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UK watchdog investigates EY audit of Shell for rule violation
The British Financial Reporting Council announced on Monday that it has opened an investigation into Ernst & Young’s audit of Shell’s 2024 financial reports for possible violations of audit partner rotation regulations. Shell announced in July that it would update the 2023 and 2024 annual reports, due to EY not complying with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s audit partner rotation rules. The financial statements, however, would remain unchanged. U.S. SEC regulations require 'lead and review audit partners' to rotate every five years, with a cooling-off period of five years. 'Other key partners must rotate every seven?years after a two-year pause. EY stated in a statement emailed to clients that "as disclosed on 2 July 2025 by EY UK, the FRC's Revised Ethical Standard concerning rotation of partners within one engagement was exceeded." EY reported the matter via email. The accounting firm stated that it would continue to cooperate fully with the FRC during the investigation. EY informed Shell in July that the U.S. Audit Opinions for 2023-2024 could not be relied upon. A different partner was assigned to reissue these opinions. It also flagged UK partner rotation breaches, even though no amended filings?were required in the UK. The FRC's Conduct Committee made the decision on October 21 to open the investigation, and the probe will then be conducted by its enforcement division. Shell did not respond immediately to a comment request. (Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru. Mark Potter and Mrigank Dhaniwala edited the article.
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Wall Street Journal, December 15,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. ? The accuracy of these stories has not been verified by the site. - iRobot filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. It said that after it was bought by iPicea Robotics (its primary manufacturer), the company would become private. SolGold stated that it would "like to recommend" an offer from Jiangxi Copper, its largest shareholder. The improved offer values the gold-and-copper miner at approximately?842million pounds ($1.12billion), amid a global race for copper assets. SpaceX is starting to select Wall Street banks to provide advice on its initial public offer. The 78-year old mainstay of the city’s battered democracy movement could be forced to spend his entire life in prison by a Hong Kong court. Sanofi said that the U.S. regulatory approval of its experimental tolebrutinib treatment for multiple sclerosis will 'be delayed once again.' It also stated that a late stage trial for another form of disease did not achieve its primary goal.
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As markets watch US jobs data, gold rises due to a softer dollar and yields
On Monday, gold held near a seven-week high due to a weaker dollar and lower U.S. Yields in advance of important jobs data. Silver rose but fell short of Friday's record. Spot gold increased 1%, to $4344.40 per ounce at 0656 GMT. Bullion reached its highest level since October 21 last Friday. U.S. Gold Futures rose 1.1% to $4.377.40 per ounce. The dollar was hovering?near the two-month low reached last week. This made bullion attractive to overseas buyers. Meanwhile, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields dipped. Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA, said that "gold is likely to continue being well-bid into U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls" as evidence of a?labour shortage would cap front-end yields and keep the dollar weak. This will support a push towards $4,380-4,440 following a strong rebound from a?$4,243 support zone." The markets are still focused on the Fed's outlook for policy after the U.S. central banks delivered a 25 basis-point rate reduction last week, in a split decision. They also signaled a possible pause because inflation is sticky and labour market outlooks are uncertain. Two Fed officials dissented, saying inflation was too high to justify a more lenient policy. Investors currently expect two rate cuts in the next year, and this week's U.S. employment report is seen as an important test. Gold and other non-yielding investments benefit from a low interest rate environment. ANZ stated in a report that India's decision to allow pension funds the opportunity to invest in ETFs for gold and silver could boost institutional participation. We believe that such regulations can increase investor confidence and improve sentiment, resulting in higher allocations of assets across portfolios. Spot silver increased 2% to $63.23 an ounce. The price of silver reached a record high on Friday at $64.65. However, it closed sharply lower. Despite a rally that has risen more than 115% this year, ANZ warned of downside risks. They cited the possibility of a U.S. exemption from tariffs that could ease supply and stretched valuations compared to gold, which may lead to fund rotation. Palladium prices rose 2.9%, to $1.531.28, while spot platinum fell 0.4%, to $1.738.23 per ounce.
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Saudi Arabia's annual rate of inflation slowed to 1.9% in Novembre
According to government data released on Monday, the annual inflation rate in Saudi Arabia fell to 1.9% from 2.2% in October. The consumer price index, which measures inflation, has been hovering around 2.1%-2.3% for the majority of this year. This is due to rising house prices. According to the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia, housing rental prices rose 5.4% and passenger transport prices increased by 6.4%. Saudi Arabia's Real Estate Authority in September outlined new rules to combat'rental increases'. These included a suspension of annual rent increases for both residential and commercial properties within the urban boundaries of Riyadh. The government passed a law allowing foreigners to purchase property more easily. As part of its Vision 2030 program, the kingdom is building several new massive developments around Riyadh to boost tourism and the private sectors in an effort to diversify their economy away from oil. The CPI in November increased by 0.1% on a monthly basis. Reporting by Utkarsh Setti in Dubai, Editing by Neil Fullick
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Key data: Stocks fall ahead of central bank decision
Asian stocks fell on Monday as investors reined back risk-taking ahead of a week that is packed with "important central bank decisions" and economic data. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell 1.2%. This was led by a fall of?of?as much?as 2.7% in South Korean stocks, which is one of the best-performing markets worldwide this year. Marc Velan is the head of investments for Lucerne Asset Management, a Singapore-based asset management firm. He said that "the risk-off tone in Asia appears to be more a spillover effect from last Friday's sale in U.S. tech and momentum than a regional catalyst." The unwinding of the AI-capex trade has weighed down on global risk appetite. In thin year-end liquid, these moves tend to spread quickly across regions. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% while the yield of the 10-year Treasury bond in the U.S. fell 2.2 basis points to 4.1743%. Investors were awaiting a series of economic data releases as well as central bank decisions. CHINA PROPERTY WORRIES The U.S. Dollar fell 0.1% against the Chinese Yuan trading offshore to 7.0486, which is its highest level in over a year. Factory output and retail sales numbers for November showed a further slowdown. Official data released on Monday showed that the price of new homes continued to decline in November. This indicates that despite government promises to stabilize the housing sector, there is still no sign of a recovery. China Vanke announced that it would convene another bondholder meeting after the state-backed developer failed to get bondholder approval for an extension of a bond payment due on Monday. This increased the risk of default, and renewed concerns about the property crisis-hit sector. Jeff Zhang, Morningstar's equity analyst, said: "If Vanke defaults in the end, the ramifications for the China property sector could be significant." Investors are more likely to be concerned with the government's attitude toward bailouts, even for'safe' names. CENTRAL BANK LOOM DECISIONS Bank of England could make a similar cut of 3.75%. Along with Sweden's Riksbank, and Norway's Norges Bank, the European Central Bank will likely keep rates at current levels. Investors can also catch up with economic data delayed by the U.S. shutdown. This includes the November jobs report and the monthly consumer price index. Ben Bennett, Hong Kong's head of investment strategy Asia for L&G Asset Management said that the data this week should be taken with a grain of salt due to the difficulties in collecting data and the direct impact of the shutdown on the economy. We'll need to wait until the year 2026 before we can get a better idea of how the U.S. economy is doing. economy." Stocks in Japan gained support on Monday after the BOJ released its closely watched "tankan", or business survey, which showed that the big manufacturers' sentiment had reached a four-year high. This indicated the economy could be coping with the impact of higher U.S. Tariffs. Topix rose 0.2% last week, and the yen gained 0.6% against the dollar to reach 154.955, its highest level in over a week. The kiwi currency fell?0.4%, to $0.5781, after New Zealand's central bank governor Anna Breman warned that financial market conditions have tightened over the past few weeks. This has led investors to reduce their expectations of rate hikes for next year. Brent crude rose 0.5% to $61.44 on supply concerns from the U.S. - Venezuela tensions, among other factors. Imperial Oil announced on Sunday that it had issued an alert for a fire at its?120,000 barrels per day refinery in Ontario, Canada. Russia has said that a Ukrainian drone did not damage an oil refinery located in Afipsky. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. ambassador to Berlin said that "a lot of progress has been made" on the geopolitical side in the peace talks in Berlin for the end of the Ukraine conflict. Gold has extended its recent rally for a fifth consecutive day, as it nears a record-high of $4381.21. Last week, spot bullion prices rose 1.0% to $4,344.89. The cryptocurrency markets ended a three-day losing run, with bitcoin ending the day up 1.3% to $89,598.96, and ether= increasing 1.5% to 3,127.57. (Reporting and editing by Shri Navaratnam, Sam Holmes and Gregor Stuart Hunter)
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India's palm oil imports in November are up as prices fall.
India's palm-oil imports increased in November, as refiners took advantage lower prices to increase purchases of the tropical oil, while reducing imports soyoil and sunflower oil. India's increased palm oil imports could be a boon to top producers Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States, as they would help them reduce their stocks and boost benchmark Malaysian palm futures. Solvent Extractors' Association of India reported that palm oil imports rose 5% in November compared to October, reaching 632,341 metric tonnes. Imports of sunflower oil fell by 45% and soyoil imports dropped more than 18%, to a 2-year low. India imported 5,000 tonnes of canola oil in the same month from the United Arab Emirates. The SEA reported that the lower imports in November of sunflower and soyoil reduced India's total edible oil imports by 13.3% compared to a month before, reaching a low of 1,15 million tons. In November, India imported a record number of tonnes of soyoil, totaling 69,919, from China. A glut in supply led to discounts offered by Chinese crushers compared with South American suppliers. India imports mainly palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as soyoil, sunflower oil, and other oils from Argentina, Brazil and Ukraine. A Mumbai-based trader with a global trading house said that palm oil was now $100 cheaper per tonne than soyoil. It is also nearly $200 cheaper for sunflower oil. This has prompted Indian buyers to increase their palm oil purchases in December and January. He said that some buyers had cancelled their soyoil contracts for the months of December and January, and were replacing them with palm oil. Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Bengaluru and Sherin Liz Varghese; editing by Tom Hogue
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Oil prices rise as Venezuelan supply disruptions overshadow surplus concerns
Prices of oil rose on Monday, as disruptions in supply linked to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela outweighed concerns about oversupply and the potential impact of a Russia-Ukraine "peace" deal. Brent crude futures rose 33 cents or 0.54% to $61.45 per barrel as of 0429 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was up 31 cents or 0.54% at $57.75 per barrel. The expectation of a surplus for 2026 weighed on both contracts, which fell more than 4% the previous week. Tsuyoshi Ueno is a senior economist with the NLI Research Institute. He said that tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. have escalated, raising fears about possible supply disruptions. "Although markets lack direction, concerns about oversupply remain high. If geopolitical risk escalates sharply, WTI may fall below $55 by early next year." According to documents, shipping data and maritime sources, Venezuela's oil exports have dropped sharply after the United States seize a tanker last week. The United States also imposed new sanctions on shipping firms and vessels that do business with the Latin American oil producer. Market participants are closely watching developments and their impact on the oil supply. Reports indicate that the U.S. is planning to intercept additional ships carrying Venezuelan crude oil after this week's seizure of tankers, increasing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro. Prices were impacted by the rising expectations of an excess. JPMorgan Commodities Research stated in a Saturday note that oil surpluses are expected to grow further in 2026 and 2027 as the global oil supply will outpace the demand. The oil supply is predicted to expand at a rate three times faster than?demand growth up to 2026. On Sunday, during a five-hour meeting with U.S. ambassadors in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy offered that his country would no longer seek to join NATO. The negotiations are expected to continue on Monday. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. ambassador to China, said that "a lot of work has been done," but he did not provide any additional details. Ukraine's military announced on Friday it had attacked a major Russian refinery located in Yaroslavl to the northeast of Moscow. Industry sources confirmed that production at the facility was suspended. Calculations showed that the Russian state's oil and gas revenues in December are likely to drop by almost half from a year ago to 410 billion Russian roubles (5.12 billion dollars) because of lower crude prices. The West has sanctioned the Russian oil industry, but a possible peace deal could increase its supply. Baker Hughes, an energy services company, said that on the supply side U.S. firms cut back the number of operating oil and gas rigs for the second time in the last three weeks.
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Dalian iron ore reaches five-month low after China announces plans to regulate exports of steel
The prices of Dalian iron-ore fell Monday, hitting their lowest level for more than five months. This was due to China's plans to introduce a licence system to regulate steel exports from 2026. Iron ore, the most traded contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange(DCE), closed morning trade with a 1.5% decline to 754 yuan (106.95 dollars) per metric ton. It reached its lowest level at 748 Yuan, since July 10, earlier in the day. By?0330 GMT, the benchmark January iron ore price on the Singapore Exchange had fallen 0.76% to $100.2 per ton. The contract hit a low intraday of $100.4, which was close to the Friday low?of $100.25, and is the lowest level since July 17. China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that?some steel product would be added to its list of cargoes covered by?export licenses from January 1, 2026. This is because robust shipments are fueling a protectionist backlash around the world. China's soaring steel exports helped offset the slump in domestic demand for steel caused by the prolonged downturn on the property market, thereby supporting the prices of this key ingredient. China's crude output of steel in November dropped 3% from October, pointing to six consecutive months of declines. This was due to thinner margins and declining domestic demand. Analysts at Xinhu Futures stated that the downward potential for iron ore prices is limited because mills will start restocking their feedstocks to sustain operations during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in February. The Chinese Lunar New Year in 2026 will be celebrated from February 15 to 23. Following a Friday slump, coke and other steelmaking materials rose by 4.04 % and 1.13 %, respectively. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are mixed. Rebar gained 0.42%. Hot-rolled coils advanced 0.22%. Wire rod declined 0.86%. Stainless steel fell 0.08%. ($1 = 7,0499 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Subhranshu S. Sahu; Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson)
Nigeria's richest Dangote intensifies oil battle with regulator and seeks corruption investigation
Aliko Dangote, Nigeria's richest person, escalated his battle with regulators Sunday. He accused them of allowing cheap fuel imports that threaten local refineries.
Dangote's refinery is meant to change that. Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, relies heavily on imports.
Dangote said that if imports are not checked, they could threaten energy security, jobs and investment.
Speaking at his 650,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Lagos, Dangote said imports were being used "to checkmate domestic potential", creating jobs abroad while Nigeria struggles to industrialise.
He told reporters that "you don't use imported goods to curb domestic potential."
Dangote has called for an investigation into Farouk Ahmad, the head of Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. He cited concerns about his management of the industry and allegations that private expenditures exceeded legitimate earnings.
Ahmed didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. However, he previously stated that Dangote refinery wanted a monopoly on the sale of petroleum products, but its output could not meet local demands.
The regulator asked the president to abandon plans to ban the importation of refined petroleum products last?month because the local production cannot meet the demand of 55 millions litres per day.
Dangote contests this and says that the regulator is distorting refinery capacity by reporting offtake stats instead of true production data.
The refinery was designed to reduce Nigeria's dependence on imported fuels and save billions of dollars in foreign currency. However, it says that it has not been able to obtain all the crude it requires because the regulator "has failed to implement" a rule which guarantees crude supply to the local refiners prior to exports.
Dangote said the refinery imports about 100 million barrels per year of crude oil -- a number that is expected to double following the expansion of the'refinery and the limited domestic supply.
Dangote has vowed to continue expansion plans and protect his investment, saying it is "too large to fail".
He also reiterated plans to list his company on the local market and pay out dividends in U.S. Dollars so that "every Nigerian could own a part of the economy."
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, is dependent on imported fuel due to the state refineries that have been abandoned. Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu, Editing by Michael Perry
(source: Reuters)