Milan Ignjatovic, ICT & Economics Expert

17Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

EU Takes on Wall Street: Germany Cedes Power to Build Single Stock Exchange and Stop BioNTech Exodus

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is calling for a unified European stock exchange for simple economic and strategic objectives, all pertaining to increasing European competitiveness and re-booting the German economy. The push for a single stock market and broader Capital Markets Union (CMU) comes ultimately from a desire for economic outcomes for the EU comparable to those of the US, but does not suggest the EU will become a political replica of the US. A number of reports cite German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as having called for a "European stock exchange" in a speech to the Bundestag on a Thursday, just ahead of an EU summit. His quoted arguments for preventing successful companies such as biotech firm BioNTech from being listed in New York due to the disunited European market are…

17Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

De-Dollarization Shock: Why Central Banks are Pushing Gold to $5,000

Economy

Central banks globally have been accumulating gold at record levels in recent years. Central bank gold buying is driven by one of the key reasons, which is hedging against geopolitical risk, global uncertainty, and the risk of sanctions or asset freezes. Gold is viewed as crisis-proof, a safe-haven asset that will never be frozen or blocked like foreign exchange reserves (e.g., US dollars or Treasuries) can. This provides monetary sovereignty and a financial firewall in an uncertain world. A number of countries, particularly developing market economies, are diversifying reserves off dependence on the US dollar through gold, reducing systemic risk as well as vulnerability to American fiscal crises. This is part of a broader "de-dollarisation" policy. Gold is perceived as a secure long-term store of value and an anti-inflation hedge…

15Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

ECB’s Big Bluff: Why Lagarde Must Cut Rates on Oct 30th (Despite Consensus)

Bank news

Market and economic consensus: ECB will not adjust rates. That is the expectation for now. Deposit Facility Rate is 2.00% (set in June 2025). The Governing Council has indicated that the disinflation cycle is finished and that rates are "close to or at the end of the monetary policy cycle." The next big central bank event on the horizon is the next European Central Bank monetary policy meeting will take place on Thursday, October 30, 2025. ECB Governing Council sits, followed by interest rate decision and a press conference by President Christine Lagarde. Context/Expectation: The prevailing sentiment suggests the ECB is in a rate-cutting cycle, having already cut its key rates earlier this year (e.g., in June). The current key interest rates (as of June 2025) are: Deposit Facility Rate:…

15Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

EU Bank Transfers DEAD: Instant Euro Payments Revolution is Here

Economy

Instant Euro Payments rules mandate commercial banks and euro-area payment service providers to extend the facility of immediate sending and receiving of regular euro funds (the money in your account in your current bank) instantly (within seconds) and at no extra cost compared to a standard transfer. It is a new regulation on existing money in banks. The new regulations convert the old bank transfer from a slow, business-hours-only service to an immediate, always-on utility that is safer and cheaper to use. The main distinctions of the new Instant Euro Payments system from the previous standard payment system are: speed, availability, cost, and security. Instant Transfers 24/7: Euro payments are now received by the beneficiary in seconds, day or night, and including weekends and weekdays. Mandatory Service: Payment service providers…

15Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

Wall Street’s Secret: Why Record Bank Profits Defy ‘Main Street’ Uncertainty & Bubble Warnings (Q3 2025)

Economy

The record bank earnings despite overall economic uncertainty is due to a combination of factors related to the specific structure of their business. The biggest banks are highly diversified, so their profits aren't solely from lending. For the quarterly earnings of major banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Wells Fargo in (Q3 2025), their huge profit jump—with JPMorgan's net income rising to $14.39 billion and Goldman Sachs' profit soaring 37%—was catalyzed by a strong bounce back in their capital markets businesses. The biggest banks get to enjoy large corporate business and market volatility (Wall Street), which can thrive even when Main Street falters. The banks mostly surpassed expectations and attributed their profitability increase to a "resilient" U.S. economy despite geopolitical conditions, tariffs, and trade uncertainty. The main…

12Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

Fast Disintermediation: The Real Reason Behind the Digital Euro Cap

Economy

The digital euro, as an electronic form of risk-free central bank money, creates an easily accessible, instantaneous, and highly attractive safe haven for retail depositors during a financial crisis or panic. This direct competition for deposits, especially under stress, is why commercial banks and some lawmakers fear the digital euro could significantly reduce the banks' primary source of funding (retail deposits), which would then threaten their liquidity and profitability. The holding limit is a key design feature intended to prevent a larger, more destabilizing outflow, even in the worst-case scenario. The risk is that in times of financial stress or a loss of confidence in commercial banks, depositors could rapidly and massively transfer their funds out of commercial bank accounts and into a CBDC, which is a direct liability of…

11Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

Zambia’s $1M Tonne Copper Boom: Is the Kwacha Rally Sustainable in 2025?

Economy

Zambia's copper production is on track for a record year in 2025, potentially exceeding 1 million tonnes’ for the first time giving a significant boost to its economy. The rally is driven by confidence in Zambia's copper industry recovery following a drought, leading to a strong outlook for medium-term gains. The Kwacha advanced to 22.76 per dollar, the highest since February 2024, and had risen 23% so far this year. Current exchange rate data (as of October 2025) shows the Kwacha trading at approximately K22.5 to K23.0 per dollar (since 0.044344561≈22.55). A rate of 22.76 ZMW/USD is in line with or very close to recent figures. The overall strong performance of the Kwacha in 2025 is broadly supported by news of its rally earlier in the year, which drove inflation…

10Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

Too Safe and Too Slow: Why Canadian Banks Are an ‘Oligopoly’

Economy

Canadian government and regulators (specifically the Department of Finance and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, OSFI) exercise tight control over private banks. This regulatory grip is precisely why the system is considered one of the most stable in the world. However, the Bank of Canada (BoC) and others argue that this stability comes at a significant cost: low productivity and high costs for consumers and businesses. Canada's banking system navigated the 2008 global financial crisis without any bank failures or taxpayer-funded bailouts, a feat unmatched by many other developed nations. Why? The handful of dominant banks (the "Big Six") are well-capitalized and face very strict oversight. Regulators ensure they hold massive buffers, making them highly resilient to shocks. The stability of the financial system is prioritized above…

10Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

J.P. Morgan’s $800 Billion Bet: Why India is Their New Wall Street

Bank news

JPMorgan's accelerating push into India's payments sector is part of a broader, long-term strategic expansion in the country's corporate banking space. India has built a world-leading digital public infrastructure (known as the India Stack), with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) enabling real-time, high-volume transactions. This environment makes it one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing digital payments markets globally. Currently one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. J.P. Morgan views India as one of its two fastest-growing Asian markets (along with Japan) and expects its local corporate banking revenue to grow at 30% annually. J.P. Morgan plans to dominant the payments flow for large corporations and secures a foundational relationship that anchors its entire suite of services, from investment banking to treasury and securities services. This accelerating push into India's…

10Oct 2025 by Milan Ignjatovic

Argentina Burns Billions to Save the Peso: The Secret US-China War for dominance

Economy

Several reports affirm the Argentine government was in large-scale dollar selling to prop up the peso, with the estimated sales as much as over $1.3 billion to as high as $2 billion in recent sessions. The policy of employing Treasury cash (as opposed to Central Bank reserves, which are limited by the IMF) and the resultant speedy draining of those deposits were concerns reported extensively. The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) is prevented from using its dollar reserves freely due to the terms of its loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is one of the core elements of Argentina's IMF program, which is to stabilize the economy and rebuild foreign currency buffers. The IMF agreement prohibits the Central Bank from entering the official foreign exchange…