July, 2018

• 29 July

  Samsung Securities CEO resigns after $105bn stock blunder

  

  Bloomberg The chief executive of Samsung Securities Co. resigned after the company was punished by South Korea’s financial regulator because an employee’s error sparked a $105 billion “ghost stock” blunder. Koo Sung-hoon’s resignation was disclosed in a regulatory filing on July 27, a day after the Financial Services Commission ordered the firm to suspend Koo for three months. The firm ...

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• 29 July

  Jokowi pushes tourism for dollars as funds flee Indonesia

  

  Bloomberg As foreign funds continue to dump Indonesian stocks and bonds, President Joko Widodo is chasing dollars from tourism and exports to help contain a widening current-account deficit. Widodo, known as Jokowi, ordered ministers, officials and central bankers to step up efforts to lure more foreign visitors into the pristine sand beaches dotting hundreds of islands across the archipelago. He ...

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• 29 July

  Trump, son at risk if found lying about Russia meeting

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump faces potential legal and political danger if it’s proven he knew in advance about a meeting his son and campaign aides had with Russians said to be promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to former federal prosecutors. The allegation reportedly made by Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen adds an explosive twist to the famous June ...

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• 29 July

  Orban rallies EU ‘illiberal’ forces for elections

  

  Bloomberg Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, emboldened by the surge of right-wing parties across Europe, called for a united front by “illiberal” forces to win control in next year’s European Parliament elections. Having solidified his rule at home in the past eight years and reelected in April, Orban set his sights on wider dominance for his version of “Christian democracy”, that ...

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• 29 July

  Australian PM dealt blow as oppn sweeps elections

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was dealt a blow by Australian voters in by-elections held that boosted the main opposition Labor Party. Labor was returned in four of the five electorates up for grabs even after polls showed that Turnbull’s Liberal-National coalition had a chance to win two. A minor party retained the one seat it already held. The bulk ...

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• 29 July

  Cambodia strongman extends 33-year rule in boycotted election

  

  Bloomberg Cambodian PM Hun Sen extended his more-than-three-decade run in power, easily winning a boycotted election on Sunday after he disbanded the main opposition party last year. Khieu Kanharith, the government’s top spokesman, told the Associated Press that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won at least 70 percent of the vote. The results were never in doubt after Hun Sen moved ...

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• 29 July

  Zimbabwe parties in final push for votes

  

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s political parties made a last-ditch pitch for votes ahead of July 30 elections as a campaign distinguished by the absence of widespread violence that marred previous contests drew to a close. A credible vote and an accepted result would serve as a foundation for the southern African nation to rebuild its battered economy and relations with the international ...

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• 29 July

  Maduro suspect in probe as US keeps pressure on

  

  Bloomberg President Nicolas Maduro is a principal suspect in a US investigation into the embezzlement of more than $1 billion from the South American country’s state-owned oil company, the Miami Herald reported, as the US adds to the pressure on the socialist leader. Maduro, his three stepsons and other Venezuelan government officials are being investigated for links to an international ...

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• 29 July

  China’s shift from greenback detractor to record borrower

  

  Bloomberg China used to rail against the outsize role of the US dollar. But in a major turnaround, the world’s second-biggest economy has started embracing the currency of its larger rival. Chinese companies and banks—and even the government—sold bonds denominated in dollars at a record pace last year, and underwriters expect that growth to continue for years. The roughly half-trillion-dollar ...

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• 29 July

  Amateur investors get new way to make risky crypto bets

  Bloomberg Retail punters now have another way to make risky wagers on cryptocurrencies. CMC Markets Plc, a London-based brokerage controlled by Peter Cruddas, has joined rivals including Plus500 Ltd. and IG Group Holdings Plc in allowing amateur investors to make bets on Bitcoin and Ethereum, two of the biggest digital coins. Retail traders can use contracts-for-difference, a form of derivatives ...

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