Bloomberg The South Korean trial of Samsung heir Jay Y. Lee for alleged bribery took an unusual twist as prosecutors said the company tried to conceal its gift of a 1 billion won horse ($885,000) by exchanging it for another animal. Prosecutors disclosed a series of text messages, emails and memos among Lee’s lieutenants to support allegations Samsung Electronics ...
Read More »China credit growth accelerates as shadow banking gauge picks up
Bloomberg China’s broadest measure of new credit increased more than estimated in March amid strong growth in shadow banking. New loans slowed for a second month while the money supply increased at the most sluggish pace since July. Aggregate financing stood at 2.12 trillion yuan ($308 billion), the People’s Bank of China said, versus a median estimate of 1.5 ...
Read More »US urges China to embrace more trade
Bloomberg The US stopped short of branding China a currency manipulator, but urged the world’s second-largest economy to let the yuan rise with market forces and embrace more trade. No major trading partner is manipulating its currency for an unfair trade advantage, according to the first foreign-currency report released by the Treasury Department under President Donald Trump. It kept ...
Read More »Abbott, Alere agree for $5.3 billion deal
Bloomberg Abbott Laboratories agreed to consummate its troubled acquisition of Alere Inc. in a deal that values the medical test maker’s equity at $5.3 billion, shaving $500 million from the original price and ending months of legal maneuvering that appeared headed for a Delaware court. Alere shareholders will get $51 a share in cash, according to a statement. While ...
Read More »Robust US job market not producing better pay
Bloomberg Growth in Americans’ wages has been leveling off lately, contrary to expectations that a steadily falling jobless rate will quickly lead to a sustained acceleration. Blame it on dismal productivity and lingering, albeit diminishing, slack even with unemployment at an almost 10-year low of 4.5 percent. The government’s most recent jobs report showed the underemployment rate — the ...
Read More »Uber sales growth outpaces losses
Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc. isn’t required to report its finances publicly, but the privately held company has decided to forgo that luxury for the first time. Uber said its revenue growth is outpacing losses, hoping to show the business is on a strong trajectory as it attempts to address a recent cascade of scandals. The ride-hailing giant more than ...
Read More »Apple preps up for road tests of self-driving car software
Bloomberg Apple Inc. will soon take its self-driving car software platform to public streets for the first time, a major step that gets the world’s largest technology company into a crowded race to reshape transportation. The California Department of Motor Vehicles granted clearance for trials of the autonomous driving technology on public roads, according to a notice on the ...
Read More »As Trump era starts, Wall Street banks thrive and lending stalls
Bloomberg US banks reporting their first profits under Donald Trump’s presidency are showing a split: Wall Street businesses are faring far better than some of those serving Main Street. The nation’s two biggest trading firms — JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. — posted surprisingly strong revenue from buying and selling securities in the first quarter, when political ...
Read More »Credit Suisse leaders cut their bonuses 40% after backlash
Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG leaders including Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam offered to have their bonuses cut by 40 percent after a growing number of investor advisory groups opposed the packages ahead of this year’s annual meeting. Thiam and the executive board volunteered to shrink long-term incentive awards for 2017 and short-term incentive awards for 2016, according to ...
Read More »On China, Trump realizes trade and security mix
The news media have been quick to note US President Donald Trump’s embrace of bombing in Syria and the need for NATO as reversals of the foreign policy he advocated on the stump. But he’s made another flip in the past week that’s just as consequential, and possibly more important for his future foreign policy. By asking China to ...
Read More »