Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 July 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 July 2018

 


 

 


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*  Barclays Africa returns to its South African roots with Absa rebranding

*  South Africa's rand holds on to gains in calm early trade

*  South Africa's rand weakens as trade war sours risk demand

*  Rio Tinto's minerals sands operation in South Africa shut by protests

*  Libyan NOC announces reopening of export terminals

*  Brazil's Petrobras nears $1.3 bln sales of African venture stake -paper

*  South Africa's business confidence index falls again in June

*  Moroccan growth to slow to 2.9 pct in 2019 from 3.1 pct this year -
planning agency

*  Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation rises to 14.4 pct in June

*  Kenya's ARM Cement's shares plunge on bond payment report

*  China 'shocked' by US actions in trade dispute

*  Murdoch's Fox increases Sky bid to £24.5bn in takeover battle

*  Uber executive resigns after race discrimination probe

*  Facebook faces £500,000 fine from UK data watchdog

*  Apple employee 'stole driverless car secrets'

*   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Barclays Africa returns to its South African roots with Absa rebranding

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Barclays Africa changed its name back to Absa on
Wednesday, in a rebranding aimed at underlining its South African roots as
Britain’s Barclays gradually retreats from Africa.

 

The name change comes almost a year after Barclays sold most of its
controlling stake in Absa, South Africa’s third-largest lender, ending more
than a century of the British bank’s involvement in Africa to focus on its
home market and the United States.

 

“Today we celebrate an important milestone in our pursuit of our vision to
create a banking group that Africa can truly be proud of,” Absa Chief
Executive Maria Ramos said at an event in Johannesburg. “Our new brand is a
celebration of our deep sense of pride in our African heritage.”

 

Absa was originally an acronym for Amalgamated Banks of South Africa. It was
formed in 1991 through the merger of several South African banks including
Volkskas Bank, a financial services conglomerate founded in the 1930s to
mobilise the economic power of Afrikaners, white South Africans of mainly
Dutch descent who ruled under apartheid.

 

Barclays bought a majority stake in Absa in 2005, but reduced its stake last
year from 62 percent to 15 percent by selling shares to large investors,
including South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation.

 

Alongside the rebranding, Absa CEO Ramos has drawn up an ambitious growth
strategy to regain market share in retail banking at home and double the
sales contribution from its 10 operations elsewhere in Africa.

 

The bank also previously announced plans to expand its corporate and
investment banking unit with offices in New York and London.

 

Absa, which vies with Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand, will rebrand its
operations elsewhere in Africa over the next 12-18 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's rand holds on to gains in calm early trade

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand opened firmer on Tuesday,
extending gains from the last three sessions as a lull in global trade war
fears lifted demand for emerging currencies.

 

At 0640 GMT the rand was 0.26 percent firmer at 13.3850, slightly softer
than Monday’s three-week peak of 13.3100.

 

On Friday the rand closed beneath 13.50 for the first time since June 22 , a
key inflection point after tumbling to a seven-month low of 14.00 in an
emerging market selloff sparked by rising rates in the U.S. and jitters over
global growth.

 

Friday’s slower-than-expected growth in U.S. wages was the catalyst for the
correction, and the rand has since pushed through technical resistance at
13.40, with speculators targeting stops at 13.20 this week.

 

Tuesday’s session is light on local data, with only June business confidence
due at 0930 GMT.

 

Bonds were flat, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 steady at
8.625 percent.

 

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the
Top 40 futures index down 0.3 percent.

 

 

 

South Africa's rand weakens as trade war sours risk demand

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand retreated more than one percent
on Wednesday as an escalation in the trade war between the United States and
China hit global demand for emerging market currencies.

 

Stocks also weakened with commodity stocks taking the hardest knock.

 

At 1010 GMT the rand was down 1.5 percent to 13.5350 per dollar, its weakest
since Friday, snapping a six-session winning streak that propelled to its
firmest in nearly a month.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight Washington would impose further
tariffs Chinese goods, dampening hopes for a descalation in the trade row
investors fear will derail a global growth rebound.

 

Traders, already treading cautiously this week, said they were taking small
profits on the rand’s recent rally and positioning for a stronger greenback.

 

“This toing and froing between China and the U.S. isn’t helping emerging
markets. The rand hasn’t taken any local data into account over the last
couple of weeks. It’s all about the dollar,” said trader at TreasuryOne
Andre Botha.

 

 

The rand touched 13.2450 overnight, near a key technical resistance mark,
but backtracked soon after with recent buyers now looking to sell beyond the
13.50 level.

 

Short-term momentum indicators also suggested the currency had strayed into
overbought territory, exacerbating the selloff.

 

Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 rising
6 basis points to 8.73 percent.

 

On the bourse, The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index was down 1.6
percent at 50,948 points, while the broader All-Share index had slipped 1.56
percent to 57,119 points.

 

Commodity stocks were dragged lower by a global fall in precious metals in
response to the trade war fears.

 

Spot gold was down 0.4 percent while platinum fell platinum 0.5 percent.
Copper, zinc and lead all slumped between 3 and 4 percent to their lowest
levels in about a year.

 

Locally, the index of mining companies was down 2.1 percent, led lower by
Glencore, which was down almost 3.7 percent.

 

 

 

Rio Tinto's minerals sands operation in South Africa shut by protests

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A mineral sands operation on the South African
coast run by Rio Tinto has been closed since Friday due to violent community
protests which saw a security guard killed earlier this week, the company
and a union said on Wednesday.

 

Community unrest is a common feature of South Africa’s social landscape,
which is marred by high jobless rates and glaring income disparities,
underscoring the social risks for investors in the country’s mining sector.

 

“Due to the escalation in activity around the blockades on the access roads,
staff were sent home on Friday. Our highest priority is the safety of our
people,” a Rio spokesman said. The operation, Richards Bay Minerals, is on
South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast.

 

Mzi Zakwe, the regional secretary for the National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM), told Reuters the union’s 900 members were on forced leave because of
the violence, which he said was rooted in grievances between the company and
contractors.

 

Unrest has hit the area before, which is also near South Africa’s main coal
terminal.

 

Elsewhere in South Africa, the eastern limb of the platinum belt was hit by
more than 400 incidents of social unrest impacting mining operations since
between the start of 2016 and April this year according to data compiled by
Anglo American Platinum and reviewed by Reuters.

 

 

 

Libyan NOC announces reopening of export terminals

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya’s Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation
(NOC) said on Wednesday that four export terminals were being reopened after
eastern factions handed them the ports.

 

Force majeure, a legal waiver on contractual obligations, was lifted on the
ports of Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zueitina and Hariga, it said in a statement.

 

“Production and export operations will return to normal levels within the
next few hours,” it said.

 

 

Brazil's Petrobras nears $1.3 bln sales of African venture stake -paper

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petróleo
Brasileiro SA is close to agreeing the sale of its stake in an African
venture for around $1.3 billion, newspaper Valor Econômico said on Tuesday.

 

Petrobras, as the company is known, owns 50 percent of Petrobras Oil & Gas
BV, or Petrobras Africa. Grupo BTG Pactual SA holds a 40 percent stake in
the venture and Helios Investment Partners owns the remaining 10 percent.

 

All three shareholders would sell their stakes, valuing the venture at
around $2.6 billion, Valor said, citing an unnamed source.

 

Reuters reported on June 18 that a consortium led by Vitol SA had entered
exclusive talks to acquire stakes in Petrobras Africa, emerging as a winner
from a number of bidders including rival commodity trader Glencore Plc.

 

Representatives for Petrobras and Glencore did not immediately respond to
requests for comment. A Vitol representative declined to comment.

 

Petrobras Africa participates in two deepwater oil exploration blocks off
the coast of Nigeria that contain the Akpo and Agbami producing fields and
are operated by Total SA and Chevron Corp respectively.

 

Heavily indebted Petrobras unveiled plans to sell that stake in November as
part of a divestment program aiming to offload $21 billion in assets by
year-end.

 

 

South Africa's business confidence index falls again in June

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s business confidence fell for a fifth
month in a row in June, with activity mainly hit by a sharp decline in the
currency as well as slower retail sales.

 

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) monthly
business confidence index (BCI) fell to 93.7 in June from 94.0 in May, the
business body said in a statement.

 

It was the lowest reading since September 2017, and short of last year’s
average of 94.4.

 

Business confidence raced to a 2-1/2 year high in January after Cyril
Ramaphosa’s election as leader of the ruling African National Congress in
December, with the private sector anticipating business-friendly policy
changes following years of uncertainty under former president Jacob Zuma.

 

The enthusiasm has since stalled following a raft of lukewarm economic data
figures, most notably a wider-than-expected contraction in gross domestic
product in the first quarter.

 

“Uncertainties surrounding economic policy direction and position should be
clarified so that investor and business confidence can reaffirm itself,”
SACCI said in a statement.

 

A sharp slide in the rand, triggered by rising lending rates in the United
States and fears that a trade war between China and the United States would
slow global growth, has also dented confidence.

 

The rand has fallen about 15 percent against the dollar since the beginning
of April.

 

SACCI said seven of the thirteen sub-indices reflected negativity in the
business environment, with the trade-weighted exchange rate recording the
most notable decline.

 

“The risk of a global trade war has alerted certain industries in South
Africa, and they have already indicated it would affect industries and
employment negatively, while knock-on effects have been cited by
complementary industries and their export performances,” SACCI said.

 

 

Moroccan growth to slow to 2.9 pct in 2019 from 3.1 pct this year - planning
agency

CASABLANCA, Morocco (Reuters) - Morocco’s economic growth is expected to
slow to 2.9 percent in 2019 from a forecast 3.1 percent this year, the head
of the country’s planning agency said on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation rises to 14.4 pct in June

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation surged to 14.4
percent in June from 11.4 percent in May, the official statistics agency
CAPMAS said on Tuesday, after 10 months of steady decline.

 

The increase, which took economists by surprise, came after Egypt raised
fuel, electricity and taxi fares last month. The increases were part of
efforts to meet the terms of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan
programme from late 2016 that included cuts in energy subsidies and tax
increases.

 

The government in May raised metro fares in a move that had increased public
discontent, sparking a brief bout of protests.

 

“It’s certainly higher than what we estimated,” said Allen Sandeep, head of
research at Naeem Brokerage. “It is of course for the most part taking into
account the fuel subsidy cut.”

 

Prices soared in particular after the import-dependent country floated its
currency, the pound, in November 2016, reaching a record high of 33 percent
in July 2017. Inflation has eased since then, slowing its lowest level in
almost two years in May.

 

 

Kenya's ARM Cement's shares plunge on bond payment report

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Shares of Kenya’s ARM Cement dropped by the maximum
daily limit of 10 percent on Tuesday after a newspaper reported that it had
missed a bond interest payment.

 

The Business Daily newspaper reported that ARM last month failed to pay
bondholders interest on a bond it issued in 2015.

 

ARM CEO Pradeep Paunrana told Reuters that he was travelling and would
comment on the report at 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT).

 

Its shares were trading at 3.25 shillings at 0700 GMT, down 9.72 percent
from Monday’s close of 3.60 shillings, Reuters data showed.

 

The shares are down nearly 97 percent from their all-time peak of 98.00
shillings each at the start of 2014, as the problems in Tanzania fuelled a
collapse of its Kenyan market share from above 20 percent to the current 10
percent.

 

The shares were the most heavily traded on the Nairobi bourse in Monday’s
session, when they closed down 7 percent after media reports that the
company’s auditor had flagged internal debt worth 21 billion shillings
($208.13 million).

 

($1 = 100.9000 Kenyan shillings)

 

 

China 'shocked' by US actions in trade dispute

China said it is "shocked" after the US announced plans for fresh tariffs,
escalating a trade war between the two countries.

 

The US listed $200bn (£150bn) worth of additional products it intends to
place tariffs on as soon as September.

 

The move comes just days after the two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs
of $34bn on each other's goods.

 

Beijing described Washington's latest threat as "totally unacceptable,"
saying it would harm the world.

 

"The behaviour of the US is hurting China, hurting the world and hurting
itself," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement.

 

The spokesperson also said the government would have to take the "necessary
counter-measures".

 

The list names more than 6,000 items including food products, minerals and
consumer goods such as handbags.

 

The public will have until the end of August to comment on the list before
the new tariffs - to be imposed at 10% - come into effect.

 

China says it will respond to the new tariffs that President Trump has asked
his administration to prepare. But how?

 

It cannot directly match the total of $234bn worth of goods that the US has
in its sights, because it does not import enough American goods (another
fact which the US president complains about). Last year, US goods exports to
China were worth $130bn.

 

What Beijing could do instead is to make life more difficult for American
business interests, with more aggressive action by regulators, such as
safety inspections or financial investigations. China could also try to
force its currency lower to gain competitiveness.

 

There has even been speculation that China could sell some of the $1
trillion worth of US government debt (or bonds) that it holds. If it sold
enough, that could drive up the cost of borrowing in the US, but it would
also inflict losses on China, by forcing down the value of those bonds.

 

Asian stock markets fell sharply on Wednesday as investors shunned risk amid
escalating trade tensions between the two economic giants.

 

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.5%, while the Shanghai
Composite fell 1.8%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 1.2%.

 

Trump raises stakes in US-China trade war

How a US-China trade war could hurt us all

The White House says the tariffs are a response to unfair trade practices by
China.

 

The US wants China to stop practices that allegedly encourage transfer of
intellectual property - design and product ideas - to Chinese companies,
such as requirements that foreign firms share ownership with local partners
to access the Chinese market.

 

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said there was "no justification"
for China's retaliation.

 

"As in the past, the United States is willing to engage in efforts that
could lead to a resolution of our concerns about China's unfair trade
practices and to China opening its market to US goods and services," he
said.

 

"In the meantime, we will remain vigilant in defending the ability of our
workers and businesses to compete on a fair and reciprocal basis."

 

 

Media captionWhy the US-China trade war will hit most of our pockets

'Increasingly worried'

Many companies in the US are opposed to the administration's use of tariffs
against China, saying they risk hurting business and the economy without
being likely to change behaviour.

 

On top of the $34bn worth of tariffs that came into effect on Friday last
week, the White House has said it would consult on tariffs on another $16bn
of products. US President Donald Trump has suggested these could come into
effect later this month.

 

In total, the new import taxes that President Trump is threatening to impose
are almost equal to the value of China's entire goods exports to the US,
worth more than $500bn last year.

 

"It's a difficult situation for a number of our companies. They're getting
increasingly worried about where this is all going," Ed Brzytwa, director of
international trade for the American Chemistry Council, which represents
chemical companies, told the BBC on Tuesday before the latest measures were
announced.

 

"They can't figure out what the endgame is."--BBC

 

 

Murdoch's Fox increases Sky bid to £24.5bn in takeover battle

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has increased its offer for UK broadcaster
Sky to £24.5bn.

 

This tops a previous offer from rival bidder Comcast and is part of an
escalating battle between media giants, including Disney.

 

Fox is expecting to obtain regulatory approval in the UK for the deal this
week.

 

The firm has been waiting for the go-ahead from the government before
putting the deal to shareholders.

 

Murdoch concerns

Fox has been trying to get approval from UK regulators since 2016 to buy the
61% of Sky it does not own already.

 

The bid was held up by fears that it could give Mr Murdoch too much power
over UK media.

 

Fox has been trying to address those concerns by offering concessions,
including selling Sky News to Disney once the deal is complete.

 

In June, the then Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock, said the Fox deal could
go ahead if it sold Sky News, with certain provisos.

 

Disney increases bid for Murdoch's Fox assets

Sky takeover battle looms

What are the issues in Fox's Sky deal?

At the time, Mr Hancock said he needed to be confident that the deal ensured
the long-term financial viability of the channel.

 

Sky News would need to continue to be a major UK-based news broadcaster. It
would also need to be able to make editorial decisions independent from the
control of the Murdochs.

 

US media giant Comcast made a £22bn offer for Sky in February, trumping a
previous offer from Fox, which valued Sky at £18.5bn.

 

Mr Hancock said in June that there would be no public interest concerns with
a Comcast takeover of Sky.

 

The government is expected to give its decision on Fox's Sky bid on Friday.

 

If the Department of Culture, Media and Sport gives regulatory go-ahead for
the bid, as is expected, then Fox has 28 days to notify shareholders that
they need to vote on the deal.

 

The end of the week also happens to be the deadline for Comcast to post an
offer to Sky shareholders, who then have 60 days to consider that offer
under UK takeover rules.

 

The new bid for Sky is a whopping 80% more than the market thought Sky was
worth before the bidding war started.

 

A source close to the deal said: "It's absolutely unbelievable - they are
way overpaying."

 

And I'm told it's not done yet. "I think Comcast want it more - and will be
back."

 

The big question may be for Disney, which, if the price goes any higher, may
start to think that the company they want to buy - Fox - is overpaying for
Sky.

 

As one source at Sky told me: "If you can figure out what the strategy is
here, then let me know."

 

Here goes: the approval of the merger between AT&T and HBO's owner Time
Warner in the US started an all-out global media arms between old giants and
new pretenders such as Netflix.

 

In that arms race for content and distribution, price is secondary to scale.
And Sky - with its 20 million subscribers in Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and
Ireland - hands the victor European distribution at scale on a single
(increasingly expensive) plate.

 

The skirmish for control of Sky is being fought in the shadow of an even
bigger battle - a struggle for control of prized entertainment assets owned
by Fox, including its stake in Sky.

 

Disney and Comcast are locked in a battle for those businesses which include
movie studios, cable channels, National Geographic and a 30% stake in video
website Hulu, as well as Indian network Star.

 

In June, Disney raised its offer for those assets to $71.3bn (£54bn) in cash
and shares.

 

Under the deal, Fox would keep Fox Sports, Fox News and Fox Television
Stations and make them into a new company called "New Fox".

 

Established media companies like Disney are looking for deals that would
help them meet the challenge of fast-growing rivals including Netflix and
Amazon.

 

George Salmon, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "There's
enough sub-plots in the race to acquire Sky to commission a prime-time
drama."

 

Another Fox offer for Sky was no surprise in itself, he said, but the offer
was slightly lower than anticipated, which "brings another twist".

 

"There's every chance it might entice another counter from Comcast. That
might explain why the shares still trade above the latest offer price," he
added.

 

"Whoever ends up in control will have acquired an attractive asset, but the
price tag can't be ignored.

 

"Before Fox's original offer, Sky was trading at under £8 a share. Yes,
securing another three years of Premier League football at a lower cost is a
significant development, but if the bidding war rumbles on much longer, the
risk of overpaying becomes all the more real."--BBC

 

 

Uber executive resigns after race discrimination probe

A senior executive at the ride-hailing firm Uber has resigned, following an
investigation into how she handled allegations of racial discrimination at
the firm.

 

Liane Hornsey was head of Uber's human resources department, with the title
of chief people officer.

 

She had been in the role for 18 months.

 

Her departure comes just a year after the firm's founder, Travis Kalanick,
left under a cloud following reports of gender discrimination and
harassment.

 

Since then, new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has focused on turning
around the company's reputation and overhauling what some said had become a
toxic corporate culture.

 

The departure of Ms Hornsey, who previously worked for Google, represents
another setback for the firm.

 

Uber has also had to wrestle with licensing problems in major cities,
including London, and has had to call a temporary halt to its driverless car
programme following a fatality.

 

At "new" Uber, in the post-Travis Kalanick age, they're taking no chances.

 

As head of HR, Liane Hornsey had survived Uber's well-publicised troubles,
despite being at the helm of a firm with some famously deep-rooted people
problems.

 

But now, time is apparently up. Officially the company isn't going into the
details - but a source at the company confirmed to me the details in
Reuters' report: that an investigation into how Ms Hornsey handled racial
discrimination complaints was the reason she had to leave.

 

Liane Hornsey came to the company with quite a reputation. The former
Googler was seen as a major coup, one of the most well-regarded names in
tech industry HR. And Uber really needed her help - it was growing rapidly.
It will now need to move on without her.

 

Anonymous whistleblowers at Uber have claimed Ms Hornsey systematically
dismissed internal complaints of racial discrimination. They said reports to
the firm's internal anonymous tip line were often left unresolved or
dismissed, especially if they dealt with issues of race.

 

Unnamed employees also said Ms Hornsey had used discriminatory language and
made derogatory comments about two fellow Uber executives.

 

Law firm Gibson Dunn carried out an investigation which substantiated some
of the allegations made. A second investigation is expected.

 

Mr Khosrowshahi praised Ms Hornsey in an email to employees as "incredibly
talented, creative and hard-working".

 

Neither he nor Ms Hornsey gave any reason for her departure.

 

Ms Hornsey, in a separate email to employees, said she realised her exit
"comes a little out of the blue for some of you, but I have been thinking
about this for a while".

 

Uber said the set of complaints over racial discrimination had been properly
dealt with.

 

"We are confident that the investigation was conducted in an unbiased,
thorough and credible manner, and that the conclusions of the investigation
were addressed appropriately," it said.--BBC

 

 

Facebook faces £500,000 fine from UK data watchdog

The UK's data protection watchdog intends to fine Facebook £500,000 for data
breaches - the maximum allowed.

 

The Information Commissioner's Office said Facebook had failed to ensure
another company - Cambridge Analytica - had deleted users' data.

 

The ICO will also bring a criminal action against Cambridge Analytica's
defunct parent company SCL Elections.

 

And it has raised concerns about political parties buying personal
information from "data brokers".

 

Specifically it named one company used by the Labour Party, Emma's Diary,
which gives medical advice and free baby-themed products to parents.

 

Facebook said it would respond to the report "soon".

 

The ICO also said another company - Aggregate IQ - which worked with the
Vote Leave campaign in the run up to the EU Referendum, must stop processing
UK citizens' data.

 

The fine is modest compared with previous sanctions on Facebook.

 

In 2017 it was fined 110m euros (£95m) by the European Commission, which in
the same year punished Google for 2.42bn euros (£2.1bn).

 

But information commissioner Elizabeth Denham said companies also worried
about reputational damage.

 

The impact of behavioural advertising, when it came to elections, was
"significant" and called for a code of practice to "fix the system", she
said.

 

Such a code would ensure that "elections are fair and people understand how
they are being micro-targeted".

 

The action comes 16 months after the ICO began its probe into political
campaigners' use of personal data following concerns raised by whistleblower
Christopher Wylie, among others.

 

The ICO found Facebook had breached its own rules and failed to make sure
Cambridge Analytica had deleted this personal data.

 

While Cambridge Analytica insisted it had indeed wiped the data after
Facebook's erasure request in December 2015, the ICO said it had seen
evidence that copies of the data had been shared with others.

 

"This potentially brings into question the accuracy of the deletion
certificates provided to Facebook," said an ICO spokesperson.

 

Lifestyle information

The ICO has also written to the UK's 11 main political parties telling them
to have their data protection practices inspected.

 

It is concerned the parties may have bought lifestyle information about
members of the public from data brokers, who might have not have obtained
the necessary consent.

 

Naming Emma's Diary, the ICO said it was concerned about how transparent the
firm had been about its political activities.

 

It said that the Labour Party had confirmed using the firm, but did not
provide other details except that it intended to take some form of
regulatory action.

 

The service's owner Lifecycle Marketing told the BBC it did not agree with
the ICO's initial findings.

 

"For over 25 years we have operated with integrity and within the spirit of
data regulation," said a spokeswoman.

 

"As the ICO investigation continues we will freely cooperate... and cannot
comment further at this stage."

 

What else has Facebook been fined for here?

Looking wider, the ICO noted Facebook had been the biggest recipient of
digital advertising by political parties and campaigns to date.

 

Yet, it said, the US firm had neither done enough to explain to its members
how they were being targeted as a consequence, nor given them enough control
over how their sensitive personal data was used.

 

As a result, it said, Facebook was guilty of a second breach of the Data
Protection Act.

 

Facebook has a chance to respond to the Commissioner's Notice of Intent,
after which a final decision will be made.

 

The tech firm's chief privacy officer issued a brief response.

 

"As we have said before, we should have done more to investigate claims
about Cambridge Analytica and take action in 2015," said Erin Egan.

 

"We have been working closely with the ICO in their investigation of
Cambridge Analytica, just as we have with authorities in the US and other
countries. We're reviewing the report and will respond to the ICO soon."

 

How will Cambridge Analytica be dealt with?

Cambridge Analytica, which claimed it could swing elections, and its parent
SCL Elections, shut down in May.

 

But the ICO said it was still taking legal steps to bring a criminal
prosecution.

 

The basis for this would be that SCL Elections had failed to properly
respond to an earlier demand that it give a US academic a copy of any
personal information it held on him along with an explanation as to its
source and usage.

 

Bearing in mind SCL Elections is now out of business, the ICO said it might
consider taking action against the company's directors.

 

How is AggregateIQ involved?

The ICO said it had established that the Canadian data analytics firm
AggregateIQ - AIQ - had access to UK voters' personal data provided by the
Brexit referendum's Vote Leave campaign.

 

It said it was now investigating whether this information had been
transferred and accessed outside the UK and whether this amounted to a
breach of the data protection act.

 

The watchdog added that it continued to investigate to what degree AIQ and
SCL Elections had shared UK personal data.

 

And it said it had served an enforcement notice forbidding AIQ from
continuing to make use of a list of UK citizens' email addresses and names
that it still holds.

 

What else is the regulator doing?

Other action includes:

 

*         an investigation into allegations that Arron Banks' Eldon
Insurance Services illegally shared customer data with the Leave.EU group he
co-founded, and used the business' call centre staff to make calls on behalf
of the campaign - claims the firm has previously denied

*         a probe into the collection and sharing of personal data by the
official Remain campaign - Britain Stronger In Europe - and a linked data
broker

*         an audit of the University of Cambridge's Psychometrics Centre.
The department carries out its own research into social media profiles. The
ICO said it had been told of an alleged security breach involving one of the
centre's apps and had additional concerns about its data protection efforts

*         a call for the government to introduce a code of practice limiting
how personal information can be used by political campaigns before the next
general election

*         efforts to ensure ex-staff from SCL Elections and Cambridge
Analytica do not illegally use materials obtained from the business before
its collapse

The ICO said it expects the next stage of its investigation to be complete
by the end of October.--BBC

 

 

 

Apple employee 'stole driverless car secrets'

A former Apple employee has been accused of stealing the company's
self-driving car secrets and trying to flee to China with them.

 

Xiaolang Zhang worked on Apple's driverless car project but allegedly
planned to move to Chinese autonomous vehicle start-up Xiaopeng Motors, the
company says in court documents.

 

He was arrested at San Jose airport, California, on 7 July.

 

The FBI has charged him with stealing trade secrets.

 

'Copious pages'

According to the court documents, Mr Zhang was hired in 2015 to develop
software and hardware for Apple's autonomous vehicle project.

 

However, after visiting China in April 2018 he told his supervisor he
planned to move to the country to work for Xiaopeng Motors.

 

The supervisor informed Apple's security team, which found that Zhang had
downloaded "copious pages of information" from secret databases and had
taken hardware from its autonomous vehicle lab, the court documents allege.

 

The FBI said the data taken included "engineering schematics, technical
reference manuals, and technical reports".

 

'Sensitive content'

Mr Zhang is accused of downloading a 25-page "blueprint" for a self-driving
car circuit board to his personal computer.

 

About 2,700 "core employees" have access to the technical databases Mr Zhang
is accused of accessing.

 

He is also accused of taking circuit boards and a computer server from
Apple's self-driving vehicle hardware lab.

 

According to the court documents, Mr Zhang admitted to stealing the
information during an interview in June.

 

He also admitted using AirDrop to send sensitive content from his own device
to his wife's Macbook, they allege.

 

He could be fined $250,000 (£189,000) or jailed for 10 years, if found
guilty.

 

In a statement, Apple said: "We're working with authorities on this matter
and will do everything possible to make sure this individual and any other
individuals involved are held accountable for their actions."--BBC

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


NicozDiamond

shares delist from the ZSE

 

06/07/2018

 


Zimbabwe

Heroes’ Day

Zimbabwe

13/08/2018

 


Zimbabwe

Defence Forces Day

Zimbabwe

14/08/2018

 


The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

August 27- September 1

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
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investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


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