Category Archives: Business

China spent $240bn on belt and road bailouts from 2008 to 2021, study finds

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Rise in emergency financing for other countries since 2016 correlates with drop in infrastructure lending

China spent $240bn (£195bn) bailing out countries struggling under their belt and road initiative debts between 2008 and 2021, new data shows.

Research found that Chinese state-backed lenders released bailout funds to 22 countries, including Argentina, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. Almost 80% of the emergency rescue lending was issued after 2016, reaching more than $40bn in 2021.

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UK government drops plans for NFT made by Royal Mint

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Labour criticises Rishi Sunak ‘vanity project’ announced weeks before collapse in value of cryptocurrencies

The UK government has dropped its plans to produce a non-fungible token for sale through the Royal Mint, just under a year after it first announced the project.

In response to a question from the Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin, the Treasury’s economic secretary, Andrew Griffith, confirmed the abandonment, saying: “In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a non-fungible token at this time but will keep this proposal under review.”

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Royal Mail workers poised for strikes after Easter as talks fail

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CWU union lines up action as MP brands bosses’ threat to put service into administration as ‘scandalous’

Postal workers at Royal Mail are poised to stage a fresh wave of strikes after Easter as talks stalled, amid a “scandalous” threat by bosses to put the company into administration.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents about 115,000 postal workers, is close to agreeing multiple strike dates to take place later in April, the Guardian understands, in the long-running dispute between the company and union. A formal announcement of the strike dates is expected this week.

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Silicon Valley Bank collapse was fastest since Barings, says BoE governor

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Credit Suisse crisis was ‘drawn out’ compared with SVB demise, Andrew Bailey tells MPs

The governor of the Bank of England has admitted he was surprised by how quickly Silicon Valley Bank failed, saying it was the fastest demise of a lender since Barings Bank collapsed in the mid-1990s.

Andrew Bailey told MPs on the Treasury select committee it had been decades since a lender had gone from “health to death” within a matter of days, saying that Barings Bank – which was brought down by the rogue trader Nick Leeson – was the only worthwhile comparison to what happened to the US tech lender.

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Diageo appoints Debra Crew as its first female chief executive

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Former chief operating officer to be one of fewer than 10 women leading FTSE 100 companies

The world’s biggest spirits maker, Diageo, has appointed Debra Crew as chief executive, one of few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.

The company, which makes well-known brands including Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Guinness and Baileys, announced that Sir Ivan Menezes would step down on 30 June after 10 years as chief executive. It decided to promote Crew from chief operating officer to the top job, effective from 1 July.

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Latitude Financial faces possible class action after millions affected by data breach

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Cyber-attack in which information of 14 million customers has been exposed dubbed Australia’s largest to date

Latitude Financial Services could face a class action lawsuit from some of the 14 million customers who have had their personal information exposed in what has been dubbed Australia’s largest data breach.

Law firms Gordon Legal and Hayden Stephens and Associates announced on Tuesday they would investigate a potential legal action against Latitude over the breach.

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Saudi National Bank chair resigns after Credit Suisse comments

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Ammar Al Khudairy’s remarks about Swiss lender spurred investor panic that led to emergency takeover

The chair of the Saudi National Bank has resigned for “personal reasons” less than two weeks after his comments spurred investor panic over Credit Suisse that ended in an emergency takeover by its larger Swiss rival, UBS.

The Saudi National Bank (SNB), which was Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, announced on Monday that it had “accepted” Ammar Al Khudairy’s resignation, and that he would be immediately replaced by its chief executive.

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British Airways cancels 300 flights during Heathrow staff’s Easter strikes

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Airport security staff due to hold 10 days of strikes over pay, forcing airline to axe 5% of its schedule

British Airways is to cancel more than 300 flights to and from Heathrow over the Easter holiday period due to strikes by airport security staff.

The airline is axing about 5% of its schedule, with 16 return short-haul flights cancelled daily. It said the majority of affected customers would be booked on to alternative flights within 24 hours, or could be fully refunded.

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Italian academic cooks up controversy with claim carbonara is US dish

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Alberto Grandi also raises hackles with suggestion Wisconsin has most authentic take on parmesan cheese

An Italian academic has caused more than a stir after saying the recipe for carbonara is American and the only place in the world to find bona fide parmesan cheese nowadays is Wisconsin.

Alberto Grandi, a professor of food history at the University of Parma, made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times. He also claimed tiramisu and panettone were relatively recent inventions and that most Italians had not even heard of pizza before the 1950s.

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EU ministers to approve vehicle emissions law after deal with Germany

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Berlin secures concessions over future use of e-fuels after going back on agreement struck last year

EU ministers are expected to approve a draft law on emissions standards for cars on Tuesday, after reaching a deal with Germany over the weekend that ended a damaging row over a key part of Europe’s green deal.

Pascal Canfin, a French centrist MEP who chairs the European parliament’s environment committee, said an EU law that all cars sold from 2035 must produce zero emissions “will be voted unchanged, including by Germany” on Tuesday.

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Elon Musk memo suggests Twitter worth less than half of what he paid for it

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Calculation based on leaked offer to staff that implies firm valued at $20bn compared with $44bn he bought it for

Twitter is worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it six months ago having lost more than $20bn (£16.4bn) in value, according to calculations based on a leaked memo from the billionaire.

Musk suggested in memo to the social media company’s staff that it is now valued at less than $20bn. This compares with the $44bn he paid for it in October 2022.

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Investors force HSBC shareholder vote on structural overhaul

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Minority shareholder Ken Lui leads campaign seeking to split bank’s Asian and western businesses

Hong Kong investors have forced HSBC into a shareholder vote on its structure and strategy, including a potential spin-off of its Asian arm.

An investor group, led by the minority shareholder Ken Lui, said the bank’s Asian activities were “effectively subsidising the western businesses, to the detriment of HSBC’s global shareholders” in a way that undermines efforts to increase the bank’s value and growth.

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NSW election 2023 live results: polls have closed and votes are now being counted after Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns made final pitches – latest news

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Premier casts vote in seat of Epping and Labor leader says he is ‘feeling optimistic’ as party hopes to return to power after 12 years in opposition

Dominic Perrottet has given some more expansive comments after voting a short time ago in his seat of Epping. He and Labor leader Chris Minns spoke last night, exchanging text messages and wishing each other good luck.

Here’s some more from the premier:

It’s a real honour to serve the people of New South Wales. There’s a lot at stake in this election. I will be working hard all day.

It’s not about the Liberal or National party. Ultimately, elections are about our people. My team has the plan to deal with the challenges of today, but we’re all wanting to set up the state for the children.

Our party has been here for 12 years, it’s transformed New South Wales. We were the worst performing economy, the state had stalled. We’ve turned that around. We’ve built schools and hospitals, the motorways have transformed people’s lives. But it’s all about the future and where we go from here. I believe my team has the plan, the experience, energy and ideas to take the state forward.

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Strawberries instead of bin liners: poll reveals strange supermarket delivery substitutions

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Shoppers reported replacement items in 47% of UK deliveries, including 62% from Asda, in Which? survey

Dog chews instead of chicken breasts? Strawberries in place of bin liners? These are just some of the strangest supermarket substitutions, according to a poll.

Almost half of supermarket deliveries (47%) included a substitute item over the past 12 months, the survey for the consumer group Which? found.

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Head of Credit Suisse talks of his profound sadness over UBS takeover

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Ulrich Körner acknowledges an ‘emotional and challenging week’ after deal was forced through by Swiss authorities

The chief executive of stricken Credit Suisse has said that he shares its employees’ “profound sadness and disappointment” after its emergency takeover by rival UBS earlier this week.

UBS took over Credit Suisse on Sunday in a £2.65bn deal forced through by Swiss authorities amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would kickstart a global banking crisis.

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Network Rail warns of Easter disruption due to engineering works

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Train passengers advised to plan ahead over holiday weekend with west coast main line services hit

Rail passengers have been advised to plan ahead for Easter, with engineering works expected to close the west coast main line between some of Britain’s biggest cities.

No trains will run between London Euston and Milton Keynes throughout the four-day holiday weekend from Good Friday on 7 April, until Easter Monday, on 10 April, meaning replacement buses or alternative routes will be needed to travel between the capital and towns and cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

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Wetherspoon’s boss: hospitality holding off price rises could be ‘catastrophic’

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Tim Martin says Bank of England is right to ask firms to be mindful but advice should not be taken too literally

The boss of JD Wetherspoon has warned it could be “catastrophic” for pubs and restaurants to hold off raising prices as costs continue to soar, as the pub chain revealed that the “ferocious” impact of inflation has fuelled a dramatic increase in its bills.

Tim Martin said that Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, was right to warn companies to be mindful of how much they put up prices to avoid continuing to fuel an inflationary cycle, after the headline annual rate unexpectedly rose to 10.4% last month.

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‘Tours are no longer fun’: Neil Young lambasts Ticketmaster for ripping off fans

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Singer-songwriter says ‘the old days are gone’ amid wider consternation at ticketing company’s pricing policies

Neil Young has lambasted Ticketmaster over its concert ticketing policies, saying “concert tours are no longer fun” due to what he sees as exploitative pricing.

Young wrote on his website:

It’s over. The old days are gone. I get letters blaming me for $3,000 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers. Concert tours are no longer fun. Concert tours not what they were.

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Man suspected of being crypto fugitive Do Kwon arrested in Montenegro

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South Korean CEO of Terraform Labs is accused of multi-billion-dollar fraud involving TerraUSD and Luna currencies

A man suspected of being the fugitive South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon, accused of orchestrating a multi-billion-dollar fraud that shook global crypto markets last year, has been arrested in Montenegro.

“Montenegrin police have detained a person suspected of being one of the most wanted fugitives, South Korean citizen, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based Terraform Labs,” the interior minister, Filip Adžić, tweeted late on Thursday.

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Ikea UK makes agreement with EHRC to improve policies on sexual harassment

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Company will review processes after reports allegations not properly handled by management at store

Ikea UK has made an agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to improve its sexual harassment policies and practices after a complaint by a former employee.

The agreement comes after the EHRC was made aware of an allegation of sexual assault and harassment at Ikea UK and reports that these allegations were not appropriately handled by management at one of the company’s UK stores.

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