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Donnerstag, 31. August 2017

Major U.S. Clearinghouse Halts Settlement Services on Venezuelan Bonds DTCC latest to move away from Venezuelan bonds, citing U.S. Sanctions By Julie Wernau

Major U.S. Clearinghouse Halts Settlement Services on Venezuelan Bonds 
DTCC latest to move away from Venezuelan bonds, citing U.S. Sanctions 
By 
Julie Wernau 
Updated Aug. 30, 2017 5:31 p.m. ET 
2 COMMENTS 

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., one of the largest securities clearinghouses in the U.S., said it would no longer settle certain Venezuela bond trades, the latest blow for investors in the South American nation in the wake of U.S. sanctions.
The New York-based clearinghouse said in a notice on its website that, based on a recent executive order, it has suspended settlement services that allow Venezuelan bonds to change hands, including those of state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA. A clearinghouse acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers to exchange payments, and is crucial to bond trading.
Late Wednesday, following further review, the company issued a notice reinstating services for some bonds, narrowing its initial guidance.
The move is the latest complication for traders of Venezuelan bonds and shows a rising awareness of the risk of dealing in these securities. Fears of falling on the wrong side of U.S. or Venezuelan policy have pushed some major institutional players out of the market and driven down liquidity. That is causing concerns that bondholders will find it difficult to find buyers when and if they decide to sell those securities.
On Tuesday, Cantor Fitzgerald LP stopped trading Venezuelan debt. The move was the first blanket restriction on Venezuelan bonds by a large U.S. financial institution.
This month, Credit Suisse Group AG said that it prohibited its traders from buying and selling two existing Venezuelan bonds because of the risk the trades would finance human-rights abuses.
An executive order from President Donald Trump on Friday prohibited U.S. institutions from trading new bonds with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Officials said the move aims to punish Mr. Maduro and his administration for a move toward authoritarianism and that more financial sanctions would come if the repression continues.
Bond traders said that the majority of Venezuela bond trades are cleared through Europe-based settlement houses, including Euroclear in Brussels and Clearstream in Luxembourg, but that DTCC’s move raised concerns that other clearinghouses would follow suit. Euroclear and Clearstream didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Europe doesn’t have the same restrictions on Venezuela as the U.S. But the Treasury Department has warned that even indirect bond transactions involving Caracas, such as through European markets, would violate its sanctions.
DTCC is co-owned by investment banks and brokers on Wall Street, and says it processes trillions of dollars in securities transactions each day.
Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment. In the past, Mr. Maduro has accused Wall Street of being part of the “economic war” against his government.
“This is only adding fear and uncertainty,” Juan I. Sosa, co-chairman of Portfolio Resources Group Inc. in Miami, said Wednesday. With a large amount of his business in Venezuelan bonds, he was sending along information to his brokers and clients as new notices restricting trade came across his desk.
Trading in Venezuelan debt, until recently among the most easily purchased emerging-market bonds, has slowed to a trickle this week, reflecting typical end-of-summer trading as well as investor efforts to evaluate the impact of the U.S. sanctions.
—Anatoly Kurmanaev 
contributed to this article.
Write to Julie Wernau at Julie.Wernau@wsj.com
Appeared in the August 31, 2017, print edition as 'Clearinghouse Is the Latest To Crimp Venezuelan Debt.' 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/major-u...nds-1504114642

http://www.dtcc.com/~/media/Files/pd...9/B6627-17.pdf

"Über die hundertprozentige Tochter EuroCCP wickelt die DTCC auch das Clearing für die neue elektronische Börse Turquoise ab"
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposi...ng_Corporation

Ich finde es bemerkenswert, dass sich in einem Fachforum wie diesem hier offenbar niemand Gedanken über die zukünftige Handelbarkeit der Anleihen macht. Hat sich tatsächlich noch niemand mit seinem/ihren Broker in Verbindung gesetzt?

Venezuela Cut Deeper Into Junk by Fitch on `Probable' Default

Venezuela Cut Deeper Into Junk by Fitch on `Probable' Default

  • Nation’s senior debt downgraded to CC from CCC by Fitch
  • Ratings company says U.S. sanctions increase default odds

The world’s riskiest credit continued its downward spiral after Fitch Ratings lowered Venezuela’s grade deeper into junk, saying additional U.S. sanctions increase the probability of non-payment.
Fitch reduced the nation’s long-term foreign and local currency ratings to CC, just two notches from default, from CCC on Wednesday. S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service also rank the country at speculative levels.
"The expected reduction in the international reserve position in the context of sanctions will severely test the government’s capacity and willingness to continue with timely debt service," Fitch analyst Richard Francis wrote in a statement.
Speculation on a Venezuelan default is mounting as international reserves tumble to a 15-year low and U.S. sanctions further restrict the nation’s financing options. The implied probability of the country missing a payment over the next 12 months rose to 64 percent from 63 percent the month prior, according to credit-default swaps data compiled by Bloomberg. The odds of a credit event over the next five years increased to 97 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story:

Please be advised that effective August 29th 2017, DTC has suspended all services, with the exception of Custody, for the below referenced issue: Global Locks added due to the recent Executive Order.


Rebellischer Richter legt Rundfunkbeitrag dem EuGH vor



Rebellischer Richter legt Rundfunkbeitrag dem EuGH vor

Der rebellische Richter am Landgericht Tübingen, dessen Urteile gegen den Vollstreckungswahnsinn der Rundfunkanstalten immer wieder von der nächsten Instanz kassiert werden, geht einen neuen Weg. Er hat vor dem Urteil zu einer Vollstreckung dem Europäischen Gerichtshof Fragen zur Vereinbarkeit des Rundfunkbeitrags mit Europarecht gestellt.
Die Fragen, die der Richter mit Beschluss vom 3.8.2017 dem EuGH vorlegte, haben es in sich. So will der Richter vom EuGH unter anderem wissen, ob der Rundfunkbeitrag eine Beihilfe darstellt, die der EU-Kommission zur Genehmigung hätte vorgelegt werden müssen. Hintergrund sind die vielfältigen wirtschaftlichen Tätigkeiten der Rundfunkanstalten, mit denen sie mit privaten Anbietern in Wettbewerb treten. Auch das Privileg der Anstalten, behördliche Bescheide selbst ausstellen und direkt vollstrecken zu dürfen, will er unter Gleichbehandlungsgrundsätzen geprüft haben.
Originell ist die Frage des Richters, ob die Tatsache, dass eine alleinerziehende Mutter ein Vielfaches and Rundfunkbeitrag zahlen muss, wie Mitglieder einer Wohngemeinschaft, mit dem unionsrechtlichen Gleichbehandlungsgebot vereinbar ist. Dies auch in Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass „aufgrund der realen Begebenheiten zu 90% Frauen höher belastet werden“, wie der Richter zu wissen glaubt. Auch in der Tatsache, dass Menschen, die aus beruflichen Gründen einen Zweitwohnsitz brauchen, doppelt belastet werden, vermutet er einen Verstoß gegen den Gleichbehandlungsgrundsatz.
Dann will der Richter noch wissen, ob es unionsrechtlich in Ordnung ist, dass ein EU-Bürger knapp diesseits der deutschen Staatsgrenzen den Rundfunkbeitrag bezahlen muss, einer knapp jenseits aber nicht, auch wenn sie sich in ihrer Nutzung oder Nichtnutzung des begünstigten öff-rechtlichen Senders nicht unterscheiden.
Das wird spannend. Denn es ist kaum vorherzusehen, als was die EU-Richter diese mit ganz viel Rabulistik als Nicht-Steuer gestaltete, eigentlich verfassungswidrige Kopfsteuer einordnen und zu welchem Ergebnis sie daraufhin kommen.
Es geht um die Verfahren 5 T 20/17, 5 T 99/17 und 5 T 246/17
Den Beschluss fand ich bei gez-boykott.de. Er wurde von den Initiatoren unter diesem Link als pdf dokumentiert.
[30.8.2017]

Mittwoch, 30. August 2017

US-Traderplattform stellt laut FOXinfoseite Handel mit ALLEN VEN-bonds ein. Begruendung: Es koennten mit Geschaeftsverboten belegte VEN-Politiker damit handeln. Ansonsten laeuft der Handel in den USA weiter, allerdings mit groesserem Spread und kleinerem Volumen

US-Traderplattform stellt laut FOXinfoseite Handel mit ALLEN VEN-bonds ein. Begruendung: Es koennten mit Geschaeftsverboten belegte VEN-Politiker damit handeln. Ansonsten laeuft der Handel in den USA weiter, allerdings mit groesserem Spread und kleinerem Volumen.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP stopped trading Venezuelan debt Tuesday, days after the Treasury Department slapped financial sanctions on the country for undermining democracy.

The move is the first blanket restriction on Venezuelan bonds by a large U.S. financial institution. Trading in Venezuelan debt, until recently among the most easily purchased emerging market bonds, has slowed to a trickle this week, reflecting typical end-of-summer torpor as well as investor efforts to evaluate the impact of the U.S. sanctions.

Cantor, one of the largest intermediaries for Wall Street traders, as well as its affiliates GFI Group and BGC Partners have pulled all bonds issued by the Republic of Venezuela and state-oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, known as PdVSA, from auctions and told customers those trades are restricted, said three Cantor clients who asked to remain anonymous because they aren't authorized to speak to the press.

Cantor declined to comment.

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury banned U.S. financial institutions from trading any new bonds issued by Venezuela or from trading with any Venezuelan government entity. Officials said the move aims to punish President Nicolás Maduro and his administration for a move toward authoritarianism and that more financial sanctions would come if the repression continues.

"Maduro may no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday.

Traders say they are slowing or stopping trades in the country's securities because of fear that they could be unknowingly buying or selling bonds on behalf of people connected to Venezuelan government.

Just $7.4 million-worth of PdVSA's flagship bond due in 2024 changed hands Tuesday, less than half the amount a year ago and down from $141 million traded on Aug. 24, the last day before the sanctions, according to MarketAxess data.

Large Wall Street investment banks that trade with investors continued to buy and sell Venezuelan bonds Tuesday, investors said. But the difference, or "spread," between the bid and offer prices quoted by the banks has widened to as much as 1 percentage point from half a point, they said, showing that the banks are charging more from clients to execute trades as the perceived risk of doing so has risen.

Haben die Banken heimlich die Barüberweisung abgeschafft?

Haben die Banken heimlich die Barüberweisung abgeschafft?

Wenn das stimmt, was einem Leser von einer sehr großen deutschen Bank gesagt wurde, dann haben die Banken heimlich der Barüberweisung den Garaus gemacht. Wer kein Konto hat und nur bargeldlos zahlen darf, etwa den Rundfunkbeitrag, ist dann aufgeschmissen.
Hier das anonymisierte Schreiben meines Lesers:
Seit Längerem zahle ich den Rundfunkbeitrag bei der xx Bank in xx in bar und unter Abzug der Kosten zu Gunsten des Beitragsservice ein. Dies wollte ich letzte Woche erneut so tun. Zu meiner Verwunderung wurde mir allerdings recht knapp mitgeteilt, dass dies nicht mehr möglich sei. Es wären seit Kurzem nur noch Bareinzahlungen auf das eigene Konto möglich, nicht mehr zu Gunsten Dritter. Meine Frage nach dem Warum wurde nicht beantwortet. Daraufhin machte ich eine schriftliche Anfrage per Mail, worauf ich eine telefonische Antwort bekam.
Wenn ich als Journalist eine schriftliche Anfrage stelle und eine Antwort per Telefon bekomme, dann weiß ich, dass die Sache so heikel ist, dass mein Gegenüber vermeiden will, etwas schriftlich zu äußern. Denn was man schreibt, kann man nicht mehr dementieren und es kann verbreitet werden. Man will also nicht, dass die Info sich verbreitet. Das folgt dem in einem IWF-Papier empfohlenen Prinzip, bei der Abschaffung des Bargelds möglichst unauffällig vorzugehen und immer zu behaupten, dass man gar keine Agenda gegen das Bargeld verfolge. Weiter mit dem Leserbrief.
Die Bareinzahlung zu Gunsten Dritter sei seit Mitte Juni 2017 nicht mehr möglich, und zwar bundesweit bei allen Banken. Zur Begründung wurde auf das Geldwäschegesetz und die Abgabenordnung verwiesen. Das Verfahren sei so, dass man ja auf sein eigenes Konto einzahlen und dann den Betrag überweisen könne. Mein Einwand, dass das dann keine Bareinzahlung in dem Sinne mehr sei, wurde kommentarlos stehen gelassen. Meine Nachfrage bezüglich genauer Angabe der relevanten Textstellen innerhalb der genannten Quellen wurde mit dem Hinweis beantwortet, dass die Mitarbeiter der Bank dazu keine Details erhalten hätten.
Der Hintergrund dürfte tatsächlich an den Geldwäscheregeln liegen, die von Staat und Banken im Zusammenspiel sehr effektiv genutzt werden, um dem Bargeld den Garaus zu machen. Der Staat erlässt unpraktikable Regeln zur Kundenidentifizierung ohne sinnvolle Schwellenwerte. Die Banken nutzen das dann um unter Verweis auf die hohen Kosten oder das Rechtsrisiko immer mehr Bargeldgeschäfte gänzlich abzulehnen. Wenn man für eine Barüberweisung von 17,50 Euro an den Beitragsservice eine Kartei für diesen Kunden mit Namen und allen möglichen sonstigen Informationen anlegen muss, dann hat man natürlich keine Lust, dieses Geschäft zu tätigen.
Problematisch für die Rundfunkanstalten ist allerdings, dass sie sich bisher darauf herausreden, Leute ohne Konto könnten den unentrinnbaren Zwangsbeitrag ja auch bei jeder Bank bar auf das Konto des Beitragsservice einzahlen. Das war selbst abgesehen von den hohen Kosten bisher schon eine Lüge. Aber langsam wird die Lüge so offensichtlich, dass selbst die notorisch staatstragenden Verwaltungsrichter kaum noch die Augen davor verschließen können, dass es eine Lüge ist.
[28.8.2017]

Dienstag, 29. August 2017

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that "there will be no transactions with U.S. investors for new debt, including restructuring existing debt or extending maturities without specific licenses being issued."

White House Sanctions May Scare Off Venezuela Vulture Investors

  • State oil company PDVSA’s five-year default odds climb to 99%
  • Mnuchin says U.S. investors can’t restructure existing debt
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What You Need to Know From Jackson Hole
U.S. Issues New Sanctions Against Venezuela's Maduro
The Trump administration’s ban on new Venezuelan debt could scare off so-called vulture investors by making it nearly impossible for the country to restructure its obligations.
That means in the event of default -- which investors view as pretty much a certainty within the next five years -- the country and its creditors may struggle to come up with an agreement that would assign any value to its outstanding bonds. It also will make smaller debt swaps much more difficult to get done, possibly hastening the day of reckoning.
Such restrictions may throw a wrench into the tried-and-true methods of so-called vulture investors, typically hedge funds that swoop into a country’s distressed debt shortly before or in the aftermath of a default with the goal of extracting value from bonds too toxic for most investors. These funds may now demand a much lower price if there’s no regime change that would prompt the U.S. to lift restrictions, largely because of the complications in negotiating a restructuring. 
After Argentina defaulted on $95 billion of debt in 2001, hedge funds including NML Capital, a subsidiary of Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp., refused to accept restructuring offers and hounded the Kirchner government for payment in U.S. courts. A decade-and-a-half later, Argentina reached a settlement with the majority of bondholders. But the Trump administration’s executive order on Venezuela would prohibit the Singers of the world from suing and demanding payment with new bonds as they did in Argentina.
Because a default with no hope of restructuring would expose the country to international lawsuits and seizures of its assets, it could increase the chances of a regime change in the aftermath of a missed payment, according to Shamaila Khan, the director of emerging markets at AllianceBernstein, the ninth-largest holder of Venezuelan sovereign debt and 12th-largest holder of the state oil company’s bonds as of June 30.
Follow the Trump Administration’s Every Move
That would presumably be well received by the Trump administration, which has sought to crack down on President Nicolas Maduro because of what his critics see as his efforts to undermine democracy. Maduro is seeking to rewrite the constitution in a way that would sideline the opposition and solidify his grip on power in a country beset by a political crisis, rampant inflation, a collapsing economy and shortages of affordable food and medicine.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that "there will be no transactions with U.S. investors for new debt, including restructuring existing debt or extending maturities without specific licenses being issued."
Late the same day, Maduro asked holders of Venezuelan bonds to meet with Economy Minister Ramon Lobo this week to discuss the effects of the U.S. sanctions. U.S.-based holders of Venezuela bonds will be hurt the most by the penalties, Maduro said. Donald Trump “burned the bonds in their hands” by trying to harm Venezuela, he said.
Although many traders may bet that the bond restrictions will increase Venezuela’s default odds, the Maduro government’s inability to restructure debt may, ironically, lower the chances it won’t pay, according to Francisco Rodriguez, the chief economist at Torino Capital in New York. His thinking is that prior to these new sanctions, the administration may have seen restructuring as a way out if things got even more dire. Now that they can’t restructure, their task is much simpler: Just keep paying, one month at a time.
The additional penalties strengthen Maduro’s argument that his nation is under attack from outside interests, likely pushing him toward lenders of last resort in China and Russia, Diego Ferro, the co-chief investment officer at Greylock Capital Management, which specializes in undervalued, distressed and high-yield assets, said Friday on Bloomberg TV.
"I don’t think it’s going to have much of an impact because Venezuela cannot raise money in international markets anyway," he said.

99 Percent

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has traditionally interpreted sanctions broadly, so any attempt to circumvent their objective by clever structuring of a debt deal would be risky, according to Lee Buchheit, a partner at financial-market law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which advised Ecuador and Argentina on their sovereign debt restructurings.
The implied probability of Venezuela missing a debt payment over the next 12 months dropped to 63 percent on Friday from 66 percent the week prior, according to credit-default swaps data compiled by Bloomberg. Still, over the next five years, the odds of a sovereign credit event rose to 96 percent and Petroleos de Venezuela’s default probability hit 99 percent.
Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday that the latest round of U.S. sanctions increased the refinancing risk on PDVSA’s debt due in October and November, bringing the company even closer to a credit event in coming months.
"The next shoe to fall may be Maduro’s reaction to the sanctions," Buchheit wrote in an email. "He could seize upon them as a justification for ceasing his policy of full debt service."
— With assistance by Katia Porzecanski
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    Montag, 28. August 2017

    unter Druck....


    COTIZACIÓN AL INSTANTE

    BonoPrecioCambioDuraciónProx. Cupón
    VENZ 13 5/8 08/15/1872.505%-1.125(-1.492%)0.9212018-15-02
    VENZ 13 5/8 08/15/1870.125%-0.750(-1.059%)0.9202018-15-02
    VENZ 7 12/01/1859.268%-1.915(-3.101%)1.1832017-01-12
    VENZ 7 3/4 10/13/1943.622%-0.520(-1.149%)1.8102017-13-10
    VENZ 6 12/09/2039.018%-0.415(-1.020%)2.7532017-09-12
    VENZ 12 3/4 08/23/2245.137%-0.070(-0.147%)2.7372018-23-02
    VENZ 9 05/07/2337.188%-0.618(-1.620%)3.4792017-07-11
    VENZ 8 1/4 10/13/2436.938%-0.995(-2.627%)3.9722017-13-10
    VENZ 7.65 04/21/2536.243%-0.748(-2.007%)4.2752017-21-10
    VENZ 11 3/4 10/21/2640.518%-0.740(-1.746%)3.6672017-21-10
    VENZ 9 1/4 09/15/2739.277%-0.998(-2.397%)4.3152017-15-09
    VENZ 9 1/4 05/07/2835.898%-0.555(-1.475%)4.2612017-07-11
    VENZ 11.95 08/05/3141.253%-0.790(-1.820%)4.1122018-05-02
    VENZ 9 3/8 01/13/3438.095%-0.015(-0.038%)4.7752018-13-01
    VENZ 7 03/31/3834.277%-0.500(-1.389%)5.3872017-30-09
    PDVSA 8 1/2 11/02/1789.825%-0.831(-0.895%)0.1722017-02-11
    PDVSA 8 1/2 10/27/2073.350%-1.012(-1.339%)1.2522017-27-10
    PDVSA 9 11/17/2138.596%-1.268(-3.095%)2.2962017-17-11
    PDVSA 12 3/4 02/17/2245.751%-1.099(-2.286%)2.4592018-17-02
    PDVSA 6 05/16/2430.595%-0.901(-2.827%)3.7852017-16-11
    PDVSA 6 11/15/2630.414%-0.817(-2.577%)4.6652017-15-11
    PDVSA 5 3/8 04/12/2730.355%-0.832(-2.630%)5.3102017-12-10
    PDVSA 9 3/4 05/17/3535.947%-0.635(-1.696%)4.1312017-17-11
    PDVSA 5 1/2 04/12/3730.130%-0.833(-2.646%)6.0562017-12-10
    Última actualización: 2017-08-28 a las 03:14:55 p.m.

    CALCULADORA DE BONOS