December, 2019

• 17 December

  India to provide round-the-clock NEFT payment

  

  Bloomberg India this week joined a select club of countries offering fund transfers around the clock, a move that will give banks more flexibility to manage their liquidity requirements, the central bank said. The National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) sees transactions worth 800 billion rupees ($11.3 billion) daily and the round-the-clock service is expected to boost online transactions for customers ...

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• 17 December

  Credit Suisse spying cases multiply after espionage scandal

  

  Bloomberg The Credit Suisse Group AG spying incident surrounding the departure of former wealth management head Iqbal Khan might not be an isolated case. The bank may have spied on former Chief Human Resources Officer Peter Goerke, Swiss newspaper NZZ reported, citing documents it obtained as part of an investigation. A former Credit Suisse employee in the US also recently ...

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• 17 December

  China to grant regular tariff waivers for US farm imports

  

  Bloomberg China will provide retaliatory tariff waivers to buyers of US farm products on a more regular basis after the countries reached a phase one trade deal, according to people familiar with the situation. Waivers had previously been given in tranches but they’ll now be handed out more frequently, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the ...

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• 17 December

  HK economy limps into next year with fate tied to protests

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s economy ends the year wounded, with the chances for stabilisation in 2020 hanging on whether future protests are peaceful or lapse back into violence. Economists forecast a 1.3% contraction for 2019 and predict year-on-year declines will continue in the first two quarters of 2020. Yet the unrest has tapered in recent weeks after an electoral win for ...

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• 17 December

  Stock rout hits $2.4b on shock Manila water dispute

  

  Bloomberg Philippine authorities looked to soothe investor fears as uncertainty over the capital’s water service contracts triggered a stock rout of more than $2 billion. The government is “not thinking about” replacing Manila Water Co and Maynilad Water Services Inc as water concessionaires even as it seeks to renegotiate terms of their contracts, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters. The ...

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• 17 December

  Anil Ambani evidence called ‘implausible’ by judge in bank case

  

  Bloomberg The brother of Asia’s richest man won a preliminary motion in a dispute with three Chinese banks seeking $680 million in defaulted loans, but still suffered a setback as a London judge called his evidence “implausible and highly unlikely” ahead of a full hearing next year. Judge David Waksman also said there is “a plain case” to issue an ...

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• 17 December

  Malaysia set to restart $34b ex-1MDB project

  

  Bloomberg Malaysia signed a deal with developers to restart the $34 billion Bandar Malaysia project which languished for years after being conceived under the oversight of troubled state fund 1MDB. A consortium comprising Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn and China Railway Engineering Corp will acquire 60% stake in the venture for 6.45 billion ringgit ($1.6 billion). That’s based on Bandar Malaysia’s ...

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• 17 December

  Toyota’s 2020 forecast edges it closer to VW

  

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp is forecasting sales of 10.77 million vehicles worldwide during 2020, nudging it closer to No 1 automaker Volkswagen AG. Toyota’s outlook, which includes vehicles sold by subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd, shows slight growth from an estimated 10.72 million vehicles this year. Volkswagen sold 10.8 million units in 2018 and said ...

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• 17 December

  Coal endures as favourite fuel for power generation

  

  Bloomberg Coal consumption is set to rise in the coming years as growing demand for electricity in developing countries outpaces a shift to cleaner sources of electricity in industrialised nations. While use of the most polluting fossil fuel had a historic dip in 2019, the International Energy Agency (IRA) anticipates steady increases in the next five years. That means world ...

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• 17 December

  Bankrupt PG&E removes California governor from $13.5 billion fire deal

  Bloomberg Bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp has removed from its $13.5 billion settlement with wildfire victims the requirement that California Governor Gavin Newsom sign off on its restructuring plan. PG&E reached an agreement with representatives of the victims of fires ignited by its equipment to eliminate the provision after Newsom said last week that the power company’s proposed reorganisation plan ...

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