Santander to Extend Ripple-Powered Payments Solution to Mexico This Year
Santander to Extend Ripple-Powered Payments Solution to Mexico This Year
Major Spanish bank Santander is extending its Ripple-powered international payments system One Pay FX to Mexico in 2020.
Major Spanish bank Santander plans to roll out its Ripple-powered international payments system One Pay FX in Mexico in 2020.
In a Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on March 6, the bank revealed that Mexico will be offering the service in early 2020.
The One Pay FX system
Based on Ripple’s RippleNet technology, One Pay FX is independent from XRP and does not need the digital currency to function, as a Santander spokesperson previously outlined to Cointelegraph.
In its Form 20-F filing — an annual report that must be submitted to the SEC by all foreign private issuers with listed equity shares on U.S. exchanges — Santander describes the solution as a:
“Multi-corridor international blockchain solution [...] for individuals and SMEs [small-to-medium enterprises].”
One Pay FX first launched in four Santander banks — Spain, Brazil, Poland, and the United Kingdom — back in 2018. Santander Portugal and Chile joined the solution the following year.
The blockchain system’s benefits, Santander claims, is transparency, predictability, competitive cost and better speed, ostensibly countering current customer experiences which it describes as “sub-optimal” and prone to “client stickiness.”
Years of collaboration
As previously reported, Santander and Ripple developed One PayFX over several years, with early trials indicating that the solution could provide improvements over traditional transfers as early as 2016. In 2015, Santander’s capital arm InnoVentures, contributed $4 million to Ripple’s $32 million series A funding.
RippleNet, first created in 2012, continues to undergo technical developments, including “core consensus improvements,” according to recent comments from Ripple’s chief technology officer David Schwartz. Schwartz has also signaled his interest in enabling third parties to launch other third-party cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, on the XRP ledger.
Last week, Cointelegraph reported on new amendments to a class-action lawsuit leveled against Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, which centers on allegations that Ripple violated the U.S. Securities Act in its 2013 initial coin offering for the XRP token.
Uncategorized
Manufacturing and construction vs. the still-inverted yield curve
– by New Deal democratProf. Menzie Chinn at Econbrowser makes the point that the yield curve is still inverted, and has not yet eclipsed the longest…
- by New Deal democrat
Prof. Menzie Chinn at Econbrowser makes the point that the yield curve is still inverted, and has not yet eclipsed the longest previous time between onset of such an inversion and a recession. So he believes the threat of recession is still on the table.
Uncategorized
Half Of Downtown Pittsburgh Office Space Could Be Empty In 4 Years
Half Of Downtown Pittsburgh Office Space Could Be Empty In 4 Years
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
The CRE implosion is picking…
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
The CRE implosion is picking up steam.
Check out the grim stats on Pittsburgh.
Unions are also a problem in Pittsburgh as they are in Illinois and California.
Downtown Pittsburgh Implosion
The Post Gazette reports nearly half of Downtown Pittsburgh office space could be empty in 4 years.
Confidential real estate information obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette estimates that 17 buildings are in “significant distress” and another nine are in “pending distress,” meaning they are either approaching foreclosure or at risk of foreclosure. Those properties represent 63% of the Downtown office stock and account for $30.5 million in real estate taxes, according to the data.
It also calculates the current office vacancy rate at 27% when subleases are factored in — one of the highest in the country.
And with an additional three million square feet of unoccupied leased space becoming available over the next five years, the vacancy rate could soar to 46% by 2028, based on the data.
Property assessments on 10 buildings, including U.S. Steel Tower, PPG Place, and the Tower at PNC Plaza, have been slashed by $364.4 million for the 2023 tax year, as high vacancies drive down their income.
Another factor has been the steep drop — to 63.5% from 87.5% — in the common level ratio, the number used to compute taxable value in county assessment appeal hearings.
The assessment cuts have the potential to cost the city, the county, and the Pittsburgh schools nearly $8.4 million in tax refunds for that year alone. Downtown represents nearly 25% of the city’s overall tax base.
In response Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson wants to remove a $250,000 limit on the amount of tax relief available to a building owner or developer as long as a project creates at least 50 full-time equivalent jobs.
It’s unclear if the proposal will be enough. Annual interest costs to borrow $1 million have soared from $32,500 at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to $85,000 on March 1. Local construction costs have increased by about 30% since 2019.
But the city is doomed if it does nothing. Aaron Stauber, president of Rugby Realty said it will probably empty out Gulf Tower and mothball it once all existing leases expire.
“It’s cheaper to just shut the lights off,” he said. “At some point, we would move on to greener pastures.”
Where’s There’s Smoke There’s Unions
In addition to the commercial real estate woes, the city is also wrestling with union contracts.
Please consider Sounding the alarm: Pittsburgh Controller’s letter should kick off fiscal soul-searching
It’s only March, and Pittsburgh’s 2024 house-of-cards operating budget is already falling down. That’s the clear implication of a letter sent by new City Controller Rachael Heisler to Mayor Ed Gainey and members of City Council on Wednesday afternoon.
The letter is a rare and welcome expression of urgency in a city government that has fallen in complacency — and is close to falling into fiscal disaster.
The approaching crisis was thrown into sharp relief this week, when City Council approved amendments to the operating budget accounting for a pricey new contract with the firefighters union. The Post-Gazette Editorial Board had predicted that this contract — plus two others yet to be announced and approved — would demonstrate the dishonesty of Mayor Ed Gainey’s budget, and that’s exactly what’s happening: The new contract is adding $11 million to the administration’s artificially low 5-year spending projections, bringing expected 2028 reserves to just barely the legal limit.
But there’s still two big contracts to go, with the EMS union and the Pittsburgh Joint Collective Bargaining Committee, which covers Public Works workers. Worse, there are tens — possibly hundreds — of millions in unrealistic revenues still on the books. On this, Ms. Heisler’s letter only scratched the surface.
Similarly, as we have observed, the budget’s real estate tax revenue projections are radically inconsistent with reality. Due to high vacancies and a sharp reduction in the common level ratio, a significant drop in revenues was predictable — but not reflected in the budget. Ms. Heisler’s estimate of a 20% drop in revenues from Downtown property, or $5.3 million a year, may even be optimistic: Other estimates peg the loss at twice that, or more.
Left unmentioned in the letter are massive property tax refunds the city will owe, as well as fanciful projections of interest income that are inconsistent with the dwindling reserves, and drawing-down of federal COVID relief funds, predicted in the budget itself. That’s another unrealistic $80 million over five years.
Pittsburgh exited Act 47 state oversight after nearly 15 years on Feb. 12, 2018, with a clean bill of fiscal health.
It has already ruined that bill of health.
Act 47 in Pittsburgh
Flashback February 21, 2018: Act 47 in Pittsburgh: What Was Accomplished?
Pittsburgh’s tax structure was a much-complained-about topic leading up to the Act 47 declaration. The year following Pittsburgh’s designation as financially distressed under Act 47 it levied taxes on real estate, real estate transfers, parking, earned income, business gross receipts (business privilege and mercantile), occupational privilege and amusements. The General Assembly enacted tax reforms in 2004 giving the city authority to levy a payroll preparation tax in exchange for the immediate elimination of the mercantile tax and the phase out of the business privilege tax. The tax reforms increased the amount of the occupational privilege tax from $10 to $52 (this is today known as the local services tax and all municipalities outside of Philadelphia levy it and could raise it thanks to the change for Pittsburgh).
The coordinators recommended an increase in the deed transfer tax, which occurred in late 2004 (it was just increased again by City Council) and in the real estate tax, which increased in 2015.
Legacy costs, principally debt and underfunded pensions, were the primary focus of the 2009 amended recovery plan. The city’s pension funded ratio has increased significantly from where it stood a decade ago, rising from the mid-30 percent range to over 60 percent at last measurement.
The obvious question? Will the city stick to the steps taken to improve financially and avoid slipping back into distressed status? If Pittsburgh once stood “on the precipice of full-blown crisis,” as described in the first recovery plan, hopefully it won’t return to that position.
The Obvious Question
I could have answered the 2018 obvious question with the obvious answer. Hell no.
No matter how much you raise taxes, it will never be enough because public unions will suck every penny and want more.
On top of union graft, and insanely woke policies in California, we have an additional huge problem.
Hybrid Work Leaves Offices Empty and Building Owners Reeling
Hybrid work has put office building owners in a bind and could pose a risk to banks. Landlords are now confronting the fact that some of their office buildings have become obsolete, if not worthless.
Meanwhile, in Illinois …
Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit
Please note the Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit
The CTU wants to raise taxes across the board, especially targeting real estate.
My suggestion, get the hell out...
International
A popular vacation destination is about to get much more expensive
The entry fee to this destination known for its fauna has been unchanged since 1998.
When visiting certain islands and other remote parts of the world, travelers need to be prepared to pay more than just the plane ticket and accommodation costs.
Particularly for smaller places grappling with overtourism, local governments will often introduce "tourist taxes" to go toward things like reversing ecological degradation and keeping popular attractions clean and safe.
Related: A popular European city is introducing the highest 'tourist tax' yet
Located 900 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador and often associated with the many species of giant turtles who call it home, the Galápagos Islands are not easy to get to (visitors from the U.S. often pass through Quito and then get on a charter flight to the islands) but are often a dream destination for those interested in seeing rare animal species in an unspoiled environment.
This is how much you'll have to pay to visit the Galápagos Islands
While local authorities have been charging a $100 USD entry fee for all visitors to the islands since 1998, Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism announced that this number would rise to $200 for adults starting from August 1, 2024.
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According to the local tourism board, the increase has been prompted by the fact that record numbers of visitors since the pandemic have started taking a toll on the local environment. The islands are home to just 30,000 people but have been seeing nearly 300,000 visitors each year.
"It is our collective responsibility to protect and preserve this unparalleled ecosystem for future generations," Ecuador's Minister of Tourism Niels Olsen said in a statement. "The adjustment in the entry fee, the first in 26 years, is a necessary measure to ensure that tourism in the Galápagos remains sustainable and mutually beneficial to both the environment and our local communities."
These are the other countries which are raising (or adding) their tourist taxes
While the $200 applies to most international adult arrivals, there are some exceptions that can make one eligible for a lower rate. Adult citizens of the countries that make up the South American treaty bloc Mercosur will pay a $100 fee while children from any country will also get a discounted rate that is currently set at $50. Children under the age of two will continue to get free access.
In recent years, multiple countries and destinations have either raised or introduced new taxes for visitors. Thailand recently started charging all international visitors between 150 and 300 baht (up to $9 USD) that are put toward a sustainability budget while the Italian city of Venice is running a test in which it charges those coming into the city during the most popular summer weekends five euros.
Places such as Bali, the Maldives and New Zealand have been charging international arrivals a fee for years while Iceland's Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir hinted at plans to introduce something similar at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit in 2023.
"Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade and that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate," Jakobsdóttir told a Bloomberg reporter. "Most of our guests visit our unspoiled nature and obviously that creates a pressure."
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