September, 2019

• 15 September

  Maintenance fees may be on Japan banks’ cards

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s long-suffering savers have put up with virtually zero interest for years, but at least their bank accounts have remained free. That may change as speculation for further monetary stimulus mounts. Lenders could begin imposing maintenance fees for retail deposit account holders if the Bank of Japan deepens negative interest rates from minus 0.1 percent, according to JPMorgan Chase ...

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• 15 September

  Clearwater-backed lender’s default adds to India’s woes

  

  Bloomberg Another shadow financier in India has defaulted on a debt repayment, signaling the nation’s yearlong credit crisis is far from abating. Altico Capital India Ltd, a non-banking finance company that focusses on lending to the real-estate sector, didn’t pay 199.7 million rupees ($2.8 million) of interest on borrowings from Dubai-based Mashreqbank PSC, Altico said in an exchange filing. The ...

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• 15 September

  India’s $1.4b housing fund ‘not enough’ to spur sector

  

  Bloomberg The Indian government’s decision to launch a $1.4 billion fund to salvage stalled residential projects is unlikely to revive a sector that’s been the worst hit by the growth slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy. As part of a broader plan to kick-start the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the setting up of a 100 billion rupee fund to ...

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• 15 September

  US probes Nissan’s top-selling model

  

  Bloomberg The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Nissan Motor Co’s top-selling model after hundreds of drivers complained a safety system is prone to suddenly triggering the brakes for no apparent reason. More than 840 Nissan Rogue drivers have complained to NHTSA and the company that the vehicle’s automatic emergency braking system activates when there’s no obstruction ...

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• 15 September

  Seoul to exclude Tokyo from trade whitelist

  

  Bloomberg South Korea will probably announce its decision to officially exclude Japan from its “whitelist” of trusted export destinations as early as this week, Yonhap reported. Should the measures be implemented, Japan will be removed from the group of 29 member states of the export control regime that also includes the US and will be subject to stricter export conditions, ...

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• 15 September

  Chinese startup breaks even en route to IPO

  

  Bloomberg China’s Uber-for-trucks startup Full Truck Alliance said it’s weighing an initial public offering after breaking even from May, defying a sector-wide downturn. The company, which is backed by SoftBank Group Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd, said its improved financial performance dovetailed with its decision not to follow through on a plan to raise as much as $1 billion in ...

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• 15 September

  Manila not satisfied with lower tax take from online gaming

  Bloomberg Philippines Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez wants the main tax agency to shut down and file cases against online gaming operators that haven’t paid their dues. Dominguez issued the order after finding out that the Bureau of Internal Revenue hasn’t substantially collected the 21.6 billion pesos ($420 million) in income taxes that should have been withheld by online gaming operators, ...

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• 15 September

  Union allows GM’s contract to expire, raising odds of a strike

  

  Bloomberg The United Auto Workers (UAW) let its contract with General Motors Co expire after unsuccessful talks over an extension, setting the stage for a strike by the union’s 46,000 US workers. The UAW said it will work without a contract while it decides on a course of action. It had been bargaining with the largest US automaker before a ...

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• 15 September

  WeWork plows ahead with IPO, announces governance changes

  

  Bloomberg WeWork is pressing ahead with plans for a public listing, announcing a series of governance changes aimed at shoring up a sagging valuation and assuaging critics who say it gave too much power to a polarising co-founder. The company will trim the voting advantage that gives chief executive officer Adam Neumann sway over the board, and no member of ...

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• 15 September

  Merkel’s drive to slash CO2 output may cost $44bn

  

  Bloomberg Policies being hammered out in Germany to slash carbon emissions may cost 40 billion euros ($44 billion) over the next four years, underscoring the wide scope of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to boost climate protection. Meeting in Berlin, party leaders from Merkel’s alliance progressed in agreeing steps to ensure that Germany meets a 2030 emissions target, according to a ...

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