December, 2017

• 3 December

  Modi government is getting atleast one big reform right

  

  According to one of India’s most respected bankers, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a mammoth sale of distressed assets, some $40 billion in the first round. Much could go wrong, of course, especially given that so many powerful interests have so much money at stake in the process. Fortunately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has stumbled in some of its biggest ...

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• 3 December

  CDB is offering Indian banks a risky reliance

  

  By making a bid to push Reliance Communications Ltd into bankruptcy, China Development Bank (CDB) has one what Indian lenders were trying their best to avoid. But now that it’s pulled the trigger, State Bank of India and other domestic creditors won’t be terribly unhappy. The Indian wireless company owes one fifth of its $7 billion debt to CDB, which organized ...

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• 3 December

  While Time Warner is in limbo, watch the walking dead

  

  Recent developments in the media world are suddenly highlighting the takeover value of also-ran TV-network operators such as AMC Networks Inc. and Viacom Inc., just as many of their stocks trade near lows. AT&T Inc.’s pending acquisition of Time Warner Inc., the parent of HBO, has been hogging the media spotlight, with the US Justice Department suing to block the ...

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• 3 December

  Apple all set for in-house chip designing

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is designing its own power-management chips for use in iPhones from as early as 2018, reducing its dependence on Dialog Semiconductor Plc, Japan’s Nikkei reported, without identifying its sources. The report sent Dialog plunging the most in almost eight months. Such chips handle charging and power-management functions in smartphones, and UK-based Dialog relies on Apple for about ...

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• 3 December

  Amazon brings Alexa voice-command tools to workplace

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. announced new voice-activated tools for the workplace, hoping that verbal commands—“Alexa, print my spreadsheet”—will handle common office tasks. Alexa for Business will let users issue voice commands to begin a video conference or print documents, among a multitude of common workplace functions, Amazon said at its cloud computing conference in Las Vegas. “You no longer ever have ...

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• 3 December

  ‘Internet must have privacy, security and humanity’

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook made his first appearance at China’s World Internet Conference, using the surprise keynote to call for future internet and AI technologies to be infused with privacy, security and humanity. Cook made the comments on Sunday at the opening ceremony for the conference—an event designed to globally promote the country’s vision of a ...

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• 3 December

  Brexit may leave banks on hook for rewriting contracts

  

  Bloomberg As far as Brexit headaches go, Barclays Plc’s John McFarlane says that while his bank is on top of job relocations, he’s more concerned about rewriting “hundreds of thousands” of contracts. He’s not alone. Andrew Bailey, head of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, said “contract continuity” is among the biggest potential disruptions in a no-deal, no-transition Brexit. Both Bailey ...

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• 3 December

  ‘Nordea Bank’s 6,000 job cuts are just beginning’

  

  Bloomberg One of Sweden’s main financial-worker unions says the job cuts announced in October by Nordea Bank AB are just the beginning of a transformation that’s about to hit the whole industry as more financial firms come to rely on digital solutions. The Nordic region’s biggest bank has yet to reveal to its staff who exactly will be affected by ...

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• 3 December

  Australian banks’ U-turn on conduct probe bid to cut risk

  

  Bloomberg If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s the calculation Australia’s biggest banks and the government have made in deciding to cave in to pressure for a public inquiry into alleged misconduct in the financial industry. After months of denouncing the idea of a Royal Commission as an expensive waste of time, the big four banks staged a backflip ...

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• 3 December

  Eonia mystery deepens despite no indications of wider funding stress

  

  Bloomberg A second daily surge in Europe’s overnight benchmark rate, which banks use to provide loans to one another, sparked widespread speculation among traders about the trigger, though there were no signs of wider funding stress. Some traders attributed the jump in the Eonia rate to possible year-end funding squeeze at some lenders, while others pinned it down to demand ...

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