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By Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Two Indian refiners have bought 4 million barrels of Guyanese crude oil from U.S. major Exxon Mobil to be delivered at the end of 2025 or in early 2026, in rare imports from the South American producer, trade sources said on Friday. Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest refiner by capacity, has bought 2 million barrels of Golden Arrowhead (GAH) crude, its first purchase of the grade, which will arrive in late December or in early January, they said on condition of anonymity. Another refiner, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, has bought Liza and Unity Gold crude for the first time, with 2 million barrels set for delivery during the same period, the sources said. India is diversifying its crude supplies by trying out new grades from South America where production is growing. Adding more crude sources would also help refiners to replace some imports of Russian oil. The U.S. is pressuring New Delhi to stop buying Russian crude to help end the war in Ukraine. Guyana is ramping up exports as its oil production from a consortium led by Exxon has risen to 770,000 barrels per day (bpd) following the start-up of the group's fourth floating output facility. The country's crude exports reached an all-time high of 938,000 bpd in October, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, since it started exports of the latest grade GAH in July. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jamie Freed)

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By Sarah Young and Nora Buli WEST CHILTINGTON, England/OSLO (Reuters) -English winemakers are betting that surging exports can sustain their once novelty product after domestic sales growth slowed, hoping for a boost from Britain's warmest summer on record this year as climate change optimised conditions. Days before pickers started to harvest this year's crop, sparkling wine from southern England beat French Champagne to win one of the industry's most prestigious awards, lifting its prospects in markets like Norway, Japan and China.  Foreign sales have become more important as a subdued economy at home weighs on demand for a premium product. International producers are snapping up the country's increasingly attractive land to produce wine to sell home and abroad. "Export is where the real growth is in the coming period," said Brad Greatrix, senior winemaker at Nyetimber, the English company which became the first non-French winner of the International Wine Challenge sparkling wine award in September.  FROM FAIRWAYS TO VINEYARDS  English wineries started to emerge in the 1990s as adventurous landowners took advantage of warmer summers. Now, on chalky slopes across southern England, vines are being planted on land once used for crops, apple orchards and golf courses. Since 2000, English wine production has risen by an average 7% per year, and is set to keep growing after land dedicated to vines jumped by 30% between 2020 and 2024. However, while British demand has driven growth so far, last year sparkling wine sales – which at 6.2 million bottles accounted for 70% of total wine sales – were flat, down from 11% growth the previous year. In September, Chapel Down, Britain's biggest wine producer, cancelled plans to build a new winery. Nicola Bates, CEO of industry body WineGB, said steady sales were an achievement when restaurants and bars were struggling, and when Champagne shipments to Britain fell 13% last year.  For many consumers English fizz is a luxury product, with the biggest brands Chapel Down and Nyetimber costing 30 pounds ($40) and 42 pounds respectively per bottle, similar to Champagnes. With more vines being planted, Bates said, "we need to be growing sales at a faster pace for mid- to long-term health". NORWEGIANS REQUESTING ENGLISH WINE Though some winemakers will not sell this year's prized vintage for several years, exports are a bright spot they hope to build on. Export volumes grew 35% to account for 9% of total sales of English wine in 2024, and Bates said she was targeting doubling that figure by 2030. Norway tops the list of buyers by volume. Its imports of English sparkling wine jumped to 111,639 litres last year from 451 litres in 2015, according to its wine monopoly, the single state body allowed to import wine and spirits. That growth is far ahead of rises from other countries, said Arnt Egil Nordlien, the monopoly's head of product. Aleksander Iversen, a sommelier at Brasserie Coucou in Oslo, says Norwegians are open-minded and curious about wine. Some customers specifically request English wines while others discover it on recommendation. "Most are surprised by the quality, they often remark that it rivals top Champagne, but with its own unique character," he said.  MORE UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER This year, English vineyards have experienced "almost perfect growing season conditions", said Alistair Nesbitt, chief executive at Vinescapes, a viticulture consultancy. The average temperature in southern England during the spring to autumn grape growing season has increased by 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the last 40 to 50 years, he said, but it's not always straightforward. Climate change means more unpredictable weather events and that is also affecting England. Persistent wet weather in 2024, for example, hit the grape harvest, cutting production by half compared to the previous year. While climate change means more variability for wine producers globally, Nesbitt said cooler climates like England have the advantage over areas in southern Europe, which are being hit by more frequent droughts and heatwaves.  Wine producers from the U.S., France and Australia started buying English land around a decade ago, with French Champagne house Taittinger acquiring a site in 2015 and California's Jackson Family Wines establishing a presence in 2023. "If you're in a real climate-stressed area of the world, and you want to keep your wine production enterprise going, you look to cooler areas like the UK," he said. ($1 = 0.7493 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young and Gerhard Mey in London, Nora Buli and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

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By Hyunjoo Jin and Brenda Goh SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure, two people briefed on the decision said. Micron was the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing – a move that was seen as retaliatory for a series of curbs by Washington aimed at impeding tech progress by China's semiconductor industry. Since then, both Nvidia and Intel chips have similarly fielded accusations from Chinese authorities and an industry group of posing security risks, though there has not been any regulatory action. LENOVO TO REMAIN A CUSTOMER Micron will continue to sell to two Chinese customers that have significant data centre operations outside China, one of which is laptop maker Lenovo, the people said. The U.S. company, which made $3.4 billion or 12% of its total revenue from mainland China in its last business year, will also continue to sell chips to auto and mobile phone sector customers in the world's second-largest economy, one person said. Asked about the exit from its China data centre business, Micron said in a statement to Reuters that the division had been impacted by the ban, and it abides by applicable regulations where it does business. Lenovo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S.-Sino trade tensions and tech rivalry have only escalated since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term. That same year, Washington ramped up accusations against Chinese tech giant Huawei, accusing it of representing a national security risk, imposing sanctions a year later. Huawei has denied those charges. Nvidia and Intel have also denied charges that their products pose risks to Chinese national security. Micron also said in 2023, before the conclusion of China's probe, that it stood by the security of its products. Currently, the U.S. has sanctioned hundreds of Chinese entities. China, which is more reliant on imported tech, has taken far fewer regulatory actions. LOSING OUT ON CHINA'S AI BOOM The ban on Micron products in critical infrastructure by China – the world's second-largest market for server memory – has meant the company has missed out on the country's data centre expansion boom. That's benefited rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Chinese companies YMTC and CXMT, which have been aggressively expanding with the support of the Chinese government. Investment by data centres used in computing in China surged ninefold to 24.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) last year, according to a Reuters review of government procurement documents. That said, Micron's challenges in China have been offset by huge demand for data centres and related tools elsewhere, thanks to the global adoption of artificial intelligence. That's helped the company report record quarterly revenue. According to a third source, Micron's data centre team in China employs over 300 people. Reuters was not able to immediately establish how many jobs may be affected. Micron has been downsizing in other areas in China. In August, it laid off a few hundred people in its universal flash storage programme after deciding to cease development of future mobile NAND products globally, according to the South China Morning Post. Areas where it has continued to expand in China include its chip packaging facility in the city of Xian. "We have a strong operating and customer presence in China, and China remains an important market for Micron and the semiconductor industry in general," Micron said in its statement to Reuters. ($1 = 7.1224 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Edwina Gibbs)

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By Helen Reid, Mimosa Spencer and Alexander Marrow LONDON/PARIS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -For many companies, business in China has changed for the long term as a fragile economy and sluggish consumer demand are forcing executives to rethink their brand strategy and compete with rising home-grown rivals. From carmaker BMW to Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing and furniture giant IKEA, global companies have soured on China's outlook, with some withdrawing earnings guidance and others resigned to a new "normalisation." Their gloomy guidance illustrates how China's market, overshadowed by a trade war, fierce price competition, rising nationalism and cost-conscious consumers, is becoming a major drag for many businesses already pressured by higher U.S. tariffs. "We need to find smarter ways of producing so the prices become even more competitive, and we need to learn to be even more relevant for the Chinese market," said Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO of IKEA franchisor Inter IKEA, adding that consumer confidence in China remained a challenge. With price wars and U.S. tariffs, foreign carmakers in China are among the hardest hit. Along with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche reported sliding sales in the world's largest auto market amid intense competition. Underscoring the importance for firms to rethink their China business, Nestle, the world's largest packaged food company, said it needed to focus more on driving consumer demand.  ASML, the world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, warned of Chinese demand dropping "significantly" next year and described a fall in sales in China as a "normalization." A shift in spending patterns is also hurting global retailers, with frugal consumers flocking to online platforms such as Alibaba's Taobao for discounted prices. At Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing, sales and profit fell in China, its largest market with 900 stores, even as its North America revenue rose 24%. Nike reported a sales drop for the fifth quarter in the Greater China market, amid stiff competition from domestic brands including Anta and Li Ning. It recently sent U.S. basketball stars LeBron James and Ja Morant to China to lure consumers. In the alcohol sector, Australia's Treasury Wine Estates pulled its earnings guidance for 2026 due to weak sales of its flagship Penfolds wines in China, citing changing alcohol habits and fewer large-scale banquets. French spirits maker Pernod Ricard said sales in China plunged 27%. RARE BRIGHT SPOT Some firms appear to be holding up, most notably in luxury in China, which accounts for roughly a third of global sales. LVMH reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales underpinned by improved Chinese demand, saying shoppers responded well to new store experiences, like the ship-shaped Louis Vuitton boutique in Shanghai. "What we see is whenever we are bringing an initiative or an innovation or a new retail disruption initiative, it creates immediately… interest and excitement and consumers respond very quickly," LVMH CFO Cecile Cabanis said. China's persistent deflationary pressures support the case for more policy measures as weak demand and trade tensions drag on the $19 trillion economy. Chinese GDP growth and retail sales data on Monday as well as a string of earnings from global companies will provide investors with more insight into the health of the world's second-largest economy. HOME-GROWN STARS Adding to the mounting challenges for global brands is the fast rise of cheaper home-grown alternatives for almost everything from cars to coffee and fashion. Chinese brands accounted for 69% of total car sales in China in the first eight months of this year, versus 38% in 2020. Some household names include Luckin Coffee, which competes with Starbucks, ice-cream and drinks chain Mixue, which is causing headaches for Haagen-Dazs with its cheaper offerings, and beauty and cosmetics brands Proya and Chando, which have captured market share from global players. In general, people pay 9.9 yuan ($1.4) for a latte from Luckin, less than a third of the cost at Starbucks. The market share of Chinese cosmetics brands is expected to exceed that of foreign brands for the first time in 2025, reaching 50.4%, according to Frost & Sullivan. Urban Revivo, known as China's Zara rival, is among a growing cohort of domestic firms looking to expand overseas. Another star is jewellery retailer Laopu Gold, often called the "Hermes of gold", whose shares have soared 214% this year. It draws deeply from Chinese cultural heritage and has proven a hit with consumers. Frost & Sullivan says 77.3% of Laopu's customers also shop at Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Cartier, Bulgari and Tiffany & Co. Nestle, which said it had focused too much on distribution in China and not enough on consumers, is changing its strategy. "What you see in China is us correcting that and actually to consolidate our distribution and make it more efficient, while we build this consumer demand," said CFO Anna Manz. ($1 = 7.1240 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting By Helen Reid in London, Mimosa Spencer in Paris, Alexander Marrow in Amsterdam, Sophie Yu in Beijing, Casey Hall in Shanghai, Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asian financial stocks dropped on Friday, with the worst declines in Japan, following a rout in U.S. regional banking shares on worries about mounting risks and credit quality. The banking sector's exposure in two recent U.S. auto bankruptcies rekindled concerns about lending standards more than two years after Silicon Valley Bank's failure, when high rates drove paper losses on its bonds. Shares of Japanese banks and insurers sank on Friday, with Tokio Marine, Mizuho and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group all down nearly 3%. That came after the U.S. regional banking index slumped 6% on Thursday as two small banks disclosed separate issues. Zions Bancorporation said it would take a $50 million loss on two commercial and industrial loans from its California unit, while Western Alliance disclosed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. Analysts said while the issues were unlikely to pose systemic risks, they would weigh on near-term sentiment. "While meaty, the size of the bad loans in and of itself is unlikely to pose risks to the overall system," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial analyst at Capital.com. Rodda said the underlying cause of both the issues was lax lending standards and fraud, which has spurred fears that such behaviour is endemic and could lead to further defaults. Other financial stocks in Asia were also under pressure, with Singapore's DBS Bank down nearly 1%, while Australian insurer QBE fell 9%. The recent bankruptcies of U.S. auto parts supplier First Brands and car dealership Tricolor have put a spotlight on the risk controls of banks and the opaque credit market, where complex loans have made it harder to gauge participants' exposure. The twin collapses last month have forced some debt investors to cut exposure to certain sectors over concerns about weakness in consumer and auto lending. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore, additional reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Stella Qiu in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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By Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) -The dollar remained on the back foot on Friday as global trade frictions and signs of weakness in the U.S. economy supported the case for more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The dollar index is set for its biggest weekly drop in almost three months as an extended shutdown of the U.S. government interrupted the publication of key economic data.  The yen rallied after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda spoke about factors that could lead to a rate increase this month. Compounding concerns about trade, Fed independence and the U.S. shutdown are making the greenback vulnerable to the "debasement" trade, where investors seek assets that can't easily be devalued, said Pepperstone research strategist Dilin Wu. "It's really hard to find a bullish scenario for the dollar index," said Wu. "Instead of betting on any currency by a single sovereign credit, people are rushing into gold, cryptocurrency, and other assets as a risk hedge." The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, edged 0.1% lower to 98.19, on course for a 0.7% slide this week – the biggest five-day retreat since late July. The yen gained 0.2% to 150.06 per dollar after earlier trading below the 150 line for the first time since October 6. BOJ Governor Ueda said in Washington on Thursday that the central bank remains ready to increase its key policy rate if the likelihood of its growth and price forecasts materializing increases. BOJ Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida is due to speak later on Friday. The yen has been on the defensive since fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi was elected to head Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month. But a vote to install her as prime minister was delayed after a split with the LDP's coalition partner. Reuters learned on Friday that Japan's lower house scheduling committee board has agreed to hold a parliamentary vote to select the next prime minister on October 21. The euro gained 0.2% to $1.1708, while sterling rose 0.1% to $1.3448. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is on board for another interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's meeting later this month because of the mixed readings on the state of the job market. Stephen Miran, the Fed's newest governor and an economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, reiterated support for more aggressive rate cuts at upcoming meetings than the one favored by some of his colleagues. Miran's temporary term expires at the end of January, while Fed Governor Lisa Cook remains in place as the case over Trump's attempt to fire her winds through the courts. The Fed's Beige Book offered little support to U.S. rates, pointing to emerging signs of economic weakness, including rising layoffs and reduced spending among middle and lower-income households. Trade frictions between Beijing and Washington continued to heat up overnight, with China accusing the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls, rejecting a White House call to roll back the curbs. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 1.1% to $109,000.98, while ether rose 1.8% to $3,923.04. (Reporting by Rocky SwiftEditing by Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill)

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By Joice Alves LONDON (Reuters) -The boom in investment in artificial intelligence is starting to be felt for the first time in currency markets across Europe, and analysts reckon the Swedish crown and sterling stand to benefit the most. Trading in the almost $10 trillion-a-day FX markets this year has been driven by broad dollar weakness given tariff-related concerns and U.S. rate cut expectations. But dig deeper and the impact of AI, which has helped drive stocks to record highs, is rippling across to currencies. According to JPMorgan, the resilience of the Swedish crown, or krona, and sterling in recent months may be partially attributable to tech as Sweden and Britain stand out on measures of AI investment and their currencies are receiving a tailwind from this dynamic, even if only a small one. By one measure, the UK and Sweden received just over $4 billion each last year in private AI investments, ranking third and fourth in a Stanford University AI index of biggest beneficiaries of such investments, behind the United States and China.  Sweden's krona is the strongest-performing major European currency against a weak dollar so far this year, having climbed almost 15%. Sterling has rallied 7%.     Dissecting the exact impact of AI on currency moves is hard, analysts say, given other factors at play such as interest rate expectations or fiscal unease, especially with sterling. "Large AI investments have been announced for both countries," said Rabobank's head of FX strategy Jane Foley. "The inward investment could certainly have created some demand for sterling and Swedish crown respectively and created some resilience".  The crown is also up against the euro and other Scandinavian currencies. Sterling, hurt by fiscal worries, is down against the euro and Swiss franc, however. Investments in Swedish AI companies, which bring higher demand for crowns, would cause a visible spike in the currency, while the impact of such investments on sterling would be less visible because it is already so heavily traded, Rabobank's Foley said.   Sterling is the world's fourth most-traded currency, accounting for just over 10% of all trades, while Sweden's crown accounts for less than 2%, according to the Bank for International Settlements. BIG PROMISES Britain and the United States last month agreed a technology pact, with top U.S. firms led by Microsoft pledging 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) in UK investments. AI giant Nvidia plans to provide its data centre platform to Swedish companies including telecoms gear maker Ericsson, and drug developer AstraZeneca. Microsoft, Facebook's owner Meta, Google's owner Alphabet and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management plan data centres in Sweden given the country's reliable electricity supplies and infrastructure. While it's too soon to say what impact AI will have on economic growth or unemployment, which could potentially add to strains on public finances, the announcements offered a favourable backdrop for the krona and sterling, analysts said. A report by SEB released earlier this year looking at major Swedish participants in the FX market showed their net overweight position in the crown was close to record highs. Societe Generale head of corporate research for FX and rates Kenneth Broux said U.S. tech investment pledges can diminish pessimism ahead of Britain's November budget, when taxes are expected to rise, lifting sterling's appeal. Latest CFTC positioning shows investors are neither heavily in favour nor against sterling. Speculators have eroded bullish dollar positions against the pound from August's almost three-year high of $3.3 billion to just $165 million, reflecting waning conviction that the greenback will rally against sterling. "What AI does potentially change is the outlook for productivity growth, the Achilles' heel of the UK economy", said Broux.  An aging population in the West opens the door to “reskilling and upskilling” which can help keep a lid on welfare payments and potential unemployment benefits caused by AI, he added.  Some are broadly positive on sterling. Investment firm St James's Place has an overweight position. Deutsche Bank expects sterling to rise to $1.45 over the next couple of years, compared with roughly $1.34 currently.  And HSBC Private Bank's global CIO Willem Sels said that while his near-term view on sterling was not too positive given the looming budget, he sensed that investor sentiment towards the UK was more "constructive" than it appears. "One of the reasons for that is that people see the UK as a relatively interesting destination for AI-related investment," Sels said.   "This is why we also saw (Nvidia CEO) Jensen Huang sitting next to the Prime Minister (Keir Starmer earlier this year) and talking about the strength of the UK." (Reporting by Joice Alves; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Hugh Lawson)

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By Jarrett Renshaw and Nidhi Verma WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The United States and India have held productive trade talks, and Indian refiners are already cutting Russian oil imports by 50%, a White House official told Reuters on Thursday. However, Indian sources said the cut was not visible yet, though it could be reflected in import numbers for December or January. Refiners had already placed orders for November loading that included some cargoes for December arrival as well, the sources said. The Indian government has not yet informed refiners of a request to cut Russian imports, they added. India's oil ministry and all of the Indian refiners that buy Russian oil did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)

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A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Stella Qiu It was already a troubling set-up for stocks, with valuations stretched, the whiff of an AI bubble, a shut U.S. government and the ongoing break-up between Washington and Beijing. Now, add in jitters about U.S. regional banks. Overnight, Zions sank 13% after disclosing it would take a $50 million loss in the third quarter on two loans from its California division. Western Alliance's stock slumped 11% after it initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. The banks' selloff comes more than two years after Silicon Valley Bank's 2023 failure, when high interest rates drove paper losses on its bonds, sparking a fatal deposit run that felled Signature Bank days later. Worries of a repeat drove shares in the red and had markets baying for more U.S. rate cuts. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9% on Friday and Japan's Nikkei slid 1.1% as its banking index tumbled. Wall Street futures fell 0.4% ahead of more earnings from U.S. regional banks later in the day. European stock futures lost 0.8%, while FTSE futures dropped 1%. The flight to safety saw gold hit a record of $4,378.69 per ounce and was poised to finish the week 8.9% higher – the biggest weekly rise since September 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers fuelled the global financial crisis. How is that not ominous? Treasuries also found their safe-haven mojo back, rallying for a third straight week. Two-year Treasury yields hit a fresh three-year trough of 3.3890% as investors bet the Federal Reserve will have to cut rates twice by year end, with some chance of an outsized 50 bps move. While financial stability risks seem contained for now, Jamie Dimon has said "When you see one cockroach, there are probably more, and so everyone should be forewarned." Investors assume the Fed will ride to the rescue, because of course it will. But cutting rates when inflation is at 3% and the full impact of tariffs on prices is only starting to be felt could be just a taster of what to expect when Trump gets to appoint his very own Fed chair. Key developments that could influence markets on Friday: – Little data released as US government is shut – Fed official Alberto G. Musalem speaks, as well as Bank of Japan's Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida – US earnings include American Express, State Street and more regional banks (Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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By David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chair of the House Select Committee on China said Thursday that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm, as part of a deal by China-based ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the short video app, would raise "serious concerns." Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, is waiting for a briefing to get more details on the deal that White House officials said previously would include the new owners of TikTok's U.S. assets licensing the algorithm. "I think anytime you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that's a problem," Moolenaar said at an event at the Hudson Institute. TikTok did not immediately comment. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 25 declaring that the plan to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in a 2024 law and gave them 120 days to complete the transaction. "I just believe you have to have a new algorithm, and I don't know that you can reprogram," Moolenaar added, pointing to technology experts who say it is unclear precisely what is in the algorithm. "I would say it's still very much a work in progress." Trump last month delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law banning the app used by 170 million Americans unless its Chinese owners sell it. Trump's order said the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company's security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture. The agreement on TikTok's U.S. operations includes the appointment by ByteDance of one of seven board members for the new entity, with Americans holding the other six seats. ByteDance would hold less than 20% in TikTok U.S. to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law that ordered it shut down by January 2025 if ByteDance did not sell its U.S. assets. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Franklin Paul and Edmund Klamann)

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