In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the US sought to rally its allies to block construction of a Soviet oil pipeline that would supply Red Army forces in Eastern Europe. It was an exercise in futility. West Germany grudgingly agreed not to supply high-technology pipes for the project. But Britain, Italy and Japan all rebuffed Washington’s appeals. ...
Read More »Citigroup’s Brexit warning for London
If you weren’t listening extremely carefully, you’d be forgiven for missing it. But slipped into a broader conversation about Brexit’s impact on banking, a global finance chief has signaled that one of most dreaded, longer-term effects on the City of London is a real possibility. Asked about Citigroup Inc.’s Brexit plans, Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat confirmed what is, by ...
Read More »UBS’s crown jewels are losing their sparkle
Overseeing money for the rich is supposed to be one of the best businesses in banking, but even the world’s biggest wealth manager is finding that it doesn’t always work out like that. In what were undoubtedly difficult market conditions, clients pulled funds from UBS Group AG in the fourth quarter, leaving the firm short on one of its key ...
Read More »China Inc. is battling a crisis of confidence
China’s industrial sector is facing a crisis of confidence. So far, Beijing’s solutions haven’t been enough to shore it up. In response to streams of gloomy data — from retail sales and industrial profits to layoffs — officials have vowed billions of yuan in support for railway infrastructure investment, employment incentives, tax cuts and loan disbursements. China watchers are now ...
Read More »India’s next budget may rely on some bogus numbers
In a few weeks, India’s finance minister will present what’s called an “interim budget†— the accounts of the year gone by, as well as his plans for the year to come. It isn’t supposed to be a regular budget because the government faces reelection in a few months; the convention is that the next finance minister gets to make ...
Read More »Grab can’t afford to fail the finance test
After sending rival Uber Technologies Inc. packing from Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets, homegrown ride-hailing firm Grab Pte. set itself a stiffer target. It wants to be a regional super-app. Think of it as a digital conglomerate that hooks customers for one thing, only to promise them value for several others, sort of like a Netflix Inc. subscription that ...
Read More »Europe’s next two fronts in its war on Google
Despite its lobbying, Google can’t seem to win in Europe. The French privacy watchdog has blown through the US internet giant’s claim to comply with data-protection legislation, and its threat to pull its news-aggregation service in the region will likely prove far less effective than the company expects. Google’s troubles with the European Union’s antitrust authorities are well-known: the company ...
Read More »Amazon Go attracts a host of cashierless imitators
Bloomberg Mighty AI spent much of its first five years building software that helps self-driving cars recognise real-world objects. The Seattle startup went so far as to open a Detroit office to cozy up to the auto industry. Then last February, Mighty AI’s sales team received an unusual request: Instead of identifying pedestrians and cars, could they track items plucked ...
Read More »Tencent, Netease still frozen out as China approves latest games
Bloomberg Tencent Holdings and Netease Inc were again left out when regulators green-lit the latest batch of online games, spurring concern that China’s largest gaming companies may have to wait longer than anticipated to start making money off hit titles. Neither company appeared on a list of 93 domestic games approved for licenses in January and were also absent from ...
Read More »Boeing flying car shows glimpse of the future
Bloomberg A Boeing Co flying car designed to whisk passengers over congested city streets and dodge skyscrapers completed its first test flight, offering a peek into the future of urban transportation the aerospace giant and others are seeking to shape. A prototype of its autonomous passenger air vehicle completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the test conducted in ...
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