September, 2019

• 21 September

  StanChart should really know where its rich customers live

  

  Ever wonder why some global banks are still failing in the fight against money laundering? An account of Standard Chartered Plc’s latest shortcomings is a stark reminder of how much needs to improve in the industry. A review by regulators of the London-based emerging markets lender found that it wasn’t able to prove how some of its wealthy clients had ...

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• 21 September

  Trump and Japan aim for an OK trade deal

  For once, President Donald Trump may be on the verge of signing a trade pact that benefits Americans. He could strike an even better one if he got out of his own way. Trump announced that the US and Japan have worked out an initial trade accord. Japan will reportedly lower tariffs on US beef, among other products, to the ...

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• 21 September

  Bank’s race against crisis puts India on warning

  

  India’s fragile financial system is swinging between despair and hope. Two separate incidents — both featuring the lender Yes Bank Ltd. — recently underscored the drag of past underwriting follies as well as the lift from a digital reset. It will take time, but good things will come to Indian banking as a result of the present crisis. Clearwater Capital ...

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• 21 September

  The good news about income inequality

  

  The headline from the US Census Bureau’s report on health insurance coverage was that the ranks of the uninsured swelled by almost 2 million Americans in 2018. But the larger trends illustrated in the report are more consequential — and more positive — for the US economy. First, about those health-insurance numbers. More than half of the decline in insurance ...

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• 21 September

  SoftBank needs a different IPO after WeWork slip

  

  SoftBank Group Corp. and its Vision Fund need another win. And they need it fast. With news that US rental office company WeWork – formally known as The We Company – looks set to delay its IPO, we can see just how dependent SoftBank supremo Masayoshi Son’s empire was on this one exit to keep the Japanese company’s hit machine ...

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• 21 September

  Amazon’s Alexa masters Hindi, Hinglish for Diwali

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc’s Alexa has mastered Hindi in just a few years. The voice assistant introduced to India in 2017 gets a major local makeover for one of the largest retail markets. Amazon launched a version that now speaks Hindi and Hinglish — a unique blend with English. It can also switch automatically between all three. The new, improved Alexa ...

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• 21 September

  Facebook upgrades Portal video chat devices with new TV model

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc upgraded its Portal video chat devices, with a new model for TVs and lower prices. It also said users can opt out of the company accessing voice recordings collected by the hardware. With the new products, called Portal TV, Portal, and Portal Mini, Facebook is trying to break into the crowded smart speaker and connected living room ...

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• 21 September

  Glencore joins grain firms’ digital project

  Bloomberg Glencore’s agriculture unit has become the latest trading house to join an initiative to modernise the way grain and oilseed transactions are handled. The group, which includes Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, Bunge Ltd, Cargill Inc, Louis Dreyfus Co and Cofco International, is working on a new platform in an effort to make global trading faster and more efficient. The platform, which ...

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• 21 September

  Robo tuk-tuk to zip about an upscale Bangkok neighbourhood

  

  Bloomberg Thailand’s ubiquitous tuk-tuk, the noisy, colourful three-wheeled taxi that’s been belching exhaust on local roads for almost a century, is getting a cutting-edge makeover to help carry the local auto industry into the future. Beginning in November, a public-private partnership will test the nation’s first self-driving tuk-tuk in an effort to nudge Thailand towards the forefront of developing autonomous-vehicle ...

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• 21 September

  Commerzbank to slash 4,300 jobs as Zielke steps up cost cuts

  

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG is planning to cut 4,300 jobs as part of a new strategic plan that will also see the bank sell a stake in its Polish mBank unit to reduce risk and help pay for the measures. Germany’s second-biggest listed bank plans to close 200 branches as part of the measures, and buy the 18% it doesn’t yet ...

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