March, 2019

• 9 March

  US trade snub should be wake-up call for India

  

  It’s hard to find anyone willing to say — on the record — that anything could be wrong with the relationship between India and the US. Over the past 20 years, the world’s two largest democracies have grown steadily closer. But the truth is that this has happened in spite of the economic linkages between the two countries, not because ...

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• 9 March

  Russia’s dirty money tars Europe’s ‘elite’

  

  Even for those who haven’t been following the vicissitudes of European banks blow by blow, the latest wave of money-laundering allegations to hit some of the region’s lenders is reason to look away in despair. Firms from Swedbank AB to Raiffeisen Bank International are alleged to have handled a broad range of suspicious transactions involving Russian money. It will take ...

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• 9 March

  The benefits of more women’s empowerment

  

  Empowering women around the world, and especially in developing countries, is an urgent priority that goes well beyond social justice. Ample research has demonstrated and, in several cases, quantified the broader benefits for the economy, decision making, politics and society as a whole. The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP), announced by the White House last month, is one ...

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• 9 March

  Defying slowdown with robot servers and AI menus

  

  Bloomberg KFC’s owner in China is pushing ahead with expansion plans, opening two stores a day in the world’s biggest consumer market and banking on technology to help it cut costs, even as carmakers and industrial companies signal demand there is deteriorating. Yum China Holdings Inc., the nation’s biggest fast-food chain, which operates the KFC and Pizza Hut brands, is ...

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• 9 March

  Nintendo’s Switch makes its foray into VR games

  

  Bloomberg Nintendo Co.’s Switch hybrid is making its first foray into virtual reality games. The Nintendo Labo VR Kit lets gamers build a headset mostly out of cardboard so that they can slide in the device to create what the company calls “basic VR technology.” It’s reminiscent of Google’s Cardboard, which turns smartphones into VR goggles and was introduced almost ...

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• 9 March

  Samsung working on more foldable smartphone models

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. is working on a pair of new foldable smartphones to follow its Galaxy Fold, seeking to seize an early lead in new market segment. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be developing a clamshell-like device, and another that folds away from the user similar to Huawei Technologies Co.’s Mate X, people familiar with the matter ...

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• 9 March

  Apple in ‘difficult position’ for 5G iPhone parts: Cowen

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is expected to wait until 2020 before it releases a 5G version of its iPhone, but even with a time frame that puts a potential launch after rivals such as Samsung, Apple may still struggle to get the necessary components to build the product. According to Cowen, Apple is “in a difficult position” given its reliance on ...

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• 9 March

  Germany’s two shrinking banks near merger

  

  Bloomberg A merger of Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG is shaping up as the most likely endgame as Germany’s largest listed lenders are running out of time to show they can grow as standalone companies. The banks are intensifying informal talks as their turnaround efforts sputter, according to a person familiar with the matter. While there’s no formal mandate ...

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• 9 March

  Saudi weighs local bank tax hike to 20%

  

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is considering plans to increase an Islamic tax paid by local banks to as much as 20 percent, or double the current rate, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as the world’s biggest oil exporter seeks to bolster alternative sources of revenue. The tax authority is in talks with lenders about raising the religious levy, ...

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• 9 March

  ECB officials back stimulus policy to arrest slowdown

  

  Bloomberg Euro-area officials set out to defend their latest monetary-policy action, stressing their package of new long-term loans and revised guidance was an appropriate response to the region’s economic slowdown. “Hard data indicated that a reaction was needed,” Lithuanian Governing Council member Vitas Vasiliauskas told reporters in Vilnius. “It was a natural preemptive move.” Recent data have painted a gloomy ...

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