China and Russia agreed to expand their economic cooperation using a planned banking system, which analysts say is aimed at supporting their militaries and undermining U.S.-led global order.
The two countries issued a joint communiqué agreeing “to strengthen and develop the payment and settlement infrastructure,” including “opening corresponding accounts and establishing branches and subsidiary banks in two countries” to facilitate “smooth” payment in trade.
The communiqué was issued when Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agency Tass reported the following day.
At the meeting, Mishustin said, “Western countries are imposing illegitimate sanctions under far-fetched pretext, or, to put it simply, engaging in unfair competition,” according to a Russian government transcript.
Advertisement
Mishustin also noted the use of their national currencies “has also expanded, with the share of roubles and RMB in mutual payments exceeding 95%,” as the two have strengthened cooperation on investment, economy and trade.
Li and Mishustin signed more than a dozen agreements on Tuesday on economic, investment and transport cooperation. Li was making a state visit to Moscow at the invitation of Mishustin.
David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said, “This meeting between the Russians and the Chinese is important because it’s getting into a much widening aperture of cooperation” that would have “a bigger military dimension,” threatening U.S. national security.
Asher added that their bilateral cooperation could lead to “Russia’s assistance to China in the Pacific and the South China Sea” in return for Beijing’s support for Moscow’s economy and industry that aid Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, “in defiance of the U.S.”
A spokesperson for the State Department told VOA Korean on Thursday that the U.S. is “concerned about PRC [People’s Republic of China] support for rebuilding Russia’s defense industrial base, particularly the provision of dual-use goods like tools, microelectronics and other equipment.”
Advertisement
The spokesperson continued: “The PRC cannot claim to be a neutral party while at the same time rebuilding Russia’s defense industrial base and contributing to the greatest threat to European security.”
“China is Putin’s only lifeline,” said Edward Fishman, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs who helped the State Department design international sanctions in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, right, shakes hands with Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang as they meet in Moscow on Aug. 21, 2024.
“Chinese firms have taken advantage of Russia’s weak bargaining position and cut a slew of favorable deals,” Fishman said. “But these deals have more than just commercial significance. They keep Putin’s war machine going.”
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on more than 400 entities and individuals that support Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, including Chinese firms that it said were helping Moscow evade Western sanctions by shipping machine tools and microelectronics.
In response to a China-Russia plan to set up a financial system to facilitate trade, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told the Financial Times that Washington “will go after the branch they’re setting up” and the countries that let them.
Advertisement
Analysts said China and Russia could increasingly turn to alternative methods of payments to evade sanctions.
Russia in June suspended trading in dollars and euros in the Moscow Exchange, in response to a round of sanctions the U.S. had issued targeting Russia’s largest stock exchange. The move by Russia prohibits banks, companies and investors from trading in either currency through a central exchange.
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. cut big Russian banks off from the U.S. dollar, the preferred currency in global business transactions.
“There is clearly a desire in both Moscow and Beijing to build financial and trade connections that operate beyond the reach of U.S.-led sanctions,” said Tom Keatinge, director of the Center for Finance and Security at the London-based Royal United Service Institute.
“This includes the development of non-U.S. dollar payment and settlement mechanisms and a wider ‘insulated’ payment system that allows other countries in their orbit to avoid U.S. sanctions,” he continued.
Advertisement
Other possible methods of payments could involve central bank digital currencies as well as cryptocurrencies and stable coins, Keatinge added.
The Chinese yuan replaced the dollar as Russia’s most traded currency in 2023, when the U.S. imposed sanctions on a few banks in Russia that could still trade across the border in dollars, according to Maia Nikoladze, an associate director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, in a June report.
Nikoladze told VOA that transactions made in renminbi and in rubles allowed Moscow to mitigate the effects of sanctions until Washington in December 2023 created an authority to apply secondary sanctions on foreign banks that transacted with Russian entities.
“Since then, Russia has struggled to collect oil payments from China,” with some transactions delayed “up to six months,” even as Moscow found a way to process transactions through Russian bank branches in China, Nikoladze said.
According to an article this month from Newsweek, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that as many as 98% of Chinese banks are refusing Chinese yuan payments from Russia.
Advertisement
Hudson Institute’s Asher said even more critical than the Russian use of yuan is the use of U.S. dollars in Beijing-Moscow transactions through the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Clearinghouse Automated Transfer Settlement System (CHATS), a payment system used by banks such as HSBC that trade “hundreds of billions of dollars a year.”
“It can settle transactions in a way that is not visible to the U.S. government,” Asher said. “I’m talking about U.S. dollar reserves that are not in the United States, that are not controlled by the U.S. government, that we don’t have good visibility on, and Hong Kong is providing that financial service.”
The Hong Kong government has said it does not implement unilateral sanctions but enforces U.N. sanctions at the urging of China, according to Reuters.
William Pomeranz, an expert on Russian political and economic developments at the Wilson Center, said that despite Beijing’s and Moscow’s talk this week about financial and economic cooperation, “China does not want to get onto the bad side of European and American markets” and will not risk its economic ties with the West “just to help Russia in a problem that, quite frankly, is of Russia’s own making.”
The up-and-coming fintech scored a pair of fourth-quarter beats.
Diversified fintech Chime Financial(CHYM +12.88%) was playing a satisfying tune to investors on Thursday. The company’s stock flew almost 14% higher that trading session, thanks mostly to a fourth quarter that featured notably higher-than-expected revenue guidance.
Sweet music
Chime published its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results just after market close on Wednesday. For the former period, the company’s revenue was $596 million, bettering the same quarter of 2024 by 25%. The company’s strongest revenue stream, payments, rose 17% to $396 million. Its take from platform-related activity rose more precipitously, advancing 47% to $200 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meanwhile, Chime’s net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) more than doubled. It was $45 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with a fourth-quarter 2024 deficit of $19.6 million.
Advertisement
On average, analysts tracking the stock were modeling revenue below $578 million and a deeper bottom-line loss of $0.20 per share.
In its earnings release, Chime pointed to the take-up of its Chime Card as a particular catalyst for growth. Regarding the product, the company said, “Among new member cohorts, over half are adopting Chime Card, and those members are putting over 70% of their Chime spend on the product, which earns materially higher take rates compared to debit.”
Today’s Change
(12.88%) $2.72
Current Price
$23.83
Advertisement
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$7.9B
Day’s Range
$22.30 – $24.63
52wk Range
Advertisement
$16.17 – $44.94
Volume
562K
Avg Vol
3.3M
Advertisement
Gross Margin
86.34%
Double-digit growth expected
Chime management proffered revenue and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance for full-year 2026. The company expects to post a top line of $627 million to $637 million, which would represent at least 21% growth over the 2024 result. Adjusted EBITDA should be $380 million to $400 million. No net income forecasts were provided in the earnings release.
It isn’t easy to find a niche in the financial industry, which is crowded with companies offering every imaginable type of service to clients. Yet Chime seems to be achieving that, as the Chime Card is clearly a hit among the company’s target demographic of clientele underserved by mainstream banks. This growth stock is definitely worth considering as a buy.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Student athletes are now earning real money thanks to name, image, likeness deals — but with that opportunity comes the need for financial preparation.
Noah Collins Howard and Dayshawn Preston are two high school juniors with Division I offers on the table. Both are chasing their dreams on the field, and both are navigating something brand new off of it — their finances.
“When it comes to NIL, some people just want the money, and they just spend it immediately. Well, you’ve got to know how to take care of your money. And again, you need to know how to grow it because you don’t want to just spend it,” said Collins Howard.
What You Need To Know
High school athletes with Division I prospects are learning to manage NIL money before they even reach college
Glory2Glory Sports Agency and Advantage Federal Credit Union have partnered to give young athletes access to financial literacy tools and credit-building resources
Financial experts warn that starting money habits early is key to long-term stability for student athletes entering the NIL era
Preston said the experience has already been eye-opening.
“It’s very important. Especially my first time having my own card and bank account — so that’s super exciting,” Preston said.
Advertisement
For many young athletes, the money comes before the knowledge. That’s where Glory2Glory Sports Agency in Rochester comes in — helping athletes prepare for life outside of sports.
“College sports is now pro sports. These kids are going from one extreme to the other financially, and it’s important for them to have the tools necessary to navigate that massive shift,” said Antoine Hyman, CEO of Glory2Glory Sports Agency.
Through their Students for Change program, athletes get access to student checking accounts, financial literacy courses and credit-building tools — all through a partnership with Advantage Federal Credit Union.
“It’s never too early to start. We have youth accounts, student checking accounts — they were all designed specifically for students and the youth,” said Diane Miller, VP of marketing and PR at Advantage Federal Credit Union.
The goal goes beyond what’s in their pocket today. It’s about building habits that will protect them for life.
Advertisement
“If you don’t start young, you’re always catching up. The younger you start them, the better off they’re going to be on that financial path,” added Nihada Donohew, executive vice president of Advantage Federal Credit Union.
For these athletes, having the right support system makes all the difference.
“It’s really great to have a support system around you. Help you get local deals with the local shops,” Preston added.
Collins-Howard said the program has given him a broader perspective beyond just the game.
“It gives me a better understanding of how to take care of myself and prepare myself for the future of giving back to the community,” Collins-Howard said.
Advertisement
“These high school kids need someone to legitimately advocate their skills, their character and help them pick the right space. Everything has changed now,” Hyman added.
NIL opened the door. Programs like this one make sure these athletes walk through it — with a plan.
With the introduction of the Employee Ownership Development Act , Illinois is poised to create the largest dedicated public investment vehicle for employee ownership in the country.
State Rep. Will Guzzardi’s bill, HB4955, would authorize the Illinois Treasury to deploy a portion of the state’s non-pension investment portfolio into employee ownership-focused investment funds.
That would represent a substantial investment of institutional capital in building wealth for Illinois workers and seed a capital market for employee ownership in the process. And because the fund is carved out of the state investment pool, it doesn’t require a single dollar of appropriations from the legislature.
Silver tsunami
The timing of the Employee Ownership Development Fund could not be more urgent. More than half of Illinois business owners are over 55 years old and are set to retire in the coming decade. When these owners sell their firms, financial buyers and competitors are often the default exit – if owners don’t simply close the business for lack of a buyer.
Each of these traditional paths risks consolidation, job loss and offshoring of investment and production. These are major disruptions to the communities that have long sustained these businesses. Without a concerted strategy, business succession is an economic development risk hiding in plain sight, and one that threatens local employment, supply chain resilience, and the tax base of communities across the country.
Advertisement
Employee ownership offers another path. Decades of empirical research show that employee-owned firms grow faster, weather economic downturns better (with fewer layoffs and lower rates of closure), and provide better pay and retirement benefits.
The average employee owner with an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, has nearly 2.5 times the retirement wealth of non-ESOP participants. That comes at no cost to the employee and is generally in addition to a diversified 401(k) retirement account.
Because businesses are selling to local employees, employee ownership transitions keep businesses rooted in their communities. This approach can support a place-based retention strategy for state economic policymakers.
Capital gap
Despite the remarkable benefits of employee ownership and bipartisan support from policymakers, a lack of private capital has impeded the growth of employee ownership: In the past decade, new ESOP formation has averaged just 269 firms per year.
Most ESOP transactions ask the seller to be the bank, relying heavily on sellers to finance a significant portion of the sale themselves, often waiting five to 10 years to fully realize their proceeds. Compared to financial and strategic buyers who offer sellers their liquidity upfront, employee ownership sales are structurally uncompetitive in the M&A market.
Advertisement
A small but growing ecosystem of specialized fund managers has begun to fill this gap. They deploy subordinated debt and equity-like capital to provide sellers the liquidity they need, while supporting newly employee-owned businesses with expertise and growth capital (see for example, “Apis & Heritage helps thousands of B and B Maintenance workers become owners”).
This approach is a recipe for scale, but the market remains nascent and undercapitalized relative to the generational pipeline of businesses approaching succession. To mature, the market needs anchor institutional investors willing to commit capital at scale.
State treasurers and other public investment officers could be those institutional investors. Collectively managing trillions of dollars in state assets, they have the portfolio scale, time horizons and fiduciary obligation to earn market returns while advancing state economic development.
Illinois’ blueprint
Just as federal credit programs helped catalyze the home mortgage and venture capital industries in the 20th century, state treasurers and comptrollers now have the opportunity to help build the employee ownership capital market in the 21st.
Illinois shows us how. The state’s Employee Ownership Development Act is modeled on proven investment strategies previously authorized by the legislature and pioneered by State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. The Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund and the FIRST Fund each ring-fence 5% of the state investment portfolio for investments in private markets and infrastructure, respectively, deployed through professional fund managers. Both have generated competitive returns while catalyzing billions of dollars in private co-investment in Illinois.
Advertisement
The Employee Ownership Development Fund would apply that same architecture to employee ownership. The Treasurer would invest indirectly by capitalizing private investment funds deploying a range of credit and equity. The funds, in turn, would invest a multiple of the state’s commitment in employee ownership transactions.
The employee ownership field has matured to a point that is ready for institutional capital. The evidence base is robust. The fund management ecosystem is growing. And the business succession pipeline is larger than it will be for generations.
Yet the field still lacks the publicly enabled financing interventions that have historically built new markets in this country. State treasurers, city comptrollers and other public investment officers have the tools and resources at their disposal to provide that catalytic, market-rate investment to enable the employee ownership market to scale.
Julien Rosenbloom is a senior associate at the Lafayette Square Institute.
Guest posts on ImpactAlpha represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ImpactAlpha.
