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Fed scraps special oversight of banks’ crypto and emerging-tech activities

The Federal Reserve will sunset its 2023 “novel activities” supervision program and fold oversight of banks’ crypto, tokenization and fintech partnerships back into routine examinations. The shift reduces duplicative scrutiny but keeps safety-and-soundness expectations in place, potentially speeding banks’ stablecoin, custody and on-chain pilots as policy uncertainty eases.

Source: AmericanBanker


Saudi PIF exits big-name tech, trimming U.S. risk amid rising tensions

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund slashed U.S. tech exposure in Q2, exiting Meta, PayPal and Alibaba, and signaling caution on mega-cap valuations and geopolitics. The repositioning from one of the world’s largest sovereign funds could weigh on sentiment for crowded tech trades and redirect flows toward energy and consumer exposures.

Source: SeekingAlpha All


Oracle taps Google’s Gemini to deepen enterprise AI push

Oracle will offer Google’s Gemini models to customers on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, broadening its AI portfolio and giving enterprises more choice for building and deploying generative AI. The tie-up strengthens Oracle’s cloud competitiveness while extending Google’s model distribution, with potential to spur AI workloads and infrastructure demand.

Source: SeekingAlpha All


Solar stocks jump as tax-credit guidance proves milder than feared

Renewable energy shares rallied after the Trump administration’s latest guidance on clean-energy tax credits came in less restrictive than investors anticipated. Easing policy-risk discounts helped lift sentiment across solar, with investors refocusing on project pipelines and financing conditions rather than worst-case subsidy cuts.

Source: SeekingAlpha All


Applied Materials’ warning jars chip-equipment stocks despite record quarter

Applied Materials posted record sales but spooked investors with softer guidance and concerns that a China-driven spending surge could cool, sparking a sector-wide selloff in chip gear makers. The update revived worries about cyclicality, order visibility and potential share shifts as customers recalibrate capex across regions and nodes.

Source: MarketWatch TopStories


Trump–Putin summit yields no deal — and no quick fix for oil markets

While the Alaska meeting was labeled “productive,” no agreement emerged, and analysts caution there’s no “magic lever” to unlock global crude supply given sanctions, logistics and OPEC+ dynamics. With safe-haven demand ebbing into the summit, gold eased for the week as markets reassessed geopolitical risk and energy headlines.

Source: MarketWatch TopStories


Hong Kong tightens crypto custody: smart contracts banned in cold storage

Hong Kong’s SFC issued tougher virtual-asset custody rules, mandating detailed security standards and prohibiting smart contracts in cold-wallet environments for licensed platforms. The immediate-effect rules raise compliance bars for exchanges and custodians, underscoring Asia’s intensifying regulatory stance even as U.S. bank oversight of crypto activities loosens.

Source: FinanceFeeds


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Business — August 16, 2025 | Briefing24