January, 2020

• 20 January

  Danish funds with $370b warn managers on taxes

  Bloomberg Pension funds in Denmark have issued a warning to external managers, making clear that they risk being fired if caught engaging in aggressive tax optimisation. The move represents an industry wide measure intended to thwart tax avoidance and live up to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals. A total of 11 firms, representing over half of Denmark’s pension assets, ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Ford, LG rank among firms most prepared for climate change

  

  Bloomberg Ford Motor Co, LG Corp and Pernod Ricard SA joined the ranks of the top global companies that are best prepared for the effects of climate change. They won the “A” grade last year for how aggressive they are setting and meeting carbon goals, as well as how forthcoming they are about their efforts, according to an analysis by ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Spain’s ongoing grapple with politics of memory

  

  An hour’s drive northwest of here, in the Valley of the Fallen, is a residue of Europe’s past that suggests what the continent’s future would have been if fascism had not been defeated in the previous century. Atop a granite mountain stands an almost 500-foot-tall stone cross, the world’s tallest. An enormous basilica has been hewn deep into the mountain. ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Thai tycoons may find Tesco is closed

  

  Bangkok’s billionaires don’t usually have to contend with much resistance as they expand. Tesco Plc’s sale of its Southeast Asian supermarkets may be about to change that. The $32 billion British retailer said in December it was considering selling the group’s stores in Thailand and Malaysia, becoming the latest international grocery giant to bow out of Asia. First-round bids for ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Gold’s rally is helping miners delay inevitable

  Peak gold production is looking a little more distant. Global supply of the yellow metal has been inexorably approaching its high-water mark, as ore is extracted faster than new discoveries are made. Mines have been aging fast. A sustained price rally can change that picture, as investors rekindle their enthusiasm for large-scale exploration and technological innovation. Bullion miners’ margins will ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Should Amazon’s Bezos worry about India?

  Jeff Bezos was in India at an awkward moment. Just before his visit, the country’s antitrust authority ordered a probe into the business practices of its two main American-owned shopping websites. One of them is his. How worried should the Amazon.com Inc. boss be? If the Competition Commission’s released study on e-commerce is any guide, Bezos shouldn’t lose any sleep ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Taal volcano is a test of Philippines’ disaster plan

  

  Smoke and ash erupted from the Taal volcano in the Philippines, with the plume rising almost 9 miles into the atmosphere and threatening hundreds of thousands of people. The Philippine government mobilised quickly. By January 15, more than 38,000 people were staying in evacuation centers, and many thousands more had dispersed to family throughout the country. Meanwhile, the government began ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Can quantitative easing work in India with 7% inflation?

  

  The anguish is palpable. First, it was the news that India’s nominal gross domestic product is growing at its slowest pace in more than four decades. Now comes the inflation data for December, showing the steepest rise in consumer prices since July 2014. If this is the onset of stagflation, then it will be very hard to beat back the ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  BlackRock muddies the social-investing waters

  

  If you need some clarity around social investing, don’t look to the world’s biggest money manager for help. Larry Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., threw social investing into the spotlight in his annual letter to America’s CEOs. Climate change is an urgent problem, he said, and BlackRock will make it the center of its investment approach by “making ...

  Read More »
• 20 January

  Europe stocks pare decline with US futures; oil climbs

  

  Bloomberg European stocks and US equity futures trimmed most of an earlier decline on Monday as investors awaited a fresh batch of corporate earnings and some key central bank meetings this week. Crude oil rose following supply disruptions in Libya and Iraq. Activity was muted across most major markets because of a US holiday. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index traded ...

  Read More »