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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-424081" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1248366213-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Signage of Credit Suisse Group AG at the company&#8217;s office in Singapore, on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Credit Suisse tapped the Swiss National Bank for as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) and offered to repurchase debt, seeking to stem a crisis of confidence that has sent shockwaves across the global financial system. Photographer: Nicky Loh/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann on Tuesday told shareholders he was “truly sorry” for the collapse that led to the bank’s controversial takeover by UBS.



“It is a sad day for you and for us too. I can understand the bitterness, the anger and the shock of all those who are disappointed, overwhelmed and affected by the developments,” Lehmann said at the bank’s annual meeting, the first time its leaders have addressed the public since the rescue.



“I apologize that we were no longer able to stem the loss of trust that had accumulated over the years, and for disappointing you.”



A police presence was established early Tuesday at the venue, as protesters and shareholders began arriving in droves, hoping for answers and accountability following the demise of the 167-year-old Swiss institution.



Swiss authorities brokered an emergency rescue of the stricken bank by its larger domestic rival for just 3 billion Swiss francs, over the course of a weekend in late March.



It followed a collapse in Credit Suisse’s deposits and share price amid fears of a global banking crisis, but the deal remains mired in legal and logistical challenges. Neither UBS nor Credit Suisse shareholders were allowed a vote on the deal.



“Until the end, we fought hard to find a solution, but ultimately there were only two options: deal or bankruptcy,” Lehmann, who became chairman in January 2022, told shareholders. “The merger had to go through.”



In a statement Sunday, the office of the attorney general confirmed that Switzerland’s Federal Prosecutor is investigating potential breaches of Swiss federal law by government officials, regulators and top executives at Credit Suisse and UBS.



Both banks declined to comment on Monday.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-ran-out-of-time">‘We ran out of time’</h3>



Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koerner took over in 2021, when the bank was reeling from a series of high-profile scandals, risk management failures and heavy losses.



In October 2022, Credit Suisse launched a massive strategic overhaul, aimed at fixing its risk and compliance culture and addressing perennial underperformance in the investment bank.



Koerner told shareholders on Tuesday that he returned to Credit Suisse in 2021 hoping to “tackle the problems that existed and build a new Credit Suisse.”



“In short, I wanted to create an organization that our shareholders, our clients and all our employees could be proud of. Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed in the end. We ran out of time. This fills me with sorrow,” he said.



“What has happened over the past few weeks will continue to affect me personally and many others for a long time to come.”



Commentators have highlighted the importance of the deal’s success for Swiss authorities against a febrile political backdrop. The lack of input from shareholders, bondholders and Swiss taxpayers in UBS’ acquisition of its embattled rival has sparked widespread anger.



Speaking outside the annual meeting, Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of Ethos Foundation which represents pension funds comprising between 3% and 5% of Credit Suisse shareholders, told CNBC that they had “lost a lot of money” and “need to know what management is doing.”



Potential courses of action include “trying to retrieve some of the viable pay that was granted for former management, who may have failed in their duties to protect shareholders’ interests,” he said.



“We’re still looking for possibilities — it’s quite difficult with the Swiss company law to prove the damage. Mismanagement of a company is not per se something we can concretely act against former members of the management or current members of the management, but still we need to be sure that they gave the whole truth to investors and to the market, so there is still open question,” Kaufmann told CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche.



Holders of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bond instruments, which were subject to a $17 billion wipeout as part of the UBS takeover, last week instructed a global law firm to pursue discussion and possible litigation with Swiss authorities.



“There is still a chance that the various actors will recognize and correct the mistakes made in hastily orchestrating this merger,” Thomas Werlen, managing partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &amp; Sullivan, which is representing a “diverse array” of affected bondholders in Switzerland, the U.K. and U.S., said in a release Monday.



“While we are certainly prepared to pursue whatever proceedings are necessary, a potential constructive engagement with the relevant stakeholders could prevent years of litigation. That will be an important focus for us over the coming weeks.”



Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, has already announced that it will vote against the re-election of Lehmann and six other board members, while Kaufmann told CNBC that Ethos Foundation will only reject members who have been sitting for more than two years.



UBS announced last week that former CEO Sergio Ermotti would return to the helm of the new bank as it undertakes the huge task of integrating its fallen compatriot into its business.



UBS will hold its own AGM on Wednesday, with further clarity expected on plans for the new integrated lender. Swiss regulator FINMA will also hold a press conference on Wednesday.



Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported Sunday, citing one source, that plans for the new entity include a 20%-30% cut to its combined global workforce.

GettyImages-1248366213-1

‘I am truly sorry’: Credit Suisse chair pleads with angry shareholders at annual meeting

Why Do U.S. Banks Keep Failing?

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-424042" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo of the OPEC is pictured at the OPEC headquarters on October 4, 2022. In October last year, the oil cartel announced its decision to cut output by two million barrels per day. Joe Klamar | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Several OPEC+ members are set to tighten global production by an additional 1.16 million barrels per day until the end of the year, further burdening central bank efforts to curtail global inflation — but critically protecting the alliance’s broader output strategy from political pressures.&nbsp;



Washington has stepped in to criticize Sunday’s announcement where eight OPEC+ producers — including group leader Saudi Arabia and key allies Kuwait and the UAE — said they would remove more than a combined 1 million barrels per day from global oil markets, as part of an independent initiative unlinked to the broader OPEC+ policy.



This adds to Russia’s existing intentions to trim 500,000 barrels per day of its own production from February output levels, now until the end of the year — bringing the combined voluntary cuts of OPEC+ members in excess of 1.6 million barrels per day.



“We don’t think cuts are advisable at this moment, given market uncertainty — and we’ve made that clear,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council said, according to Reuters.



U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly lambasted the OPEC+ group for its production cuts, citing the inflationary toll on households and flinging accusations of camaraderie with sanctions-struck Russia. Curbs in production lead to smaller supply, causing higher prices at the pump in importing countries which then provides a boost for headline inflation figures.



Relations devolved into a war of words with OPEC+ chair Saudi Arabia at the end of last year, when the oil group agreed a 2 million barrels per day cut until the end of 2023 — a decision upheld at ministerial and technical committees since.



One such technical council, the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, is set to adjourn at midday Vienna time on Monday and could steer to recommend no production changes, several OPEC+ delegates told CNBC, preferring to remain anonymous due to professional restrictions.



Formal group action is arguably no longer required, with front-month June Brent futures prices up by $4.44 per barrel from the Friday settlement to $84.33 per barrel at nearly 10 a.m. London time. Some analysts now warn of prices soaring to $100 per barrel, while Goldman Sachs could drive up Brent forecasts by $5 per barrel to $95 per barrel for December 2023.



“The anticipated increase in oil prices for the rest of the year as a result of these voluntary cuts could fuel global inflation, prompting a more hawkish stance on interest rate hikes from central banks across the world. That would, however, lower economic growth and reduce oil demand expansion,” said Victor Ponsford of Rystad Energy in a research note.



Tamas Varga, of oil broker PVM, flagged the broader political risks of the organized voluntary cuts, telling CNBC that headline inflation should rise faster than anticipated.



“But central banks might not deviate from the course of slowing down the hike in borrowing as their views are chiefly shaped by core inflation figures, which will not be as much affected by stronger oil prices as headline data,” he said.



“The voices of the proponents of the NOPEC bill in the US Congress will also get louder and they will accuse OPEC+ to use oil as a weapon. The step is unreservedly bullish, for now macro worries are overtaken by supply concerns. The move will also lead to further souring of the Saudi-US relationship.”



The NOPEC — No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels— bill refers to proposed U.S. legislation that would open OPEC+ countries to potential antitrust legal action.



The U.S. can attempt to combat price hikes by releasing further volumes from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves — with one anonymous OPEC+ delegate saying that Washington has encumbered its fight against inflation by blocking global access to Venezuela and Iranian volumes, while EU nations likewise refrain from Russian purchases out of solidarity with the invaded Ukraine.



OPEC+ delegates have previously also found fault with western nations’ windfall taxes on energy companies — which they claim received no consistent support when WTI futures traded in negative territory in April 2020 — and with the accelerated shift toward renewables that has reduced hydrocarbon investments without producing sufficient alternative green fuel to fully meet consumer demands.



Spare capacity has been at the heart of recent OPEC+ pronouncements, with the group stepping in to protect the appeal of stable return for long-term investments in oil projects. Nearly all of the countries participating in the recently-announced independent cuts possess additional capacity.



One anonymous OPEC+ source said discussions to coordinate further independent cuts gained traction toward the end of last week, when volatility in the banking sector following the failures of several U.S. and Swiss lenders eroded investor confidence in more historically volatile assets, such as oil. OPEC+ delegates have previously expressed that the oil impact of the banking turbulence would be short-lived, with longer-term questions lingering over the looming demand of a reopening China, the world’s largest consumer. &nbsp;



“What happened to the oil prices over the last three weeks was nothing to do with oil factors, it was everything to do with the banking crisis, and the fears that brings with it. We also had a huge, huge increase in [the] short market,&nbsp;and that is something that OPEC are very keen to stomp out,” Amrita Sen, co-founder and director of research at Energy Aspects, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy.



Investors generally assume short positions when they expect market or price declines.



“I do believe, if the market overtightens, or exogenous issues or shocks fade, they will reverse this cut along the line. So this isn’t set in stone for the rest of the year, but very clearly defending a floor.”



Voluntary production moves are easier to agree and unwind without staining domestic or external OPEC+ politics. Such cuts have previously been accepted by the group, provided they aligned with the spirit of existing OPEC+ policies — but they have typically expressed the initiative of a single country, barring temporary Saudi-Kuwaiti-UAE reductions organized during the Covid-19 pandemic.



A coordinated gesture of Sunday’s scale effectively creates a second, unofficial agreement on top of the existing formal OPEC+ strategy — one that does not command formal commitments and can be more readily defended when individual oil ministries face pressures from their own governments or state oil companies to increase output and short-term revenues. Independent cuts also bypass the need for unanimous OPEC+ member approval and tentatively avoid external accusations of organized anti-consumer behavior.



But the gesture will not bridge the growing political rift between OPEC+ kingpin Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration, whose influence has been increasingly supplanted by China in the Middle East. In the past month, Beijing brokered a resumption of relations between arch-rivals Tehran and Riyadh, with Saudi Arabia also taking steps to join the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a dialogue partner.



″[The organized voluntary cuts] certainly would play into the narrative that the U.S. is losing its influence in the region to either influence the actions of core OPEC producers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have traditionally been client states of the U.S.,” Andy Critchlow, EMEA head of news at S&amp;P Global Platts, told CNBC.



“You can’t really look at this in isolation from the wider geopolitical situation in the Middle East, which is seeing these core oil producers shift closer to China, shift much closer to Russia. You know, they like operating in this multipolar world, instead of being completely tied to U.S. dependency.”

107130739-1665113367040-gettyimages-1243716934-AFP_32KN7PF

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="678" height="452" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/images-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-424037" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/images-1.jpeg 678w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/images-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/images-1-135x90.jpeg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



Oil prices surged as much as 8% at the open after OPEC+ announced it was slashing output by 1.16 million barrels per day.



Brent crude futures last jumped 5.07% to $83.95 a barrel on that news, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures soared 5.17% to $79.59 a barrel.



The voluntary cuts will start from May to end 2023, Saudi Arabia announced, saying it was a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilizing the oil market.



The move comes on the back of Russia’s decision to trim oil production by 500,000 barrels per day until the end of 2023, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.



Other member states have also pledged respective cuts, with OPEC Kingpin Saudi Arabia reducing 500,000 barrels per day and UAE cutting 144,000 barrels per day, amongst other cutbacks from Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria and Kazakhstan.



“The selected involvement of the largest OPEC+ members suggest that adherence to production cuts may be stronger than has been the case in the past,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar said in a note.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oil-at-100-per-barrel"><a></a>Oil at $100 per barrel?</h2>



“OPEC+‘s plan for a further production cut may push oil prices toward the $100 mark again, considering China’s reopening and Russia’s output cuts as a retaliation move against western sanctions,” CMC Markets’ analyst Tina Teng told CNBC.



Teng noted, however, that the cut could also reverse the decline in inflation, which would “complicate central banks’ rate decisions.”



In March, oil prices tumbled to their lowest since December 2021, as traders feared the banking rout could dent global economic growth.



The oil cartel and its allies are looking to avoid a repeat of the 2008 crash, one analyst said.



“They’re looking into the second half of this year and deciding they don’t want to relive 2008,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, citing oil prices crashing from $140 to $35 in six months in that year.



McNally added that while it’s not his base case, oil prices could “make a dash for $100 … if Chinese demand goes back to 16 million barrels a day second half of this year [and] if Russian supply starts to go off because of sanctions and so forth,”



“Then these cuts, if they stick with them, are going to super tighten the market,” he said.



According to Wood Mackenzie, China could make up 40% of the world’s demand recovery in 2023.



In October, the oil cartel announced its decision to cut output by two million barrels per day.



The White House said at that time that President Joe Biden was “disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+” to cut production quotas while the world was still grappling with the war in Ukraine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Significant, but not ‘set in stone’</h2>



However, some analysts say the latest cut is set to deliver a more significant impact than the one set last year.



“Most of the cuts will be made by countries that are producing at or above quotas, which implies a higher share of the announced cuts will translate into real supply reductions than in October 2022,” said Energy Aspects’ founder Amrita Sen, who also expects prices to hit $100 per barrel.



However, Sen holds the view that the output cut could potentially be reversed, hinging on easing global market pressures.



“I do believe if the market over tightens, exogenous issues or shocks fade, they will reverse this cut down the line so this isn’t set in stone for the rest of the year — but very clearly defending a [price] floor,” she said.



“Unlike [the cut in October], the momentum for global oil demand is up, not down with a strong China recovery,” Goldman Sachs also said in a note.



That could nudge up Goldman’s Brent forecasts by $5 per barrel to $95 per barrel for December 2023, the investment bank said in a note after the surprise decision overnight.



Goldman analysts led by Daan Struyven said the surprise cut is “consistent” with OPEC+’s doctrine to act preemptively.

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Oil prices surge 8% after OPEC’s surprise output cut; analysts warn of $100 per barrel

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-424008" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



An inflation gauge the Federal Reserve follows closely rose slightly less than anticipated in February, providing some hope that interest rate hikes are helping ease price increases.



The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 0.3% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That was below the 0.4% Dow Jones estimate and lower than the 0.5% January increase.



On a 12-month basis, core PCE increased 4.6%, a slight deceleration from the level in January.



Including food and energy, headline PCE increased 0.3% monthly and 5% annually, compared to 0.6% and 5.3% in January.



The softer than expected data came with monthly energy prices decreasing 0.4% while food prices rose 0.2%. Goods prices rose 0.2% while services increased 0.3%.



In other data from the report, personal income increased 0.3%, slightly above the 0.2% estimate. Consumer spending increased 0.2%, compared to the 0.3% estimate.



Stocks opened higher following the report while longer-duration Treasury yields declined.



“The inflation trend looks promising for investors. Inflation will likely be below 4% by the end of the year, giving the Federal Reserve some leeway to cut rates by the end of the year if the economy falls into recession,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.



Market pricing Friday morning following the inflation report indicated an even split between the Fed raising its benchmark rate another quarter percentage point or holding steady in May.



The Fed’s own unofficial projections released last week pointed to perhaps one more increase this year and no reductions. However, traders expect cuts this year, with end-year pricing for the federal funds rate at 4.25%-4.5%, half a point below the current target range.



While inflation has ebbed in some areas, it has remained pernicious in others. Shelter costs in particular have risen sharply. Fed officials, though, are looking through that increase and expect rents to decelerate through the year.



Still, inflation is likely to remain well above the Fed’s 2% target into 2024, and officials have said they remain focused on bringing down prices despite the current bank turmoil.



Data released Thursday suggests that the problems in banking also may be at least under control. Borrowing through two emergency Fed lending programs decreased slightly last week, indicating that there has been no frantic liquidity dash for banks that may be undercapitalized.

107208617-1678823740632-gettyimages-1473547817-dsc01618_m78y5jun

Key Fed inflation gauge rose 0.3% in February, less than expected

Why Tipping Is So Out Of Control In The U.S.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-423948" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107217548-1680163374068-gettyimages-1249134960-AFP_33BW9AA.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The EU has pledged to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Christian Charisius | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The European Union is poised to ramp up its 2030 renewable energy targets, accelerating a shift away from fossil fuels as the bloc seeks to rapidly cut emissions and reduce its dependence on Russia.



Negotiators from the European Council and Parliament on Thursday reached a provisional deal to source 42.5% of the 27-nation bloc’s energy from renewable technologies such as wind and solar by the end of the decade, EU lawmaker Markus Pieper said via Twitter.



Pieper described the agreement as “a good day for Europe’s energy transition.”



The deal is said to include an additional 2.5% “indicative top-up” to allow the bloc to reach a 45% share. It is set to replace the EU’s current renewable energies directive target for a 32% share of renewable energy by 2030, which has been in place since Dec. 2018.



The proposal must now be approved by EU member states’ representatives in the Council and then in Parliament. Such agreements are typically given with minimal changes.



The EU has said it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. In the medium term, it wants net greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by at least 55% by 2030, which the EU calls its “Fit for 55” plan.



The “Fit for 55” package was first presented in July 2021 and seeks to align the EU’s climate and energy legislative framework with its 2050 climate neutrality objective.



Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since Feb. 2022 and an ensuing energy crisis have fundamentally changed the region’s energy landscape in recent months. The bloc’s lawmakers have come under pressure to bring the region’s targets in line with this new reality.



The EU has pledged to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to President Vladimir Putin’s hostilities in Ukraine.



Research published in late February by independent energy think tank Ember showed that the EU’s projected installation rate of so-called clean energy technologies was on track to outpace expectations of its “Fit for 55” package.



Analysts at Ember warned that the EU was at risk of “killing the momentum” of its energy transition by sticking with a low target.



The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate crisis.



— CNBC’s Anmar Frangoul contributed to this report.

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EU agrees to ramp up 2030 renewable energy targets, accelerating shift from fossil fuels

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-423927" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/107208912-1678874096868-gettyimages-1236743873-FR_20211118_011.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bitcoin is up 50% so far in 2023, beating major commodities and stock indexes. Industry insiders said the bank collapses have sent investors looking for alternatives to the traditional banking system and there is also anticipation of a slowdown in interest rate rises, which is helping bitcoin. Filip Radwanski | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> climbed sharply Wednesday as investors shrugged off initial fears surrounding U.S. regulators’ crackdowns on industry giants and became willing to take some risk.



The world’s largest cryptocurrency surged 5% in the past 24 hours to as high as $28,474, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin has retaken the $28,000 level after dipping below it on Monday following news of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission FTC’s lawsuit against Binance.



Ether, the second-biggest digital coin, rose nearly 6% to $1,816.10.



Bitcoin has been steadily rising this year after a brutal 2022 that saw collapses of major crypto exchanges and a sharp slump in prices. Investors have taken some comfort from the thought of a reversal in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate hiking moves, which put pressure on risk assets like stocks.



The reason for the jump Wednesday was not immediately clear. However, it comes amid a broad rise in U.S. stocks. Bitcoin has been known to follow movements in equity markets, with investors treating it like more of a traditional risk asset.



Nasdaq futures were up 100 points, or 0.9%, Wednesday morning.



U.S. regulators have sharpened their crackdown on crypto firms of late, with the CFTC suing Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao for allegedly breaking trading rules by courting clients in the U.S. without authorization.



The Securities and Exchange Commission has also threatened to take legal action against Coinbase for alleged violations of securities rules.



“Broadly we are looking quite bullish here with Bitcoin reclaiming $28K and looking to target $30K next,” Vijay Ayyar, head of international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC via email Wednesday.



“In general, when price action starts to absorb negative news this quickly, it indicates that the market is bullish and trending upward. The CFTC case against Binance, while quite important, doesn’t seem to have affected the market that much.”



Bitcoin had earlier gotten a boost from woes in the global banking system. Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse was recently rescued by its peer UBS in a government-backed, cut-price deal.



U.S. tech-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank and crypto-oriented banks Silvergate and Signature have also failed.



The Federal Reserve has sought to cushion the blow of the banking crisis with a lending program known as the Bank Term Funding Program, or BTFP, which aims to help banks meet their obligations to depositors.



Proponents of bitcoin say it can serve as a store of value in times of economic distress and a form of money people can access without the need for a bank account.



However, it is incredibly volatile and has been known to swing up or down 10% in a matter of hours.



“The market seems to be placing greater importance on macroeconomic factors and that the Fed has already begun a form of QE, now known as BTFP, but also that the interest rate pivot might happen sooner than later,” Ayyar told CNBC.



“Against the bank failure backdrop over the past month or so and Bitcoin’s rise, this provides the perfect context for Bitcoin to continue remaining bullish and move higher.”

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