Bloomberg The world’s first all-electric vertical takeoff and landing passenger jet has been unveiled after completing its first flight. German startup Lilium aims to have a fleet of the five-seat aircraft — which can operate with a pilot or in drone mode — flying in cities worldwide by 2025, providing a pay-per-ride service that will be emission-free, five times faster ...
Read More »Robots take wheel as autonomous farm machines hit the field
Bloomberg Robots are taking over farms faster than anyone saw coming. The first fully autonomous farm equipment is becoming commercially available, which means machines will be able to completely take over a multitude of tasks. Tractors will drive with no farmer in the cab, and specialised equipment will be able to spray, plant, plow and weed cropland. And it’s all ...
Read More »Citigroup hit hardest as EU fines banks $1.2bn over forex trading
Bloomberg Citigroup Inc., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among five banks that agreed to pay European Union fines totalling 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for colluding on foreign-exchange trading strategies. Citigroup was hit hardest with a 310.8 million-euro penalty, followed by fines of 249.2 million euros and 228.8 million euros for RBS and ...
Read More »Negative rates are peanuts among bank woes: Coeure
Bloomberg Negative interest rates are not the main culprit for European banks’ feeble profitability, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said, signalling the institution is in no rush to bring relief. Sub-zero rates are costing euro zone banks roughly 8 billion euros ($9 billion) annually, which is “really peanuts†in this landscape, Coeure told lawmakers at a French ...
Read More »Biggest Swedish lender pulling out of Baltic business over high costs
Bloomberg Sweden’s biggest lender, Svenska Handelsbanken AB, is pulling out of the Baltic region arguing that the cost of staying is simply too big. Handelsbanken’s Baltic operations are far smaller than those of its Swedish peers, Swedbank AB and SEB AB. But the decision comes at a sensitive time. Estonia is at the center of a $230 billion money laundering ...
Read More »Philippines central bank mulls reserve ratio cuts
Bloomberg The Philippine central bank will consider reducing the reserve requirement ratio for lenders further if banks don’t misbehave and speculate against the peso, Governor Benjamin Diokno said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will “closely look at how banks will use funds freed up by RRR cut,†Diokno told a forum in Ma-nila, a day after announcing a 2 percentage-point reduction ...
Read More »Indonesia keeps key interest rate unchanged as global risks mount
Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as the currency comes under renewed pressure from an escalation in trade tensions between the US and China. The seven-day reverse repurchase rate was left at 6%, as predicted by all but one of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Perry Warjiyo and his board raised the rate by a ...
Read More »Chinese airlines mull teaming up for 737 Max compensation
Bloomberg China’s biggest airlines are considering banding together to seek compensation from Boeing Co for the disruption caused by the grounding of the US aircraft manufacturer’s 737 Max, people with knowledge of the matter said. Air China Ltd, China Southern Airlines Co and China Eastern Airlines Corp are exploring their legal options on how to coordinate their claims, according to ...
Read More »Amazon leads a $575mn funding round in Deliveroo
Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is leading a $575 million investment in Deliveroo, buying a slice of the fast-growing startup to propel its drive into the European food and groceries business. The US online retail giant will be joined in the Series G funding round by existing backers T Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Co and Greenoaks, Deliveroo said in an ...
Read More »Air Canada in talks to buy Transat airline for $387mn
Bloomberg Air Canada said it’s in exclusive talks to buy one of the country’s largest travel tour operators, Transat AT, for about $387 million amid a wave of consolidation in the Canadian airline industry. The country’s largest airline said in a statement it was prepared to pay C$13 a share for the Montreal-based company, a 23 percent premium to Transat’s ...
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