December, 2019

• 3 December

  Nissan’s CEO to take closer look at ties with Renault, Mitsubishi

  

  Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co’s new chief executive officer said he is looking at what works and what doesn’t in the alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, stressing that the partnership needs to benefit all parties. Makoto Uchida, appointed after a year of turmoil following the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, said in his first media conference that changes are ...

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• 3 December

  Singapore’s salaries to rise next year as talent pool is ‘shrinking’

  Bloomberg Singapore’s economy may be facing headwinds and inflation’s muted but companies in the Southeast Asian city-state are set to step up salary increases next year in a bid to retain staff, according to a survey. The overall increase projected for 2020 is 3.7%, up from a 3.6% rise this year, according to Mercer LLC, which conducted the survey across ...

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• 3 December

  China to revamp coal-fired power to help ailing industry

  

  Bloomberg China is pursuing a three-year pilot programme, led by five of its biggest utilities, to integrate and cut some coal-fired power capacity to help the debt-saddled industry, state media reported. The pilot, which runs through 2021, will seek to consolidate coal-power assets within five northwestern regions and reduce their capacity by up to one-third, according to a Shanghai Securities ...

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• 3 December

  Repsol pledges zero emissions by 2050

  

  Bloomberg Repsol SA embarked on the most ambitious attempt yet by an oil major to align itself with the Paris climate goals, saying it will eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations and its customers by 2050. The Spanish giant’s exploration and production unit will focus on value instead of output growth, according to a statement from the ...

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• 3 December

  In firing Spencer, Trump is crossing another line

  

  President Trump’s attempt to manipulate military justice had a sorry outcome with the firing of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer. For the past nine months, Spencer had tried to dissuade Trump from dictating special treatment for Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher — but in the end Spencer was sacked for his efforts to protect his service. With Spencer’s firing, Trump has ...

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• 3 December

  Citi’s British fine is bad for bankers

  

  In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we’ve become accustomed to banks being slapped with sanctions running into the billions. So at the equivalent of $57 million, Citigroup Inc.’s new fine for reporting failures could well go unnoticed. That would be a mistake. The third-largest US bank, with assets in excess of $2 trillion, inaccurately reported its capital and liquidity ...

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• 3 December

  Black Friday experience just isn’t available online

  Plenty of shoppers opt for swiping and tapping on their phones instead of bumping and elbowing their way through the mall on Black Friday . But the changing nature of this American-invented shopping holiday should hardly be taken as a signal that physical stores don’t matter. While consumers say they plan to spend more online than in stores, the data ...

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• 3 December

  Lagarde can’t avoid a quagmire at ECB

  In her first month as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde has spoken remarkably little about monetary policy. However, she’s made clear that she wants to launch a review of the ECB’s strategy to ensure it is fit for the times we live in. It’s an exercise that’s well worth doing. The last rethink of the ECB’s ...

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• 3 December

  Germany should prod its savers to take a few risks

  

  The German government is often accused of spending too little money. With interest rates low or negative, the thinking goes, Europe’s biggest country should be using its fiscal discretion to stimulate the region’s economy. But then, German households exhibit similar behaviour. Even as rates fell, they saved as much as ever, more than people in most other rich countries, and ...

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• 3 December

  Climate change is a financial crisis, too

  

  The people who oversee America’s financial system seem to think that climate change isn’t their problem. As one official quipped in recent congressional testimony, he’s “not a meteorologist or a climate scientist.” They should think again. By failing to take action, regulators are leaving the country exposed to a devastating crisis. Financial institutions, from banks to insurers to asset managers, ...

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