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In September 2019, Bitcoin miners in China accounted for about 76 percent of all global energy used for cryptocurrency mining. After the country's recent crackdown banning their use, however, the landscape has changed dramatically. In 2019, miners with IP addresses allocated in  the United States used only 4.1% of the total energy. To date, they have grown and occupy a 35% slice. Many are concentrated in Texas due to the abundance of energy, especially renewable energy. Data from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance shows that Kazakhstan has also made a significant shift. Interestingly, the country has seen mining activity grow more than thirteen-fold, increasing its share from 1.4% in September 2019, to 18.1% in September 2021. This is mainly due to the fact that energy in Kazakhstan has a distinctly low cost. Also supporting this choice is the cold climate that allows production systems to cool down quickly. One of the world’s leading producers of oil and gas, Saudi Arabia, has committed to cut carbon emissions to zero in the span of 40 years from now. The announcement was given by Prince Mohammed who, during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, promised investment amounting to US$187bn to meet the ambitious target. Additionally, the country representative said it would cut methane emission by 30% in this decade. Despite that, Saudi Arabia will maintain its central role as oil and gas producer, as well as keeping its status of largest crude oil exporter, activity which is not accounted for in the emission measurements. In line with the middle-east country, Russia, member of the expanded Opec+ group since 2016, also declared the net zero objective by 2060. On Tuesday, the EU issued a “Green Bond” to finance sustainable projects and the transition to renewable energy in the member states. The issuance is part of the “Next Generation EU” plan, which aims at boosting the post-pandemic recovery while targeting social and environmental goals. With a 15 years maturity, the bond had a record demand, which amounted to over 135 billion euros, even though the EU Commission only offered 12 billions worth of the debt instrument. This data is evidence of the interest markets and investors have towards energy transition, an ambitious intention that will require trillions, but that will offer an important opportunity to have the financial goals aligned with the environmental ones. It is a sign of the times we live in, where sustainability (also from a social perspective) cannot be forgotten and, on the contrary, it must be taken into account in every business project. The current year has seen a bonanza of proceeds from sales and public listing for tech investors, reaching the record amount of $582.5bn, the highest since 2000. This rise heralds huge gains for venture capital firms and their investors, which have increased by a reported 40% with respect to the last year.  The hype and the favorable market have pushed valuation of private start-ups to record highs, up to the point that listing is being seen as the only worthwhile exit option for venture capital and private equity funds. To name some examples Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, hit a market capitalization of $76bn on its first day of trading in April. The trend of recurring to public markets has resulted in the growing presence of companies with very low profits, and often immature for the big step.  Dear students, Turkish President Erdogan has ordered a new round of dismissal at the Turkish Central Bank which causes the record low of the Turkish Lira this week. The three fired central bankers opposed a rate cut last month and the selling of the bank’s foreign currency reserves. Erdogan is an opponent of high interest rates and is aiming for high growth rates of the Turkish economy without consideration of the high inflation rates in Turkey. The president has gained unprecedented control over the central banks. He has already fired three central bank chiefs and several other officials since 2019. The Turkish Lira has suffered massive devaluation losing 59 per cent of its value against the dollar since 2018. After two years of the pandemic, public debt around the world is presenting its bill. The United States, by far the world’s largest economy, has now piled up 28.4 trillion dollars in debt, which is around 130% of its GDP. Last week, markets were shaken by the hypothesis that the US Senate could not find an agreement between the parties to increase the debt ceiling, as estimates pointed out that the American government would have failed to meet some payments after October 18, resulting in the first-ever default for the union. However, last week, Republicans agreed to vote for a short-term debt ceiling extension of 480 billion dollars, which should allow the US Government to borrow until December 3, the Treasury said. Markets loved the news, since the agreement avoided a potential turmoil that would have not benefited anyone. In September, the American economy only added 194,000 new jobs, which is 174,000 jobs less than the month before. Surprisingly, the unemployment rate declined from 5.2% to 4.5% because too many people were exiting the workforce. This is partially due to an unusual amount of jobseekers giving up their search. Consequently, the situation of a “shortage economy“ in for example America is exacerbating businesses’ struggle to find personnel. But also the public sector is lacking childcare workers, which therefore forces parents to stay at home and hence prevents them from starting a new job. Higher wages and an increased average of hours worked are further signs of a tight labor market. By and large, the September unemployment figures show that companies are still eager to hire but don’t find enough workers willing to be hired. On Friday, the OECD announced that more than 130 countries have signed up to a global corporate tax reform to eliminate tax havens. The deal comprises a 15 percent minimum corporate tax rate. For years, large corporations like Apple and Amazon were able to shift sales and minimize their tax burden to less than 1%. Countries such as Ireland had reformed their tax code to become a tax haven, and as a result had experienced an economic boom. In order to accommodate tax havens such as Ireland, the tax rate was therefore set at a minimum of only 15%, while many member states had demanded a higher tax rate. Traditional automaker giants, both in Europe and the US, are investing heavily in new production plans that involve electric vehicles. In particular, Ford announced new plants and battery factories, investing more than 11 billion dollars and employing more than 10,000 people. They told the press that they will transition from imported batteries to an American supply chain that will prevent shipping delays and shortages. Furthermore, Ford is partnering with recycling companies to ensure that the battery production increase would not harm the environment. Investors are appreciating Ford’s moves, as witnessed by the stock push of more than 10% in the last month. Traditional automakers might have joined the EV party later, constrained by the less agile nature of their established corporations, but they now engaged with all the firepower at their disposal, making the market increasingly competitive. The San Francisco-based start-up, Allbirds, an ethical shoemaker that has recently announced the launch of a first “sustainable IPO”, has allegedly failed to adhere to some of the ESG commitments it made before the offering. Particularly, the number of references plummeted from 65 to 33 in an update of their prospectus. The company, which has seen its customer base growing among Silicon Valley workers, was the first to introduce the concept of “SPO” (Sustainable Public Offering), by achieving a value of $1bn in its recent private funding round in September 2020.However, the last developments questioned the genuineness of the focus on sustainability of Allbirds, culminating in a class action lawsuit. Due to a shortage of drivers and truck drivers, multiple problems are arising in the supply chain for essential goods in England. Besides the reductions in food deliveries to supermarkets and restaurants, petrol stations have reportedly been affected as well.  Large groups such as Esso and BP have had to close numerous service areas despite government assurances, causing queues of miles and protests from citizens. It is estimated that the UK is short of around 100,000 drivers. The situation has worsened in recent years due to both the pandemic and Brexit, which has forced many workers to return home. The government has announced a plan to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers, but business leaders have warned that the measure is a short-term fix and won't solve the underlying issue. The People’s Bank of China announced on Friday that all transactions with cryptocurrencies are illegal, banning digital tokens like Bitcoin. China’s central bank argued that crypto transactions would facilitate illegal financing activities and seriously endanger the security and the safety of people’s assets. These measures have heavy effects since China is the world’s largest crypto market. The price of Bitcoin fell by more than $2,000 in the wake of the Chinese announcement. Officially, trading of crypto currencies is forbidden in China since 2019 but Friday’s announcement is one of the clearest signals that the country plans to shut down the crypto market. Due to its low energy costs and cheap computer hardware, China has become the main hub of cryptocurrencies, accounting for 75% of the world’s bitcoin energy use.  Dear Students,

📣 The ESCP Finance Society is delighted to announce that our recruiting session is now open.

We are recruiting students attending all the programmes across all ESCP Campuses!

"The Society aims to help ESCP students to break into the Finance Industry, organizing dedicated networking events, and providing useful materials to support the application and interview process."
 
 📆 Deadline: October 8th at 22:59:59 (GMT+1) 📆
 
Divisions Recruiting:
- Events and Sponsorships
- M&A
- Markets The Bank of England kept its monetary policy unchanged, as its members voted unanimously to leave the interest rate at its historical low of 0.1% and continue the £895 billion bond purchase programme, which is due to run until the year-end. Nevertheless, the Bank said that the case for higher interest rates “appeared to have strengthened”. Inflation was forecasted to rise at the end of the year to over 4%, mostly because of the increasing shock in energy prices. Moreover, the Central Bank downsized the projections for economic growth in the UK for Q3, 2021 at 2.1%, falling  from the 2.9% forecasted in August. The updated forecast would leave the GDP of the third quarter around 2.5% below the pre-Covid peak. Evergrande is China’s second biggest property developer group. With over 300bn USD of liabilities, it recently failed to repay 83.5mn USD in mandatory interest payments to an international creditor. This led to its share price losing 12 percent of its value in the course of the week. Just as this shows how hard it is for a real estate group to appropriately manage risks, so too this shines light on the vastness of the Chinese financial system with its total credit extended to households being at 287% of GDP. International investors fear that the rising intransparency of the industry, which partly results from the quantity of shadow banking done and an unclear governmental position on regulation, may lead to a loss in other Chinese securities. Hence, it remains interesting to see how willing Xi Jinping is to increase stability and trust in the financial system. Despite the corona crisis still looming over global economies, ESG markets seem to maintain their robust growth. Sooner or later, it was to be expected. An analyst’s worst nightmare, inflation, is manifesting itself in our daily lives. Bitcoin price skyrocketed to $48,000 in August after plummeting below £30,000 in June and July, confirming an ongoing, extreme price volatility not only during the summer but throughout its history. Dear future analysts, Applications for the ESCP Banking Trek 2021 are now closed! 💼🏦 Less than 24h to have a chance to take part in the ESCP Banking Trek 2021! 💼 🏦 The ESCP Banking Trek 2021 application deadline is coming up, only 3 days remaining!! While waiting for the 8th edition of Banking Trek to begin, we would like to show you some insights from the last edition which took place virtually. Applications for the 8th edition of the ESCP BANKING TREK are now open! 💼🏦 Do you want to participate in an exclusive event, that offers you insights into some of the most prestigious financial institutions, their internship programs and provides you with unique networking opportunities? 🏦📈 🏦 Dear future analysts, Dear students, WeWork is pushing to go public after its failed IPO in 2019. Like many companies earlier this year, this will be conducted through a SPAC. The BowX Acquisition Corp will merge with WeWork, letting its shares jump by 20.3%. Turkey's major stock index BIST-100 declined by 9,6% this week as President Erdogan replaced the central bank governor Naci Agbal with Sahap Kavcioglu which, like the president, should favor unorthodox monetary policies. International investors' fears mainly stem from two main reasons: the first being that this underlines that Erdogan has the ultimate decision-making power in the system. Whereas the second is related to the fact that the government will, by any means, continue economic growth policies in order to maintain popular support, which presents the risk of uncontrolled inflation and a lack of transparency.  
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The mission of the ESCP Finance Society is to help ESCP students to break into the Finance Industry, organising dedicated networking events and providing useful materials to support the application and interview process.

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