March, 2016

• 2 March

  India tells Vodafone, Cairn to take tax offer or pay double

  

  New Delhi / Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc and Cairn Energy Plc must decide whether to take the tax olive branch proposed by India or risk having to pay 500 billion rupees ($7.4 billion) that the government claims in taxes, penalties and interest, an official said. The government has done its best to end disputes with Vodafone and Cairn over retrospective ...

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• 2 March

  Toyota promotes non-Japanese for structural overhaul

  

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. is handing non-Japanese executives major promotions in the third overhaul of its complex business structure in six years, as President Akio Toyoda seeks ways to make the world’s largest automaker more nimble. Didier Leroy, who was appointed the company’s highest-ranking non-Japanese executive a year ago, will add the newly created title of chief competitive ...

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• 2 March

  Hong Kong bourse net rises 54 percent to a record US$1bn

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., (HKEX) the most valuable exchange operator in Asia, said full-year earnings rose to a record on higher trading turnover. Net income jumped 54 percent to HK$7.96 billion ($1 billion) last year, up from HK$5.17 billion a year earlier, the exchange said in a statement on Wednesday. Revenue increased 36 percent to ...

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• 2 March

  Taiwan’s labour demand drops more than 50%

  Taipei / DPA Workforce demand for the second quarter is expected to rise by 19,334 – a drastic 57-per-cent decline from last year’s 45,063, according to the Labour Ministry’s survey on domestic firms. It was the lowest growth in seven years for the April-June period. Stagnant global growth and lackluster export performance have contributed to companies’ lower willingness to hire, ...

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• 2 March

  Japan pension whale’s US$41bn gain masks hard time ahead

  

  Tokyo / Bloomberg As stocks go, so does the performance of Japan’s giant pension fund. The $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) provided some respite for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a $41 billion gain in the three months ended December, rebounding from the worst quarterly loss in data going back to April 2008. It will probably prove fleeting, ...

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• 2 March

  EU alternatives won’t help UK post-‘Brexit,’ government says

  

  LONDON / Bloomberg Alternative trading arrangements with the European Union in the event of a British departure from the bloc would pose “serious risks” to the prosperity of Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government said. The option providing for the most definitive break with the 28-nation bloc — a reversion to World Trade Organization rules —would mean greater costs for ...

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• 2 March

  BMW, Peugeot wary of clouded future if UK votes for ‘Leave’

  

  Bloomberg A British vote to exit the European Union stands to cloud the future of carmakers in the U.K., as auto executives warned of higher prices and potential trade disruptions. “I’d find it very regrettable,” said Harald Krueger, chief executive officer of BMW AG, the parent company of the Mini and Rolls-Royce car brands, said in a briefing at the ...

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• 2 March

  Swiss economy grows most in a year

  ZURICH / Bloomberg The Swiss economy returned to growth at the end of last year as it fought off the impact of a currency shock that had threatened to push the country into a recession. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent in the three months through December, after contracting 0.1 percent in the prior quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic ...

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• 2 March

  ‘Leave’ vote puts European firms at risk

  

  PARIS / Bloomberg The consequences of a “leave” vote in the U.K.’s June 23 referendum on its European Union membership may spread beyond Britain’s shores, according to Societe Generale SA. While the U.K.’s assets will depreciate should the nation vote to sever a more-than-40-year-alliance with the continent, its close links to the rest of the bloc’s financial entities also leave ...

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• 2 March

  Why new Poland offers handouts for kids that exceed Norway’s

  

  WARSAW / Bloomberg Poland’s new rulers have outraged their biggest benefactors, stifled opponents and threatened foreign investors — all while keeping their supporters happy with promises of unprecedented largesse. Welcome to the country’s latest post-communist incarnation: The right-wing Law & Justice party is moving at breakneck speed to upend the status quo with the European Union and impose a new ...

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