News Highlights: Top Financial Services News of the Day

China Central Bank Keeps Benchmark Lending Rates Unchanged  

The People’s Bank of China kept its benchmark loan prime rates unchanged after trimming the official rates for two months in a row.

 Gas-Station ATMs Are a Banking Battleground  

Banks worried about risk are turning away the owners of independent ATMs, a lifeline to the underbanked.

 Fed Sets Trading Restrictions for Top Officials  

The Federal Reserve formally adopted new ethics rules aimed at limiting financial market trading by its top officials, senior staff and close family members.

 Venture Fundraising Momentum Grows With General Catalyst's $4.6 Billion Haul  

Venture firm General Catalyst has hauled in $4.6 billion across three funds, contributing to a strong start for venture fundraising this year and locking up more capital to help private companies tide over a volatile period in public markets.

 Fed Officials Push Back Against Prospect of Half-Point Increase in March  

Officials have suggested they could raise rates in quarter-point increments unless inflation doesn’t diminish as forecasters expect. New York Fed President John Williams and other officials hinted that the Fed wouldn’t need to begin any increases with a more aggressive half-point move.

 Crypto Lending Company Celsius Names New CFO  

Rod Bolger previously led the finances of Canada’s largest bank.

 Fed Shift to Help Job Market Is Questioned in Paper  

The central bank’s efforts to let the economy run hot and create more-inclusive employment gains may not be effective, research suggests.

 Can Quebec's Dams Power New York? Blackstone Is Betting $4.5 Billion on It.  

The private equity giant learned how challenging it can be to bring renewable power to the Big Apple-from hundreds of miles away.

 Crypto Investors Are Wealthier. No One Knows How Much They're Spending.  

It is time to start contemplating how vast wealth created in cryptocurrencies filters through the rest of the economy.

 Allianz Takes $4 Billion Legal Hit Over Investment-Fund Losses  

The provisions are for legal expenses stemming from losses Allianz’s investment funds racked up during the March 2020 market panic.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2022 00:15 ET (05:15 GMT)

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