Bitcoin crushing US dollar & governments can do nothing to stop it - Max Keiser www.rt.com

While some have suggested bitcoin's meteoric rise signals a potential cryptocurrency bubble, RT's Max Keiser says fiat currencies like the US dollar are collapsing against it.

Minimum capital requirement for commercial banks to increase to 100 billion MNT by 2021 www.theubpost.mn

Mongol Bank announced that the minimum capital requirement for commercial banks will be raised to 100 billion MNT by 2021 by decree of Mongol Bank Governor N.Bayartsaikhan.

In accordance to the Law on the Central Bank and the Law on Banking, Mongol Bank has the ability to modify the minimum capital requirements for financial institutions including banks. The central bank takes into account the state of the economy, changes in the exchange rate of the national currency, the assets of commercial banks, and overall health of the banking sector when discussing any changes in the capital requirement.

When the Banking Law was first approved in 1991 shortly after the transition into a democracy, the minimum capital requirement was set at 50 million MNT. In 1995, it was increased to 400 million MNT. Starting in 1999, it was legislated that the Governor of Mongol Bank would have the authority to modify the minimum capital requirement. Subsequently, the requirement was increased to two billion MNT that year. Starting in 2001, the amount was increased to four billion MNT, and in 2006, it was doubled to eight billion MNT.

Continuing the trend of doubling the capital requirement, the amount was increased to 16 billion MNT in 2011. The latest and the most significant increase in the amount came in 2015 when it was decided by then Governor of Mongol Bank N.Zoljargal to set the requirement at 50 billon MNT, tripling the previous amount.

A capital requirement is the standardized requirement in place for banks and other depository institutions that determines how much liquidity is required to be held for a certain level of assets. This measure is intended to help prevent any major shocks to banks and to ensure that a bank has enough assets to pay back its customers in the event of a bankruptcy.

In Mongolia, the minimum capital requirement for commercial banks is set by the central bank and its governor. The capital requirement for non-banking financial institutions and on publically-listed companies is set by the Financial Regulatory Commission.

Mongol Bank made the announcement on November 24 that Governor N.Bayartsaikhan decreed that the capital requirement would be increased to 100 billion MNT on December 31, 2021.

The central bank explained that the decision to increase the capital requirement has no relevancy or any links to the ongoing asset quality review being conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of the extended fund facility.

“The main purpose of the asset quality review is to ensure that banks have enough assets to back all loans provided, to determine whether an adequate risk fund had been established, and to ensure that commercial banks have enough assets to cover any losses regarding loan risks,” stated Mongol Bank on their website.

Increasing the minimum capital requirement will help increase the operational capacity of commercial banks and improve their ability to manage risks, believes Mongol Bank. In addition, the central bank believes the move will help activate the operations of smaller commercial banks while also increasing competition in the financial sector and ultimately setting up the basis for lower interest rates.

“The decision to increase the minimum capital requirement to 100 billion MNT on December 31, 2021 was based on the forecast that Mongolia’s economy will revive from its crisis and grow further,” stated Mongol Bank.

Fodor recommends Mongolia as best destination to visit in 2018 www.theubpost.mn

Fodor’s Travel, a leading name in travel recommendations for over 80 years, expanded its Travel Go List from 25 to 52 destinations this year to provide an interesting place for each week of 2018.

CPC briefs Mongolia, South Korea, Japan on its congress www.news.cgtn.com

A Chinese delegation introducing the achievements of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended its four-day visit to Japan on Sunday following its trips to Mongolia and South Korea.

China digitizes historical Mongolian books www.news.xinhuanet.com

HOHHOT, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have launched several digital archive projects to preserve a number of historical Mongolian books.

Engraved on wood, a rare Mongolian version of the Tibetan Buddhist classic "Kangyur" has been scanned and photographed to make a digital copy, according to Qi Jinyu, deputy head of the Mongolian language and literature working group.
Published in 1720, the woodcut copy has 109 volumes and 50 million words. Its electronic edition is now available online.
China is home to more than 200,000 volumes of Mongolian books and documents, but many of them are in danger of discoloration and mildew.
Mongolian books often remain shelved, with common readers or scholars not having access to them.
"The most important method to give access is to digitize and publish ancient books. Recently, the digitization project has brought new life to many ancient Mongolian books." said Soyolt, an official specializing in ethnic Mongolian documents.
Over the past three years, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has digitized and published 120 Mongolian classics.
In northwest China's Gansu Province, the Northwest University for Nationalities has established a database and collected over 10,000 Mongolian folk tales.
Researchers in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have collected and compiled 384 books in Todo bichig, a writing system used by Mongolian tribes in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is the only compilation of Todo bichig materials in China.
About 6.5 million ethnic Mongolians live in eight Chinese provinces and regions, including Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Gansu, Xinjiang and Qinghai.

Black Friday, Thanksgiving online sales climb to record high www.reuters.com

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Black Friday and Thanksgiving online sales in the United States surged to record highs as shoppers bagged deep discounts and bought more on their mobile devices, heralding a promising start to the key holiday season, according to retail analytics firms.

U.S. retailers raked in a record $7.9 billion in online sales on Black Friday and Thanksgiving, up 17.9 percent from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, which measures transactions at the largest 100 U.S. web retailers, on Saturday.

Open discussion on violence against children and women held www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At the initiative of the President of Mongolia, an open discussion themed ‘Improving Implementation of State Policies on Protection of Children and Women from Violence, Public Participation and Control’ was held on November 24 in the Citizens’ Chamber of the State House. President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga gave an address. 

Shell Joins Automakers to Offer Charging Stations Across Europe www.bloomberg.com

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is linking up with some of the world’s biggest carmakers to expand its electric-vehicle charging business in Europe as it prepares for life beyond oil.

New plant in the UK aims to transform biomass into ‘coal’ www.mining.com

Scientists and industry in the United Kingdom are joining forces to build a commercial scale facility capable of transforming biomass into next-generation solid fuels with coal-like properties. This would be the first complex of its type in the country.

HTC or Hydrothermal Carbonisation is the name of the technology being developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham who are working in partnership with the Energy Research Accelerator and CPL Industries.

According to the group of experts, HTC converts high-moisture biomass into solid fuels using moderate temperatures and high pressures. The process effectively mimics the long-term natural process of coal formation, but instead of millennia it only takes a few hours for the mineral-like material to be created.

The intention of the HTC facility is to investigate suitable replacements for fossil fuels in home-heating products, with possible future developments being the replacement of coking coal in industrial applications such as foundries and smelters.

"We will be able to look at how we can convert waste streams into value-added fuel products that have many domestic and industrial applications. Also, by using the biocoal that has been made from biowaste, we are producing a carbon-neutral fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said in a university statement Colin Snape, Director of the Centre in Efficient Power from Fossil Energy and Carbon Capture Technologies at the University of Nottingham.

The HTC facility will be operated by solid-fuel manufacturer CPL Industries and will be located at the company's production site in Immingham, North Lincolnshire. Activities at the plant are scheduled to begin in mid-2018.

Ministers to launcgh UK's post-Brexit economy plan www.bbc.com

The government's plan to boost UK industry ahead of the country leaving the EU is due to be launched later.

The industrial strategy is aimed at lifting growth, which official forecasts suggest will slow due to the UK's poor productivity performance.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said the UK's decision to leave the EU meant the strategy was "even more important".
A deal with US healthcare giant MSD to open a UK research centre has been announced as part of the strategy.
The investment by MSD, known as Merck in the US, is worth up to £1bn and is expected to create 950 jobs.
The government said the announcement was "a huge vote of confidence" in its plans to boost the post-Brexit UK economy.The strategy comes just days after official forecasting body the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) announced an aggressive downgrade of its UK growth and productivity forecasts.
Political parties and business groups have said that the solution to creating stronger growth and higher wages is more investment.
The industrial strategy is expected to outline similar partnerships to the MSD one with other private sector firms in the construction, artificial intelligence and automotive sectors.
The deals will see the government pledge funding and policy collaboration in exchange for investment from private firms.
The government said the deals would be "strategic and long-term partnerships".
It has already pledged to invest an additional £80bn in research and development over the next decade.
The additional funding is aimed at putting the UK's investment in this area on a par with other advanced nations.
Currently the UK spends 1.7% of its gross domestic product on research and development, much lower than the 2.4% average of developed countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
As part of its industrial strategy, the government is also expected to outline the main global trends which it believes the UK needs to tackle to revive its flat-lining productivity.
These are expected to include artificial intelligence, clean energy such as low carbon technologies, medical care for an ageing population and future mobility such as driverless cars and drone-delivered goods.
"More decisions about our economic future will be in our own hands and it is vital that we take them," Mr Clark said.