Macquarie Futures USA LLC in New York. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- As investors sorted through emerging markets at the start of the year on the lookout for potential disasters, Bolivia and Ecuador were low on their list of worries. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on their Ecuador recommendations. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- As investors sorted through emerging markets at the start of the year on the lookout for potential disasters, Bolivia and Ecuador were low on their list of worries. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on their Ecuador recommendations. [Extracted from the article]

The foreperson of that special grand jury, in media interviews that Trump's lawyers condemned, said the panel's recommendations included indicting more than a dozen people, and she hinted that Trump was among them. (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on charges related to the payment of hush money to a porn star during his 2016 campaign. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Argentina's credit score was slashed by Fitch Ratings to the lowest above default as the government plans to force state-owned institutions to unload their holdings of dollar bonds. In the swap, state-run banks and the public pension fund Anses stand to exchange 100% of their holdings of overseas bonds under New York law for peso-denominated debt. [Extracted from the article]

In the past year, the banks lent to Banco do Brasil SA, and the governments of Barbados and Guyana. (Bloomberg) -- Latin America is again becoming a destination for Chinese loans, after the Covid-19 pandemic had zeroed such deals in a region where state-run banks of the Asian giant have issued some $136 billion of debt. [Extracted from the article]

Ghana's local credit score was raised to CCC+ from SD - or selective default - by S&P after new domestic debt securities were delivered to creditors, according to a Friday statement. The rating on Ghana's local-currency debt was upgraded by S&P Global Ratings as the country settles its domestic debt exchange with bondholders. [Extracted from the article]

Bukele managed to spark a bond rally in July when he announced the buyback even as Bitcoin plunged. (Bloomberg) -- For much of the four years since he won office, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has relished his role as an anti-establishment warrior. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- For much of the four years since he won office, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has relished his role as an anti-establishment warrior. Bukele managed to spark a bond rally in July when he announced the buyback even as Bitcoin plunged. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A fresh round of IMF bailouts is under way, and some of the world's most indebted nations will have to sacrifice their currencies to get them. While the spread between the official rate and market rate narrowed initially, it widened once again from September, and the currency weakened to a record on Feb. 8, after the central bank said in January it would conduct periodic dollar sales. [Extracted from the article]

The nation's stable outlook comes as Moody's eyes longer-term reforms that enhance the economy's export base and support foreign direct investment inflows, improving Egypt's debt capacity. Egypt's credit rating was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service as liquidity buffers and foreign reserves dwindle, leaving the nation vulnerable to shocks. [Extracted from the article]

Guido Chamorro, co-head of emerging market hard currency debt at Pictet Asset Management in London, also touted the danger of market technicals for global bonds. (Bloomberg) -- Cracks are appearing in Wall Street's bullish case for emerging markets as hurdles - from Adani Group's $108 billion rout to the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking plans - prompt a more selective approach to investment. [Extracted from the article]

The Institute of International Finance expects $1.7 trillion this year in debt sales geared toward environmental, social and governance causes, a deluge that will vastly expand the $4.8 trillion universe of ESG debt. (Bloomberg) -- The global sum of socially conscious debt is barreling toward $5 trillion as Wall Street's pursuit of sustainable investments fuels demand for the bonds and loans. [Extracted from the article]

That leaves investors to focus in on other pockets of risk in the meantime - like Tunisia, which is the only other non-defaulted, distressed emerging market with a major foreign, hard-currency bond maturing this year. (Bloomberg) -- The Bitcoin-touting government of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele is poised to deliver on a $604 million bond maturing this week, marking a turn of events that leaves investors in distressed emerging-market debt with only one more big maturity to worry about this year. [Extracted from the article]

"Some frontier markets are concerning, but at the bigger market level, foreign ownership of debt has come down because more debt has been issued locally and bought by domestic investors. That leaves investors to focus in on other pockets of risk in the meantime - like Tunisia, which is the only other non-defaulted, distressed emerging market with a major foreign, hard-currency bond maturing this year. (Bloomberg) -- El Salvador's Bitcoin-touting government is poised to deliver on a $604 million bond maturing this week, in a turn of events that leaves investors in distressed emerging-market debt with only one more big maturity to worry about this year. [Extracted from the article]

Reality TV star Jen Shah was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that prosecutors said targeted "vulnerable, elderly victims" and was accompanied by extraordinary efforts to conceal her crime from them. "Real Housewives" Star Gets 6 1/2 Years for Telemarketing Scam Shah starred in the Utah edition of the long-running reality show franchise, including the third season on Bravo released last year. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A European publishing worker who tricked authors into handing over more than a thousand "valuable prepublication manuscripts of novels and other forthcoming books" pleaded guilty in New York to a single count of wire fraud, US prosecutors said. According to the indictment, Bernardini also used an email phishing scam to obtain about 20 log-ins to a New York City-based literary scouting company. While prosecutors didn't say what Bernardini did with the manuscripts, the documents are often circulated by literary agents to publishing houses when they are ready to be sold. [Extracted from the article]

According to the suit, Ruiz raised concerns about Botting to human resources at Credit Agricole in October 2018. Jose Ruiz, onetime head of emerging-markets foreign-exchange trading at Credit Agricole, filed suit Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A former senior trader at Credit Agricole in New York sued the bank alleging he was subject to "stereotypically offensive, overtly racist, and degrading comments" as a Latinx person and denied career advancement and monetary rewards. Jose Ruiz filed suit Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan. [Extracted from the article]

"For years, Honeywell neglected to implement sufficient internal accounting controls to mitigate against known corruption risks in countries like Brazil and Algeria", said Charles Cain, chief of the SEC enforcement division's FCPA unit. (Bloomberg) -- Honeywell International Inc. agreed to pay more than $160 million to settle US claims the company took part in bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria The aerospace manufacturer admitted to offering at least $4 million in bribes to a high-ranking Brazillian government official in a 2010 bidding process at Petrobras, a state-owned oil and gas production company, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. [Extracted from the article]

Justin Onwenu, a second-year student at Columbia Law School who supports the law schools' rejection of the US News rankings, echoes that point. (Bloomberg) -- When Elizabeth Samuels began applying to law schools in 2020, her highest priority was to get into a T14 school - one in the top 14 according to US News & World Report, the go-to source for such rankings. Top Law Schools Snub "US News" Rankings, Marking Shift in Legal Industry. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Cipriani USA Inc. was sued by a former employee who claims she was sexually harassed by a supervisor and fired after she complained. Sophia Pak's complaint comes a year after the New York restaurant company settled a lawsuit brought by a waitress who claimed to have been sexually harassed by the eatery's owner and his friend, Harvey Weinstein. [Extracted from the article]

"The celebrities' liability hinges mainly on whether the products they promoted are securities", said Shane Seppinni, who represents people suing over alleged corporate abuse and who isn't involved in the FTX cases. (Bloomberg) -- FTX's viral Super Bowl ad featured multiple versions of a deeply skeptical Larry David. [Extracted from the article]

How Perks Worked Prosecutors are trying to show that the alleged tax fraud scheme at the Trump companies wasn't secretly hatched by Weisselberg and Controller Jeffrey McConney, as the defense contends, but part of the firm's entrenched business practices. (Bloomberg) -- The highest-ranking Trump Organization executive to be charged in an alleged criminal tax fraud scheme told the jury that soon after he pleaded guilty, the firm knocked his title down and booted him off the prestige floor on which Donald Trump worked. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump himself was aware of allegedly abusive tax practices at his company, testimony at the criminal fraud trial of two Trump Organization business units suggested. Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney was asked by a prosecutor on Thursday whether longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg had spoken with the former president about reducing Weisselberg's salary -- and giving him perks instead -- to lower his tax liability. [Extracted from the article]

New Answer Steinglass asked McConney whether Weisselberg had ever told him he'd discussed the reductions with Trump. (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump himself was aware of allegedly abusive tax practices at the Trump Organization, the company controller suggested in his testimony. [Extracted from the article]

Barrack acknowledged his desire for UAE sovereign wealth money but claimed that had no bearing on any informal advice he gave the Trump campaign or White House. (Bloomberg) -- Tom Barrack was acquitted on charges that he tried to influence the campaign and administration of his longtime friend, former President Donald Trump, as an agent of the United Arab Emirates. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Tom Barrack was acquitted on charges that he tried to influence the campaign and administration of his longtime friend, former President Donald Trump, as an agent of the United Arab Emirates. The jury found Barrack, 75, not guilty of all nine counts against him, including failing to register as a foreign agent, obstructing justice and lying to federal agents. [Extracted from the article]

Barrack described his plan to court Sheikh Tahnoon through their shared hobbies, a bit of Hollywood glamour but also curiosity about his friend Trump. In their May 2016 meeting, Barrack said he and Sheikh Tahnoon talked about fitness, including how a diet had left the sheikh in "amazing shape" with perhaps just 2% body fat. [Extracted from the article]

Barrack and his assistant, Matthew Grimes, 29, are accused of helping the oil-rich UAE promote its agenda with Trump's campaign and early presidential administration without registering with the attorney general. (Bloomberg) -- Colony Capital LLC founder Tom Barrack had no motive to act as an unregistered foreign agent to help the United Arab Emirates influence his friend Donald Trump, a defense lawyer argued to federal jurors at the end of a six-week criminal trial. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Colony Capital LLC founder Tom Barrack illegally used access to his friend Donald Trump to help the United Arab Emirates gain political influence in the US even as the UAE invested in his firm, a prosecutor argued to a federal jury Tuesday. Rather, Jackson said, Barrack was nearing the end of his business career and was trying to explain Trump to Middle East leaders. [Extracted from the article]

Cogan had said Monday that he was considering dismissing some of the nine counts against Barrack altogether, but he didn't toss any charges on Tuesday. (Bloomberg) -- The judge overseeing the trial of Tom Barrack and his assistant on charges they acted as unregistered foreign agents restricted the legal theories that prosecutors could argue to the jury. [Extracted from the article]

Barrack claims $374 million in UAE funds invested with Colony were unrelated to any advice he gave the Trump campaign or administration. (Bloomberg) -- Colony Capital LLC founder Tom Barrack described his first meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 as a "huge" opportunity to try to capture sovereign-wealth investment. Barrack Said He Hit Sovereign-Wealth "Jackpot" With MBS Meeting. [Extracted from the article]

"Confusion about your friend Donald Trump is VERY high", Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the US, wrote in an April 2016 email that Barrack shared Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Tom Barrack Testifies About Trump's 2016 "Parade of Horribles" (Bloomberg) -- Tom Barrack testified that he tried to introduce his longtime friend Donald Trump to diplomats, world leaders and Leonardo DiCaprio during the 2016 presidential campaign to smooth over the candidate's many "outrageous" statements. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin testified that Colony Capital LLC founder Tom Barrack advised him in 2017 that a key policy goal of the United Arab Emirates was a "bad idea." Mnuchin took the stand Thursday as a defense witness in Barrack's trial on charges that he tried to influence US policy as an unregistered agent of the UAE. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Colony Capital LLC's former private equity head testified that founder Tom Barrack's ties to Middle East sovereign wealth funds were so well-known internally that a firm spreadsheet of potential investors identified those with "Barrack Magic." Colony PE Head Says Firm Relied on "Barrack Magic" for UAE Money Abbe Lowell, a defense lawyer for Barrack's assistant Matthew Grimes, who is also on trial, asked Chang if Barrack ever asked him to do anything improper. [Extracted from the article]

With the new Brooklyn location, Chinah will add new dishes like orange ginger chicken and sweet potato to the menu. (Bloomberg) -- A promising Chinese takeout chain is about to open its third location in downtown Brooklyn, hoping to bust past obstacles such as rising rents and a sluggish return-to-office pace that have derailed efforts from other restaurateurs in the space. [Extracted from the article]

US Circuit Court Judge Eunice Lee granted New York Attorney General Letitia James a temporary order preventing an Oct. 6 decision by US District Judge Glenn Suddaby in Syracuse from going into effect. (Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals judge put on hold a lower-court ruling that struck down many of New York's gun bans in public places as constitutional. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court put on hold a judge's ruling that struck down many of New York's gun bans in public places as constitutional. New York Attorney General Letitia James is appealing the Oct. 6 decision by US District Judge Glenn Suddaby in Syracuse and asked the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay while it considers the arguments. [Extracted from the article]

"The chatrooms gave the dealers an edge", Burke said in federal court in Manhattan, adding, "With the network, the dealers win and the customers lose." Credit Suisse Was Part of Foreign-Exchange "Conspiracy Network", Lawyer Says (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG was part of a "conspiracy network" focused on rigging the foreign exchange market, a lawyer said in opening arguments in an antitrust suit against the bank. [Extracted from the article]

State Attorney General Letitia James on Monday filed a motion with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals to stay a lower-court decision issued last week that found many of the state's gun restrictions unconstitutional. (Bloomberg) -- New York asked a federal appeals court to prevent an order overturning firearms bans in Times Square and other public places from going into effect. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A New York law barring guns from Times Square and many other public spaces was ruled largely unconstitutional by a federal judge. New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a statement called Suddaby's ruling "deeply disappointing" and said her office was discussing an appeal with state Attorney General Letitia James. [Extracted from the article]