January, 2017

• 24 January

  China’s middlemen aren’t dead yet

  

    This could be Li & Fung Ltd.’s (very slim) chance to shine. Donald Trump on Monday officially quashed the Asia-Pacific free trade pact that would have made it cheaper for US companies to import goods from countries such as Vietnam and Japan. He has also threatened to institute a 45 percent tariff on goods imported from China. Conventional wisdom ...

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• 24 January

  China raises medium-term loan rate to tighten policy

  

    Bloomberg China’s central bank increased the interest rates on medium-term loans that it uses to manage liquidity, a move analysts say signals its intent to keep a tight rein on leverage in the financial system. The one year Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) rate was raised to 3.1 percent from 3 percent and the six-month rate to 2.95 percent from ...

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• 24 January

  Beijing urged to tighten monetary policy

    Bloomberg China should tighten monetary policy as signs of overheating emerge amid quickening inflation, according to the top-ranked forecaster for the nation’s economy. With policy makers torn between reining in price gains and stabilizing growth, corporate lending has become too cheap, said Song Yu, chief China economist at Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co. The real interest rate for companies ...

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• 24 January

  Lloyds suffers cyber-attack on bank’s UK systems

  

    Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc was hit by a cyber attack that disrupted online services for customers two weeks ago, a person with knowledge of the matter said, amid mounting concern over the threat hackers pose to major banks. Britain’s largest mortgage lender was targeted by a denial-of-service attack, which aims to cripple an online system by flooding it ...

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• 24 January

  Kenyan banks face new salvo with state-loan proposals

    Bloomberg A new row is brewing between Kenyan banks and parliament after a lawmaker proposed placing restrictions on deposits by state-owned companies, months after the state imposed a cap on lending rates. Kimani Ichungw’a, vice chairman of the Public Investments Committee, drafted a bill seeking to bar state-owned corporations from investing or depositing public funds with lenders in which ...

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• 24 January

  Lira trades sideways ahead of critical central bank meet

    Reuters Turkey’s lira was little changed on Tuesday, with investors holding back from taking big bets ahead of a central bank meeting later in the day seen as a critical test of its monetary policy credibility. The lira has fallen some 8 percent so far this year, making it one of the worst performing major emerging market currencies. Investors ...

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• 24 January

  Bond buyers grab disappearing bank debt ahead of Canada bail-in

  

    Bloomberg Bond investors are snapping up Canadian bank debt that’s likely to start disappearing under new government rules expected early this year to protect taxpayers from having to bail out a failing financial firm. About C$100 billion ($75 billion) in deposit notes outstanding — senior unsecured bank debt valued for its credit quality, liquidity, and widespread inclusion in portfolios ...

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• 24 January

  Ribbons running out for India’s typewriters

  

    NEW DELHI / AP The end is coming, though admittedly it may not look that way at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, when dozens of young Indians have arrived for morning classes at Anand Type, Shorthand and Keypunch College, and every battered Remington is clattering away. Looking around the cramped classrooms, you might think that the typewriter still ...

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• 24 January

  This ambulance makes dreams of hospice patients come true

  

    Mainz / AP A terminally ill woman’s dearest wish was to see her favourite soccer team play one last time. The woman, in her mid-50s, had suffered a heart attack and an infection of the abdominal cavity. Her hospice room was covered in football scarves and posters of German club FC Kaiserslautern. Thanks to the Workers’ Samaritan Federation (ASB), ...

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• 24 January

  Saudi stock market continues rebound, Egypt pulls back

  

    DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market continued rebounding on Tuesday in a generally strong Gulf region, while a drop by shares in real estate firm Emaar Misr dragged down Egypt. The Saudi index climbed 1.1 percent, adding to Monday’s 1.7 percent gain. With the fourth-quarter earnings reporting season more or less over, many Saudi firms have posted flat ...

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