October, 2016

• 5 October

  Iran denies power plant deal with MECI for 370MW

    Bloomberg Iran’s top renewable-energy authority denied that it’s signed any agreement covering electricity generation projects with a Swiss developer that has said it obtained power-purchase agreements for 370 megawatts of installations. The Renewable Energy Organization of Iran, which is known as Suna, hasn’t signed any deal with MECI Group International, said Jafar Mohamadnejad Sigaroudi, the deputy in charge of ...

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• 5 October

  Brexit won’t impact Asia much: WB

  

    Singapore / AFP Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union will not be as damaging to developing Asia’s economies as feared, the World Bank said Wednesday as it increased its growth forecast for the region this year. Countries in the Mekong region led by Myanmar are projected to expand at the fastest pace in the next three years, ...

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• 5 October

  Sompo to buy NY-listed firm for $6.3 billion

  

  Tokyo / AFP Sompo Holdings said on Wednesday it would buy Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings for $6.3 billion, becoming the latest Japanese firm to make an overseas acquisition as it faces slowing growth at home. The all-cash deal for New York-listed Endurance, which has a strong presence in the lucrative US market, is expected to be completed by the end ...

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• 5 October

  1MDB scam involved ‘Ponzi scheme’

  

    Geneva / AFP Switzerland said on Wednesday it had widened its probe into Malaysia’s scandal-tainted state investment fund, 1MDB, with transactions worth $800 million under scrutiny and evidence pointing to fraud through “a Ponzi scheme”. The Swiss attorney general opened an investigation into the troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in August 2015 following allegations that some of the money ...

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• 5 October

  Samsung’s bio-drug unit to raise $2bn in upcoming IPO

  

    Seoul / AFP Samsung’s drug-manufacturing unit plans to raise as much as $2.0 billion in November with what looks set to be South Korea’s third-largest initial public offering (IPO). Samsung Biologics, a contract manufacturer of biotech drugs for global pharmaceutical firms, had announced the IPO plan back in April — with parent Samsung Group seeking new growth engines as ...

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• 5 October

  India’s home auctioneers raise gavel on unwanted goods

  

    New Delhi / AFP On a scorching rooftop in a smart neighbourhood in the Indian capital, 40 Delhiites with an eye for a bargain peer over auction tables creaking with used, broken and half-eaten items, the front line of a thriving second-hand economy. The auctioneer’s voice rises to a frenzied pitch as the numbers soar higher, each item wielded ...

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• 5 October

  Taiwan to improve fishing fleet conditions

  

    NEW TAIPEI CITY / AP Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the world’s biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight. The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure ...

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• 5 October

  British PM faces immigration backlash in tough Brexit talk

  

    Birmingham / AFP Prime Minister Theresa May threw down the Brexit gauntlet to Brussels on Wednesday in a speech calling for “maximum freedom” in Europe’s single market despite a backlash against her hard line on immigration. May’s address to the Conservative party conference came as the pound plunged on currency markets and amid growing criticism of proposals to make ...

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• 5 October

  UK has four red lines in Brexit negotiations

    Bloomberg Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has ruled out paying contributions to the European Union budget to allow British companies access to the single market, according to a senior aide to Brexit Secretary David Davis, who gave the most specific outline yet of the U.K.’s “red lines” in the coming negotiations to leave the EU. The government’s Brexit department, ...

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• 5 October

  Canada watchdog warns of faulty N-monitoring

    Ottawa / AFP Canadian regulators are failing to monitor the country’s nuclear power plants properly and such safety lapses are unacceptable, an official said Tuesday. Canada has four nuclear plants with a total of 19 reactors in Ontario and New Brunswick provinces. They provide about 17 percent of the nation’s electricity. Regulators have carried out inadequate and irregular inspections, ...

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