Singapore’s Temasek cuts pay for senior management and investor team involved in FTX
Singapore state-owned investor Temasek cut the compensation of senior management and its investment team responsible for the recommendation to invest in failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
“Although there was no misconduct by the investment team in reaching their investment recommendation, the investment team and senior management, who are ultimately responsible for investment decisions made, took collective accountability and had their compensation reduced,” Chairman Lim Boon Heng said in a statement.
The move from Temasek comes after an internal review was launched to look into its investment into FTX, which resulted in a write-down of $275 million.
Lim added that there was fraudulent conduct by FTX “intentionally hidden from investors, including Temasek.” The statement did not specify how many staff were affected, nor the severity of the pay cuts.
— Lim Hui Jie
Fed’s Loretta Mester expects interest rates will have to rise
Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester told CNBC on Friday that she expects more interest rate increases will be needed as inflation stays elevated.
“When I look at the data and I look at what’s happening with the inflation numbers, I do think we’re going to have to tighten a bit more,” Mester said on “Squawk on the Street.” “We’ve made progress. Now it’s this calibration exercise, and that’s what’s difficult.”
Mester is a nonvoting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
—Jeff Cox
Preferred Fed inflation gauge rises more than expected
The core personal consumption expenditures index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, rose 0.4% in April. That’s more than economists polled by Dow Jones expected. Year over year, core PCE rose 4.7%, also more than expected.
— Fred Imbert
Markets now expecting Fed rate hike in June
Markets raised their bets for a June rate hike from the Federal Reserve following hotter-than-expected inflation data Friday morning.
Odds for a quarter percentage point increase jumped to 56%, according to CME Group data. That followed a report showing that personal consumption expenditures prices rose 0.4% in April and 4.7% from a year ago.
The chances of an increase were just 17% a week ago. The probability of a hike by no later than July rose to 75%.
—Jeff Cox
Consumer sentiment slightly beats expectations
The final reading on May consumer sentiment was slightly above expectations. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index came in at 59.2, while economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a reading of 57.7.
To be sure, that level is well below April’s 63.5.
“Consumer sentiment slid 7% amid worries about the path of the economy, erasing nearly half of the gains achieved after the all-time historic low from last June. This decline mirrors the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, during which sentiment also plunged,” Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu wrote.
— Fred Imbert
