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FINWIRES

Taiwan's Securities Markets Regulator to Relax Ownership Rules for Digital Banks

-- Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) plans to relax ownership rules for web-only banks, after three years of operation, the regulator announced Tuesday.

Under the revised framework, the changes will ease restrictions on the shareholding ratio of financial industry investors and adjust rules on the number of professional directors.

The proposed revisions aim to allow online banks to diversify their shareholder base, strengthen capital and expand digital financial services. The draft will be published for public consultation, with a 30-day period for stakeholders to submit feedback, the FSC said.

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Treasury

Canada's Retail Sales Seen Continuing to Climb in March After February's Gain

Canadian retail sales increased 0.7% month over month to $72.1 billion in February as sales were up in seven of nine subsectors, led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers, said the country's statistical agency on Friday.February's retail sales were a tad lower than the 0.9% month-over-month consensus increase provided by MUFG.Statistics Canada also provided an advance estimate of retail sales on Friday, suggesting sales increased 0.6% month over month in March. This unofficial estimate was calculated based on responses received from 62.7% of companies surveyed. The average final response rate for the survey over the previous 12 months was 88.5%.On the February data, StatsCan noted core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, were up 0.6% month over month. In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.3% month over month.

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Mining & Metals

Questor Technology Secures $1.9 Million From National Research Council Canada to Commercialize 1500kW Heat-to-Power System

Questor Technology (QST.V) won $1.9 million to complete development and launch commercialization of its 1500-kilowatt Rankine Cycle (ORC) Heat-to-Power Generation System from National Research Council of Canada (NRC), it said Friday.Its 1500kW ORC converts both high- and low-temperature waste heat into dispatchable electricity that can be consumed on-site or exported to the grid, and is engineered as the natural companion to the company's Q-Series Thermal Oxidizers, the company said.Questor expects to complete testing of the 1500kW prototype in the second quarter of 2026, with commercial rollout to follow later this year.Shares of the company closed up 8.3% to $0.325 on Thursday on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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Sectors

Oil Prices Fall as a Report Says Peace Talks Between the U.S. and Iran May Resume

Oil prices fell early on Friday following a report that said Pakistani officials expect another round of talks between the United States and Iran.West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery was last seen down US$1.07 to US$94.78 per barrel, while May Brent oil fell US$0.42 to US$104.65.Bloomberg News reported Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and a team of negotiators are expected to arrive in Islamabad late on Friday for talks with a U.S. delegation already in place. The report sent prices down from overnight highs on hopes a potential deal that would reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz.The Strait is the chokepoint for exports from Persian Gulf nations, which supplied 20% of daily oil demand prior to the Feb. 28 start to the war, which also trapped shipments of of diesel and jet fuel, as well as petrochemical feedstocks and fertilizers."What began as a crude oil supply shock linked to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has now broadened into a multi-commodity disruption. The implications are no longer confined to energy markets alone but are spreading into industrial production, transportation, and ultimately agriculture and food price," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, wrote.Still, a quick end to the war is unlikely to produce a quick end the largest-ever energy supply shock. The U.S. Pentagon on Thursday warned it may take six months to clear mines laid in the Strait, the Washington Post reported on Thursday."That is a completely different timescale from what the financial market is pricing. Even a political deal tomorrow does not immediately reopen the strait," Ole Hvalbye, a commodities analyst at SEB Research, wrote.

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