January, 2021

• 10 January

  Goldman traders score $2b in commodities’ comeback year

  

  Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s commodities traders doubled their revenue haul in 2020 — another sign that Wall Street desks managed to print profits into the year’s finale, even as market mayhem subsided. Goldman’s business generated more than $2 billion in revenue for its best annual showing in about a decade, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That …

  Read More »
• 10 January

  Credit Suisse to post fourth-quarter loss

  

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group expects to post a fourth-quarter loss after setting aside $850 million for legal cases in US as CEO Thomas Gottstein seeks to tackle legacy issues and start the year with a clean slate. The amount is more than twice what the bank signaled last month when it flagged that a dispute with bond insurer MBIA Inc. …

  Read More »
• 10 January

  Deutsche to pay $100m to avoid bribery charges

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay more than $130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manipulated the market for precious-metals futures through a trading tactic known as spoofing. The Frankfurt-based bank agreed to a deal in which it won’t be prosecuted as long as it doesn’t engage in the practices again for …

  Read More »
• 10 January

  Commerzbank takes additional $2.6 billion hit from pandemic

  

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG will take an additional 2.1 billion-euro ($2.6 billion) hit in the fourth quarter as the pandemic weighs on interest rates and drives up bad loans, pushing the lender deeper into the red as it readies a new turnaround plan. Commerzbank will write off 1.5 billion euros in goodwill on its books and set aside about 630 million …

  Read More »
• 10 January

  Top US banks’ tax bill would rise $11bn with Biden hike

  

  Bloomberg After three years of savings, top US banks could face an increased tax bill of as much as $11 billion a year if President-elect Joe Biden moves forward with corporate rate hikes he campaigned on. That would follow $42 billion of savings by the six biggest banks thanks to outgoing President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which have boosted …

  Read More »
• 10 January

  Beijing jails former China Development Bank chief

  Bloomberg China sentenced Hu Huaibang, a former chairman of the nation’s biggest policy bank, to life imprisonment on charges of corruption, the second harsh punishment doled out this week in a sign President Xi Jinping is escalating a campaign to crack down on lawbreaking state officials. Hu was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 85.5 million yuan ($13 million) during …

  Read More »
• 9 January

  Chip shortage hits global automakers

  

  Bloomberg A semiconductor shortage is pinching some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers, costing Daimler AG, Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV production for a range of cars. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler joined its German peer Volkswagen AG in announcing it’s affected by the industrywide supply bottleneck, without quantifying the impact. Honda said …

  Read More »
• 9 January

  Hyundai walks back on comment linking it with Apple’s car plans

  

  Bloomberg Hyundai Motor backed away from a statement confirming it is in talks with Apple Inc. on developing self-driving car that fuelled an $8 billion surge in the Korean automaker’s market value, saying instead that it received requests for potential cooperation from a number of companies. Revising its statement for the second time in a matter of hours, Hyundai said …

  Read More »
• 9 January

  Rivian close to raise funds at $25b valuation

  Bloomberg Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., is close to raising a new round of funding valuing it at about $25 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Several existing Rivian investors are participating in the round, which will raise several billion dollars. Existing investors in company include Amazon, T. Rowe …

  Read More »
• 9 January

  Equifax all set to tackle e-commerce fraud with $640mn Kount deal

  

  Bloomberg Equifax Inc. agreed to acquire Kount Inc., which offers fraud protection for e-commerce retailers, for $640 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter, Atlanta-based Equifax said in a statement Friday. Kount’s employees will continue to be based in Boise, Idaho, and will report to Equifax’s US information-solutions unit. The credit-reporting firm has been building out …

  Read More »