September, 2018

• 1 September

  Brazil court bars Lula from presidential race

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s imprisoned Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been banned from running for president in October after months of commotion that had tainted what is already the most unpredictable election in decades. In a 6-1 ruling, the country’s top electoral court decided that Lula’s candidacy cannot stand, given his 12-year sentence for corruption and money-laundering by an appeals court ...

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• 1 September

  China’s Xi looks to Africa to counter aid efforts criticism

  Bloomberg President Xi Jinping was expected to use a gathering of dozens of African leaders in Beijing to push back against criticism that China’s vast development initiatives risked saddling emerging economies with debt. Xi’s speech recently to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation gives him a high-profile chance to defend his signature Belt and Road Initiative to develop roads, railways, ports, ...

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• 1 September

  Trump’s Asia summit snub fuels doubts about US commitment

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump will skip two major summits in Asia in November, a move that could stoke concerns in the region about the US’s reliability as a counterweight to China. The White House said that Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Singapore for an 18-nation summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, before heading to Papua ...

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• 1 September

  Italy could be shut out of ECB’s control room after Draghi era

  

  Bloomberg Italy could soon find itself excluded from the heart of euro-area monetary policy for the first time in the currency’s two-decade history. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s eight-year term ends in October 2019 and his country has no automatic path to a seat on the Executive Board after that. Instead, its populist leaders must negotiate with the same ...

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• 1 September

  Yes Bank plunges as India defers 3-year extension for CEO

  

  Bloomberg Shares of India’s Yes Bank Ltd. plunged after the central bank deferred approving another three-year term for Chief Executive Officer Rana Kapoor, while allowing him helm the bank for the time being. Kapoor has received the RBI’s approval to continue as managing director and CEO of the Mumbai-based lender until “further notice” from the regulator, Yes Bank said in ...

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• 1 September

  StanChart’s Winters wants to ‘take a look’ at Ethiopia banking

  

  Bloomberg One emerging market has so far eluded Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters: Ethiopia. Winters, head of London-based Standard Chartered since mid-2015, would “love to think that there are opportunities” in Ethiopia, he said in an interview in Nairobi, Kenya. The problem is that it’s entirely closed to foreign banks. “The underlying fundamentals are pretty interesting,” said ...

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• 1 September

  Banks worry ideology trumping economic needs in South Africa

  

  Bloomberg Banks are worried that South Africa is taking a wrong turn with laws being considered by the nation’s parliament that could leave the economy worse off. “They do not seem to be the legislative underpinning of a comprehensive, implementable national economic recovery plan,” the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) said in a statement distributed in Johannesburg. “Rather they ...

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• 1 September

  Indian bank quits Antwerp diamond hub in blow for gem financing

  

  Bloomberg Union Bank of India is pulling out of the global diamond hub of Antwerp, joining a retreat of lenders from the industry, which has been hit by fraud and bad debt. The bank has given notice that it will close its branch in the Belgian port city within a year, according to Chief Executive Officer Rajkiran Rai Gundyadka. Antwerp ...

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• 1 September

  HNA’s debt declines for first time, shrinking by $8.3bn

  

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co.’s debt, one of the highest among Chinese companies, declined for the first time after the embattled conglomerate reversed a multi-year acquisition spree by selling off dozens of assets to stay in business. Total debt fell 9.5 percent to 541.6 billion yuan ($79 billion) at the end of June, down about $8.3 billion from the record high ...

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• 1 September

  Meituan plans to raise $4.5 billion in Hong Kong IPO

  

  Bloomberg Meituan Dianping, a Chinese food delivery giant, plans to raise as much as $4.5 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the matter, The company plans to sell shares between HK$60 ($7.64) and HK$72 apiece, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The offering has ...

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