SviatoslavGusev

The U.S. Senate has begun examining the ties between Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, the Binance exchange, and Tether.

The inquiry was initiated by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate’s investigations subcommittee. He sent the parties involved a request to turn over all documents and information related to the matter, setting a deadline of January 4, 2027.

In addition to Binance and Tether, official letters were sent to World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight, the entity behind the launch of a memecoin associated with the U.S. president.

If the recipients refuse to provide the requested materials, the committee is prepared to take further action.

Video game developer and publisher My.Games will be bought out by its own management. The deal will be led by CEO Elena Grigoryan and COO Denis Savuta. The seller will be Alexander Chachava, who is currently the company’s sole shareholder.

The managers are receiving support under the agreement from UAE-based private investor Georgy Nurislamov. The parties have not yet disclosed the financial terms of the deal, but plan to complete it by the end of 2026.

Chachava became the 100% owner of My.Games in September 2022, buying the company from VK for $642 million. In addition, through the O23 entity, the entrepreneur owns 34.95% of Ozon’s shares, and through Infinity Management, 19.69% of Yandex’s shares.

AI company stocks are falling again

Gold, silver, and stock markets rose amid expectations of rising inflation—expectations linked to the Democrats’ victories in the Senate and House elections. Democrats’ spending on African programs and other projects considered wasteful is growing faster than Republicans’ spending.

Russia’s largest fintech companies have secured top spots in Forbes and RBC’s annual rankings of the country’s best employers. The eighth edition of Forbes’ study features 222 companies, 30 of which received the highest, “platinum” rating under its ESG methodology. The financial and IT sectors account for the largest number of leaders in the ranking’s top group. Among major technology companies, T-Bank has earned “platinum” status in all three categories—“environment,” “employees and society,” and “corporate governance”—for the third year in a row. It also made RBC’s ranking.

For its 2026 study, RBC analyzed 361 companies with a combined workforce of 5.1 million people. They were assessed on more than 40 criteria, ranging from working conditions and reputation in the business community to employee feedback, innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

When selecting the winners of both rankings, the experts focused above all on companies’ long-term social and educational initiatives. For example, T-Bank offers a cancer insurance program that covers treatment at leading clinics in Russia and around the world and is available to 68,600 employees and their family members. In addition, more than 2,000 early-career professionals completed internships at the company over the past year, and over 1,200 of them were subsequently hired as full-time employees.

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that a high key interest rate is necessary for the economy and the well-being of citizens. “Is this justified from the point of view of the interests of the economy, citizens, and businesses? I am absolutely sure it is,” she emphasized. Nabiullina added that the country is currently going through “a painful period, but we have no choice.”

The Turkish lira fell to 50 per dollar for the first time in history.

Fedresurs data show that the number of personal bankruptcies in Russia has begun to decline for the first time in 11 years.

According to these statistics, 125,100 new bankruptcy proceedings for individuals were initiated in the third quarter of 2026 — 13.1% fewer than in the same period a year earlier.

This year-on-year decline was recorded for the first time since October 2015, when personal bankruptcy was introduced in Russia.

Binance’s French division, Binance France, will stop servicing customer accounts on December 31, 2026. The reason is that the company was unable to obtain a license in accordance with MiCA regulatory requirements.

South Korea's KOSPI stock index plunged 9%, prompting trading on the exchange to be halted. Shares of companies in the artificial intelligence sector fell the most — they led the list of decliners.

SoftBank’s market capitalization—the largest investor in AI and high technology—plunged 44% in just one month. If the company really collapses, it will be the biggest shock to financial markets since 2008.

Using artificial intelligence technologies, Sberbank has issued 8 trillion rubles in loans to medium-sized, large and largest businesses. First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank’s Executive Board Alexander Vedyakhin announced this on Investor Day.

Over the past three years, the bank’s corporate loan portfolio has grown by 41% to almost 33 trillion rubles. Sberbank’s share of the corporate lending market has meanwhile risen to 32.4%.

The bank now has 3.5 million corporate clients, 300,000 more than three years ago. Among transactionally active small and microbusinesses, 53.5% name Sberbank as their primary partner for addressing both financial and non-financial needs.

Toyota shares rose 16% during trading — the company’s stock has not seen such a one-day jump since 1987.

According to a bill submitted to the State Duma, deposits into Russian citizens’ bank accounts may be limited to 30,000 rubles per month if the transactions raise suspicion. The restriction will apply to both cash deposits and transfers from third parties. These rules are expected to take effect on March 1, 2028.

Judging by how the American market opened, they didn't reach an agreement with Iran?

The Hungarian bank OTP tried to find a buyer for its business in Russia, but no suitable option was found. OTP Group head Péter Csányi said this in an interview with Forbes.

He explained that the bank considered investors who could both obtain approval for the deal from the Russian authorities and offer a price acceptable to OTP.

“We have no desire whatsoever to essentially give an efficiently run local bank to the Russian economy,” Csányi said.

A group of investors led by American billionaire Todd Boehly is developing a scheme to exchange frozen Lukoil shares, acquired at a discount, for the Russian company’s overseas assets.

According to Reuters, investors from the UAE have also joined the deal: International Holding Company and Al Hail Holding, Qatari billionaires Ramez and Mutaz Al Khayat, as well as the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Lukoil’s overseas portfolio was previously valued at $22 billion. However, similar offers from Xtellus Partners and Carlyle had long failed to move forward because of the potential benefit to the Russian side.

This time, the shares are expected to be placed in an escrow account, with no direct benefit to the company, while transferring more than half of the consortium’s stakes to Middle Eastern investors should make it easier to secure the Kremlin’s approval for the deal.

The U.S. stock market lost $3 trillion in market value after a single social media post published by a congresswoman of Iranian descent.

The 34-year-old Arizona Democrat and member of the House of Representatives, Yassamin Ansari, called for a halt to AI development, stricter regulation of the industry, and a ban on creating superintelligence.

The post triggered the fastest-ever collapse in the share prices of U.S. AI companies—the market plunged at an unprecedented speed. Among those affected was Elon Musk, whose fortune shrank by more than $100 billion.

When Musk responded with the words “Brave New World,” Ansari promised him an in-person meeting soon. Her original post thus became the most financially costly tweet in history.

Herman Gref, head of Sberbank, said that the development of AI agents will lead to the disappearance of familiar banking and marketplace apps, RBC reports. According to him, banking services will become invisible to users and will be integrated directly into financial operations and transactions. Gref believes marketplaces will abandon their current commission model of 15–25% and switch to charging for actual results.

The Bank of Russia will consider possible terms for Visa and Mastercard returning to the Russian market, said Alla Bakina, director of the National Payment System Department. According to her, the companies will need to obtain new licenses to resume operations in the country.