Being a banker in London is probably the very definition of belonging to “the 1 percent.†Yet only one in three is satisfied with his or her pay, according to one survey. Considering the stagnant productivity in the city’s finance sector, perhaps they should be more grateful. Britain as a whole has been a productivity laggard since the financial crisis, ...
Read More »Solving the ocean plastic crisis starts with Asia
Since January 1, when China stopped accepting the rich world’s recyclable plastic waste, it’s gotten a ton of criticism for worsening the already deep crisis of ocean plastic pollution. But China isn’t the only culprit here. This is a crisis made — and growing worse — throughout developing Asia. Just eight countries in the region are responsible for about 63 ...
Read More »Europe banks exploit loophole in key rule to cut $145bn in trades
Bloomberg Some of Europe’s biggest banks may have found a perfectly legal way to exploit a weakness in one of the finance industry’s most loathed rules. Euro-area and Swiss lenders cut their short-term borrowings by tens of billions of dollars just before the end of each quarter, improving their reported financial health, only to build them up again in the ...
Read More »Indonesia favours rupiah stability above growth in rate move
Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is showing its willingness to sacrifice economic growth for currency stability in its latest aggressive move on interest rates. Bank Indonesia surprised economists with a bigger-than-forecast 50 basis-point hike, on top of two rate increases in May aimed at halting a currency rout. That takes the benchmark rate to 5.25 percent, with analysts betting there’s more ...
Read More »Deutsche Bank targets Indian market
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG, which is in the throes of a global restructuring involving thousands of job cuts, is zeroing in on an Asian market where an unprecedented bad-loan clean-up offers the potential for a credit bonanza. In India, where bankruptcy law changes have injected urgency into efforts to restructure $210 billion of stressed assets, Deutsche Bank sees an opportunity ...
Read More »UniCredit to sell $3.5bn of loans in cleanup
Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is selling at least 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of non-performing loans in different deals, while extending a partnership to manage troubled corporate debt as part of its cleanup strategy, according to people with knowledge of matter. The Italian bank is reviewing final offers for 700 million euros of unsecured loans in a disposal project dubbed Narciso ...
Read More »NZ central bank’s chairman blocks media from briefing on reforms
Bloomberg Reserve Bank of New Zealand Board Chairman Neil Quigley has blocked media from attending a presentation he will deliver on reforms at the central bank. Quigley is speaking on Tuesday at an Institute of Directors luncheon in Hamilton on “Governance and Decision-Making at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.†The event is open to institute members for NZ$50 ($34) ...
Read More »Airbus to miss A320neo delivery after engine issue
Bloomberg Airbus SE will miss its delivery target for Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neo narrow-body jets this year, after problems with the engines caused an almost three-month halt in shipments, people familiar with the matter said. The Toulouse, France-based planemaker expects to deliver 30 to 40 fewer of the aircraft than it previously anticipated, according to one of the people, who ...
Read More »Investor presses Nestle to fix strategy, sell L’Oreal stake
Bloomberg One year after buying a stake in Nestle SA and watching his holding lose value, activist investor Dan Loeb is running out of patience. Loeb fired off a 34-page presentation over the weekend, demanding a far more radical transformation than the world’s largest food company has so far embraced. Accusing Nestle of a “muddled strategic approach†that threatens its ...
Read More »Tesco forms purchasing alliance with Carrefour to cut costs
Bloomberg Tesco Plc is forming a purchasing alliance with French retailer Carrefour SA to increase its leverage with suppliers in a consolidating and price-squeezed supermarket business. The alliance between two of Europe’s largest retailers, with combined annual sales of about $171 billion, aims to enhance the companies’ clout in buying branded goods and private-label items as competition from discounters like ...
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