Funds
Bankruptcy judge orders $44M in crypto to be returned to Celsius customers
A federal judge has ordered crypto lender Celsius to return crypto worth around $44 million to the platform’s custody program customers. According to Bloomberg, the verbal order was delivered by United States Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in a Dec. 7 hearing, with the judge noting: “I want this case to move forward. I want creditors to recover as much as they possibly can as soon as they possibly can.” The amount — which applies only to crypto held within custody accounts — is a tiny fraction of the billions Celsius owes creditors, and the latest decision comes after an agreement was reached between Celsius advisers and stakeholders that crypto deposited in the custody accounts belonged to its users and not the platform. It is important to note that this order only applies to pure custody ...
Getting funds out of FTX could take years or even decades: Lawyers
While investors are eager to know when they will be able to get their funds back from the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, insolvency lawyers warn it could take “decades.” The crypto exchange, along with 130 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on Nov. 11. Insolvency lawyer Stephen Earel, partner at Co Cordis in Australia said it will be an “enormous exercise” in the liquidation process to “realize” the crypto assets then work out how to distribute the funds, with the process potentially taking years, if not “decades.” This is due to the complexities that come with cross-border insolvency issues and competing jurisdictions, he said. Earel said unfortunately FTX users are in the queue with everyone else including other creditors, investors and venture ...
Institutional investor sentiment about ETH improves as Merge approaches
Ethereum prices may have dipped again today, but there are signs that professional investors are warming to the asset as the highly anticipated Merge draws closer. In its digital asset fund flows weekly report, fund manager CoinShares reported that Ethereum-based products saw inflows for the third consecutive week. There was an inflow of $7.6 million for institutional Ethereum funds, whereas those for Bitcoin continued to outflow with a loss of $1.7 million. Referring to the Ethereum funds CoinShares stated: “The inflows suggest a modest turnaround in sentiment, having endured 11 consecutive weeks of outflows that brought 2022 outflows to a peak of US$460M.” It added that the change in sentiment may be due to the increasing probability of the Merge happening later this year. The Merge is a...
Green shoots? Institutional crypto funds see first inflows in 5 weeks
After five weeks of constant outflows, institutional investment is finally trickling back into crypto funds with BTC the asset of choice and ETH falling out of favor. In its weekly Digital Asset Fund Flows report published on Jan. 24, crypto investment firm CoinShares observed inflows for some institutional products. It is the first time in five weeks that there has been a net positive inflow as $14.4 million re-entered the space with investors buying the dip. The researchers reported that these inflows came during a period of significant price weakness, adding that this suggests investors “are seeing this as a buying opportunity” at current price levels. Capital continued to flow out from CoinShares own BTC fund, however, 21Shares and ProShares registered minor gains. Most of the inflows ...
Anxiety in Bayelsa as four local councils cannot pay salaries
Trouble is looming in four local government areas in Bayelsa State over the inability of the council to pay the salaries of its workers. The affected local government areas – Ogbia, Nembe, Sagbama and Ekeremor – are said to be owning three months salaries. The other four local government areas namely Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Brass are said to be struggling but have a financial edge due to the internally generated revenue. Bloated wage bills in the troubled local government councils and the various debts they are servicing have eaten up their finances such that they cannot meet the financial obligations to their workers. The state government had recently taken over the payment of teachers salaries in the Ogbia Local Government Area to prevent industrial action by the tea...
Gary Lineker urges Three Lions to ‘treasure’ Euro 2020 final
Gary Lineker has urged the England players to “treasure and enjoy” Sunday’s Euro 2020 final against Italy – but believes it is just the beginning and success will soon come even if they are beaten at Wembley. Gareth Southgate’s side are preparing for their first major tournament final in 55 years, something not even Lineker achieved during his time as a Three Lions player. The former Tottenham, Everton and Barcelona forward also praised the players for the showing a “shining social conscience” off the field which represents the “very best” of England. In an open letter to the England team in the Players’ Tribune, Lineker said: “I wish I was playing with you. This is the sort of occasion you dream about as a player. And honestly, it’s much less nerve-racking out on the pitch than in the sta...
Obudu contract debt: Appeal court reserves judgment against Cross River
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by a private firm, Zedici Capital Ltd, against the Cross River State Government over a N3.8 billion contract debt. The appellant, Zedici Capital Ltd, is the firm that remodelled the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State, now a subject of litigation. The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, headed by Justice Peter Ige, reserved the date after counsel to the parties had adopted their legal submissions for and against the appeal, that is challenging the judgment of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which had in 2019, refused to affirm the arbitral award to Zedici Ltd over its investment of N3.8 billion in the resort. Justice Ige announced that a date for the judgment would be comm...
Nigerian airlines list conditions for full refund to passengers after two-hour flight delay
Following the pronouncement of the Federal Government that airline operators must refund the full cost of travel tickets to passengers after a two-hour delay, commercial airlines have listed the conditions for such reimbursement. The airline operators made this known in separate interviews with newsmen. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had, on Thursday at the weekly State House briefing in Aso Villa, Abuja, read out some of the rights of air passengers as enshrined in Part 19 of the Consumer Protection Regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (2015) and charged them to demand their rights whenever they were being trampled upon by airlines. “On domestic flights, for delay beyond one hour, carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-ma...
PSC: Why Ibrahim Magu’s name was dropped promotion list
The Police Service Commission (PSC) on Thursday said it dropped the name of former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, from promotion list because it is still awaiting clearance from the Office of Attorney General. The PSC had promoted 24 CPs, 35 DCPs, 52 ACPs, 50 CSPs and dropped Magu from promotion. A statement issued by Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations of PSC said the decisions were the high-points of the Commission’s 12th Plenary Meeting held on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was presided over by the Commission’s Chairman, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police. “The Commission declined the promotion of CP Magu pending clearance from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Offic...
NSITF raises N180 billion from employers’ enrollment in 10 years
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr. Michael Akabogu, has revealed that the agency has raised N180 billion from employers’ enrollment from July 2011-May 30, 2021. He also said that plans were afoot to plug revenue leakages, even as he warned the public to be wary of fraudsters masquerading as agents of NSITF. At an interactive session with Finance Journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Akabogu also stated that the scheme has registered almost 200,000 employers. Out of this number, 170,000 employers are actively involved in the scheme by making their contributions steadfastly. He added: “We have collected both from the private sector who have contributed about 80% of the total revenue and we have collected from the government and all other agencies, so we...
Nigerian lawmakers approve $2.4 bn funds for security, coronavirus vaccines
Nigerian lawmakers on Wednesday approved some 982.7 billion naira ($2.4 billon) additional budget funds to help the government buy COVID-19 vaccines, and equipment for its security forces. Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria is struggling with the economic impact of the pandemic and a slump in crude prices as well as surging violence from criminal gangs and its grinding jihadist insurgency. The approved amount is $216.8 million higher than President Muhammadu Buhari’s request made to the lawmakers in June and is expected to be sourced through international and local borrowing. Most of the funds – around 722 billion naira ($1.8 billion) would go towards the procurement of additional equipment for security forces, Senator Barau Jibrin, chair of the senate appropriation committee, said. Around...
2023: Southern lawmakers back governors call for power shift to South, electronic transmission of election results
The members of the House of Representatives from the 17 Southern states have unanimously and unequivocally endorsed the resolution of the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) that the next President should emerge from the southern region. They also described the attempt to tamper with the Electoral Act to remove electronic transmission of results as a malicious and unpatriotic act aimed to emasculate the electoral system, undermine democracy and destabilise the country. The Chairman of the House of Representatives Southern Caucus, Hon. Victor Nwokolo in a statement issued Tuesday said the alleged attempt to remove electronic transmission of results from the Electoral Act amendment Bill cannot be condoned or justified under any guise whatsoever. The southern lawmakers said the resolution by the ...
