Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — The Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s environmental credentials suddenly look a lot less appealing after it was handed an $80 billion stake in the world’s largest oil exporter, just ahead of its planned debut green bond.

The 4% of Aramco that the Saudi government is transferring to the Public Investment Fund will make up about 14% of the $580 billion sovereign wealth fund. That would make it the PIF’s biggest holding by value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Just days before the transfer of Aramco shares, Moody’s Investors Service lavished praise on the Saudi fund for its limited exposure to “the energy and resources sector” or “environmental and social risks.”

The addition of Aramco shares underlines the dilemma facing investors already struggling to reconcile Saudi Arabia’s record on climate with its plans for sustainable financing, as it rolls out ambitious targets to stay relevant amid the energy transition. 

The finance industry is meanwhile split over how best to decarbonize, with some shunning fossil fuels altogether while others argue such a move doesn’t tackle the broader problem of forcing the industry to change. 

Norway’s $1.4 trillion wealth fund has exited hundreds of companies over the past decade to avoid the environmental, social and governance risk it says they represented. It still holds stakes in some of the largest fossil-fuel companies, including ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. 

Until now the PIF’s biggest investments have been in Saudi companies including banks and telecom firms. Internationally, it also owns stakes in electric car manufacturer Lucid Group Inc. and video game makers.

Aramco, Neom

For Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, the picture gets cloudier by by lumping Aramco with its other holdings including the planned Neom development, which aims to run entirely on renewable power and to even export green energy.

Investors will have to make a call on whether to back green efforts in a major hydrocarbon-producing state that at least go some way to addressing harmful emissions caused by its main export — or to shun projects there all together. 

The sovereign wealth fund received the fifth-highest credit rating from Moody’s ahead of its plans to tap the international bond market for the first time. The designation suggests the PIF wealth fund is closer to achieving aims set by Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who’s also chairman of Aramco, to sell a debut green bond.

Aramco has said it aims to have net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century. Still, that target — which means Aramco would participate in enough green projects to offset its own emissions — wouldn’t cover the carbon produced by consumers burning the oil it sells.

While the PIF could earmark proceeds from a bond sale for investments into renewable energy projects and the eco-tourism developments it’s backing, overall the sovereign fund’s portfolio just got a lot less green.

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) —

The Russian government is pushing to permit cryptocurrencies in part to help attract foreign investment, even as the central bank warns they could be used for illegal activity. 

Legalizing crypto would eliminate operations that currently take place in the gray economy and help the government monitor the industry, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a Feb. 2 letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin seen by Bloomberg. A ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the letter. 

The government later published an outline of how to regulate the market that would permit domestic trading in order to bring it out of the shadows.

“We need to create clear and transparent rules for the participation of citizens and businesses in the financial instruments of the crypto market,” Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev said in a statement to journalists Monday. “Clear regulation excludes the possibility of a parallel financial system appearing.”

The plan faces opposition from the central bank, which says crypto bears the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme and could be used for illegal financial transactions. The regulator has recommended a ban on its mining and use. 

“The approaches proposed by the government do not yet allow neutralizing the risks that we see, and at the same time they create new threats,” Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference Friday. “We see significant risks here and I hope good sense prevails.”

President Vladimir Putin in January called on the authorities to reach a compromise. 

Allowing trade would likely lead to an influx of foreign investors as they seek to acquire crypto mined in Russia, according to Siluanov’s letter. Currently, the lack of a regulatory framework or clear taxation rules means that business is conducted abroad, he wrote.

Russia last year became the world’s third biggest crypto miner, after the U.S. and Kazakhstan, according to Cambridge University data released in October.

Russia has seen foreign investment slump since the Kremlin annexed the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, triggering Western sanctions. Foreign direct investment in 2020 was the lowest since 2003. 

The push to codify rules regulating Russia’s booming crypto scene comes as the the U.S. and European Union are preparing harsh potential sanctions in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin denies it plans to attack its neighbor and has demanded security guarantees from the West to de-escalate the crisis. 

Russia’s existing laws acknowledge crypto assets but do not allow them to be used as payment, a situation that has helped cloud the understanding of the size of the domestic market. Officials have estimated Russians’ crypto holdings at anywhere from 2 trillion rubles to 16.5 trillion rubles ($27 billion to $220 billion).

Kazakhstan Blames Short Circuit Not Bitcoin for Massive Blackout

Legalizing cryptocurrency could help Russia’s investment case, which suffers from a lack of venture capital due to the conflict with the West, according to Andrey Mikhailishin, the chief executive of Moscow-based Joys payment service that allows users to pay with digital currencies. 

“The political agenda has had virtually no effect on the crypto market,” said Mikhailishin, who estimates transparent regulation could attract $3.5 billion in investment in 2022. “Investing in cryptocurrencies today is one of the most accessible and largest venture capital markets for Russian IT projects.”

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) —

Rwanda’s central bank will likely keep its key interest rate on hold on Thursday as it expects inflation to remain within target despite emerging food price pressures.

Annual inflation accelerated to a 15-month high of 4.3% in January from 1.9% the previous month as the cost of food surged, according to the nation’s statistics agency. That took the inflation rate closer to the National Bank of Rwanda’s medium-term target of 5% within a band of 2% to 8%.

“For now, we still project inflation to be 5.4% this year,” central bank Governor John Rwangombwa said in an interview from the Rwandan capital Kigali.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages index climbed 4.5% in January, indicating that the gains from a bumper farm harvest that muted price-growth last year may have ended. 

The monetary policy committee is scheduled to review the benchmark interest rate this week, after low inflation that was supply-side driven helped keep borrowing costs at a record low of 4.5% all of last year.

“We didn’t lower our policy rate to try push inflation up because we could see it linked to supply,” Rwangombwa said. “It was over production in agriculture and that was smoothening itself out at the end of the year.”

Rwanda’s economy is forecast to expand 7.2% this year after an estimated growth of 10% in 2021, according to the World Bank, which attributed the rebound partly to robust fiscal stimulus and accommodative monetary policy.

Other interview highlights:

• Climate change will play a “big role” in Rwanda’s monetary policy formulation because farm-produce forecasts influence inflation, Rwangombwa said. The “next step is to see if these weather patterns that seem to be changing are going to have a lasting impact on the agricultural seasons.”
• In the medium term, the central bank plans to add labor statistics to the economic data it looks at while reviewing interest rates, the governor said. The International Monetary Fund warned last month that the “Covid-19 pandemic has raised unemployment and poverty in Rwanda, which risks reversing hard-won gains from the past decades.”
• Rwanda has set up a committee to study digital currencies, and may engage an external consultant. The government will decide on a way forward after about a year, Rwangombwa said.
• Rwanda has started studying what it needs to do to promote environment, social and governance or ESG best-practices within the financial industry.

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) —

The U.K.’s tax watchdog seized three nonfungible tokens as part of a suspected case of value-added tax fraud worth 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million), in the first ever domestic enforcement action of this kind.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud the authority, allegedly using a web of 250 fake companies, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs said by email. Authorities also seized other crypto assets worth about 5,000 pounds, while the NFTs have yet to be valued.

NFTs, a type of digital asset that can be traded over blockchain networks, gained widespread popularity among crypto traders and art aficionados alike last year, even breaking their way into top auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s with multimillion-dollar sales. The market is worth a total of about $16 billion, an analysis of NFTGo data by crypto research firm Messari showed this month.

The tokens, which symbolize ownership of a digital artifact like music or an image, are typically bought and sold using the cryptocurrency Ether. The most popular ones take the form of digital avatars that owners can use as their profile picture online, like those featured in collections from the Bored Ape Yacht Club or CryptoPunks. These assets can be worth millions of dollars, and have attracted celebrity attention in recent months from the likes of Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon and Serena Williams.

“Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use cryptoassets to hide money from HMRC,” said Nick Sharp, HMRC’s Deputy Director Economic Crime. “We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets.”

It comes a week after the U.S. seized $3.6 billion in stolen Bitcoin, in the largest financial seizure ever, demonstrating law enforcement hunger to prove cryptocurrency is not a safe place for criminal activity.

“This case demonstrates yet again that criminals can’t hide in the world of crypto,” said David Carlisle, Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at crypto research firm Elliptic. “Enforcement agencies are able to track and trace criminals’ transactions, and seize NFTs and cryptoassets used in illicit activity, robbing criminals of their profits.”

The suspected fraudsters are alleged to have used sophisticated methods to try and hide their identities including false and stolen identities, false addresses, pre-paid unregistered mobile phones, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), false invoices and pretending to engage in legitimate business activities, HMRC said.

“Fraudsters typically thrive where asset values inflate rapidly, so it’s no surprise to see them capitalizing on the growth of NFTs,” said Sam Roberts, a Partner at law firm Cooke, Young and Keidan. “While removing the need for lawyers may have been one of the lofty goals of public blockchains and the asset classes on which they are based, in practice that has not happened – frequently because of thefts and fraud. 

Law-abiding creators and owners “should be encouraged that the courts are continuing to support digital ownership rights, and we should expect to see more of this in future,” he said.

Read More: Andreessen’s Dixon Spies Riches in Web3. Others See ‘Rubbish’

(Updates with details of probe, commentary throughout.)

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(Bloomberg) — The recent guidance provided by the U.S. Treasury Department on transaction reporting by crypto companies is shining some light on staking — one of the least understood but hottest corners of the digital-asset world.  

Treasury indicated on Friday that “stakers” would be spared from forthcoming rules that are more targeted for brokers rather than investors using their tokens to help order transactions that create new blocks on various blockchain networks. That’s especially good news for crypto investors seeking a refuge amid the recent downturn in coin prices. 

Staking has been booming in part because of the incentive-based aspect of crypto where various new coins and blockchains are competing for validators by promising stratospheric annual returns in the form of new coins. The rewards have been so lucrative that more than 70% of all tokens issued on many chains — Solana, Binance Smart Chain and Cardano, among them — were staked late last year, according to crypto researcher Messari and tracker Staking Rewards.

As staking options multiply and promised returns reach into the triple digits, the trend has only strengthened. In the fourth quarter, 7.7% of all the coins that make up the roughly $2 trillion crypto universe were staked, up from 1.8% in the year-ago period, according to staking provider Staked, a unit of the crypto exchange Kraken. And that’s even as Bitcoin, most of Ethereum, XRP and various stablecoins that make up more than 70% of the crypto market’s total estimated value, don’t allow for staking.

That’s likely changing fast, with all Ether expected to migrate to proof of stake this summer. The Ethereum network, the world’s most used blockchain, is running a smaller proof-of-stake network called Beacon in parallel with its main one to work out potential bugs. 

“I think it goes from 8% (of Ether being staked) to 80% very quickly,” said Tim Ogilvie, chief executive of Staked. “It will happen over a year or two. Ethereum staking may be one of the biggest changes in crypto we’ve seen in a long time.”

Of the different ways to earn yield on crypto holdings, staking is generally seen as less risky than some other DeFi strategies such as yield farming. That said, new blockchains offering eye-popping rewards are often at risk of failing to attract enough transaction volume and making the coins rewarded worthless. Recent hacks of new protocols show the risks that come with investing in many of the upstart chains. 

As the percentage of investors who stake increases, the pool of coins that are being frequently traded also shrinks. Staked coins typically take weeks to withdraw from the digital wallets they are locked into, and currently, staked Ether can’t be withdrawn at all. That can potentially contribute to increased market volatility.

 

 

Still, many sophisticated crypto investors who are holding their crypto for the long term are pouring their funds into staking to earn yields — and to beat crypto inflation. In proof-of-stake blockchains, stashes of coins help the networks order transactions, and these stashes earn new coins the network generates in return. Those who don’t stake are losing out on this new coin issuance, akin to inflation.

“If you are staking tokens that go up in value and are very promising, it’s a great way to get stable yield and have the upside of the underlying technology and products themselves,” said Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera, a customer of Staked. “When we do invest in projects, we definitely try to stake as much of it as we can.” 

Use of staking exploded as more proof-of-stake blockchains — Solana, Avalanche among them — debuted in late 2020 and 2021. Ethereum’s Beacon launched in December 2020, and its usage ballooned last year, to $29 billion staked currently — the biggest amount of any chain, according to data tracker beaconcha.in. As a further incentive, many new chains award more coins as rewards to early stakers.  

“There’s massive, massive expansion every time there’s a new protocol, there’s a rush to these very juicy rewards in the beginning,” said Diogo Monica, co-founder of staking services provider Anchorage. 

Some blockchains, like Avalanche, also let venture capitalists, who often hold tokens that they aren’t allowed to sell for a period of time, to stake. Ava Labs, which develops Avalanche, declined comment.

Until recently, one drawback of staking was that it can take days or weeks to withdraw staked funds. With Ethereum’s Beacon, withdrawals may only become available after a software upgrade in late 2022 or early 2023, said Tim Beiko, a computer scientist who coordinates Ethereum developers.

An increasing array of new services are effectively easing or getting rid of the lock-up that’s at the heart of staking altogether. Take Lido, a decentralized-finance app, which lets people use their staked assets as collateral to take out loans and to lend it out to earn extra yield via a slew of other DeFi apps. It already holds more than $9.7 billion in staked assets. 

“You can play both games at once,” said Chase Devens, analyst at researcher Messari.

Large institutional customers have access to even better deals, resembling loans. Anchorage, for instance, lets certain staking customers to get all their staked coins back any time they want to for a fee. Anchorage gives them different digital coins, while keeping their staked tokens. 

More small investors are getting involved. At the end of the third quarter, Coinbase Global Inc. said about 2.8 million customers were earning yield on their crypto assets, predominantly through staking.

“On a retail perspective, we’re seeing more and more people demanding it and actually asking for more coins to be staked so they can earn these rewards rather than sitting back and holding the token just for price appreciation,” said Steve Ehrlich, Voyager Digital Ltd.’s chief executive officer. Over the last six weeks, “We’ve seen our staking coins go up about 20% based upon the volume, not necessarily the price, but the number of tokens that people hold.”  

(Adds video.)

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(Bloomberg) — The conglomerate helmed by Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, is moving to provide to provide satellite broadband connectivity, muscling into a segment where billionaires Sunil Mittal’s OneWeb and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have ambitious plans.

Jio Platforms Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed Reliance Industries Ltd., entered into a joint venture with Luxembourg-based SES to “deliver the next generation scalable and affordable broadband services in India leveraging satellite technology,” according to an exchange filing Monday. Jio Platforms will own 51% in the newly-created Jio Space Technology Ltd., with SES holding the rest.

The joint venture “will use multi-orbit space networks,” combining geostationary and medium earth orbit satellite constellations that can deliver multi-gigabit internet capacity to companies, retail users as well as the back-end of wireless networks across India and the neighboring regions, according to the statement.

Satellite broadband was the only big missing link in Reliance’s massive telecom infrastructure including a deep optic fiber footprint across India, which enabled it to become the country’s largest mobile operator within a few years of its disruptive entry in 2016. While India is the world’s second-largest wireless market, it had only 622 million active internet users in 2020, according to Kantar consultancy, making it a key growth market.

“This could be the start of a space technology revolution in India,” said Utkarsh Sinha, managing director at Bexley Advisors in Mumbai. “We often talk about the Jio effect in mobile penetration and user growth. This could do the same for space-tech and broadband adoption.”

Jio will be the anchor customer of the joint venture with a “multi-year capacity purchase agreement” at a total contract value of $100 million, it said in the statement.

A Reliance spokesperson didn’t immediately comment if Jio Space Technology will also consider low-Earth orbit, or LEO, satellites — a category that provides rapid data transmission, or lower latency, since they are closer to Earth.

Satellite Constellations

Musk’s SpaceX is in the midst of a rapid expansion of Starlink, a constellation of LEO satellites that will eventually number more than 30,000 and provide high-speed internet coverage around the world. 

Mittal, who rescued the satellite startup OneWeb from bankruptcy with the U.K. government, said in June the company will be offering global broadband services this year with its planned constellation of 648 satellites. It has also tied up with Hughes Network Systems LLC for satellite broadband services to India intensifying the competition. 

SpaceX established a wholly-owned unit in India last year with plans to have 200,000 connections by December 2022. But it soon had a run-in with the Indian government in November which asked Starlink to return money it collected through pre-orders and advised consumers not to subscribe to its services as Starlink hadn’t received the license to offer satellite internet.

(Updates with analyst comments in the fifth paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) — Cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial services companies were stars amid a Super Bowl ad blitz that featured the return of many longtime sponsors and an overall more celebratory mood than last year.

The Los Angeles Rams emerged victorious, 23 to 20, over the Cincinnati Bengals in a surprisingly close match that saw the hometown team score a come-from-behind touchdown with less than two minutes left in the game. NBC, which broadcast the game, said it sold more than 70 spots, with some costing as much as $7 million for 30 seconds.

This was the first Super Bowl to feature crypto ads. Coinbase Global Inc., an exchange for the currencies, generated early online buzz with an ad featuring a QR Code that viewers had to scan to find out what the spot was about. Those who did were invited to “Sign up and get $15.” 

FTX Trading Ltd., another exchange, ran an ad with comedian Larry David portraying skeptical figures during great moments in history. After scoffing at the invention of the light bulb and man landing on the moon, David suggests crypto will never amount to anything. “And I’m never wrong about this stuff,” he says.  

Crypto.com’s spot featured basketball great LeBron James looking at his past and offering advice for the future. 

Online broker E*Trade Financial, meanwhile, brought back its popular E*Trade baby character after an eight-year hiatus. In the spot the baby is reluctant to return to work but is convinced to do so when he hears that investors are getting financial tips from memes.

“It’s certainly a new world when it comes to investing, amid NFTs, crypto currencies, meme stocks, and the rise of the retail investor,” said Andrea Zaretsky, chief marketing officer at the wealth management division of Morgan Stanley, which now owns E*Trade. “But the reality is that the principles around sound personal investing remain as true today as they were a decade ago.”

Nissan Motor Co. returned to the Super Bowl after a seven-year break with a comedic action-movie spoof starring Eugene Levy, while the cast of “Austin Powers” reunited in a 90-second ad for General Motors Co. The commercials are part of a broader return by carmakers after many skipped last year’s game. Several highlighted their electric vehicle lineups, including a Chevy spot inspired by “The Sopranos” that was trending on Twitter throughout the game.

Irish Spring debuted its first-ever Super Bowl ad featuring 70s-horror-movie influences, including a possessed white bunny that Twitter users called unsettling and offbeat, but most importantly, memorable. Jim Carrey revived his 1996 “The Cable Guy” character in Verizon Communications Inc.’s 60-second Super Bowl commercial, promoting “ultra-fast” 5G home internet.

“The big game is the biggest snacking day of the year and the largest stage when it comes to brand exposure and reaching our fans,” said Gareth Maguire, marketing director for Pringles, whose spot featured a man learning to live with his hand trapped in a Pringles can. It was set to Lionel Richie’s “Stuck On You.” 

Here’s some things that caught our attention during the game:

Hellmann’s Mayo Ad Features Linebacker, Davidson

A Hellmann’s mayonnaise ad features linebacker Jerod Mayo tackling a guy, an injured woman on crutches, a grandma, and almost Pete’s Davidson mom, until the SNL comedian says, “Whoa, mom’s already tackled food waste Mayo.” Mayo tackles Davidson instead,  who replies, “I get it, I’m very hittable.” 

Eugene Levy Spoofs Action Films for Nissan

Nissan Motor Co. returned to Super Bowl advertising after a seven-year hiatus with a spot featuring “Schitt’s Creek” creator Eugene Levy and co-star Catherine O’Hara, as well as Marvel Avengers Brie Larson, in a comedic action-movie spoof. The ad is part of a broader return by carmakers to the Super Bowl this year after many skipped out last year’s game. The YouTube link to the spot has been viewed 30 million times already.

Kia’s Robo Dog Is a Crowd-Pleaser, Just as Expected

Amazon Prime Video’s “Lord of the Rings” Spot Drops

Amazon Prime Video’s hotly anticipated trailer for its new spin-off series, “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” didn’t disappoint. The ad stirred immediate social-media buzz amid fans of the J.R.R. Tolkien franchise.

It’s one of the most-expensive series of all time. Prime Video’s Chief Marketing Officer Ukonwa Ojo called it the streaming service’s “biggest and most ambitious launch this year” in a statement to Bloomberg. Sunday’s 60-second Super Bowl trailer gave glimpses of new worlds, elves and orcs, against sweeping landscapes and inspirational music and quotes.

Cue Health Spot Features Wonder Woman, Alexa

Cue Health introduces its home test lab voiced by “Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot with cameos by Alexa, Roomba, Nest. The Covid testmaker went public in September at a $2.3 billion valuation.

Crytpo.com Is Third Crypto Sponsor, LeBron James Stars

Singapore-based Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency exchange, aired its first-ever Super Bowl ad this year immediately following the halftime show. The ad featured a present-day LeBron James telling his younger 2003 self about the future. “If you want to make history, you gotta call your own shots,” he says.

Halftime Show Salutes Rap With Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg

The halftime show, sponsored by Pepsi, delivered what it was expected be: a string of hits. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg opened, performing “California Love” and other hits in trailers that looked like cabanas. There were classic cars and a field full of dancers that were the subject of controversy when several posted that they weren’t getting paid. Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent also performed, including 50’s “In Da Club.” Eminem did “Lose Yourself.” He’s been promoting his restaurant selling Mom’s Spaghetti in Detroit, opened a pop-up in Los Angeles for Super Bowl weekend, and is doing a promo on Postmates.

Larry David Kills it in Spot for FTX Crypto Exchange

“Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David turned in one of the funniest performances so far. It’s a walk through history with David playing historical doubters in an ad FTX Trading Ltd., a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange. After portraying several skeptical figures during great moments in history, David suggests crypto will never amount anything. “I’m never wrong about this stuff,” he says.

Crypto Makes its Super Bowl Debut With Coinbase Spot

Cryptocurrency company Coinbase may have scored with an interactive ad featuring a QR Code viewers had to scan to find out what the ad was for. Once at its website, Coinbase encouraged viewers to “Sign up and get $15” or “Opt in to win $3M.” Coinbase is now trending.

Mattel’s Barbie, Anna Kendrick for Rocket Mortgage

Mortgage loan provider Rocket Mortgage returned to the Super Bowl with an ad featuring Anna Kendrick and Mattel’s Barbie as the Barbie Dreamhouse turns 60 this year. The ad shows Barbie turning her dream house into a reality with a verified loan approval.

Meta Tackles the Metaverse With Singing Dog

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, took viewers on a trip to through the metaverse, while also trying to repair its image after a big stock market tumble this month. Its ad featured an animatronic singing dog, abandoned and later reunited with friends in the metaverse.

The spot promises a future with the company’s Quest 2 virtual-reality headsets. Meta joins other companies marketing new technologies this year and marks Meta’s efforts to showcase its ability to create social, immersive experiences. Post-game, the company hosted its first concert headliners, the Foo Fighters, in its Horizon metaverse.

Netflix, Disney+ Among Streaming Services Advertising

Netflix put out a super-sized pitch for its upcoming movies heading into this year including “The Adam Project,” starring Ryan Reynolds; Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg in “Me Time;” Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill in “Enola Holmes 2;” Daniel Craig in “Knives Out 2;” Ryan Gosling in “The Gray Man;” and Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy in “You People.” 

Disney+ pitched its new “Moon Knight” series with Oscar Isaac. Comcast’s Peacock has been popping up regularly during the game.

It was 7-3 Rams at the end of the first quarter.

DraftKings Pitches Sports Betting in Spot With Joe Namath

DraftKings pitched sports betting and some $1 million prizes in a spot featuring its leather-clad goddess of fortune and football legend (and former Ram) Joe Namath. A warning about where to seek help for problem gambling ran at the bottom of the ad.

Conan O’Brien’s sidekick and comedian Andy Richter, starred as an anxious Caesar at an ancient Rome tailgate party for Mexican avocados. It’s unfortunate timing, however, because the U.S. just put a ban on Mexican avocados following a threat.

Mexican Avocado Ad Debuts as U.S. Halts Imports 

E*Trade Baby Ad Returns, Pokes Fun at Meme Stocks

The E*Trade baby ad returned after a multi-year hiatus. In the spot, the baby’s initially reluctant to help when called on to help investors deal with inflation. But when told investors are taking advice from memes, he’s ready to return. It’s a new E*Trade the ad notes, now part of Morgan Stanley. 

Schwarzenegger and Hayek Sell Electric BMWs

Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek play Zeus and Hera who charge up boring retirement with a BMW EV.

The Rock Does an Intro, ‘Jurassic World’ Is First Ad

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did the team intros. The first two ads were media related. One for the new “Jurassic World” film, coming out in June. Comcast owns Super Bowl host network NBC as well as Universal Pictures. YouTube TV also had a spot.

Pregame Show Underway in Balmy, 80-Degree Inglewood

It’s 80 degrees in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood with the game less that 10 minutes away. Social media reactions to watch for include Willie Nelson’s Skechers “Legalize” ad, which subtly calls out the hypocrisy of the ban on cannabis ads. Weedmaps is protesting digitally. NBC, meanwhile is using the pregame show to promote a lot of its shows, including on its Peacock streaming service. 

David McCormick, the former CEO of Bridgewater Associates and a candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, is running a “Let’s go Brandon” ad criticizing Joe Biden during the game in local markets, according to Fox News and Axios. 

The family of John Madden came out for a short tribute to the coach and broadcaster who died late last year. Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth won the NFL’s Man of the Year.  Country star Mickey Guyton sung the national anthem.

• For Serena Williams, Tonal Super Bowl Spot Is More Than an Ad
• Super Bowl Ads Say It’s Time to Party After Rough 2021
• Betting Apps Want You to Come for Super Bowl and Gamble Forever

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said investors in Southeast Asia’s largest lender should be cautious about uncertainties stemming from Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and slowing Chinese growth. 

That tone followed the release of strong profit growth for the fourth quarter, wrapping up a year which he described as the bank’s best financial performance in the last decade. 

Gupta’s concern is a scenario where central bank’s tighten policy too quickly and choke off economic recoveries, an outcome that he said DBS hasn’t factored into its outlook. For now though, that’s unlikely, even if there are seven or eight Fed hikes, he said. 

“If the central banks find that inflation is too sticky and therefore rates get back to three, three and a half, 4% above, then that’s another story. That’s not our base case,” Gupta said in a briefing Monday.

In China, there remains uncertainty over the economy’s trajectory and consumption with its strategy to tolerate very little spread of the omicron variant, Gupta said.

Bumper Quarter 

The caution follows a 37% jump in fourth-quarter profit, boosted by its highest loan growth in seven years and increased fee income. Net income climbed to S$1.39 billion ($1.03 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, beating the S$1.36 billion average estimate.

“It is quite clear from a financial strategy and business standpoint, this is probably the best performance we’ve had in certainly the entire of the last decade,” Gupta said.

Loan growth increased by 9%, which helped to mitigate the impact of interest rate cuts, Gupta said in the statement earlier. Fee income rose 15%, while wealth management and transaction banking also reached new highs. Investment banking benefited from record fixed income and a recovery in equity market activities, while card spending surpassed pre-Covid levels.

DBS shares rose 0.5% as of 12:06 p.m. in Singapore. They are up about 45% over the past 12 months. 

Acquisitive Period  

The earnings cap a year that’s seen DBS turn around its profit margin from a year ago when the global pandemic hit commercial banks. The lender’s also managed to secure high profile deals, including the purchase of Citigroup Inc.’s consumer banking assets in Taiwan.

The growth in loans book and fee income “speak to a recovering economic environment, as well as our broadly diversified franchise,” Gupta said. “We look forward to the coming year with a prudently managed balance sheet that is poised to benefit from rising interest rates.”

Business momentum is also expected to remain healthy amid moderation in the economic recovery, with the bank expecting mid-single digit loan growth or better as well as double-digit fee income growth, Gupta said.

Past Cycles  

DBS is on a better footing to benefit from Fed rate hikes compared with the previous cycle of increases, said Andrea Choong at CGS-CIMB Securities Singapore in a recent note. The bank’s more robust liquidity position also provides headroom for stronger loan growth without a pressing need to compete for funding, keeping funding costs low, she said.

The board is proposing a fourth quarter dividend of 36 cents per share, an increase of three cents from the previous payout. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the annualized dividend will rise by 9% S$1.44 per share.

(Recasts from first paragraph with detail from CEO comments)

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