March, 2022

• 23 March

  Kohl’s asks Goldman to discuss with select bidders for retailer

    Bloomberg Kohl’s Corp said it has authorised Goldman Sachs Group Inc to coordinate with select bidders for the retailer so they can “refine and improve” their offers with proof of financing and binding documentation. Kohl’s said in a statement that it has received multiple preliminary indications of interest that are nonbinding and don’t have committed financing. Separately, the company ...

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• 23 March

  Alibaba hikes buybacks to $25 billion

    Bloomberg Alibaba Group soared 11% after ramping up its share buyback program to $25 billion, fuelling hopes that Beijing is easing off an internet crackdown that wiped out $470 billion of the e-commerce giant’s value. The board approved the program, which will run for two years through to March 2024, the company said. It also appointed a new independent ...

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• 23 March

  Putin foe Navalny slams Ukraine war after new 9-year sentence

  

    Bloomberg A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny to nine years in a high-security prison in a ruling that will keep President Vladimir Putin’s top critic sidelined amid a harsh crackdown on the opposition. Navalny, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence that the European Court of Human Rights called politically motivated, in a ...

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• 23 March

  Russia cancels WWII peace talks with Japan after Ukraine sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Russia’s cancellation of talks to resolve a decades-old territorial dispute with Japan, which the Kremlin dismissed as a “ritual,” exposed a deepening rift between the two neighbors over Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who’s now deputy head of the country’s Security Council, delivered his terse assessment of the talks on his Telegram channel on Tuesday. Medvedev said ...

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• 23 March

  US threat to sanction China spooking other Asian nations

  

    Bloomberg US President Joe Biden’s warning of unspecified consequences if China supports Russia has smaller Asian nations worried they’ll be subject to similar penalties for maintaining neutrality over Vladimir Putin’s war. Southeast Asia will host two meetings later this year — the Group of 20 summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, or Apec — that would normally bring ...

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• 23 March

  Serbia denounces threat for not joining EU sanctions

  

    Bloomberg Serbia angrily disputed a suggestion from European Union member Lithuania that the Balkan state may be punished for refusing to join sanctions against Russia even as Belgrade seeks to join the bloc. Serbia has been balancing its EU entry aspirations with keeping close ties with traditional ally Russia, which provides energy supplies and political support in feuds with ...

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• 23 March

  Trudeau unveils deal to keep Liberals in power

  

    Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an agreement with a left-leaning opposition party aimed at preventing another election until 2025. Trudeau’s Liberals and the New Democratic Party have struck a deal that will see the NDP support the government in confidence votes in exchange for advancing policies including national dental care and prescription drug programs, Trudeau told reporters on ...

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• 23 March

  Sunak gets budget boost as UK borrowing $34b below forecast

  

  Bloomberg The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak was handed a major boost before Wednesday’s Spring Statement, as data showed the budget deficit was running 26 billion pounds ($34 billion) below official forecasts in the first 11 months of the fiscal year. The undershoot, which may rise even further when full-year figures are published next month, gives Sunak some ...

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• 23 March

  Spain to unveil more tax breaks by month’s end, says PM Sanchez

  

    Bloomberg Spain will announce a series of tax breaks later this month to mitigate the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. “The main message is that the government is going to do everything in its power to cushion the consequences of the war,” Sanchez said in an interview with La Sexta television channel. ...

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• 23 March

  Swiss watch exports surge 25% as US drives demand

    Bloomberg Swiss watch exports jumped 25% in February as US buyers kept driving a post-pandemic rebound in demand for pricey timepieces. The US remained the top market with a 15% share while China accounted for almost 12% of the nearly 2 billion francs ($2.1 billion) in total monthly exports, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said. American consumers ...

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