Category Archives: Business

Judge orders FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried to jail after bail revoked

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Lewis Kaplan says he has cause to believe defendant ‘had tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice’ since December arrest

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail has been revoked ahead of his October fraud trial after prosecutors accused the indicted founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX of tampering with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried is expected to report to jail later on Friday after Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the decision at a hearing over Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions in federal court in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried was taken directly into custody at the conclusion of the hearing. He was led out of the courtroom by members of the US Marshals Service.

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RMT announces Saturday rail strikes in August and September

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Rail workers’ union says 20,000 members from 14 firms will strike on 26 August and 2 September

Members of the biggest rail workers’ union are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members from 14 train operators would walk out on 26 August and 2 September.

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Saudis ask to join UK, Italy and Japan’s joint air combat programme

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UK-backed move could help spread cost of developing fighter jet and drones, but may prove controversial

Saudi Arabia has asked the UK, Japan and Italy to be made a full partner in their joint effort to build the next generation of fighter jets, in a move backed by the British government.

Companies from the UK, Japan and Italy are working together to build a new fighter jet and other systems such as drones under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), also known as Tempest. The programme aims to deliver the first planes by 2035, a tight turnaround.

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Southern Water owner Macquarie invests further £550m

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Australian investment bank funds troubled UK utility’s overhaul of pipes and sewage works

The Australian infrastructure investor Macquarie has confirmed it will inject a further £550m into the UK’s Southern Water in an attempt to turn around the troubled company.

The funds are intended to help Southern Water, which supplies Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to overhaul its leaky pipes and faulty sewage works.

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Owners of ‘LGBT’ Swatch watches could be jailed for three years in Malaysia

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Sellers of timepieces with rainbow colours face same punishment as country says they could ‘harm morals’

Owners or sellers of rainbow-coloured timepieces made by the Swiss watchmaker Swatch face three years in prison in Malaysia, the interior ministry has said, as the Muslim-majority country rails against LGBTQ+ symbols it says could “harm morals”.

Homosexuality is outlawed in Malaysia and LGBTQ+ people face discrimination.

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UK considers tighter rules on investment in China after US clampdown

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Rishi Sunak mulls whether to follow US lead in restricting funding for advanced technologies

The British government is considering tightening rules on investment in China after the US president announced new measures aimed at limiting the dollars and expertise flowing into sensitive technologies in the country.

Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that authorises the US treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict US investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics; quantum information technologies; and certain artificial intelligence systems.

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UK government urged to scrap 20% VAT on period pants

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Campaigners say absorbent alternative to tampons and sanitary towels should not be classed as garments

MPs, retailers and charities have written to the government urging it to axe the 20% VAT on period pants, the absorbent underwear designed to be worn as an alternative to tampons and sanitary towels.

Period pants are classed as garments but campaigners are asking Victoria Atkins, who as financial secretary to the Treasury is the minister responsible for VAT, to get them reclassified as period products in the chancellor’s autumn statement later this year.

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Lotus produces record 2,200 sports cars in first half of 2023

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British carmaker also gearing up for sales of new Eletre electric SUV under Chinese owner Geely’s expansion plans

The British carmaker Lotus produced a record number of sports cars in the first half of 2023, as it gears up for a huge push behind sales of a new electric SUV under its Chinese owners’ expansion plans.

Lotus, which marked its 75th anniversary this year, produced 2,200 vehicles in the first six months of the year at its factory in a former second world war bomber factory at Hethel in Norfolk.

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Biden bans range of US high tech investments in China citing national security risk

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The order – to be implemented next year – restricts investments in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum tech and AI

Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that will narrowly prohibit certain US investments in sensitive technology in China and require government notification of funding in other tech sectors.

The long-awaited order authorises the US treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict certain US investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and certain artificial intelligence systems.

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Wilko suspends home deliveries as it holds talks on rescue deal

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Budget retailer and adviser PwC have until Monday to find new funding

The troubled budget retailer Wilko has stopped offering home deliveries for orders on its website as it holds last-ditch talks on a potential rescue deal.

The household and garden products retail chain, which has about 400 stores, warned last week that it was on the brink of collapse, with more than 12,000 jobs at risk.

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Nomad Foods sees sharp rise in sales after increasing prices

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Firm says profitability suffered due to post-pandemic inflation and Ukraine war

Nomad Foods, the owner of Birds Eye, Findus and Goodfella’s pizzas, has seen a sharp rise in sales after it increased prices by 18%, amid political scrutiny over food pricing.

The business, which supplies the UK’s major supermarkets, said sales had risen by 8.6% in the three months to the end of June. The number of items sold dropped by 9.4%, but profits rose by 6.8% to €210m.

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China’s economy is struggling but fears of sustained deflation are premature

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Trade with rest of world is shrinking and youth unemployment is at 20% but state interventions are expected

China’s economy is struggling. The recovery after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions is faltering. Its trade with the rest of the world is shrinking. A decade-long boom in house prices has come to an end.

The most obvious manifestation of the troubles besetting the world’s second biggest economy is that China is now officially in deflation. In the US, the UK and the eurozone, prices are rising – albeit not quite as fast as they were a few months ago – but in China they are actually falling.

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Business lobby rejects Coalition’s ‘disingenuous’ claims Labor pursuing big Australia policy

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Business Council of Australia wants migration to be more business-friendly and rejects concerns of a surge in arrivals

Big business has sided with the Albanese government by rejecting the “misconception” that migration is higher than normal and the “disingenuous” claim by the Coalition that Labor is pursuing a big Australia policy.

In a report titled Migration Makes Australia Stronger, to be released on Thursday, the Business Council of Australia calls for reforms to make migration more business-friendly and rejects concerns about a surge in arrivals after Covid border closures were lifted.

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Amazon leaders fail to commit to end deforestation by 2030

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Eight South American presidents including Brazil’s Lula say rich countries need to pledge more resources to help protect rainforest

Amazon leaders have called on rich countries to help them develop a Marshall-style plan to protect the world’s largest rainforest – but stopped short of committing to zero deforestation across the biome by 2030 amid divisions over oil extraction.

In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day summit in the Brazilian city of Belém on Wednesday, the eight South American countries that are home to the Amazon rainforest said ensuring its survival could not be solely up to them, as resources from the forest were consumed globally.

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Commonwealth Bank posts record $10bn profit amid rising stress for borrowers

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Annual results for CBA are 6% higher than previous year, buoyed by expanded profit margins during interest rate hikes

Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, has posted a record $10.16bn cash profit, even as more of its customers succumb to rising borrowing rates, prompting a sharp increase in bad debts.

The bank’s 2022-23 results were 6% higher than a year earlier, buoyed by expanding profit margins generated during a period of fast-rising interest rates.

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Risk of UK recession at next general election is 60%, says thinktank

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Economic experts say it will take until third quarter of 2024 for output to return to pre-pandemic peak

Rishi Sunak will fight the next election against a backdrop of an economy suffering from five years of lost growth and a widening of the gap between the prosperous and less well off parts of Britain, a leading thinktank said on Wednesday.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said it would take until the third quarter of 2024 for UK output to return to its pre-pandemic peak and that there was a 60% risk of the government going to the polls during a recession.

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Public could receive hundreds of millions as water firms face sewage lawsuit

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Class action legal claim on behalf of 20 million householders in England and Wales could top £800m in compensation

The public could receive hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation in the first class action against water companies which are alleged to have failed to reveal the true scale of raw sewage discharges, and abused their position as privatised monopolies.

A collective case against six water companies alleges they have failed to properly report sewage spills and pollution of rivers and seas to the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the regulator for England and Wales. The first of six parallel claims is against Severn Trent Water on behalf of its 8 million customers. Claims against Thames Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water are being brought in the coming months.

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Starbucks loses court challenge against order to rehire union supporters

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Judge writes: ‘Fear of retaliation will exist unless Memphis seven, apparently terminated for their union support, are reinstated’

A US appeals court on Tuesday rejected Starbucks Corp’s challenge to a ruling requiring the coffee chain to rehire seven employees at a Memphis, Tennessee, store who were allegedly fired for supporting a union.

The decision by the Ohio-based sixth US circuit court of appeals is the first from an appeals court involving a nationwide campaign that has seen workers at more than 300 Starbucks locations vote to unionize.

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Italy approves 40% windfall tax on banks for 2023 as profits soar

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Proceeds from levy on interest rate income will be used to help mortgage holders and cut taxes

Italy has announced a one-off 40% windfall tax on local banks that have been accused of reaping billions in extra profit from rising interest rates.

The Italian government, which approved the surprise tax in a cabinet meeting on Monday night, said it planned to use the proceeds to support mortgage holders and cut taxes, at a time when rising rates have put extra pressure on households.

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Chinese economy slips into deflation as recovery falters and demand slows

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Consumer price inflation data shows prices fell by 0.3% year on year in July

China’s economy has fallen into deflation after consumer prices fell year on year last month for the first time in more than two years, official data shows, as slowing domestic spending weighs on the country’s post-Covid economic recovery.

The consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, fell 0.3% in July, the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) said, having flatlined in June. A survey of analysts had anticipated a 0.4% year-on-year decline.

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