January, 2020

• 29 January

  US forces warn Korean staff of furlough

  

  Bloomberg The US military has begun issuing furlough warnings to almost 9,000 civilian South Korean employees, as Washington and Seoul remain at loggerheads over President Donald Trump’s demand its ally pay more money for its hosting of American troops. The notices inform workers at American military facilities in South Korea that they potentially face administrative furloughs as of April 1, ...

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• 29 January

  Russian-origin Bitcoin suspect charged in Paris

  

  Bloomberg Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen accused by the US of having supervised a digital-currency exchange that helped criminals launder billions of dollars, will probably remain in France to face cryptocurrency-related charges there, his lawyers said in Paris. Vinnik was interrogated by French investigators, the same day he was extradited from Greece, his defense team said at a news conference. ...

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• 29 January

  America’s debt spree isn’t stopping. It may be too late

  

  What is missing in this campaign, as I have written before and no doubt will write again, is an informative and honest discussion of the role of government in American life. We don’t want to admit that government worth having is worth paying for, through taxes — with the well-known exceptions of recessions and wars, when deficits are often inevitable ...

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• 29 January

  What Salvini’s setback means for Italy

  

  In the end, Italy’s red wall held up against Matteo Salvini’s assault. The leader of right-wing League had hoped to score a famous win in a regional election in Emilia-Romagna, an area with strong leftist traditions. Voters thought otherwise: Stefano Bonaccini, incumbent Democratic Party governor, won convincingly against his opponent, Lucia Borgonzoni. The populist Five Star Movement collapsed to less ...

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• 29 January

  London’s worst IPO award has a new contender

  

  The bitter 2018 vintage of British initial public offerings is souring with age. After the dramatic fall of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc and Funding Circle Holdings Plc, yet another shock came on January 27 from subprime lender Amigo Holdings Plc, which listed around the same time. The company said the environment was worsening and that its founder and ...

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• 29 January

  Climate change is real, and really expensive

  In the chilly and rarefied air of Davos, recent days saw yet another surge in the temperature of the world’s debate on climate change. While Greta Thunberg led pleas to political leaders at the World Economic Forum for urgent action to avert climate catastrophe, Donald Trump used the same platform to denounce “prophets of doom.” The virtual confrontation between Trump ...

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• 29 January

  Can Boris Johnson double UK growth? Don’t bet on it

  

  As part of his promise to deliver the benefits of Brexit after the UK leaves the European Union on January 31, Boris Johnson has set a goal of doubling the rate of economic growth after the UK leaves the European Union (EU). That aspiration could be treated as a rhetorical flourish, like Donald Trump’s belief that the United States can ...

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• 29 January

  Consumer strength in US is fading fast

  

  The consensus is that the US consumer is still strong enough to propel the economy forward even though the manufacturing sector has weakened. This view underpins expectations for improved corporate earnings in 2020. But the hard economic data strikes a discordant note. In particular, growth in industrial production on a year-over-year basis remains in a decisive downturn, sliding deeper into ...

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• 29 January

  Singapore is finding a hedge against mall rats

  

  Being a shopping-mall landlord is a risky business in the age of e-commerce, even in retail-crazy Singapore. So it’s only sensible that CapitaLand Mall Trust is merging with CapitaLand Commercial Trust, which owns offices. The $6.2 billion deal between the two sister real estate investment trusts, or REITs, will create a property owner of some heft. The combined entity will ...

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• 28 January

  First Abu Dhabi Bank posts net profit of AED12.5 billion

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), on Tuesday reported its full year financial results for 2019, announcing a net profit of AED12.5 billion, up 4% from AED12.0 billion in 2018. Commenting on the results, HH Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of FAB, said, “2019 marked another year of growth for FAB, despite challenging market conditions ...

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