US crude tumbled to a fresh seven-week low on Friday, settling at $76.10 a barrel. The slide is good news for American drivers hurt by the seven-year high in gasoline prices — a crunch that has soured consumers’ views on the US economy.
“We will definitely see some pricing relief on gasoline at the pump,” Tom Kloza, president of the Oil Price Information Service, told CNN on Friday, adding that the relief will be “feather-like as opposed to plunges.”
After a relentless rise, the national average gas price has finally leveled off at $3.41 a gallon, according to AAA. That’s roughly flat from a week ago.
“It looks for now as though the 2021 peaks have been established,” Kloza said.
Lockdown jitters
Unfortunately, one of the catalysts for Friday’s tumble in the market is another ominous development on the Covid front: Austria announced plans Friday to impose a national lockdown, the first in Europe this fall, in a bid to reverse a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The lockdown is raising fears in the oil market of tough new health restrictions elsewhere that will slow the economic comeback and eat into energy demand.
“The demand signals today are overwhelmingly bearish,” Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, wrote in a note on Friday. “The risk is real in Europe, especially if Austria’s move to lockdown has a domino effect across the continent. If Germany follows suit, sub-$80 price levels may be here to stay.”
Will China and America team up?
Beyond the lockdown fears, oil markets remain jittery over the specter of the United States and China teaming up to intervene in the previously red-hot energy markets.
Since crashing to negative-$40 a barrel in April 2020, US crude has climbed as much as $125 a barrel because supply simply hasn’t kept up with demand. OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, have only gradually increased production. US oil companies haven’t been in a rush to add supply either.
A coordinated release from two of the world’s biggest energy consumers would have a bigger impact than if the Biden administration acted alone to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Officials in China put out a statement on Friday suggesting that a release of barrels from the country’s emergency reserve is on the table.
“The bureau is pushing forward with crude oil release-related work at the moment,” authorities that oversee China’s strategic oil reserves said in a statement to CNN.
According to a readout published by the White House, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed during their virtual summit this week the “importance of taking measures to address global energy supplies.”
A coordinated release by the United States and China could also be used as a bargaining tool to get OPEC+ to open up the taps, after months of refusing to do so.
“There is firepower with a concerted effort,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
‘Short-term fix’
Still, this is not a long-term solution, as releasing barrels from emergency reserves doesn’t solve the underlying supply-demand mismatch. And these emergency reserves hold a finite amount of oil — crude that is typically reserved for supply shocks, not surging demand amid an economic recovery.
Releasing barrels today leaves the reserves with less of buffer for the next crisis, whether it’s a hurricane, a conflict in the Middle East or another supply shock.
Goldman Sachs reiterated in a new report to clients on Thursday that a coordinated release would “only provide a short-term fix to a structural deficit.”
The Wall Street bank argued this coordinated release is now “fully priced in,” meaning the impact to markets has already happened.
“In fact, if such a release is confirmed and manages to keep oil prices depressed in the context of low trading activity into year-end, it would create clear upside risks to our 2022 price forecast,” Goldman Sachs strategists wrote.
In other words, at least some on Wall Street are already looking past this emergency intervention — before it even happens — and predicting higher prices ahead.
More than ever before, as marketing continues to be at the forefront of digital transformation, the function must work aggressively to pivot from being a cost center to a true driver of growth. To do this, many critical organizational shifts need to take place ranging from cultural changes, to insights infrastructure build outs that drive better measurement, to tighter alignment across different functional roles in the C-Suite.
A Conversation With: BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s Kirti Naik on Growth-Oriented Digital … [+] Transformation + the Importance of Data-Led Alliances
Billee Howard
With this all in mind, I wanted to speak to a digital innovator known for data-led transformation strategies that instigate growth. I recently spoke with Kirti Naik, Global Head of Marketing & Communications of BNY Mellon Wealth Management. She is a digital marketing pioneer and growth strategist with years of experience at leading financial brands such as OppenheimerFunds (now Invesco), Russell Investments and Citibank. We spoke about everything from marketing’s ever evolving landscape, to the need to always identify ways to help grow the business, even after benchmarks are achieved. Following is a recap of our conversation:
Billee Howard: Great to be speaking with you Kirti.You are a year plus into stepping into your role of driving digital transformation at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. Tell me about your journey and the process that drove it, please.
Kirti Naik: First of all, thank you for inviting me and our brand to have this discussion. I joined during a very complex time period. The pandemic had really just taken over the world and the U.S. market, and I started in July of 2020. Our company was going through a major transformation at that point and the role of marketing very quickly became quite relevant to the organization in terms of Wealth Management. As an industry, it’s all about high touch premium experiences. It’s all about how we interact with one another in person. Marketing before the pandemic arrived was really viewed as a service and a support function. When I joined, we had just started to pivot to virtual events, figuring out how to best do it, how to implement it, and how do we get clients engaged in it? Because events were really the core to what marketing did to support the wealth management business, the question obviously was how can that be online?
I quickly read the situation and saw that we weren’t really taking advantage of all the different channels that are available to marketing in order to add value. We not only pivoted to virtual events, but we really also had to look at this new proprietary framework and platform that was being deployed to the market called ‘Active Wealth.’ It’s all about applying the right framework in order to build, sustain and grow your wealth strategy. It’s really important because there are five key practices to the process: investing, borrowing, spending, managing your taxes, and fees. Also, how do you protect your assets and legacy? I was looking at this framework and thought It’s great that we’re pivoting to virtual events as this is a terrific platform for us to do this. But, how do we actually get in front of our clients and educate them? We really shifted our entire strategy from being much more of an on-demand collateral center, to a digital experience that allows us to help customers identify the key strategies that are going to help move business forward.
Howard: You and I recently talked about best practices for CMO/CTO alignment and building an organization that is data-led. In fact, you mentioned you formed a close relationship with your CTO on your first day. Tell me more.
Naik: I come from a digital marketing background. I was doing digital before it was even seen as a table stakes requirement in most brands. Because of my history, it was really important for me to walk in day one and identify who are the people that are driving this company forward in terms of data, technology, information and data gathering. I really integrated myself into the processes that my CTO and CIO were building for wealth. I knew immediately that I wanted marketing to partner with them to first and foremost, elevate what they were doing already, but then also work to identify solutions to drive the business forward.
It was really important that marketing was not working in a vacuum, and I spent many weeks with them, not only from an operational and financial standpoint, but a collaborative one, that would allow us to work together to have quick wins in the short term, but then also build a strategy for the long term. Within the first three months of me joining and aligning myself with the right digital and technology constituents, we were able to build a business case for investment in marketing technology, as well as get the right kind of support structure in place so that I could start to pivot our organization to absorb digital. You can’t do this alone as marketing, you need the help of operations and technology to implement on your ideas. We’ve actually expanded that remit tenfold this year and are now working hand-in-hand with the same constituents to build towards 2022 and beyond.
Howard: That is a great answer, and I think it will be very instructive because many people are struggling with a lot of what you’re talking about. With that in mind, I would love your perspective on another current big challenge: going from personalized, to individualized, in a way that scales commercial intimacy. Can you tell me your thoughts about that?
Naik: If any segment requires individualization, it is the ultra-high net worth segment. These are very, very important investors in our marketplace. These are people who are driving companies, creating jobs, donating to charity, launching and giving grants to those who need it. It’s a really important population that we not only serve but also partner with in different capacities. We have to be very careful and judicious in our process and approach to ensure that we are always very delicate and surgical in how we promote ourselves and our offerings. Digital is allowing us to do that in a very concerted and scalable fashion. Now what I mean by that is it’s not about us going out and just placing banner ads all over the internet or blasting emails for no reason.
It is really about taking elements of behavioral targeting and having that data collected in a meaningful way. It’s about applying some of those elements of algorithm-based data and then really identifying overlapping needs of these constituents and personas. We also partner very closely with sales. The way we’ve done it is really to partner closely with the client facing strategist, the wealth managers, complementing them to help them open the door to create meaningful interactions. That’s where I think the power comes in. It’s not in micro segmentation, or the spray and pray model. There is a balance needed between the two to approach your clients so it’s truly personalized and they feel like we can advise them on what they need the most, at the right time.
Howard: Lastly, we spoke about marketing moving from a cost center to a driver of hypergrowth. Talk to me about best practices around this idea, particularly as you’ve used marketing to bring in a large amount of assets since stepping into your role.
Naik: I think marketing has always been seen as a complement to driving visibility, generally speaking, and specifically the wealth management industry has been going through a massive transformation, as a sector of the larger financial services industry. Wealth management firms have to be able to embrace new age competencies. Those include technology, social dynamics, new ecosystem players and even the rise of different digital channels and assets. We’ve got to understand that the investor population is changing rapidly. We’ve got the baby boomers and the Gen Xers, but now we’ve also got the millennials and Gen Zers. All of them have distinct needs. Yes, it’s essential that we truly understand who we’re talking to and what we want to market to them. Frankly, marketing should be one of the most powerful business levers to drive measurable hyper growth.
To achieve that vision, we have started to identify mechanisms for number one, measuring the efficacy of what we do always. That’s the first rule of thumb that I have brought into every organization. You have to prove your value and you do it by driving strategy. Number two, how do you equip the field, the sales teams with new opportunities? It absolutely must always be about that piece of it. People have often told me that in B2B, marketing can’t drive leads. That’s ridiculous. Yes, we should be helping you with all the tools you need, your different collateral, but marketing should be doing so much more than that. I do think it’s upon us as marketers to figure out how do we create demand. Number three, I think it comes down to client experience. We have to empower the client facing folks and really elevate the value of online experiences. Therefore, we should always be thinking about how do we leverage traditional owned, earned digital, all the different channels that are at our disposable to drive the optimal client experience.
At BNY Mellon Wealth Management, a recent and powerful example I can share in demonstrating how we leveraged all these channels is the launch of our Active Wealth Accelerator. It is a commercially available, interactive, educational and immersive platform. The Active Wealth Accelerator is a mobile and desktop experience, easily sharable via QR code and targeted to prospective clients to help them assess their wealth strategy through a series of 15 questions tied to our five Active Wealth practices. Based on the answers, a customized recommendation is presented, showcasing the investor’s strengths and opportunities across Active Wealth, and promotes corresponding content to help unlock their financial potential. The value of the tool is it helps individuals have a better understanding of their wealth needs, along with how to ask the right questions of themselves and advisors at the end of the day.
The new GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, March 16, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Earnings season is drawing to a close, and companies have offered investors and analysts insight into their plans for growth in the coming quarters.
For a number of firms, this has been an opportunity to showcase how they’re adapting to new realities, be it the growing popularity of electric vehicles or the unrelenting demand for semiconductor chips.
To that effect, some of Wall Street’s top analysts have highlighted these five companies that have attractive long-term prospects for investors, according to TipRanks, which tracks the best-performing stock pickers.
The green tidal wave has continued its rampage across the industry, with multiple names going public to huge valuations many have found difficult to stomach. While it may be more convenient for smaller more flexible pure-play electric vehicle (EV) companies to focus on their condensed product offerings, General Motors (GM) does not intend to be left behind. (See General Motors Stock Analysis on TipRanks)
Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities reiterated his bullish hypothesis on the stock, arguing that the company is just now garnering recognition by Wall Street for its grand plans. He wrote that the “growing EV appetite among investors for new innovative EV stories, the vertical integration capabilities of GM and conversion of its massive customer base to electric vehicles over the coming years represents a transformational opportunity.”
Ives rated the stock a Buy, and assigned a bullish price target of $85.
The analyst added that if near-term issues such as the global chip shortage and the recall fallout on the Chevy Bolt can be mitigated, the company will have a clear runway to doubling its revenue by 2030. Ives expects that if GM executes on its EV promises, the share price could move even higher than his target.
Big plans aren’t the only thing in GM’s toolbelt, as it has developed “game changing” Ultium battery technology, which Ives believes will help capture market share. However, he does not foresee Tesla (TSLA) falling from its dominating perch over the nascent industry.
Additionally, GM has been developing software-and-services subscription packages to accompany its strong pipeline of EVs. Ives is encouraged by the prospect of the vast array of opportunities for monetization in this field for GM, noting that up to $2,000 per car per year could be generated.
Out of more than 7,000 analysts, financial aggregator TipRanks rates Ives as No. 22. His ratings have been successful 82{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the time, and have returned him an average of 64.3{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} per.
Web development company Wix (WIX) hit a rough patch over the first half of the year, as it was up against tough comparisons from 2020’s boom in online business and e-commerce which helped bring in high valuations for the stock. Those tough times seem to be in the rearview mirror for Wix, according to Mark Mahaney of Evercore ISI. “It turns out that the world didn’t decide to stop building websites,” he said.
Mahaney rated the stock a Buy, and assigned a price target of $255.
The analyst noted the company’s recent strong earnings report, in which it printed a beat on revenue and improved metrics in key sectors. He said that newly acquired users, average revenues per user and conversion levels were each beyond expectations laid out by the company.
Global shifts during the Covid-19 pandemic turned having an online footprint “a must-have rather than a nice-to-have for businesses globally,” Mahaney said. He was encouraged by Wix’s exposure to the worldwide ecommerce sector, adding that he believes the company’s “omnichannel strategy with the additional kicker of gross payment volume expansion (esp. as the world reopens) should allow Wix to fully participate in the double tailwind of business going online, and commerce going digital.”
Anticipating additional future upside, Mahaney said that about half of the company’s customers operate in fields which may still be restricted due to Covid-19. Upon a relaxing of pandemic related constraints, Wix could see a positive jolt to its balance sheet.
TipRanks has calculated Mahaney as No. 62 out of over 7,000 financial analysts. Of his ratings, 74{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} have been successful, and they have returned him 57{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} on average.
As the hotly contested streaming wars continue, Netflix (NFLX) has been investing in innovations beyond its strong entertainment pipeline. The production and streaming service company has officially released several mobile games as it expands into an entirely new category of content. Doug Anmuth of JPMorgan stated that “NFLX remains a top pick” and that he expects the fourth quarter to bring success for the streaming giant. (See Netflix Hedge Fund Activity on TipRanks)
Anmuth was enthusiastic “on shares based on continued strengthening of the 4Q content slate, greater distance from pandemic pull-forward, improving seasonality, & potential for greater traction in APAC, where NFLX has low penetration.”
The analyst rated the stock a Buy, and decided on a price target of $750.
In addition to the significant upcoming TV shows and movies set for the last quarter of this fiscal year, Anmuth noted that long-term upside can also be found in Netflix’s plans for share repurchases. The company is also benefitting from the “global proliferation of Internet-connected devices,” as consumer attention turns away from traditional cable and satellite TV options.
Anmuth is confident that Netflix can continue penetrating high potential markets, such as China. Overall, NFLX’s content has been popular worldwide and a “virtuous circle” of subscriber and revenue growth is expected to carry the company to higher valuations.
Out of over 7,000 financial analysts, TipRanks has calculated Anmuth to be No. 112. His stock picks have been correct 69{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the time, and have returned an average of 40.9{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996}.
Despite persisting inflationary fears, consumer spending has continued to climb. This is good news for Square (SQ), which generates revenues from transactions through its subscription-based payment hardware and software platforms. The company has made inroads toward several other strategic business endeavors, including expansion into full-fledged fintech services, cryptocurrency initiatives, and high-profile acquisitions. (See Square Website Traffic on TipRanks)
Ivan Feinseth of Tigress Financial Partners detailed his bullish hypothesis on the company, writing that “SQ’s innovative capabilities will continue to drive the introduction of new products that take it beyond the payment and continue to drive growth, increasing Return on Capital, greater Economic Profit, and accelerating shareholder value creation.”
Feinseth rated the stock a Buy, and raised his price target to $310 from $295.
The analyst explained that Square has now acquired “buy now, pay later” firm Afterpay, as well as Credit Karma Tax in its effort to transition into a more well-rounded fintech company. The firm has been moving its banking services in-house, which is anticipated by Feinseth to increase its overall margins. Moreover, these acquisitions are expected to provide for increased integration of sellers and consumers across its ecosystem of platforms.
The broad consumer shift toward contactless payment preferences has supported Square as of late, allowing the company to report strong third-quarter revenues.
Feinseth stands at No. 52 out of more than 7,000 analysts in TipRanks’ database. He retains a success rate of 76{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} on his stock picks, and has returned an average of 38.8{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} on each one over the prior two year period.
The semiconductor shortage is throwing sawdust into the engines of several industries, notably the automotive and smartphone manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, some of the firms which design the chips are seeing impressive earnings and revenue amid the heightened demand. Nvidia (NVDA) recently printed yet another quarter of exceeded estimates, and analysts do not expect it to slow down any time soon. (See Nvidia Earnings Date & Reports on TipRanks)
One of those bullish professionals is Christopher Rolland of Susquehanna Financial Group, who wrote that NVDA saw a record quarter across at least two of its main end-markets: data center and gaming. He added that the growth in the former is expected to continue performing well into the fourth quarter. According to the analyst, “Data Center was driven by hyperscalers for cloud computing, natural language processing, and deep recommender models, while Enterprise continues to be driven by vertical industries.”
Rolland rated the stock a Buy, and provided a price target of $360.
The tech company is also experiencing high demand for its networking solutions, with “higher momentum for their ethernet [network interface controllers], Quantum 2 switches, and Bluefield 3 [data processing units].”
While the firm’s gaming segment remained productive this past quarter, Rolland said that the industry’s growth itself is difficult to predict. However, the company’s graphics processing unit, or GPU, inventory could still benefit from an increase in its supply. This instance is anticipated by Rolland as a potential future tailwind come 2022.
Rolland remained confident in NVDA, and views it as a “pure and levered way to invest in the future prospects of the GPU, a device we believe is undergoing a renaissance.”
TipRanks rates over 7,000 analysts, and currently places Rolland at No. 6. His stock ratings have been successful 87{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the time, and have returned an average of 56.9{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} each.
Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s , sketched out the possibility of “scary” scenarios emerging in cryptocurrency, but faced a mix of skepticism and agreement from senators on her views.
During her appearance before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Omarova — who is being vetted to be the next Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates the majority of the nation’s banks — voiced concerns that large tech companies could control the payment infrastructure in the U.S. if private digital currencies are allowed to thrive, potentially displacing the value of the U.S dollar.
“I’m struggling with your view about digital assets,” Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told Omarova at the hearing.
When asked by the senator whether she only believes in fiat currency, Omarova replied, “No … My concern is … we may end up in a situation where a large company like a big tech company might control all of the infrastructure through which the money that every American and every American business uses in their daily moves.”
Omarova agreed with Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reid, who posed a scenario in which Facebook designs a digital currency that overtakes the U.S. dollar making the dollar something that can’t be used to regulate our economy.
“National banks would not need a charter, they would just need to get a franchise from Facebook, is that right?” Reid asked.
“That’s correct,” the nominee replied. “This is the scary scenario everyone should take seriously these days.”
Omarova said she worried that embracing private cryptocurrencies could make it harder for the U.S. dollar to remain dominant — a concern .
“My concern is that in the system where a lot of private actors like Facebook can issue their own version of currency, that can potentially outpace and even displace the U.S. dollar,” Omarova told senators.
That could have “implications far beyond what we typically consider in the banking sphere, but might also undermine our sovereignty and the value of the dollar,” she added.
Keep the dollar dominant
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 18: Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) listens during Dr. Saule Omarova’s nomination hearing to be the Comptroller of the Currency with the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill on November 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. Senators questioned Omarova about her views and past comments on bank oversight. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Omarova stated the new technologies offer a lot of potential benefits for better efficiency of payment and transactions as well as financial inclusion. Still, “it does raise a lot of issues with regard to the ability of our nation to maintain the dominant status of the U.S. dollar in the global economy.”
She argued the reason the dollar has retained its dominant status is because the Federal Reserve has been able to maintain the value of the dollar and maintain the money supply in the economy.
When asked by Lummis whether she thought Bitcoin () threatens national security, Omarova said she’s not an expert in bitcoin, but worried that if all U.S. financial transactions were part of a blockchain system. Various actors might be acting in the interest of the U.S. could take control of the system, she suggested.
Omarova added that she worried private companies are pursuing profits, which may cut into the public interest by not allowing equal access to money for everyone.
“I do believe we have government issued money now in this country and it’s working great and I worry about allowing private innovation to undermine a lot of important public policies we need to pursue,” said Omarova.
While she worries about private currencies, Omarova says she favors a over privately issued stablecoins because it’s issued by the government and will ensure access for everyone.
“The one potential advantage of CBDC over privately issued stablecoins is that it will be issued subject to statutory mandate legal decisions made by democratically elected lawmakers,” Omarova told the committee.
“So that will allow the central bank under the oversight of congress to ensure everyone has fair access to new forms of money,” she added.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance
PLANO, Texas, Nov. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) announced the entry into a letter of intent with Great American Outdoors LLC, the parent company of Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and the White River Marine Group—makers of such legendary boat brands as Tracker, Ranger, Mako, Hatteras and others. This agreement will expand Toyota’s relationship with Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s to include offering financial services for the company’s boats, all-terrain vehicle products and other mobility products. Starting in May 2022, Bass Pro Shops Financial Services expects to provide inventory financing for Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, its affiliates and authorized independent dealers. Over time, the services are expected to expand to include consumer financing and voluntary protection products and services.
Toyota Motor Credit Corporation Logo
“With this agreement, our commitment to improving the customer experience now extends to every aspect of boat and vehicle ownership,” says Johnny Morris, founder and leader of the Great American Outdoors Group. “Our new agreement with Toyota gives our customers and industry leading independent dealer network access to the world’s best financing options, backed by decades of integrity and service. What excites us the most, however, is further aligning with Toyota, a truly world class company with truly world class, genuine people.”
“We couldn’t be happier to grow our business with Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, recognized as North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company,” said Mark Templin, president of TMCC. “We’ve developed a comprehensive suite of proprietary financial services products, exceptional customer service capabilities and best-in-class solutions that are attractive to brands who recognize the need to harness technology and a customer-first mindset in support of growing their brand loyalty, retention and profitability.”
A Longstanding Partnership
In 2020, Toyota and Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s announced the renewal of their longstanding partnership for an additional five years, which will lead the brands into 20 years of collaboration together. Toyota is the Official Vehicle and Mobility Category Partner of Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, and is proud to partner with a brand that aligns with Toyota’s brand ethos, “Let’s Go Places.” In similar style, at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, “Your Adventure Starts Here” helps customers connect with the outdoors through the gear, apparel and expertise they need. Visit the Toyota Newsroom for more information on the Toyota-Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s history including the new private label relationship.
About Toyota Motor Credit Corporation Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) operates in the United States to offer retail auto financing and leasing to customers through auto dealerships. TMCC has a range of products to meet dealers’ financing needs and also offers extended service contracts and other vehicle and payment protection products through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS) and its subsidiaries. TMCC offers its finance and protection products to Toyota customers and dealers using the Toyota Financial Services brand name. Lexus Financial Services is the brand for finance and protection products for Lexus dealers and customers. TMCC also offers private label financial services to other mobility product providers, including under the Mazda Financial Services brand. As of March 31, 2021, TMCC employed approximately 3,600 team members nationwide, and has assets totaling nearly $133 billion. It is part of a worldwide network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation.
We announce material financial information using the investor relations section of our website (www.toyotafinancial.com) and SEC filings. We use these channels, press releases, and social media to communicate about our company, our services and other issues. While not all information we post on social media is of a material nature, some information could be material. Therefore, we encourage those interested in our company to review our messages on Twitter at www.twitter.com/toyotafinancial and posts on Facebook at www.facebook.com/toyotafinancial/.
Brussels is planning to create US-style central databases that hold information on publicly listed companies and trading activity as part of a push to boost integration of its capital markets.
According to draft documents seen by the Financial Times, the measures will include changes to make it easier for investors to access information on companies operating in the EU and for EU banks and fund managers to find prices of stocks and bonds throughout the single market.
The proposals, set to be formally announced next week, are intended to make the EU more attractive to international investors following the UK’s departure from the single market.
“The EU’s global competitiveness is weakened by the fragmentation of its capital markets,” the draft documents say. Reforms to build a capital markets union “will in turn help companies tap into larger pools of capital held by institutional and retail investors across the EU”, they add.
The EU corporate reporting system, known as the European single access point, would consist of common, free public information about companies and products. At present, most information is scattered across multiple jurisdictions.
The project, aiming to go live in 2024, is likely to be paid for from the EU budget and overseen by Esma, the securities regulator, the documents say.
Authorities want to reproduce some of the benefits of services widely used in the US, the world’s biggest capital market, in many of its reforms. They include the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Edgar system for reporting corporate information and marketwide tapes that record trading information on stock and bond markets.
The European Commission envisages tapes that bundle together information collected from Europe’s patchwork of more than 470 exchanges and trading venues. Europe has long sought a “consolidated tape” but private efforts to build one have failed due to competing commercial interests, as well as slow and patchy data feeds.
“The total cost [to investors] of not having an accurate view of the equities markets can be as high as €10.6bn annually,” the document says.
Regulators have acknowledged that the last attempt to create a consolidated tape, in the 2018 Mifid legislation, failed. Brussels is planning to mandate that data providers supply standardised information to the tapes. Contributors would get “fair remuneration” and a minimum revenue in return, it said.
“Policymaking has typically focused on the needs of the intermediaries and we welcome the increased focus that policymakers now also have on end investors,” said Stephen Fisher, managing director of the global public policy group at BlackRock, at a conference in London on Thursday.
The proposed changes to market infrastructure addressed what he saw as Europe’s main weakness — trading that was fragmented along national lines and that “has held back capital raising and investor participation in capital markets”.
The proposals also include a formal ban on payment for order flow, a controversial practice in which retail brokers hand their orders to market makers in return for a fee. This is widely used in the US and Germany, but effectively banned in most EU countries.
Markus Ferber, a German MEP, welcomed the commission’s decision to address the issue but questioned whether an “outright ban” was the right approach.
The commission also wants to change the caps on the amount of business that can be executed in dark pools — off-exchange venues that fund managers to buy and sell large blocks of shares without disturbing the price on the market.
In addition, there are plans to tighten the rules on “systematic internalisers” — more lightly regulated invitation-only markets run largely by banks and high-frequency traders.
Other proposals include scrapping rules that require clearing houses to clear derivatives on rival exchanges, to build clearing capacity in the bloc after Brexit. Most of the euro clearing business is based in London.
Next year the commission will propose changes to the corporate insolvency framework and make it easier for companies to raise funds on exchanges, according to the draft documents.
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