March, 2023

• 14 March

  JetBlue-Spirit DOT action paused until antitrust lawsuit is decided

  

  BLOOMBERG Federal transportation regulators will decide whether to challenge JetBlue Airways Corp’s purchase of Spirit Airlines Inc only after the Justice Department’s (DOJ) lawsuit to block the deal is decided, setting up lengthy litigation over the deal. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with Bloomberg that his agency is looking at all potential avenues to inject competition into ...

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• 14 March

  German airports face fresh disruption over pay strike

  

  BLOOMBERG German airline passengers faced disruption on March 13, with scores of flights cancelled at Berlin airport as ground staff went on strike over pay. Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen airports are also affected by walkouts and flight cancellations. The Verdi labour union is pushing for improved pay and conditions as workers grapple with the soaring cost of living. The planned ...

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• 14 March

  Walmart chips away at rival’s lead in rich online shoppers

  

  BLOOMBERG Walmart Inc’s online subscription service is narrowing the gap with Amazon.com Inc in a key demographic: affluent shoppers. Launched in 2020 as a competitor to Amazon Prime, Walmart+ is resonating with higher-income households eager to fend off inflation. At $98 a year, Walmart+ costs $41 less than Prime and offers many of the same perks, such as shipping discounts ...

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• 14 March

  ECB gathers amid growing dissonance over trajectory for rates

  

  BLOOMBERG When the European Central Bank (ECB) sets interest rates, attention will be on the increasingly acrimonious path that lies ahead. Despite its insistence on decisions being taken “meeting by meeting,” investors have grown accustomed to getting a preview of where borrowing costs are likely to head in the ensuing weeks and even months. But with officials bickering over how ...

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• 14 March

  BOJ pivot pressure to ease in wake of SVB’s collapse

  

  BLOOMBERG The pain in the US banking sector may turn out to be a blessing for incoming Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda. Yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year government note dropped below 0.3% for the first time since the BOJ unexpectedly doubled the yield cap to 0.5% on December 20. The move came in the wake of a slide ...

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• 14 March

  SVB crisis drives concern on Japan lenders’ exposure to US bonds

  

  BLOOMBERG The troubles at Silicon Valley Bank and its subsequent collapse have driven investor attention to the heavy investment in US bonds by Japan’s lenders, casting a pall over their shares. SVB’s woes have been rooted in tens of billions of dollars it plowed into longer-term bonds, confident that rates would stay steady. Japanese banks have also stepped up investment ...

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• 14 March

  Binance suspends payment services for UK customers

  

  BLOOMBERG Binance Holdings Ltd, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is suspending deposit and withdrawal services via bank transfers and card payments for UK customers after its local banking partner stopped providing support for transactions in British pounds. Paysafe, a London-based online payments company, said it would stop providing one of its products to Binance’s customers in the UK, citing local ...

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• 14 March

  Credit Suisse finds ‘material’ control lapses after SEC check

  

  BLOOMBERG Credit Suisse Group said it found “material weaknesses” in its reporting and control procedures for the past two years, after questions from US regulators. The Zurich-based bank said it will take steps to fix ineffective checks on the process it follows to pull together its financial reports. But the firm said its statements for 2022 and 2021 “fairly present” ...

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• 14 March

  VW sets $193b spending plan to further new technology

  

  BLOOMBERG Volkswagen AG boosted its five-year investment plan to €180 billion ($193 billion) as Europe’s biggest carmaker intensifies a push to challenge Tesla Inc’s leadership on electric vehicles (EV).  More than two-thirds of the total — €122 billion — will go to software and electric vehicles, the company said. The previous update of VW’s rolling investment saw the carmaker invest ...

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• 14 March

  Novartis starts sale of ophthalmology assets

  

  BLOOMBERG Novartis AG is kicking off the sale of some ophthalmology assets, people with knowledge of the matter said, as it seeks to prune its portfolio and focus on growth areas. The Swiss pharmaceuticals group is working with an adviser to gauge interest in the so-called front-of-eye treatments, the people said. The portfolio includes Xiidra, a drug used to treat ...

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