Bloomberg Norsk Hydro ASA said it made progress in securing its computer systems after the Norwegian aluminum maker was hit by a ransomware cyber attack. The company plans to restart overnight some systems in divisions that make finished metal, which should help it continue deliveries to customers. It has detected the “root cause†of the attack, but doesn’t know how ...
Read More »Orban enters showdown as EU party weighs expulsion
Bloomberg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s role as a trailblazer for resurgent nationalist forces in the European Union faces a reckoning as the bloc’s largest political family weighs whether to expel or suspend his illiberal party two months before crucial EU elections. The verdict by the European People’s Party (EPP) due on Wednesday afternoon was expected to signal whether the ...
Read More »Fugitive Indian jeweller arrested in London, say police
Bloomberg Indian diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, who allegedly defrauded a state-run bank of $2 billion, was arrested and is due to appear in court on Wednesday, London’s Metropolitan police said in a statement. Indian authorities are seeking to extradite Modi, who dressed stars including Kate Winslet, Dakota Johnson and Priyanka Chopra, and face charges of fraudulently acquiring guarantees from Punjab ...
Read More »Kazakh leader quits, puts daughter in contention
Bloomberg Kazakhstan began a new political era, at least formally, as Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was sworn in as president on Wednesday, succeeding leader-for-life Nursultan Nazarbayev. One of his first acts was to move Nazarbayev’s daughter into contention as a successor. The Kazakh Senate unanimously elected Dariga Nazarbayeva as the body’s new chairwoman, putting her formally in the line of succession to ...
Read More »May stuck in fight over Brexit delay
Bloomberg Britain’s messy divorce from the European Union is once again stuck between the demands of Theresa May’s divided government and the reality of what the bloc is willing to offer her — this time over how long the delay to Brexit should be. With just nine days left until the UK is due to exit the EU, the prime ...
Read More »Algeria’s ruling party supports protesters
Bloomberg Algeria’s ruling party on Wednesday voiced support for protesters demanding the country’s embattled president step down, in the latest signal of growing rifts within the ruling powers. In comments carried by Algerian television, National Liberation Front chief Moued Bouchareb said Abdelaziz Bouteflika “understood the popular protests and its demands.†A statement issued by the party’s brass after a testy ...
Read More »US campaign against Huawei must survive the trade deal
The US-led campaign against Huawei Technologies Co., China’s telecom giant, has attracted a lot of attention for the indictment of the company’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Last week, Huawei’s lawyers pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to 13 counts of fraud involving an elaborate scheme to violate US sanctions against Iran. That case is no doubt ...
Read More »BOJ gets extra innings to hit a single
Haruhiko Kuroda is miles from where he wants to be. About 200 miles. That’s the distance from Tokyo to Nagoya, where the Bank of Japan governor gave a very upbeat speech last year. Some interpreted those remarks as laying the groundwork for a shift from the ultra-accommodation that’s been the central bank’s trademark. In terms of monetary policy, Nagoya might ...
Read More »Fintech is spiralling into $34 billion stratosphere
Every deal in the payments business looks expensive – until the next one comes along. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) is paying a heady $34 billion plus for Worldpay Inc. not much more than a year after the rival payments processing company bulked up with an expensive takeover of its own. The logic of the combination is simply greater scale ...
Read More »Germany is making its big bank problem even bigger
Germany has come up with a solution to the deep troubles at one of the world’s largest banks: make it part of an even bigger one. The people who oversee Europe’s financial system had better be ready for the consequences if this doesn’t end well. The Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank is in talks to merge with crosstown rival Commerzbank — a ...
Read More »