March, 2017

• 21 March

  Vanishing buyers hit UK property brokers

  

    Bloomberg Britain’s largest property brokers are cutting jobs, closing branches and raising capital even as homes sell for record amounts. While some companies have blamed Brexit and tax hi-kes for a drop in transactions, high values have put off many other buyers. Demand for housing dropped to 6-month low in Feb, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. ...

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• 21 March

  Toronto home prices may jump 25% this year

  

    Bloomberg Toronto’s housing market is likely to stay strong for the rest of the year, with home prices jumping as much as 25 percent, amid hints that speculators are fueling demand and posing a potential risk to the economy, TD Economics Chief Economist Beata Caranci said. A “strong Toronto home-price forecast is not a vote of confidence in market ...

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• 21 March

  Deutsche Bank to face regulatory fines over foreign currency trades

  

    Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is expected to be fined by the Federal Reserve and New York’s Department of Financial Services for its conduct in the foreign exchange market, a person familiar with the matter said. The German lender said that the US Justice Department had closed a criminal inquiry into its currency-trading activities without action. But regulators are in ...

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• 21 March

  PPG prepares new Akzo bid after $22.4bn failed

  

    Bloomberg PPG Industries Inc. is preparing a renewed takeover bid for Akzo Nobel NV, according to people familiar with the matter, taking a second run at Europe’s largest coatings company after a previous offer was rejected. Exact details of the new proposal couldn’t immediately be learned. Akzo rebuffed PPG’s unsolicited 20.9 billion-euro ($22.4 billion) takeover bid on March 9, ...

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• 21 March

  Common euro bonds can smoothe ECB’s market exit

  

    The prospect of a halt to the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program at the end of the year removes a powerful bulwark against rising government borrowing costs. Together with the rise of anti-euro parties in Europe, it has also spooked investors. Now, perhaps it’s time to resuscitate the old idea of centralizing bond issuance by all euro members. Spanish ...

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• 21 March

  Asia’s lack of cyber defences are a missed opportunity

  

    It’s not often that we hear updates from Asia’s cybersecurity companies. That’s because there aren’t very many of them. NEC Corp. announced on Monday it will set up a security operations center in California under its Infosec Corp. affiliate. The initiative adds to teams in Japan and Europe, allowing NEC to run a “follow the sun” operation, similar to ...

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• 21 March

  Used to Big Brother, Chinese learn value of privacy

  

    China’s Communist government has never shown much concern for the privacy of Chinese citizens. If you have something to hide, the thinking goes, we probably need to know it. In one form or another, surveillance and monitoring have evolved into a well-honed form of social control. And as a result, neither companies nor consumers have traditionally had very high ...

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• 21 March

  Google overhauls policies after uproar over YouTube videos

  

    Bloomberg Google is giving marketers more control over their online ads after a slew of brands halted spending in the UK over concerns about offensive content. The Alphabet Inc. unit also expanded its definition of hate speech under its advertising policy to include vulnerable groups, which includes those discriminated against because of their identify, socioeconomic class or country of ...

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• 21 March

  Google launches Wi-Fi on wheels for students

    Bloomberg Eighth-grader Lakaysha Governor spends two hours on the bus getting back and forth to school each day. Thanks to a grant from Google, she can now use that time more productively and get her homework done. The aspiring forensic anthropologist is one of nearly 2,000 students in South Carolina’s rural Berkeley County who will ride to school on ...

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• 21 March

  SoftBank invests in WeWork at $17bn valuation

  

    Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. invested $300 million in WeWork Cos., a person familiar with the matter said, an influx of cash that values the New York-based coworking giant at more than $17 billion. The investment from SoftBank is the first in what will probably be a much larger stake, said the person, who asked not to be identified . ...

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