January, 2022

• 26 January

  Walmart boycott calls mount in Canada on Quebec vaccine rule

  

    Bloomberg A new vaccine requirement for Walmart locations in Quebec has prompted calls for a boycott among some Twitter users. The protests from those opposed to Covid vaccinations, known as anti-vaxxers, follow the Canadian province’s move to bar unvaccinated patrons from entering government-run stores and large retailers — part of efforts to persuade more people to get immunized. Walmart ...

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• 26 January

  New York fights back after mask mandate shot down by judge

  

    Bloomberg New York is appealing a ruling by a Long Island judge that its mask mandate for schools and other public places is an illegal end run around the state constitution. The mask-wearing rule was issued December 10 by the state’s health commissioner at the urging of Governor Kathy Hochul, around the start of the omicron surge of the ...

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• 26 January

  Starbucks seeks to halt ‘union vote’ count

  Bloomberg Starbucks Corp. is asking the US labor board to overturn a ruling allowing store-by-store unionization in Arizona, where ballots were already mailed to employees last week. In a Monday filing with the National Labor Relations Board, the coffee chain sought to overturn a regional director’s ruling that deemed the employees of a single store in Mesa an appropriate potential ...

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• 26 January

  EU’s bank watchdog unveils tougher ESG reporting rules

  

    Bloomberg Europe is imposing new requirements on how banks report environmental risks and carbon targets, to give investors a better picture of the threats that climate change poses to the industry. The European Banking Authority (EDBA) has unveiled a new set of mandatory templates, tables and instructions that banks will have to follow, after a review of environmental, social ...

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• 26 January

  UK debit card spending rises by 27% in January

  

    Bloomberg UK consumers spent significantly more on debit cards in the first two weeks of January but a mounting cost-of-living crisis is expected to take a heavy toll in 2022. That’s according to Lloyds Bank, which found that spending rises 27% from the same period of 2020, before the pandemic hit, with 42% more splashed out at restaurants. The ...

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• 26 January

  Credit Suisse flags more charges to cap awful year

  

    Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG will take a large legal charge in the fourth quarter and warned of outflows at its key wealth business, capping a tough year for the bank after a series of scandals and management turmoil. The lender will set aside 500 million francs ($546 million) for litigation stemming primarily from its investment banking business, according ...

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• 26 January

  Pakistan holds key rate as inflation seen easing

    Bloomberg Pakistan held its benchmark interest rate steady for the first time in four meetings, opting to watch the effects of previous increases on the Asia’s fastest inflation. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the target rate unchanged at 9.75%, Governor Reza Baqir told reporters in Karachi. Thirty-nine of the 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the decision, ...

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• 26 January

  RBA seen scrapping bond-buying program at first meeting of 2022

  

    Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will probably scrap its bond-buying program at the first meeting of 2022, as a strengthening economic recovery suggests the additional stimulus measure is no longer needed. All but one of 17 analysts polled by Bloomberg expects the RBA will end quantitative easing at its February 1 meeting. The outlier, HSBC Holdings Plc’s ...

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• 26 January

  BofA: Digital US dollar is ‘inevitable’

    Bloomberg The US will likely move forward with its own digital currency, with issuance occurring between 2025 and 2030, according to Bank of America Corp (BofA) US government-backed coins, also known as central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, “are an inevitable evolution of today’s electronic currencies,” strategists Alkesh Shah and Andrew Moss, wrote in a report. In the meantime, ...

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• 26 January

  Banks push back against China’s plan to curb foreign IPOs

  

    Bloomberg Global banks are raising concerns to Chinese authorities about a plan to tighten rules on overseas stock listings, saying the draft rules are ambiguous and will expand Beijing’s regulatory reach outside the nation’s borders. The proposals will also drive up costs and stymie dealmaking, the top lobby group for financial firms in Hong Kong said in a letter ...

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