Bloomberg China sentenced Hu Huaibang, a former chairman of the nation’s biggest policy bank, to life imprisonment on charges of corruption, the second harsh punishment doled out this week in a sign President Xi Jinping is escalating a campaign to crack down on lawbreaking state officials. Hu was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 85.5 million yuan ($13 million) during ...

Bloomberg A semiconductor shortage is pinching some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers, costing Daimler AG, Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV production for a range of cars. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler joined its German peer Volkswagen AG in announcing it’s affected by the industrywide supply bottleneck, without quantifying the impact. Honda said ...

Bloomberg Hyundai Motor backed away from a statement confirming it is in talks with Apple Inc. on developing self-driving car that fuelled an $8 billion surge in the Korean automaker’s market value, saying instead that it received requests for potential cooperation from a number of companies. Revising its statement for the second time in a matter of hours, Hyundai said ...

Bloomberg Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., is close to raising a new round of funding valuing it at about $25 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Several existing Rivian investors are participating in the round, which will raise several billion dollars. Existing investors in company include Amazon, T. Rowe ...

Bloomberg Equifax Inc. agreed to acquire Kount Inc., which offers fraud protection for e-commerce retailers, for $640 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter, Atlanta-based Equifax said in a statement Friday. Kount’s employees will continue to be based in Boise, Idaho, and will report to Equifax’s US information-solutions unit. The credit-reporting firm has been building out ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. shares rise 7.1% to a record high in Seoul amid signs of a rebound in the memory-chip market and off the back of a surge in earnings. South Korea’s biggest company posted a 26% increase in operating income to 9 trillion won ($8.3 billion) for the three months ended December in preliminary results. That compares with ...

DUBAI / WAM Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, has launched an economic stimulus package worth AED315 million. The new package raises the value of business incentives ...

BAHRAIN / WAM Investcorp, a Bahrain-based asset manager that counts Mubadala Investment Company as its biggest shareholder, announced on Wednesday that its portfolio company, Impero, a provider of online student safety and classroom and network management software, has acquired Netop, an international software solutions provider to the education sector and corporates, from Consolidated Holdings A/S. Terms of the transaction were ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) has announced the signing of an agreement with Miral to provide district cooling services to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, a first-of-its-kind marine life theme park being developed by Miral on Yas Island. Tabreed will connect the new SeaWorld Abu Dhabi development to its existing Yas Island district cooling scheme and will ...

JEDDAH / WAM The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed the signing of Al Ula Declaration by the leaders of the GCC member states at the 41st GCC Summit which took place in Al Ula Governorate, Saudi Arabia. The OIC’s Secretary-General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen praised the efforts of the GCC’s leaders.