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(Reuters) -BMW is recalling over 145,000 vehicles in the U.S. as the starter motor may overheat from an electrical overload, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) -World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, plans to launch a debit card that would "bridge crypto assets with everyday spending", its CEO Zach Witkoff told a conference on Wednesday. "We are definitely rolling out a debit card that'll bridge … crypto assets with everyday spending," he said. "We'll be rolling out a pilot program here in the next quarter and that debit card will either be live Q4 or Q1'26." Witkoff was speaking on a panel at the TOKEN2049 crypto conference in Singapore alongside World Liberty's co-founder Donald Trump Jr. World Liberty Financial is "actively thinking" about tokenising assets like real estate and oil and gas, Witkoff also said. The World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, launched at the start of the month. "Commodities are (a) really interesting area for us, whether it be oil, gas, even things like cotton, timber – all of those things frankly should be traded on chain. It's a lot more efficient," Witkoff said. World Liberty, which aims to allow people to access financial services without intermediaries like banks, said in March it would launch USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by U.S. Treasuries, dollars and other cash equivalents. (Reporting by Rae Wee and Xinghui Kok in Singapore; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sam Holmes)

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By Trixie Yap SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp expects to cut the number of its employees in Singapore by 10% to 15% and move its office to the site of its Jurong plant from downtown by the end of 2027, in global restructuring efforts, the company said on Wednesday. The plans for Exxon's Singapore operations come after the U.S. major announced on Tuesday it will lay off 2,000 workers globally, particularly in Canada and across the European Union, as part of a long-term restructuring plan that will affect about 3% to 4% of the company's workforce. "We are making changes to how we work so we can improve our competitiveness in an ever-evolving landscape and position the business for future success," Exxon Singapore said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the changes will reshape and restructure the primarily office-based organization. "While detailed planning is still underway and organizational design is not yet complete, we anticipate this will result in estimated employee redundancies of 10%-15% by year-end 2027," it said. Exxon now has about 3,500 employees in Singapore, so the expected cuts could hit up to 500 workers, although the company declined to give a firm number. The company, which started this month production at new facilities at its Singapore refinery complex to produce base stocks from residue fuel, said it will continue to maintain its manufacturing presence in the city-state. Exxon operates two refining sites in Singapore, one at Pioneer Road on the mainland and the other on Jurong Island, with a combined crude processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day. As part of the change, Exxon plans to move employees based at its Harbour Front offices to the Jurong Refinery at Pioneer Road in new expanded facilities by year-end 2027, it said. (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Writing by Florence Tan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Tom Hogue)

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By Trixie Yap SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp expects to cut the number of its employees in Singapore by 10% to 15% and move its office to the site of its Jurong plant from downtown by the end of 2027, in global restructuring efforts, the company said on Wednesday. The plans for Exxon's Singapore operations come after the U.S. major announced on Tuesday it will lay off 2,000 workers globally, particularly in Canada and across the European Union, as part of a long-term restructuring plan that will affect about 3% to 4% of the company's workforce. "We are making changes to how we work so we can improve our competitiveness in an ever-evolving landscape and position the business for future success," Exxon Singapore said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the changes will reshape and restructure the primarily office-based organization. "While detailed planning is still underway and organizational design is not yet complete, we anticipate this will result in estimated employee redundancies of 10%-15% by year-end 2027," it said. Exxon now has about 3,500 employees in Singapore, so the expected cuts could hit up to 500 workers, although the company declined to give a firm number. The company, which started this month production at new facilities at its Singapore refinery complex to produce base stocks from residue fuel, said it will continue to maintain its manufacturing presence in the city-state. Exxon operates two refining sites in Singapore, one at Pioneer Road on the mainland and the other on Jurong Island, with a combined crude processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day. As part of the change, Exxon plans to move employees based at its Harbour Front offices to the Jurong Refinery at Pioneer Road in new expanded facilities by year-end 2027, it said. (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Writing by Florence Tan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Tom Hogue)

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(Adds dropped first names in 15th paragraph) By Jaspreet Singh and Supantha Mukherjee (Reuters) -Spotify founder-CEO Daniel Ek will step down to become executive chairman in January, the Swedish streaming company said on Tuesday as it adopts a new co-CEO structure in its strategy to fend off rivals and shore up its profit margin. Billionaire Ek, who built Spotify into a rare global consumer technology leader from the region, will step back from day-to-day business as the company charts out its plan to keep ahead of music offering from YouTube, Apple and Amazon. "Ek leaves the CEO role on a high note, with big boots to fill for the incoming CEOs," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore. The U.S. shares of Spotify were down about 5% after gaining 63% this year. Ek, a prominent tech entrepreneur of Europe, will focus on capital allocation and long-term strategy as executive chairman in what the company called a European-style role. "I will be more involved than a typical US chairman. So think of it a little bit like moving from a player to a coach," said Ek, who has been on the company's board since 2008. Spotify remains the clear market leader with nearly 700 million monthly users and more than 100 million tracks, far ahead of Apple Music's roughly 90 million subscribers.  But it faces competition from YouTube Music's vast video-integrated catalog and Amazon Music's Prime-linked offerings, which give rivals distinct advantages in certain markets. Despite Spotify's dominance, pressure on profit margins have persisted as artists push for higher payouts and the ad-supported tier expands. Global revenue from recorded music rose 4.8% to $29.6 billion in 2024. Streaming exceeded $20 billion for the first time and subscription streaming accounted for more than half of it, according to IFPI's Global Music Report. FROM STARTUP TO GIANT Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Spotify helped transform a music industry that had been shrinking for years due to piracy and falling CD sales. Its U.S. debut in 2011 came as industry revenue had slumped. Still, the company reported its first annual profit only in 2024, after a slew of price increases and cost-cutting efforts. Billionaire Ek is often cited as a champion of Europe's ability to produce companies that can compete with U.S. and Asian tech giants. Gustav Soderstrom, currently chief product and technology officer, oversees global tech strategy and product development, while Alex Norstrom, as chief business officer, manages subscriber and advertising businesses along with music, podcast and audiobook operations. They will report to Ek who also serves on the board. The three executives have worked together for a decade and a half. "Norstrom is deeply interested in knowledge about product, and I'm very interested in business," Soderstrom said. "So we run this as a single team. Several high-profile firms such as Oracle and Netflix have adopted a co-CEO model to better manage their operations as they become more complex and globally diversified. The co-CEO model, which has become popular, has also drawn skepticism for creating blurred lines of authority. "The big unknown is why Spotify needs an executive chairman and two chief executives as that conjures up the idea that too many cooks spoil the broth," said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Jaspreet Singh and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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By John O'Donnell and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich VIENNA (Reuters) -Raiffeisen Bank International has failed in another attempt to sell a stake in its Russian business, two people familiar with the situation said, as Russia seeks to maintain a key financial bridge to the West. Raiffeisen's bank in Russia is the biggest lender in the country that is not subject to sanctions which have isolated local rivals, making it of critical importance for trade payments with Russia, including gas exports to Europe. Russian officials opposed a sale in part because they were concerned that a Russian buyer taking the stake could result in Western sanctions against RBI, the first person said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. STRANDED BILLIONS Raiffeisen has been looking to sell a stake in its Russian arm to a local buyer in the hope that Moscow would lift a block on it repatriating billions in profits from the business. It is also under pressure from the U.S. and European Union to pare back activity in Russia due to Moscow's war in Ukraine. A Raiffeisen spokesperson said it was cutting business in Russia and that any sale of its business required Russian approval, without commenting on any recent discussions. "RBI is negotiating about a sale of its Russian subsidiary," the spokesperson said, adding that the bank could not give a timeframe "as numerous regulatory approvals are required, including approvals of the Russian authorities." Chief Executive Johann Strobl had made several attempts in the past to sell a stake in the Russian business. The first person said he had visited Russia to this end. Russia's central bank said it would not comment on any discussions with specific banks. Reuters could not establish which officials and potential buyers RBI has talked to. ESCALATING TENSIONS The latest sale efforts foundered as tension between Moscow and the West has been building. European leaders have been stepping up preparations to use tens of billions of euros in Belgium belonging to the Russian central bank to help support Ukraine.  Europe also wants to end Russian gas imports, following U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that Europe cut energy ties to Moscow. The shooting down of Russian drones over Poland has further strained relations.  Vienna, capital of Austria and home to RBI, has also been recently criticised by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who warned of consequences should Austria abandon neutrality.  For now, Raiffeisen continues to be important for Russia for gas and other payments, the two people said, even as it pares back activity. Russia's opposition to a stake sale was grounded in a desire to maintain what remains of its economic ties with Europe, which still buys billions of euros of Russian oil and gas, albeit far less than before the war. A third person with knowledge of Raiffeisen's work in Russia said the country's authorities wanted to keep it as a gateway for money transfers with Europe and that the bank intended to continue to operate there.  SPECIAL STATUS Austria and Russia have been intertwined since the Russian army's occupation of the country at the end of World War Two, handing back its independence on condition it stayed neutral. Austria went on to become the first Western European country to sign a deal to buy Russian gas, and Vienna became an important financial hub for Russia. Raiffeisen's special status and its size – far bigger than the other European banks in Russia, Italy's UniCredit and smaller Hungarian group OTP Bank – has allowed RBI to build up roughly 7 billion euros in profits now stranded there. If Raiffeisen was blacklisted by the West, that would throttle an important avenue for payments, further isolating Russia. Raiffeisen processes payments for the TurkStream pipeline, Russia's only remaining route for sending gas into Europe after others were cut, the people said. TurkStream delivered roughly 11.5 billion cubic metres of gas in the first eight months of this year via Turkey to European countries, including Bulgaria and Hungary.  At average market prices, that gas was worth roughly $3.8 billion, making it an important part of Russia's gas exports. The third person said that despite RBI limiting outgoing euro payments, a small number of large Russian companies were allowed to make payments overseas in euros via the bank. The Raiffeisen spokesperson said that lending, deposits and payments in Russia had been reduced, and that payments "are subject to severe restrictions and are in compliance with sanctions". Raiffeisen has been heavily criticised by Ukrainian officials for banking activities in Russia, buoying its war economy. The bank is vulnerable to Russian penalties. Earlier this year it was ordered by a Russian court to pay 2 billion euros in damages over the collapse of a complex asset swap. (Reporting by John O'Donnell in Frankfurt and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich in Vienna. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Mark Potter)

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By Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) -Vancouver-based Lithium Americas said on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has taken a 5% stake in the company, along with a separate 5% stake in its Thacker Pass lithium project joint venture with General Motors. While the total deal value was not disclosed, Lithium Americas confirmed it has finalized an agreement with the DOE to initiate the first $435 million draw from a previously announced $2.26 billion loan to support development of the Thacker Pass site. It will be the latest private sector investment by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration after recent stakes in Intel and MP Materials, seeking to boost industries seen as vital to U.S. national security. Last week, Reuters reported that administration officials were in discussions with Lithium Americas about an equity stake as they renegotiated terms of a $2.26 billion government loan for the Nevada-based mine, which is slated to become the largest source of battery metal lithium in the Western Hemisphere. Representatives for GM were not immediately available to comment. GM, which invested $625 million in the mine last year for a 38% stake, has the right to buy all of the project's lithium from its first phase and a portion from the second phase for 20 years. Administration officials had initially sought a guarantee that GM would buy the metal regardless of market conditions, a request the automaker pushed back on and which led to the equity stake request, Reuters previously reported. The Thacker Pass project has long been touted by both Republicans and Democrats as a key way to boost U.S. critical minerals production and cut reliance on China, the world's largest lithium processor. China plays a dominant role in the global lithium supply chain, producing more than 40,000 metric tons each year, making it the third-largest producer after Australia and Chile. China's influence is far greater in refining, where it processes over 75% of the world's lithium into battery-grade material. The U.S. produces less than 5,000 metric tons of lithium at a Nevada facility owned by Albemarle. Thacker Pass's first phase is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year, enough for up to 800,000 EVs. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder, additional reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese, Veronica Brown, David Gregorio and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Wall Street futures fell, gold struck a record high and the dollar eased on Wednesday as the U.S. government shut down much of its operations, possibly delaying the release of crucial jobs data that could muddy the interest rate outlook. With no clear path out of the impasse over a funding deal, agencies warned the government shutdown would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report and lead to the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million. Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures dropped 0.5% on Wednesday. Gold prices climbed to $3,875 an ounce, hitting a record high for third straight session. European futures were little changed. With Friday’s non-farm payrolls report absent, investors may place greater weight on the ADP National Employment Report due later today. Forecasts are centred on a modest gain of 50,000 private-sector jobs. "Typically, a shutdown is immaterial for markets. In fact, the 2018-2019 shutdown, which lasted for over a month, actually saw Wall Street rise," said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com. However, Rodda added the issues for markets are twofold, with one being the delay of release of the non-farm payrolls data. The other is "U.S. President Trump has also threatened to permanently lay off workers, which could turn the shutdown into a mini-labour market shock," he said. Futures now imply a 96% chance of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in October, up from 90% from a day earlier, with around a 74% probability of another move in December. Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise, said in a note that if the shutdown lingers, September inflation reports in mid-October could also be negatively affected. "An extended period where the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is not operating at full strength could affect data collection efforts for other reports, which may impact the quality of the data," he said. On Wednesday, Japan's Nikkei dropped 1%, after an 11% surge the previous quarter. South Korean shares rose 0.8%, adding to the 11.5% gain in the last quarter, after data showed its exports rose at the fastest pace in 14 months in September. Taiwan's shares gained 1%. The island's top tariff negotiator said on Wednesday that Taiwan will not agree to a deal with Washington for half of all semiconductor production to take place in the U.S. Chinese markets, including Hong Kong, are closed for a public holiday. Overnight, Wall Street managed to end the quarter on a positive note, closing higher. Data showed U.S. job openings increased marginally in August but hiring declined, and consumer confidence fell by more than expected. In foreign exchange markets, the dollar index slipped for a fourth straight day and was last down 0.2% to 97.62. It was off 0.3% at 147.53 yen, after a Bank of Japan survey showed confidence among big Japanese manufacturers improved for a second quarter, heightening the chance of an interest rate hike as soon as this month. In the Treasuries market, yields were steady in Asia. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 4.1522%, having risen 1 basis point overnight. Oil prices edged up on Wednesday after two consecutive days of losses as investors weighed potential OPEC+ plans for a larger output hike next month against the prospect of shrinking inventories in the U.S. U.S. crude inched up 0.4% to $62.64 a barrel, while Brent was 0.4% higher at $66.32. (Reporting by Stella Qiu and Ankur Banerjee; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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By Aaron Ross and Tim Cocks NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The lapse of a flagship U.S. trade initiative with Africa that expired overnight is putting scores of businesses on the continent and hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, raising fears that even a promised extension may come too late. There is bipartisan support in Washington for a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which waived U.S. duties on thousands of goods from sub-Saharan African countries for the past 25 years. But companies that invested in factories and farms to take advantage of duty-free access say even a temporary lapse will harm operations they built over many years, especially as they already face country-specific tariffs Trump imposed in August.  Pankaj Bedi, chairman of Nairobi-based apparel company United Aryan, which supplies Target and Walmart, predicted some immediate layoffs as tariffs as high as a third of the value of textiles exports snap back into place. "Companies do not have the sustainability to take any kind of losses," Bedi told Reuters.  He said some "responsible buyers" have agreed to absorb temporary losses in hopes that AGOA would be renewed retroactively but that if an extension is not agreed by November, "such support will no longer be possible".  FEARS CHINA WILL 'TAKE OUR PLACE' In 2023, the last year for which data is available, Africa exported $9.7 billion in goods to the U.S. under the act. Hundreds of thousands of African jobs are estimated to depend on it.   Some analyses question the initiative's effectiveness, noting beneficiary countries' share of U.S. imports has fallen since it was enacted in 2000, but it continues to enjoy political support.  Republican and Democratic lawmakers describe it as a pillar of U.S. diplomatic relations and a counterweight to Africa's main trade partner, China, which announced in June it would remove all tariffs on 53 out of 54 African states. Adrian Smith, a Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee that oversees AGOA, told Reuters the law countered China's influence, and demonstrated "America's commitment to Africa's young, growing population". The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also told Congress in a letter last month that renewal would encourage businesses to diversify supply chains away from China.       Democratic Senator Chris Coons, who co-sponsored a bipartisan bill in 2024 to extend it by 16 years, said: "If we fail to re-authorise AGOA, China will not hesitate to take our place." That bill, however, was overshadowed by other priorities in the final months of Joe Biden's Democratic administration, while the Trump administration has focused on leveraging tariffs in bilateral trade deals, raising doubts about the pact's future. Attaching a renewal proposal to other legislation would be the fastest way to secure an extension, but the Trump administration has opposed adding "extraneous" provisions to larger bills, according to two sources involved in the discussions.   The administration, after a long silence on the matter, said this week it supported a one-year extension.  Responding to Reuters' questions about AGOA, the White House said it backed a temporary extension, without elaborating. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not respond to requests for comment.  FOR SOME COUNTRIES, TRUMP TARIFFS NEGATE MUCH OF AGOA IMPACT  The bilateral U.S. tariffs in place since August mean the impact of AGOA will vary highly from country to country.         For example, South Africa, the continent's most advanced economy accounting for half of exports under AGOA, was hit with a 30% across-the-board tariff. That means that even with the pact's waivers, many goods – especially wine, citrus and cars – became too expensive to export to the U.S., rendering renewal a moot point.  "These tariffs have pretty much changed the narrative completely," said Maryna Calow, Wines of South Africa spokesperson. She said the industry was now looking to increase sales to Canada to exploit a 25% retaliatory tariff the country has placed on the U.S., as well as to China and Japan. For automakers, export volumes to the United States have tumbled by 83% so far this year, National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa chief economist Paulina Mamogobo told Reuters. "Any benefits the industry previously derived from AGOA have essentially been nullified," she said. However, for countries such as Kenya, which has the minimum 10% tariff, or Madagascar and Mauritius, which have 15%, otherwise exportable goods become unprofitable without AGOA, jeopardising tens of thousands of jobs.   In aggregate, AGOA is projected to have limited mitigating effect on Trump's tariffs, data from the U.N.-backed International Trade Centre shows. An ITC analysis shows that without AGOA bilateral tariffs will slash exports from the 32 AGOA-eligible countries to the U.S. by 8.7% by 2029, a figure which only decreases to 8% with the pact back in place. Moreover, experts say AGOA needs major reforms to live up to its promise. Some companies flag the requirement that eligible countries be re-certified each year as a source of uncertainty that deters long-term investments.  "The question for me is not whether AGOA should be simply renewed," said Aude Darnal, a researcher on U.S. foreign policy. "It's … what are the steps that are being taken to actually address the challenges?"  (Reporting by Aaron Ross and Tim CocksAdditional reporting by Shafiek Tassiem in Cape Town, Karin Strohecker in London and Patricia Zengerle in WashingtonEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

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By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -The dollar sank to a one-week low versus major peers on Wednesday as the U.S. government entered a shutdown that is likely to delay the release of crucial jobs data. Government funding expired at midnight in Washington (0400 GMT) after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree a last-minute interim deal. Senate Republican Leader John Thune said the chamber would vote again on the House-passed measure on Wednesday. The Senate is due to convene at 1400 GMT. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against six counterparts including the euro and yen, declined 0.2% to 97.635 as of 0521 GMT, and earlier dipped to 97.584 for the first time since last Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump warned congressional Democrats on Tuesday that letting the federal government shut down would allow his administration to take "irreversible" actions including closing programs important to them. The U.S. Labor and Commerce departments said their statistics agencies would halt data releases in the event of a partial shutdown. That includes Friday's scheduled nonfarm payrolls release, which is seen by markets as key in determining whether a Federal Reserve interest rate cut is likely at the end of this month. U.S. JOBS IN FOCUS Overnight, a mixed reading for the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, pressured the dollar. The report showed U.S. job openings increased marginally in August while hiring declined, consistent with a softening labour market. In the absence of official data, more emphasis will fall on private-sector economic indicators. The ADP employment report is due later on Wednesday. The length of any shutdown may be key for markets, as the Fed's next policy decision on October 29 remains weeks away. Traders currently see a quarter-point cut then as a near certainty, with market-implied odds of around 95%, according to LSEG data. "The USD will resume its fall today if the political discourse suggests an extended shutdown," said Joseph Capurso, head of foreign exchange at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "More weak U.S. economic data can add to the weight on the USD," he added. The euro rose as much as 0.3% to $1.1767, the highest since September 24. The dollar slipped 0.3% to touch 147.46 for the first time since September 19, adding to a three-day, 1.2% slide. Traders largely ignored the release of the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" corporate sentiment survey on Wednesday, even though central bank policymakers had flagged it as key to determining the timing of a resumption of rate hikes. BOJ'S HAWKISH SHIFT Confidence among big Japanese manufacturers improved for the second straight quarter and firms maintained their upbeat spending plans, the survey showed. BOJ officials have tilted more hawkish in recent days, including formerly dovish board member Asahi Noguchi, who said on Monday that the need for policy tightening was increasing "more than ever." BOJ Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida and Governor Kazuo Ueda are due to give speeches on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Traders currently lay 40% odds on a quarter-point rate increase in Japan on October 30, according to LSEG data. "The BOJ does not actually appear especially worried about how Trump tariffs might affect the Japanese economy," said Yusuke Matsuo, senior markets economist at Mizuho Securities. "The potential impact of Trump tariffs on the U.S. economy, meanwhile, looks to be the sole remaining stumbling block," he said. The BOJ's rate decision this month "will ultimately hinge in greatest part on the central bank's degree of confidence vis-à-vis the trajectory of the U.S. economy," Matsuo added. (Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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