January, 2017

• 16 January

  $1bn settlement removes Takata’s airbag sale hurdle

  

    Bloomberg Takata Corp.’s agreement to pay $1 billion to settle a criminal investigation removes a hurdle to the air-bag maker’s sale, which the company needs to continue operations and complete the biggest product recall in automotive history. The Tokyo-based company admitted to hiding the deadly risks of its air bags for about 15 years and agreed to plead guilty ...

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• 16 January

  Italy calls Fiat recall push unacceptable as German spat widens

  

    Bloomberg Italian Transport Minister Graziano Delrio dismissed Germany’s demands to recall Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV cars for alleged pollution violations as “completely unacceptable,” refusing to give in after months of pressure over emissions standards. “Our tests demonstrate that there are no illegal devices or abnormal procedures” involving Fiat Chrysler vehicles, Delrio told Italy’s RAI3 state television channel on Sunday ...

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• 16 January

  Acacia jumps on talks for $4bn merger

  

    Bloomberg Acacia Mining Plc jumped in London trading after the gold miner confirmed it is in early-stage talks with rival Africa-focused producer Endeavour Mining Corp. about a possible merger of the two companies which have a combined value of about $4 billion. Acacia, which mines the precious metal in Tanzania, jumped as much as 7.7 percent to the highest ...

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• 16 January

  BMW pushes back after Trump threatens tariffs on Mexico cars

    Bloomberg BMW AG sought to defuse potential tensions with President-elect Donald Trump by noting its factory in the US is its largest in the world and that a new, smaller factory in Mexico will make cars for its global customers and not just Americans. Trump singled out BMW in an interview with German newspaper Bild on Sunday, saying the ...

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• 16 January

  Atlas Copco plans to split to list mining tools business

    Bloomberg Atlas Copco plans to break itself up and list its mining tools business in the biggest-ever shakeup of the Swedish company that could spark takeover interest. A newly created company with annual sales of about 28 billion kronor ($3.1 billion) will focus on mining and construction-equipment making, and will be spun off to shareholders in a tax-free distribution, ...

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• 16 January

  QNB seeks growth in South East Asia after Q4 profit rises

  

    DUBAI / Reuters Qatar National Bank (QNB) is broadening its horizons in Southeast Asia after the Gulf’s largest lender reported 8.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, according to reports. It follows a year in which the bank cemented its position as the largest lender in the Middle East and Africa by assets after completing the 2.7 billion euro ...

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• 16 January

  Polish banks plunge as regulators’ FX-loan plan revives woes

  

    Bloomberg Polish bank shares tumbled on Monday as the country’s watchdogs are seeking to impose higher capital requirements aimed at encouraging lenders to ditch foreign-currency home loans. The WIG Bank gauge slumped 1.7 percent as of 11:36 a.m. in Warsaw, led by MBank SA and Bank Millennium SA, sliding from a one-year high reached last week. Lenders should lift ...

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• 16 January

  JPMorgan upgrades Indonesia, lifts call that riled Jakarta

  

    Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded its assessment of the Indonesian stock market, reversing an earlier bearish call that prompted Jakarta to stop doing business with the U.S. bank. The bank’s analysts raised their ‘tactical’ view of Indonesian equities one level to “neutral” in a report on Monday, saying volatility in emerging-market bonds following Donald Trump’s US election victory ...

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• 16 January

  Asia banks seek tech hires over ‘rock-star’ bankers this year

  

    Bloomberg Financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region will be more inclined to hire technology specialists this year than investment bankers as they enhance product offerings and upgrade their systems, according to a survey by Options Group Inc. Among regional financial-services managers, 40 percent say they expect to increase their headcount for information technology-related roles this year, according to a ...

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• 16 January

  Bank Dhofar Q4 net profit falls 19.6%

    DUBAI / Reuters Oman’s Bank Dhofar, the second-largest lender in the sultanate by assets, posted a 19.6 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations. The bank reports a net profit of 10.75 million rials ($27.95 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, compared to 13.37 million rials in the same period of 2015. Net loans ...

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