August, 2019

• 24 August

  Firms might be smarter with workers in boardroom

  

  When legendary physicist Richard Feynman was called in to help solve the mystery of the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986, he didn’t use advanced math. Instead, according to his own account of the incident, he went and talked to the engineers. The workers who actually built the space shuttle, he found, had a good idea of which parts were ...

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• 24 August

  Apple readies new iPhones, iPads and larger MacBook Pro

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc is readying a clutch of new hardware for the coming weeks and months, including “Pro” iPhones, upgrades to iPads and its largest laptop in years. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning to announce three new iPhones at an event next month, according to people familiar with the situation. The handsets will likely go on sale in ...

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• 24 August

  Stanford grads near $1bn value for driverless trucks

  

  Bloomberg Sequoia-backed PlusAI Inc is close to raising about $200 million in new funds at a valuation of more than $1 billion to bankroll its development in autonomous trucks, according to people familiar with the matter. The self-driving truck startup is working with advisers on the funding round with plans to set up a joint venture with one of the ...

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• 24 August

  Javelin-ferrying autonomous bots to roam at Tokyo Olympics

  

  Bloomberg When athletes and organisers descend on Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games, they’ll be ferried around in autonomous cars, while torch relay runners will be accompanied by AI-equipped cars. Robots will ferry javelins and hammers. All told, Toyota Motor Corp will provide 3,700 vehicles, including dozens of self-driving cars, about 500 fuel-cell vehicles and 850 battery-electric cars to the ...

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• 24 August

  Carney urges Libra-like reserve currency to end dollar dominance

  

  Bloomberg Mark Carney laid out a radical proposal for an overhaul of the global financial system that would eventually replace the dollar as a reserve currency with a Libra-like virtual one. Just a few months before he steps down as Bank of England governor, Carney offered his vision for the international economy at a time of sweeping change. Trade wars ...

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• 24 August

  Commerzbank considers cutting 2,000 jobs more

  

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG is considering cutting an additional 2,000 jobs as part of its strategy update this fall, as Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke contends with a weaker economy and the prospect of even lower interest rates. The bank would seek to achieve those cuts by 2022 or 2023, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Various other scenarios ...

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• 24 August

  UK watchdog orders RBS, Santander to fix ‘breaches’

  

  Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Banco Santander SA were ordered to appoint an independent auditor for their claim processes after issuing inaccurate information, or failing to send reminders altogether, about the insurance policies that turned into the costliest scandal in UK banking. The banks had previously been ordered to send yearly reminders, including how much customers ...

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• 24 August

  Swiss fintech firm becomes a $1bn unicorn

  Bloomberg A Zurich-based fintech firm whose investors include Josef Ackermann has raised additional money to value the company at more than $1 billion as it prepares to expand outside its main market of Germany. Numbrs Personal Finance raised $40mn to bring the total capital invested to almost $200mn, CEO Martin Saidler said. Numbrs offers an app that enables users to ...

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• 24 August

  NAB sued over alleged home loan ‘violations’

  

  Bloomberg National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) has been sued by the securities regulator for allegedly accepting home loan applications from unlicensed ‘introducers.’ Under its so-called Introducer Program, the bank’s staff accepted information and documents in support of 297 loan applications from 25 people who weren’t licensed to engage in credit activity, Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in a statement. ...

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• 24 August

  Sri Lanka cuts interest rates again to spur growth

  

  Bloomberg Sri Lanka cut interest rates for a second time this year, a day after Indonesia did the same, as central banks in the region move to cushion their economies against a global slowdown and trade tensions. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka lowered its benchmark standing lending facility rate to 8% from 8.5%, in line with the forecasts of ...

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