Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 March 2018

[Bulls n Bears]

 <http://www.bulls.co.zw/> Bulls.co.zw        <mailto:bulls at bulls.co.zw>
Views & Comments        <http://www.bulls.co.zw/blog> Bullish Thoughts
<http://www.twitter.com/BullsBears2010> Twitter
<https://www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe> Facebook
<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bulls-n-bears-zimbabwe/57/577/72> LinkedIn
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw?subject=Unsubscribe> Unsubscribe

 


 

 


Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 March 2018

 


 

 


 <http://www.mbca.co.zw/> 

 


 

 


*  IMF approves Kenya's request to extend stand-by agreement by 6 months

*  Sudan central bank receives $1.4 bln deposit from UAE -SUNA

*  China's EximBank approves $1.3 billion for Guinea hydro plant

*  Shell, Eni preempt any U.S. probe over Nigeria with filings

*  South African rand firmer as dollar struggles after Tillerson ouster

*  Kenya's KenolKobil says FY pretax profit up slightly in 2017

*  S.African pro-Zuma group blocks energy deals in blow to Ramaphosa

*  War on plastic may do more harm than good, warns think tank

*  Cathay Pacific in its first back-to-back loss in 71 years

*  UK should stay in a customs union, say German business groups

*  Morrisons profits jump despite cost rises

*  Balfour Beatty profits jump as turnaround continues

*  Russian spy: Retaliation could be painful for UK business

*  Will 'WhatsApping' money change India's e-payment market?

*  IMF says digital currency tech can be used against crypto criminals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 

IMF approves Kenya's request to extend stand-by agreement by 6 months

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has approved a request
by Kenya to extend by six months a stand-by agreement that was due to expire
at the end of March, giving it time to finish mandatory reviews, the IMF
said in a statement.

 

The stand-by agreement, which was approved in March 2016, was for $989.8
million, alongside a stand-by credit facility of about $494.9 million.

 

“On March 12, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund
approved Kenyan authorities’ request for a six-month extension of the
country’s Stand-By Arrangement to allow additional time to complete the
outstanding reviews,” the IMF said in a statement late on Tuesday.

 

 

Last week the IMF said that stand-by credit facility arrangements cannot be
extended beyond 24 months.

 

It said the reviews were expected to be completed by September, allowing
access to the funds available in the stand-by agreement.

 

“In support of this request, the authorities have committed to policies that
will enable them to achieve the program objectives, including reducing the
fiscal deficit and substantially modifying interest controls,” IMF said.

 

The government adopted a cap on commercial lending rates in September 2016,
setting it at 4 percentage points above the central bank’s benchmark rate,
to limit the cost of borrowing from commercial banks. It said lenders had
failed to pass on the benefits of growth in the industry to consumers.

 

Earlier this month, the Finance Minister Henry Rotich said it was a good
time to revisit the cap, while the chair of the parliament’s influential
budget committee has also said there was a case for altering it.

 

The IMF said last month that Kenya had lost access to the funds meant to
cushion it against unforeseen external shocks last June, due to failure to
complete a review of the programme.

 

Kenya asked the IMF for the extension last week.

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Sudan central bank receives $1.4 bln deposit from UAE -SUNA

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s central bank has received a deposit of $1.4
billion from the United Arab Emirates to help bolster its foreign exchange
reserves, state news agency SUNA reported on Tuesday.

 

The deposit was provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, SUNA added.

 

Sudan has suffered an acute currency shortage in recent months, hurting
imports and largely limiting dollar trading to an increasingly expensive
black market for hard currency.

 

 

China's EximBank approves $1.3 billion for Guinea hydro plant

CONAKRY (Reuters) - China’s EximBank has approved $1.3 billion in financing
for a 450 megawatt hydroelectric plant in Guinea that the West African
country’s government hopes will allow it to export electricity to
neighbouring countries.

 

State-owned EximBank first agreed to fund construction of the Souapiti dam,
about 50 km (31 miles) outside the capital Conakry, in 2007 but the project
did not get off the ground as Guinea experienced a period of political
instability.

 

China Water Electric (CWE) began building the dam in December 2015, and the
government said at the time it expected construction to take about five
years.

 

“The signing of the loan agreement will take place very soon, which will
allow the already advanced construction work to accelerate,” Guinea’s
government said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

A senior adviser to President Alpha Conde said the loan would be reimbursed
through electricity sales to neighbouring countries by a joint venture
between the Guinean state and CWE.

 

Despite substantial hydroelectric potential in Guinea from its 12 major
rivers, only about a quarter of the population has access to electricity,
according to USAID, due to failing infrastructure and mismanagement of the
sector.

 

Guinea sits on about a third of the world’s bauxite and has seen production
of the aluminum ore surge in the past few years, but Guineans regularly
complain that mineral wealth has not translated into improved living
standards.

 

 

 

Shell, Eni preempt any U.S. probe over Nigeria with filings

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Eni have voluntarily
filed to U.S. authorities internal probes into how they acquired a giant
field in Nigeria as the companies seek to fight corruption allegations in
Europe and Africa.

 

    The filings, to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), do not mean U.S. authorities are
investigating Shell or Eni.

 

    But the move shows the companies are trying to preempt questions from
the United States as they face one of the oil industry’s biggest-ever graft
trials in Italy, to begin in May in Milan, a pending trial in Nigeria and an
investigation in the Netherlands.

 

    The case revolves around the purchase of a huge block off oil-rich
Nigeria, known as OPL 245, which holds an estimated 9 billion barrels in
reserves.

 

    Italian prosecutors allege that bribes were paid in an effort to secure
rights to the block in 2011. A number of top executives from both companies
– including Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi and former Shell Foundation
Chairman Malcolm Brinded – will face trial.

 

Under Italian law a company can be held responsible if it is deemed to have
failed to prevent, or attempt to prevent, a crime by an employee that
benefited the company.

 

Both companies’ shares are traded on U.S. stock exchanges, putting their
foreign dealings in the scope of U.S. authorities.

 

Shell and Eni, on behalf of subsidiaries, in 2010 entered deferred
prosecution agreements with the DOJ over separate Nigerian corruption
allegations.

 

Those pacts dismissed charges after a certain period in exchange for fines
and an agreement to fulfil a number of requirements. They concluded in 2013
and 2012, respectively.

 

“A company’s disclosure of alleged foreign corruption to both the SEC and
the DOJ in the U.S. typically means the company believed U.S. authorities
needed to be made aware of this, and both agencies have the authority to
prosecute under the (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA),” said Pablo
Quiñones, executive director of the New York University School of Law
program on corporate compliance and enforcement.

 

Quiñones previously worked as chief of strategy, policy and training at the
DOJ’s criminal fraud section, a role that included helping to develop FCPA
enforcement policy.

 

The SEC and the DOJ declined to comment on the company disclosures or
whether they were looking into any allegations surrounding the block.

 

Eni noted its disclosure in an SEC filing, in which it said “no evidence of
wrongdoing on Eni side were detected”. Shell has said publicly that it
submitted the investigation to U.S. authorities and to Britain’s Serious
Fraud Office.

 

Shell and Eni deny any wrongdoing. They say their payments for the block, a
total of $1.3 billion, were transparent, legal and went directly into an
escrow account controlled by the Nigerian government.

 

The companies and legal experts say the trial will last more than a year,
with potential appeals stretching several years beyond that.

 

“The risk for companies is of a prolonged period of exposure to open court
allegations from a state prosecutor of impropriety,” Anthony Goldman of
Nigeria-focused PM Consulting said. “That will be painful and damaging.”

 

The Milan prosecutor charges that roughly $1 billion of the payments were
funnelled to a Nigerian company called Malabu Oil and Gas, which had a
disputed claim on the block, and former oil minister Dan Etete, who British
and U.S. courts have said controlled Malabu. Reuters has been unable to
reach Etete or Malabu for comment.

 

Shell has since said it knew some of the money would go to Malabu to settle
its claim, though its own due diligence could not confirm who controlled the
company. Eni said it never dealt with Etete or knew he controlled the
company, but that the government promised to settle all other claims on the
block as part of their deal. (reut.rs/2Fr6G3y)

 

“If the evidence ultimately proves that improper payments were made by
Malabu or others to then current government officials in exchange for
improper conduct relating to the 2011 settlement of the long standing legal
disputes, it is Shell’s position that none of those payments were made with
its knowledge, authorisation or on its behalf,” Shell said in a statement.

 

CONTROL AT RISK

The proceedings have also brought together investigators in several
countries, with authorities in Nigeria and the Netherlands sending
information to Milan.

 

A Dutch anti-fraud team in 2016 raided Shell offices as part of the
investigation, and a Dutch law firm has asked prosecutors to consider
launching a criminal case in the Netherlands.

 

“I’m not aware of many cases where this many jurisdictions have been at work
for so long helping each other out. The amount of cooperation is very
unusual,” said Aaron Sayne of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a
non-profit group that advises countries on how to manage oil, gas and
mineral resources.

 

A case by Nigeria’s financial watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, against defendants including the former attorney general,
ex-ministers of justice and oil and various senior managers, current and
former, from Shell and Eni, will continue in June.

 

There has also been at least one effort to take away the asset. Experts say
it is worth billions, and Shell has spent millions developing it. Eni
intends to make a final investment decision this year on developing the
block and said in corporate filings that the asset has a book value of 1.2
billion euros ($1.5 billion).

 

The Italian court does not have the ability to rescind rights to the block,
and Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said the companies
should continue to develop it.

 

But in a lawsuit filed by the Nigerian government against JPMorgan in London
for the U.S. bank’s role in transferring money from the deal, it called the
agreement that facilitated Shell and Eni’s purchase “unlawful and void”.

 

A JPMorgan spokeswoman previously said the firm “considers the allegations
made in the claim to be unsubstantiated and without merit”.

 

Additionally, a Nigerian court last year briefly ordered the seizure of the
block.

 

That decision was later overturned, and Shell and Eni say they are not
worried about losing the asset. But the ruling and the language in the
government’s suit against JPMorgan underscore the risk.

 

“It’s a nice, stable asset that could produce a lot of oil for a long time,”
Sayne said.

 

($1 = 0.8127 euros)

 

 

South African rand firmer as dollar struggles after Tillerson ouster

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand firmed against the dollar early
on Wednesday as investors’ confidence in the greenback was undermined by the
sudden dismissal of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

 

At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 11.7750 per dollar, 0.3 percent firmer than
its overnight close.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump fired Tillerson on Tuesday after a series of
rifts over policy on North Korea, Russia and Iran, replacing his chief
diplomat with loyalist CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

 

Stocks were set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities
exchange’s Top-40 futures index down 0.79 percent.

 

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026
fell 1 basis point to 8.085 percent.

 

 

Kenya's KenolKobil says FY pretax profit up slightly in 2017

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan fuel distributor KenolKobil said on Wednesday its
full year pretax profit for 2017 rose slightly to 3.68 billion shillings
($36.33 million) from 3.54 billion shillings a year earlier, helped by
higher sales.

 

KenolKobil, which also operates in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and
Zambia, said its group net sales rose to 158.71 billion shillings from
103.50 billion shillings in 2016.

 

“The results were achieved despite a slowdown in the economy arising from
the prolonged electioneering period, drought and unstable exchange rates in
most of the markets the group operates in,” it said in a statement,
referring to drought and elections in Kenya.

 

($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings)

 

 

S.African pro-Zuma group blocks energy deals in blow to Ramaphosa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was dealt a
political blow on Tuesday, after a last-minute legal challenge by a group
loyal to ousted leader Jacob Zuma blocked the signing of $4.7 billion in
renewable energy deals.

 

The North Gauteng High Court agreed to hold a full hearing on the matter on
March 27 after the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) and Transform RSA,
a group which has lobbied for Zuma in the past, on Monday argued the deals
would lead to coal-sector job losses.

 

State power utility Eskom was due to sign 27 mostly wind power and solar
deals with independent power producers (IPPs), in the first major investment
deal since Ramaphosa replaced Zuma last month.

 

“We are confident that the court will recognise that our rights have been
violated,” NUMSA said.

 

Transform RSA did not answer calls for comment.

 

DELAYS UNDER ZUMA

The projects were delayed for two years under Zuma as he pursued a
much-criticised $100 billion nuclear power plan.

 

Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman, has made revamping the economy a top
priority. But many investors are concerned about his ability to push through
reforms given deep divisions in the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

 

Zuma reluctantly resigned last month under sustained pressure from sections
of the ANC but his allies remain in high-level roles in the party and are
opposed to Ramaphosa.

 

“Given our history, it is natural that you suspect ulterior political
motives in the court application,” said Dominic Wills, a director at Sola
Future Energy, one of the energy companies involved in the deals.

 

The energy ministry said in a statement that it decided not to sign the
contracts until after the court ruling and reaffirmed its commitment to
expanding green energy programmes.

 

Investors remained positive.

 

“I’m still fairly optimistic these deals will be signed. When you look at
the cold, hard facts about our economy, these are the sort of deals that
need to be done,” Wills said.

 

‘WAVE OF CHANGE’

NUMSA argues that a switch to renewable energy would increase electricity
costs for poor South Africans.

 

Energy analyst Chris Yelland, however, said the cost of renewable energy has
fallen significantly and it is now cheaper than new coal and nuclear
projects.

 

South Africa relies on coal-fired plants for more than 80 percent of its
electricity generation while renewables contribute around 7 percent. Eskom
is one of the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gases.

 

“Ultimately this application is futile and economic sense will prevail.
South Africa must transform from a dirty energy economy to a cleaner energy
economy,” Yelland said.

 

South Africa’s renewable power programme was the fastest-growing in the
world seven years ago, attracting $15 billion of investment into wind farms
and solar projects involving a cluster of new IPPs backed by foreign
investment.

 

Over the past two years Eskom stopped signing renewable energy contracts and
focused instead on a plan to build a fleet of nuclear power plants, in a
deal that some members of the ANC and rights groups said would be open to
corruption.

 

Eskom’s former board is being investigated by parliament over allegations it
siphoned off state funds to companies controlled by the Gupta family,
businessmen friends of Zuma. Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

 

 

War on plastic may do more harm than good, warns think tank

A green think tank has warned of the risk of unintended consequences from
the wave of concern about plastics.

 

The Green Alliance, a parliamentary group, said plastics played a valuable
role and couldn't be simply abolished.

 

It wants to transform the notion of a "War on Plastics" into a "War on
Plastic Litter".

 

The group - like many environmentalists - gave a grudging welcome to
Chancellor Philip Hammond's call for evidence on taxes on single use
plastics.

 

But it warned that rejecting all plastic food packaging could prove
counter-productive.

 

Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, so reducing food
waste is vital.

 

Well-packed food - perhaps in plastic - helps protect food from damage, so
it can actually save on greenhouse gases.

 

Finite land

The other potential area of concern is the substitution of plastics with
plant-based materials.

 

Forests are already being felled to grow crops to feed the world's booming
demand for meat production and wild land is also disappearing to produce
bio-fuels for cars and electricity generation. But there is a finite amount
of land.

 

The Green Alliance fears that a demand for plastic substitutes could also
increase the pressure for deforestation.

 

This would, in turn, lead to more greenhouse gases that would warm and
acidify the oceans people are anxious to protect.

 

The Green Alliance's Libby Peake told BBC News: "Plastics are clearly a huge
problem but we have concerns that legitimate public outrage will lead
businesses and governments to rush into the wrong decisions.

 

"We must ensure that whatever solutions we design don't increase emissions,
damage world ecosystems or result in more waste."

 

The public backlash against plastics led Lego to announce that in future it
will make its toys from plastics derived not from oil, but from sugar cane.

 

It won the headline: "Lego goes green one brick at a time". But the firm
confirmed to me that the "eco" bricks would be made from polyethylene -
that's exactly the same chemical compound as plastic derived from oil
(which, of course, came from plants millions of years ago).

 

The environment-friendly bricks will last just as long and be just as hard
when you tread on them in bare feet.

 

Marine pollution

The firm told me: "The bio-based plastic used is produced from renewable
sources and it meets the Lego Group's requirements for play value, quality,
safety and durability."

 

Ms Peake said: "Turning plants into plastic in this way means that, at the
end of life, it won't be biodegradable and will have all the potential
drawbacks of traditional plastic.

 

"In other words, it won't do anything to solve the crisis of marine
pollution.

 

"Lego has done everything right to try to sustainably source material for
its bio-bricks. But there's clearly nowhere near enough sugar cane that can
be sustainably sourced if other companies want to follow suit."

 

So where do solutions lie? Green Alliance suggests:

 

*         Ban products that are unnecessarily made from plastic and likely
to be littered, like cotton buds and straws (Scotland has already committed
to this)

*         Stop using so many different types of plastic - and ensure that
all types used are easily recyclable

*         Develop recycling markets for the materials that remain

*         Increasing recycling won't be economically viable while the price
of virgin material oil and gas remains so low, which is why the EU is
examining a potential plastics tax and the chancellor has launched his call
for evidence on charges for single-use plastics.

 

The UK is not alone in its endeavour to reduce plastic marine litter. A
series of conferences throughout the year will bring together nations in
search of solutions for a problem that threatens the future of the
oceans.--BBC

 

 

Cathay Pacific in its first back-to-back loss in 71 years

Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific has posted its first
back-to-back annual loss since the company was founded in 1946.

 

The airline blamed intense competition from low-cost Chinese carriers and
higher fuel prices, among other issues, for the result.

 

Losses came to 1.26bn Hong Kong dollars ($161m; £115m) for the year to
December, the firm said.

 

Cathay is part way through a huge three-year cost cutting programme.

 

In March last year, it posted its first annual loss in eight years.

 

The airline operates mainly in Asia, Europe and North America, but is facing
some of its toughest competition from low-cost Chinese carriers, among
others, on routes covering Hong Kong, mainland China and across South East
Asia.

 

"Overcapacity in passenger markets led to intense competition with other
airlines and continued pressure on yields on many of our key routes," the
firm said in a statement.

 

Cathay's cargo business, however, saw "robust demand" during the year, it
said, and there was some improvement in its premium passenger sector.

 

The company also said it saw a positive second half of the year, with losses
in that period lower than those in each of the two preceding half years.

 

Cathay's Hong Kong-listed shares were up more than 1% in early afternoon
trade.--bbc

 

 

 

UK should stay in a customs union, say German business groups

The UK is the German car industry's biggest export market.

German firms ideally want the UK to stay in a customs union after Brexit, a
powerful German industry group says.

 

The BDI said it would prefer a deep form of integration between Britain and
the EU after Brexit.

 

It had previously said the integrity of the single market for remaining
European Union member states should be a priority.

 

Another German industry group, the VDMA engineering association, also called
on Tuesday for an EU-UK customs deal.

 

Joachim Lang, chief executive of the BDI - the Federation of German
Industries - said: "For German companies, duty-free and quota-free trade in
goods is the minimum requirement, ideally within the framework of a customs
union."

 

German companies needed clarity on a post-Brexit future, he said.

 

Meanwhile, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) also
called for a customs union.

 

"A mere trade agreement between the EU and the UK is actually too little and
would mean a significant deterioration compared to the status quo," said
VDMA chief executive Thilo Brodtmann.

 

"A trade agreement would in any case mean border controls and customs
clearance, even if both sides do not impose customs duties. A customs union
between the EU and the UK would take away much of Brexit's horror," Mr
Brodtmann added.

 

In the customs union, EU members don't impose tariffs on each other, and
apply the same tariffs to goods from outside the union.

 

That means once goods have cleared customs in one country, they can be
shipped to others in the union without further tariffs being imposed.

 

In the EU single market, as well as there being no tariffs, quotas or taxes
on trade, there is also the free movement of goods, services, capital and
people.

 

Preparations

The UK is Germany's third-biggest destination for exports and its fifth most
important trading partner.

 

It is also the German car industry's biggest export market. German carmakers
and suppliers employ about 9,000 people in the UK at 95 different sites.

 

German companies are still preparing for a range of outcomes to the
negotiations between Britain and the EU, including the scenario of a hard
Brexit in which no agreement was reached, Mr Lang said. He added next week's
EU summit would be crucial.

 

"Our companies need predictability. Now there is the chance to reduce
uncertainty for companies on both sides of the channel," Mr Lang said.

 

"If the EU summit does not provide clarity, then some companies will be
forced to trigger their contingency plans," he added.

 

Mr Lang did not say what measures these contingency plans would include.

 

But he said that foreign direct investment flows to Britain had already
slowed last year and that German exports to Britain had fallen in 2017.--BBC

 

 

Morrisons profits jump despite cost rises

The UK's fourth-biggest supermarket chain Morrisons has announced an 11%
jump in full-year profits as it continues its turnaround programme.

 

The chain said it made underlying profits of £374m in the year to 4
February, up from £337m in 2016.

 

Like-for-like sales excluding fuel, which strip out stores open for less
than a year, were up 2.8%.

 

The company said performance was "strong" despite the "challenges" of higher
import costs..

 

Revenues rose by 5.8% to £17.3bn, up from £16.3bn.

 

Chairman Andrew Higginson said Morrisons was now entering its third
consecutive year of growth.

 

The retailer also said it was "confident that a broader, stronger" Morrisons
would continue to grow.

 

Announcing a special dividend of 4p per share, it said it was "growing sales
and profit" and expected growth to continue to be "meaningful and
sustainable in the future".

 

"The special dividend reflects our good progress so far and our expectations
for continued growth," it added.

 

Last month, Morrisons announced it would cut 1,500 middle management
jobs.--BBC

 

 

 

Balfour Beatty profits jump as turnaround continues

UK construction giant Balfour Beatty has posted a big jump in annual profit
as its turnaround continues.

 

The company behind Crossrail and the transformation of the former Olympic
Stadium into West Ham's ground made a £117m pre-tax profit in 2017. That was
up from just £10m in 2016.

 

It follows several years of weak performance after Balfour allowed its
business to become too complex.

 

Boss Leo Quinn said it was now capable of "market-leading performance".

 

 

Russian spy: Retaliation could be painful for UK business

A crackdown on Russia's UK business ties in the wake of the spy poison
revelations will hit a complex and lucrative web of interests.

 

Prime Minister Theresa May has promised measures against Moscow if there is
no adequate explanation for the poisoning.

 

But she would be pushing against interests that touch UK football, members
of the House of Lords, and valuable assets owned by UK companies.

 

Those assets include BP's 20% stake in Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft.

 

That's worth repeating - a FTSE 100 company owns a fifth of Russia's most
valuable company, which is state controlled.

 

BP's chief executive Bob Dudley sits on a board that is chaired by close
Putin-associate Igor Sechin. So far, the two companies have managed to find
a way to carry on business despite sanctions imposed after Russia's
annexation of Crimea.

 

Mr Dudley often has to leave the room during board meetings when matters
pertaining personally to Mr Sechin arise as he is on a list of sanctioned
persons. If sanctions get tougher - how will BP manage an asset that
provides a third of its global oil production?

 

So far the stock market has not moved to apply a discount to BP's holding,
and sources close to the company have said they hope that any sanctions
would target individuals rather than important foreign assets. But if the
gloves really come off, what action would Russia take?

 

A former executive of a telecoms company with a Russian subsidiary told me
just how difficult Russia can make life.

 

After the invasion of Crimea, Russia told the company to change all the
phone numbers in Crimea to give them a Russian rather than Ukrainian prefix.
Failure to do so would result in their licence to operate being suspended.

 

The London Stock Exchange recently accepted a listing from EN+, a metals
company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who you may remember was courted by
both Lord Mandelson and former Chancellor George Osborne aboard his yacht.

 

Now Mr Deripaska is not on the sanctioned persons list but - as I reported
in November last year - the proceeds of the London share sale were used to
pay down his debt to sanctioned Russian bank VTB.

 

The ties go deeper. Greg (Lord) Barker, former Energy Minister under David
Cameron, is the non-executive chairman of EN+.

 

There is nothing illegal or sanctions-busting in that, but it serves an
illustrative tip of the iceberg of the huge amounts of work that UK
advisers, lawyers and bankers derive from advising Russian customers located
here and in Russia.

 

Property deals

Messrs Usmanov and Abramovich have taken a chunk of the hallowed turf of the
Emirates (Arsenal) and Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) and have operated perfectly
legally here.

 

But both are on good terms with Vladimir Putin. If the way to hurt Putin is
to hurt his friends, how far is the UK prepared to go? Is it ready to send a
message that Russian money and business is not welcome in the UK just as
Brexit looms.

 

After expelling diplomats, one way for the UK to retaliate is to target
Russian's huge UK property holdings. The Criminal Finance Act could be used
to look more deeply into how the money used to buy premium London property
was acquired.

 

It is unlikely there will be widespread sympathy for the estate agents who
make their money flogging penthouses to oligarchs, but Russian business has
become an important fact of UK public life and the government may find it
hard to target any new sanctions precisely enough not to deter valuable,
legal business.

 

There are other options - such as boycotting football's World Cup - but how
many other countries would follow suit? Europe is also much more dependent
on supplies of Russian gas than the UK.

 

With Donald Trump pursuing a protectionist trade policy and with his hands
full in North Korea, Theresa May's biggest test may be the amount of
international support she can command.--BBC

 

 

 

Will 'WhatsApping' money change India's e-payment market?

Paytm is India's biggest e-payment company, and an important competitor for
WhatsApp.

WhatsApp, the biggest instant messaging platform in India, is set to launch
a payment service later this month. The BBC's Devina Gupta reports on how
this could affect the country's $400bn (£290bn) mobile wallet market.

 

WhatsApp is currently testing a beta version of its payment app, which it
has rolled out for some Indian users. It will allow users to send and
receive money using the popular app.

 

For a majority of Indians, the phone is the first point of exposure to the
internet, and Whatsapp, with more than 200 million users, is a giant in
India's rapidly growing mobile market.

 

The move has worried Paytm, the country's largest mobile payment company.
Its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has accused WhatsApp of bypassing crucial
payment norms that guarantee security of customers. The government has
denied this.

 

Can India really become a cashless society?

Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks

Paytm is part-owned by Japan's Softbank and China's Alibaba and already has
about 300 million registered users in the country, with the number of daily
transactions touching five million.

 

It was also one of the biggest beneficiaries of the decision by India's
federal government to cancel 86% of the country's currency overnight in 2016
as part of anti-corruption measures.

 

Paytm had said then that it saw a 700% increase in overall traffic and a
300% surge in app downloads.

 

What does Paytm say?

Paytm has accused Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, of attempting a repeat of
Free Basics - Facebook's internet service app. The service offered free, but
limited, internet to those who didn't have it. It was widely criticised for
giving access to only a limited number of websites and India's telecoms
regulator blocked the app on the grounds that it violated net neutrality
rules.

 

India's telecoms regulator blocked Free Basics for violation of net
neutrality rules.

Deepak Abbot, Paytm's senior vice president, told the BBC that WhatsApp
could effectively lock out competing apps. "Facebook tries to dominate the
market - they go in with a mindset that they can lock the users in their
systems," he said.

 

But other players in the market don't necessarily share Mr Abbot's opinion,
as the scope for mobile wallets in India is still vast. "Currently, the
digital payment market penetration is only 5 to 10% percent, so entry of a
new player is a big positive," said Bipin Preet Singh, the founder of
Mobikwik, which is another Indian mobile payment system.

 

He added that domestic companies, like Mobikwik, have large workforces on
the ground which help users when payments go wrong. This, he said, is
something global companies can't compete with.

 

WhatsApp uses the Indian Unified Payment Interface or UPI, which is a
payment system that allows funds to be transferred directly from a sender's
bank account to the recipient's account.

 

Users will have to link their bank account with the app directly.

 

The real challenge for WhatsApp's payment feature will be to include
services such as movies, travel and restaurants - which Paytm provides.

 

Is it a threat for Paytm?

Paytm's strength lies in its ubiquitous presence in India's mobile payment
market - its services are extensively used by citizens and business vendors,
including auto rickshaw drivers and tea sellers. And the company recently
started regular banking services and could be handling insurance products in
the future.

 

Vijay Shekhar Gupta, the founder of Paytm, had said Whatsapp's payment was
not secure.

But WhatsApp is flush with funds, and boasts around 230 million users on its
chat app. Its beta version tests also show a high rate of user adaptability.

 

Facebook is yet to comment on WhatsApp's payment feature, but Paytm has said
that it is ready for the competition.

 

"We will take WhatsApp as another competitor," Mr Abbot said. "There are 90%
of users who are not exposed to the UPI model, so like WhatsApp, we will
also be looking to capture that market. It's such a big market so if you
have a good product, you will stand out. We will be happy if there are more
larger players."

 

What could worry Paytm is what happened to Alibaba, which partly owns the
company. After launching Alipay in 2009, the company almost monopolised the
payment gateway market. But its fortunes changed when another company,
Tencent, merged its chat app with a payment gateway, resulting in Alipay's
market share dropping from 80 to 53%.--BBC

 

 

 

IMF says digital currency tech can be used against crypto criminals

Christine Lagarde has called for a crackdown on crypto-currencies, saying
the technology can be used to "fight fire with fire".

 

The head of the International Monetary Fund says governments around the
world could harness the technology to stop illegal activity.

 

The anonymity of currencies such as Bitcoin means they are used by criminals
and terrorists, she said.

 

But the technology could be turned against such nefarious activities.

 

Regulators around the world have called for greater crypto-currency
oversight.

 

Criminal use

Although the technology underlying digital assets has been praised as a way
to speed up financial transactions and reduce costs, the anonymity behind
crypto-currency trading is a big worry, Ms Lagarde said in a blog post..

 

What makes the technology so appealing is also what makes it "dangerous,"
she said, as it can be used as a "major new vehicle for money laundering and
the financing of terrorism".

 

But she said the technologies behind crypto-currencies can be harnessed to
mitigate this "peril".

 

"The same innovations that power crypto-assets can also help us regulate
them," she said "To put it another way, we can fight fire with fire.
Regulatory technology and supervisory technology can help shut criminals out
of the crypto world."

 

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) - the technology underlying
crypto-currencies - is defined by the UK government as "an asset database
that can be shared across a network of multiple sites, geographies or
institutions".

 

Ms Lagarde said that DLT technology "can be used to speed up
information-sharing between market participants and regulators".

 

She added: "The technology that enables instant global transactions could be
used to create registries of standard, verified, customer information along
with digital signatures."

 

In addition, other technologies such as biometrics, artificial intelligence,
and cryptography "can enhance digital security and identify suspicious
transactions in close to real time," she said.

 

Rule overhaul

Regulators need to use the same rules "to protect consumers in both digital
and non-digital transactions", she added.

 

Industry body Crypto UK said regulatory certainty was "essential to
attracting the best of this sector to call the UK home."

 

But a spokesperson said that regulators should not "simply retrofit
non-digital rules to this unique and evolving sector".

 

"Working with industry to develop a tailored framework is crucial to
capturing the true value of this technology, whilst weeding out illegal
activity," the spokesperson added.

 

Crypto-currencies have come under increasing regulatory scrutiny around the
world. At the beginning of March, Bank of England governor Mark Carney
called for increased regulation after crypto-currency "mania".

 

China has gone further by banning initial coin offerings and shutting down
digital currency exchanges.

 

Indonesia and Bangladesh have banned Bitcoin for payments, and India's
central bank has issued a number of warnings about Bitcoin risks.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


CFI

AGM

Farm & City Boardroom, 1st Floor, Farm & City Complex, 1 Wayne Street

 

12 Mar 2018 11am

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <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
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
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.

 


 

 


(c) 2018 Web: <http:// www.bulls.co.zw >  www.bulls.co.zw Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Telephone:      <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:         @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:       Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3653 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 15037 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0007.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29401 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0008.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29388 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0009.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29420 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0010.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 4846 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180314/9a935365/attachment-0011.jpg>