It’s time for HSBC to tap an outsider CEO

Flint's hsbc exit points to end for insider ceos copy

Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Just 18 months into the job, John Flint has stepped down as CEO of HSBC Holdings Plc. It may be time for this lumbering giant to turn to an outsider rather than the homegrown veterans that the bank has typically chosen as its leaders. Flint was cut from the same cloth as his predecessors, having ...

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Yuan-dollar currency war will do collateral damage

It didn’t take long for the Donald Trump tweet. That you can get more than 7 Chinese yuan to the dollar for the first time since 2008 was always going to be a red rag to the White House bull in the escalating economic battle between Washington and China. The president tweeted — inevitably — that Beijing was a currency ...

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IMF top job shouldn’t be another stitch-up

After a messy selection process, the European Union’s finance ministers have picked Kristalina Georgieva as their candidate to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Bulgarian economist, currently chief executive of the World Bank, has suitable credentials but it would be wrong of the IMF board to rubber stamp her nomination just because a European has always held the post. ...

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New US sanctions on Cuba have a silver lining

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Cuban socialism has survived the collapse of the Soviet Union. So however much pain the Trump administration means to exact upon the island economy through a new bout of sanctions, the imminent demise of the autocrats in Havana seems unlikely. No doubt, the recent US-imposed measures, including a ban on cruises, restrictions on remittances and a green light for aggrieved ...

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Google thumbs its nose at European regulators again

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To call it brazen would be an understatement. A year ago, the European Commission fined Google parent Alphabet Inc. 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) and ordered it to stop making its search engine the default on Android-powered smartphones. The tech behemoth presented its remedy: it will ask other search engines to pay for the privilege. When setting up their handsets, ...

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Flying isn’t the worst offender for carbon emissions

Hand holding toy plane

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish clim-ate activist, recently ann- ounced that she will cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat to attend a United Nations global warming summit in New York. She does not believe in flying in airplanes, for the obvious reason that air travel is a contributor to the carbon emissions problem. I am here with a simple message: ...

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US futures rise with Europe stocks as China’s yuan gains

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Bloomberg US equity futures rose alongside European stocks while Asian shares fell after China moved to stabilise its currency, helping ease some of the market turmoil that kicked off the week. The global sell-off in equities abated after China fixed its yuan exchange rate at stronger than 7 per dollar, a key level that when breached in markets fuelled the ...

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Banks seeking softer capital rules rebuffed by EU regulator

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Bloomberg European banks lobbying for special treatment on new capital rules are in for a disappointment. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said the bloc should stick closely to what was agreed at a global level when it implements new regulations in the region, according to a report. It specifically rebuffed suggestions from banks on how to tailor the rules to ...

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SNB’s pile of US shares hit record $93bn in Q2

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Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) holdings of US stocks touched a record $92.7 billion in the second quarter, benefiting from a rise in equity markets. The SNB’s US regulatory filing is one of the few glimpses into its vast investment portfolio, amassed as a consequence of its interventions to weaken the franc. It revealed stakes in 2,554 US companies, ...

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