BANKING

JPMorgan sacking personnel

JPMorgan Chase & Co is letting go of about 30 investment bankers in the Asia-Pacific region this week, with a majority of them based in Greater China, as deal flows in its biggest growth market in the region struggle to rebound, people familiar with the matter said. The cuts to its Hong Kong and China-based bankers are the biggest seen in years, although they make up less than 5 percent of its investment banking headcount in the region, the people said. Most of those affected are junior-level bankers, they said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley have also cut jobs in the region and around the world as investment banking revenue has slumped.

CRYPTOCURRENCY

FTX branch to reopen

The Japanese subsidiary of Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto exchange planned to reopen withdrawals yesterday, making itself the first of the FTX group’s businesses to return money to clients. FTX Japan K.K. was to start allowing clients to withdraw their fiat and crypto funds at noon in Tokyo, it said in a statement. The resumption of withdrawals could mark a victory for Japan’s financial regulator, which has moved quickly to put in place strict rules to protect clients, including the segregation of assets. FTX Japan might need time to process withdrawals if a large number of requests flow in from customers, according to the statement.

RUSSIA

Economy shrinks 2.1 percent

The economy contracted by 2.1 percent last year, the government’s statistics agency Rosstat said on Monday. The figure was better than the about 3 percent drop in GDP expected by the central bank and also better than the 2.5 percent drop that President Vladimir Putin evoked a month ago, and far from apocalyptic forecasts when Western nations first began to slap sanctions on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The IMF last month said that it expected a more moderate 2.2 percent contraction instead of the 3.4 percent drop it had previously forecast, and said it expects Russia would muster slightly positive growth this year.

GERMANY

Tax revenue increases

Tax revenues of the country’s federal and regional state governments increased by 0.8 percent last month compared with the previous year, driven by higher sales taxes and wage taxes, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Federal and state governments’ tax revenue increased to a total of 58.03 billion euros (US$61.90 billion), according to the ministry’s monthly report. The finance ministry would modernize the country’s tax law with legislative initiatives that foster growth, the report said. Draft legislation would focus on making taxation simpler and more transparent, the report added.

EUROZONE

German, French PMIs rise

The eurozone’s two largest economies saw private-sector growth return, snapping months of contractions as easing supply shocks and an unusually mild winter provide respite. S&P Global’s flash purchasing managers’ index for Germany rose to 51.1 this month — much better than the 50.3 median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and the first time since June last year that the gauge was above the 50 threshold that signifies an expansion. The French measure clocked in at a seven-month high of 51.6 — defying economist expectations for a fourth straight contraction.