December, 2021

• 4 December

  Hermes all set to join Euro Stoxx 50

  Bloomberg Hermes International is set to join one of Europe’s main equity benchmarks, an inclusion that will further bolster the French luxury company’s visibility among investors. Hermes, the maker of Kelly and Birkin handbags will replace Universal Music Group NV in the Euro Stoxx 50, index operator Qontigo said in a statement. The change will be effective as of December …

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• 4 December

  Westpac to pay $80.6mn for charging dead people

  

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp agreed to pay A$113 million ($80.6 million) in penalties after the Australian regulator alleged the lender had widespread compliance failures that included charging dead people. The case includes a claim that Westpac charged more than A$10 million ($7.01 million) in fees for financial advice to over 11,000 deceased customers over a 10-year period, according to a …

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• 4 December

  UniCredit’s German unit set to take half of planned job cuts

  

  Bloomberg UniCredit SpA’s German operations are set to take about half group’s planned job cuts as the firm seeks to boost profitability at the underperforming unit. Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel plans to eliminate about 1,500 positions at subsidiary HVB as part of his new strategy that’s slated to be unveiled next week, people familiar with the matter said. Those …

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• 4 December

  UBS’s London headquarters woos buyer with $1.7bn deal

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s London headquarters will be bought by Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and LaSalle Investment Management for about 1.25 billion pounds ($1.7 billion). The silver building’s current owners Hong Kong-based CK Asset Holdings Ltd started initial discussions with a handful of potential buyers earlier this year, Bloomberg reported at the time. NPS, working with LaSalle, was the …

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• 4 December

  ECB mulls firm limits on riskiest leveraged loans

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank (EBC) is weighing curbs on the riskiest part of banks’ lending to indebted companies amid fears of a potential blow-up in the market. Officials on the ECB’s supervisory board have discussed capping newly originated highly-leveraged transactions at a certain share of individual banks’ balance sheets, the people said, asking not to be identified as the …

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• 4 December

  Credit Suisse planning to restructure banker pay

  

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is reviewing banker pay to better align compensation with shareholder interests, after a tumultuous year in which the firm was buffeted by the Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital crises. The Swiss lender should give senior-ranking employees more of their remuneration in shares, with long deferral periods and the ability to take back compensation that’s …

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• 4 December

  India may hike rates next year, says Goldman

  Bloomberg India’s central bank could start tightening monetary policy from next fiscal year as consumer prices rise, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Inflation is going to determine what the RBI does over the course of next year,” Santanu Sengupta, senior India economist at Goldman said in an interview with Juliette Saly and Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg TV. “Input cost …

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• 4 December

  Canada’s biggest banks see 18% rise in bonuses

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s biggest banks shelled out 18% more for bonuses, unleashing the biggest increase in data going back nine years as the firms battled for talent to take advantage of a boom time in capital markets. The country’s six largest lenders set aside $14.9 billion for performance-based compensation in their 2021 fiscal year. The increase trounced the 6.3% average for …

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• 4 December

  A cooker that makes chicken soft as butter

  

  Bloomberg The $410 DeliSofter pot looks much like the rice cookers ubiquitous in Japanese households and it does prepare rice in 24 minutes. But this invention of two Panasonic Corp engineers is designed to do more and help people with swallowing difficulties. The two women led the creation of a spin-off company, Gifmo Co, to sell the specialised steam cooker, …

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• 4 December

  Kia unveils new electric Niro SUV line-up as EV race heats up

  

  Bloomberg Kia Corp unveiled its its new electric SUV, as the South Korean automaker and its affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. seek to catch up in the EV market. The all-new Niro, an upgraded version of the model first released in 2016, will be available as a hybrid electric in the first quarter of 2022 and as an all-electric battery-powered model …

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