The future of economies hangs in the balance: The Bank for International Settlements — which performs banking services for central banks worldwide — is calling on governments to consider tax hikes or decreasing public spending in efforts to fight soaring inflation. “Consolidation would provide critical support in the inflation fight. It would also reduce the need for monetary policy to keep interest rates higher for longer, thereby reducing the risk of financial instability,” the bank said in its annual economic report (pdf). The bank also called on governments to remove the traditional separation between the monetary policy set by central banks and the financial policy set by governments. Fiscal policies need to focus on narrowing deficits, while monetary policies need to focus on bringing inflation back to target.

Cancer vaccines on the horizon? Scientific advancements have led to a turning point in cancer research, with scientists expecting that more inoculations to treat cancer will be available in five years, the Associated Pressreports. These vaccines aim to shrink tumors and prevent cancer recurrence that could be used to treat various types of cancer, including breast, lung cancer, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer. “We’re getting something to work. Now we need to get it to work better,” National Cancer Institute’s Director and Medical Oncologist James Gulley told AP.

Cancer vaccines teach your body to fight back: Cancer cells are very good at hiding from the body’s immune system. Cancer vaccines work by helping the immune system’s T-cells to recognize cancer cells, University of Washington Medicine’s Cancer Vaccine Institute and Oncologist Nora Disis told AP. They do this by introducing the body to cancer antigens, which are proteins or other molecules that are found on the surface of cancer cells. When the body’s immune system sees these cancer antigens, it learns to recognize and attack cancer cells, she added. Some new cancer vaccines use mRNA, which is a type of genetic material that can be used to teach the body’s immune system to recognize cancer cells.

Some Russian depositary receipt holders might not have access to their stocks:Germany’s Deutsche Bank has informed its clients that it cannot ensure them full access to their Russian stocks, owning to a “shortfall in the shares that back the depositary receipts (DRs) the bank had issued before the Ukraine invasion,” Reuters reports, citing a note from the bank. Moscow decided to allow investors to swap a portion of their DRs into local stock in a bid to recover their money, which was carried out without the bank’s “involvement or oversight,” rendering it unable to reconcile the company shares with the DRs, it said in the circular.

Stranded assets weighing on investors in Russia: Western sanctions and Russian retaliatory policies have left investors struggling with stranded assets on both sides. Even though the allowed share swap was meant as a hedging method for investors to protect their assets, they should anticipate significantly lower net proceeds from share sales compared to the current market price, D as Russia's Government Commission for Control over Foreign Investments require selling such shares “at a disc. of at least 50% from their appraised market value,” the Deutsche Bank note reads. Moscow demanding a 10% contribution to the federal budget, coupled with temporary control of assets, and seizing Russian subsidiaries belonging to two European energy firms, are all among the Russian countermeasures set to curb foreign influence on companies that criticize Russia’s economic and political agenda.

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