April, 2018

• 15 April

  The dollar is casualty of trade spat with China

  

  In recent weeks, investors witnessed a rare concurrence of market developments. Widespread concern about escalating trade conflicts caused equities to plunge and US Treasury yields to decline. So far, the reaction has been a textbook case of investor behaviour. Yet, for all the turmoil, the dollar did not prove to be a safe harbour, and has remained weak against major ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  A rebuttal of Jack Ma’s op-ed piece on China being open

  

  In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma made the case against escalating trade tensions between the world’s two most powerful economies. “Both Sides Would Lose a US-China Trade War,” was the headline. It’s the same argument I made a month ago, and I wasn’t the first because, frankly, it’s kind of ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Facebook can’t remain a benevolent dictatorship

  

  As lawmakers grill Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it’s clear many are wrestling with whether and how the government should regulate tech companies. A recurring question is whether they have any inherent ideological biases. In his testimony to the Senate, Zuckerberg called Silicon Valley “an extremely left-leaning place.” While voter patterns at the regional level and likely the employee level at ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Flush with cash, Canada banks poised for expansion, takeovers

  

  Bloomberg Canadian banks have amassed their biggest war chest in five years — and they’re ready to use it. The country’s six largest lenders are approaching their strongest capital position since 2013, leaving them with enough resources to pursue acquisitions, buy back shares or build from within. That has the chiefs of Canada’s big banks weighing options. “It’s great to ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  BOJ upbeat on regional Japan; wary over labour crunch, trade war risk

  

  TOKYO / Reuters The Bank of Japan mostly held an optimistic view on regional economies, in a sign of its conviction over a broadening recovery but warned that labour shortages and a US-China trade war could cloud the outlook. The central bank’s assessment in a report suggests it will probably maintain its upbeat growth and price forecasts when it conducts ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  US regulators seek easing capital curb on leverage

  

  WASHINGTON / Reuters US bank regulators proposed easing a key capital rule designed to restrict bank leverage, a move that would free up $400 million of capital across the largest US banks. The proposal from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would reduce the “enhanced supplementary leverage ratio” (eSLR) and more closely tie the ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Japan, China bank groups challenge EU rule changes

  LONDON / Reuters The Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the China Banking Association (CBA) have joined forces to challenge proposed European Union regulations aimed at policing possible market risk posed by foreign lenders doing business in the bloc. In a letter to the European Commission seen by Reuters, the JBA and CBA — which represent hundreds of lenders from both ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Deutsche Bank kingmaker’s CEO move triggers criticism

  

  FRANKFURT / Reuters Once one of Germany’s chief power brokers in finance, Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner’s switch of chief executive has triggered criticism that it was rushed through, casting a cloud over his own future. Achleitner forced out CEO John Cryan after a row that centred on what some describe as Cryan’s ‘indecisiveness’ in cutting jobs and costs, according ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Gamble to sell Air India hits turbulence in test for Modi

  

  Bloomberg A plan to sell off India’s flagship airline is facing headwinds before it even gets started. Narendra Modi’s boldest asset sale yet is the proposed divestment of Air India, the nation’s money-losing flag carrier, has run into rough weather after some of the potential bidders opted out upset with the government’s terms. This setback, however, is the least of ...

  Read More »
• 15 April

  Hundreds of flights disrupted as spring storm hits US Midwest

  Bloomberg Hundreds of flights were disrupted Saturday as a severe spring storm threatened to dump record snowfall on parts of the Midwestern US, while ice and freezing rain hit Canada’s Ontario province. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a regional hub for Delta Air Lines, has had to slow or halt aircraft throughout the day, contributing to about 350 cancelled flights, according ...

  Read More »