OPEC chief hails Tillerson pick for secretary of State

WASHINGTON, Dec 14, (AFP): The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday hailed US President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next secretary of State.

“It’s an understatement to say that Rex is more than qualified to occupy this very important office, particularly at these challenging times,” OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said.

Barkindo was speaking at a forum on the global outlook for oil at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where Tillerson is a member of the board of trustees.

Trump earlier Tuesday unveiled Tillerson as his pick for the top American diplomat, drawing sharp criticism because of the oil executive’s close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as his lack of experience in public service. But Barkindo said Tillerson “will be a great asset to the incoming administration,” and called the appointment “well-deserved.”

In a bid to end a global supply glut, which had sent prices tumbling over the summer, OPEC in November agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day. And 11 non-OPEC members on Saturday also agreed to cut production by more than a halfmillion barrels per day. WASHINGTON, Dec 14, (AFP): US banking regulators Tuesday said they are prohibiting Wells Fargo from opening new international branches until it fixes continuing deficiencies in its bankruptcy plan.

The so-called “living will” is required of all large US banks to ensure that in the event they need to declare bankruptcy, they can be dismantled in an orderly fashion without the kind of upheaval seen during the 2008 financial crisis, that endangers the broader financial system.

The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ruled that Wells Fargo failed to provide a sufficient fix in two areas of its plan despite multiple tries.

As a result, the bank will not be able to open any foreign branches, nor will it be able to acquire any non-bank subsidiaries, the agencies said.

Wells Fargo, already suffering from a scandal over thousands of bogus accounts opened to boost its business, has until March 31 to submit a revised plan to fix the deficiencies identified in its living will.

If the bank fails to fix the plan to the satisfaction of regulators within two years, it may be required “to divest certain assets or operations to facilitate an orderly resolution of the firm in bankruptcy,” the regulators said in a statement.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said it was “disappointed” with the agencies’ determination, but remained “committed to strengthening and enhancing its resolution planning processes.”