Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 05 September 2018

Wed Sep 5 11:15:04 CAT 2018

 <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::: 05 September 2018

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

*  Steinhoff's former CEO Jooste faces parliament over accounting scandal

*  Kenya private sector expansion rebounds in August -PMI

*  S.Africa's private sector activity falls to 2-1/2 year low in August -PMI

*  Rand slumps as South Africa enters recession

*  In latest clash, Nigeria hands South Africa's MTN $2 billion tax bill

*  Nigeria says whistleblower triggered MTN $8.1 bln probe -official

*  Moody's says Mozambique's private creditors face substantial losses

*  S.Africa's Discovery strikes FirstRand deal to pay way for bank

*  Bank of Kigali sells 30 pct of insurance arm to Mauritius' Swan

*  Amazon's market value tops $1tn

*  Mercedes takes on Tesla with fully-electric SUV

*  Nigeria slaps $2bn bill on phone giant MTN

*  Uber to block low-rating riders in Australia and New Zealand

*  Lord Mervyn King attacks 'incompetent' Brexit approach

*  Welby - Taxes must rise to tackle 'unjust economy'

*  ING fined €775m for lax crime prevention

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Steinhoff's former CEO Jooste faces parliament over accounting scandal

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Steinhoff’s former Chief Executive Markus Jooste was in parliament on Wednesday in his first public appearance to face a panel investigating an accounting scandal that rocked the retailer, a Reuters witness said.

Jooste, who is under fraud investigation by the South Africa police, resigned in December when Steinhoff uncovered accounting irregularities that sent its share price crashing.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Kenya private sector expansion rebounds in August -PMI

NAIROBI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Kenya’s private sector activity expanded at a faster pace in August after dropping to a six-month low in the previous month as output and new orders for firms recovered, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index(PMI) for manufacturing and services rose to 54.6 last month from 53.6 in July. A reading above 50 denotes growth.

Firms that took part in the survey said they had boosted production during the month after receiving more customer orders.

“The recovery in output and new orders helped counterbalance cost pressures that have re-emerged over the past couple of months,” said Jibran Qureishi, economist for East Africa at Stanbic Bank.

He warned however that a series of new consumption taxes including on petroleum products, imposed by the government as it seeks to boost its revenues, could negatively impact the economy. [nL8N1VP2KG]

“If the VAT on fuel products stays in place, there will probably be a notable second-round impact in the economy,” Qureishi said.

Kenyan economic activity has picked up after political unrest and drought cut growth last year to its lowest level in more than five years, and the economy is forecast to expand by 5.8 percent this year from 4.9 percent in 2017.

- Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from IHS Markit and customers need to apply for a licence.

S.Africa's private sector activity falls to 2-1/2 year low in August -PMI

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - South African private sector activity contracted in August to its lowest in over two years as output and new orders plunged amid rising policy and political uncertainty, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The Standard Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, tumbled to 47.2 in August from 49.3 in July, its lowest in 29 months.

Africa’s most industrialised economy entered recession in the second quarter for the first time since 2009, data showed on Tuesday, another blow to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive it after a decade of stagnation.

Participants in the survey cited political as well as economic issues, affordability constraints, inflationary pressures and worker strikes as factors for the depressed activity.

Pretoria plans to expropriate land without compensation to redress racial disparities in ownership, but investors are concerned about wider threats to property rights. This nervousness was partly reflected by the rand currency’s recent sensitivity to the mooted reforms.

The rand had already been battered by a massive emerging market selloff, falling more than 15 percent since the beginning of August as financial crises in Turkey and Argentina soured risk sentiment across the board.

“The poorly performing PMI reflects economic policy uncertainty, increased cost pressures from elevated oil prices, rand weakness and labour strikes,” Standard Bank economist Thanda Sithole said.

- Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from IHS Markit and customers need to apply for a licence.

Rand slumps as South Africa enters recession

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand fell further against the dollar on Wednesday, extending a steep fall from the previous session, as the economy entered recession.

At 0710 GMT, the rand traded at 15.5400 versus the dollar, 1.2 percent weaker than its close on Tuesday.

Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday that gross domestic product declined 0.7 percent in the second quarter, after a 2.6 percent contraction in the first three months of the year.

The unexpected GDP weakness in the latest quarter came as a blow to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is trying to revive the economy and woo foreign investors.

Tuesday’s GDP figures led many economists to cut their full-year growth forecasts for South Africa.

The rand has also been pressured by a risk-off mood that has swept through global markets in the wake of financial turmoil in Turkey and Argentina.

Emerging market currency peers like the rouble also dropped against the dollar on Wednesday.

On the stock market, the Top-40 index fell 0.9 percent in early trade, while the broader all-share index was down 0.8 percent.

Government bonds also slipped, with the yield on the benchmark instrument due in 2026 up 13 basis points at 9.340 percent.

In latest clash, Nigeria hands South Africa's MTN $2 billion tax bill

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - MTN Group faces a $2 billion demand for taxes in Nigeria, the latest in a series of skirmishes with authorities in the South African mobile phone company’s most lucrative but increasingly problematic market.

The announcement of the tax bill incurred over the last decade comes days after the west African country’s central bank ordered MTN’s Lagos-based unit to hand over $8.1 billion that it said was illegally sent abroad.

Mobile operator MTN disclosed it had been in talks with Nigeria’s Attorney General about an investigation into tax compliance in a statement outlining the background to the case of the money sent out of the country.

“In this process, his (the Attorney General’s) office made a high-level calculation that MTN Nigeria should have paid approximately $2.0 billion in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years,” MTN said.

MTN, whose Nigerian business brings in a third of its annual core profit, or EBITDA, said its total payment of around $700 million over the 10-year period fully settled the amount owing under the taxes in question.

The latest demands come two years after MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms company, agreed to pay more than $1 billion to end a dispute with Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards.

Shares in MTN dropped 5.6 percent to 81.95 rand as of 1250 GMT, bringing losses since last Thursday, when the central bank issued the $8.1 billion demand, to nearly 25 percent.

“These are old issues that have been investigated and closed but now they are being reopened,” said Byron Lotter, a portfolio manager at Vestact in Johannesburg.

“I’m not surprised that a lot of people are selling and saying ‘these guys are just too volatile, I’m out’. I wonder if MTN are thinking the same.”

PULLING OUT

South African hotels and casino group Sun International said it was in final stages of exiting Nigeria following clashes with regulators and shareholders.

It is following in the footsteps of retailer Woolworths and foodmaker Tiger Brands, both of which quit Nigeria over the last three years.

MTN, which has expanded in more than 20 frontier markets that include war-ravaged Syria and Afghanistan, called the latest demands by Nigerian authorities “regrettable and disconcerting”.

“MTN Nigeria will continue to engage with the relevant authorities on all these matters, and we remain resolute that MTN Nigeria has not committed any offences and will vigorously defend its position,” the company said.

Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami, declined to comment, referring Reuters to a spokeswoman at the ministry of justice. She could not immediately be reached by phone.

MTN’s regulatory troubles in the oil-rich country come ahead of next year’s presidential election, in which Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who swept to power on promises of tougher regulations and a stronger fight against corruption in a 2015 election, is seeking re-election.

But analysts say Nigeria’s demands against MTN risk further undermining its efforts to shake off an image as a risky frontier market for investors.

Nigeria says whistleblower triggered MTN $8.1 bln probe -official

ABUJA (Reuters) - The office of Nigeria’s attorney general said on Tuesday that a whistleblower prompted an investigation into alleged MTN infractions that last week led to a demand for $8.1 billion taken out of Nigeria to be brought back.

Ladidi Mohammed, head of asset recovery, told Reuters in a phone interview that an investigation was then carried out by the central bank.

The South African telecoms giant in a statement issued on Tuesday said all dividend repatriation out of Nigeria was done on the basis of equity capital and with valid certificates.

Moody's says Mozambique's private creditors face substantial losses

MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambique’s private creditors face substantial losses from the government defaulting on its debt, ratings agency Moody’s said in a report published on Tuesday.

Moody’s added in the report on the southern African country’s creditworthiness that government attempts at debt restructuring would likely extend beyond 2018 and that Mozambique’s fiscal strength was very low.

Mozambique admitted in 2016 to $1.4 billion of previously undisclosed loans, many of which went on upgrading maritime and military security.

The disclosure prompted the International Monetary Fund and foreign donors to cut off support, triggering a currency collapse and leading to a debt default.

In March, the Mozambican government outlined three scenarios to overhaul its debt burden but Eurobond creditors rejected them, baulking at a second writedown in as many years.

Moody’s rates Mozambique’s long-term foreign-currency debt at ‘Caa3’, deep into sub-investment grade.

S.Africa's Discovery strikes FirstRand deal to pay way for bank

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Discovery Ltd has agreed to buy banking group FirstRand’s 25.01 percent stake in a financial joint venture for $120 million, paving the way for the South African insurer to launch its own bank later this year.

Discovery, which offers health, life and car insurance, was granted a South African banking licence last year, but only on condition that FirstRand sell its stake in a joint venture that is currently mainly focused on Discovery-branded credit cards.

“Although these developments have delayed the process slightly, the bank build is progressing well and remains within budget, and the launch is expected before the end of 2018,” Discovery said on Tuesday, as it reported a 17 percent rise in group normalised operating profit for the year ended June.

Discovery Bank will enter a South African retail banking market dominated by Standard Bank, Absa, FirstRand’s First National Bank (FNB), Nedbank and Capitec, some of which have been overhauling products and boosting rewards programmes.

There are also some other new entrants looking to disrupt the market, such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s online bank TymeDigital and former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan’s Bank Zero, both set to launch this year.

Discovery said it would pay for the stake by issuing new shares, limited to the purchase price of 1.8 billion rand ($120 million).

At 1345 GMT, Discovery shares were down 2.8 percent at 173.35 rand in a weak South African market, while FirstRand’s were down 4.7 percent at 67.24 rand.

Discovery said in February it had spent 1.2 billion rand on the bank and it expected that to reach 1.5 billion rand by launch. The bank is currently testing its capabilities with live testing of system infrastructure and operating processes.

Discovery, which also has operations in Britain, made a group normalised operating profit of 8.2 billion rand in the year ended June.

Operating profit for the Discovery credit card joint venture with FNB rose 17 percent to 414 million rand, with revenue up 6 percent to 1 billion rand.

“Discovery’s credit card base is less sensitive to negative market conditions due to a substantially better risk profile. Both its percentage of non-performing loans and cost to income ratio were significantly below the average of other South African banks,” Discovery said.

($1 = 15.2858 rand)

Bank of Kigali sells 30 pct of insurance arm to Mauritius' Swan

KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali has sold a 30 percent stake in its general insurance business to Swan General of Mauritius for 860 million francs ($978,116.13), the bank’s chief financial officer told Reuters on Tuesday.

The lender, which is Rwanda’s biggest by assets, plans to enter into the life insurance business, which is largely untapped in the country. It hopes the partnership with Swan, will help it make headway, said Nathalie Mpaka, the bank’s CFO.

“The only way of course will be through acquisition of an existing company,” she said in an interview, citing a lack of new licences for the life insurance business.  

“We have not yet agreed which company to acquire but we know that we want to go further into insurance and life insurance is the next product that we want.”

Bank of Kigali plans to increase the issued share capital of the insurance business, which is called BK General Insurance, to 5 billion francs from 2.9 billion currently, which will include Swan shelling out another 640 million francs in relation to its stake, Mpaka said.

Bank of Kigali plans to list stock on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the second half of this year as part of a drive to raise up to $70 million for investment, its chairman said in May.

The lender, which was started 52 years ago and has 76 branches, saw its pretax profit rise by a third to 22 billion francs in the first half of this year.

There are 16 insurance companies operating in Rwanda including two companies owned by the government.

Insurance penetration in Rwanda remained low at 1.7 percent as of June this year, unchanged from the same period last year, the central banks said.

($1 = 879.2412 Rwandan francs)

Amazon's market value tops $1tn

Amazon has briefly become the second US-listed firm to have a market value of more than $1 trillion (£779bn).

Shares in the e-commerce giant rose nearly 2% to a high of $2,050.50 in morning trade before slipping back.

Apple reached the same milestone in early August.

Founded in 1994, Amazon is now the world's largest online retailer. Its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is the world's richest man, with a net worth of more than $160bn.

How Jeff Bezos took Amazon to the top

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said: "To reach a market capitalisation of over $1tn is impressive. To do it in a little over 24 years is extraordinary.

"That Amazon has achieved this demonstrates its dramatic advancement in both the retail and technology sectors, as well as the influence it now wields over large parts of the consumer landscape."

Like a pesky younger sibling, Amazon might be second to the symbolic trillion-dollar milestone - but when it comes to its rivalry with Apple, it's been quicker to hit nearly every hundred-billion dollar valuation hurdle.

For instance, it took Amazon just 16 days, compared to Apple's 622 days, to go from a market value of $600bn to $700bn, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This acceleration makes sense in a way, because Amazon spent most of its time as a public company reporting losses or negligible profits. Founder Jeff Bezos consistently said he would rather reinvest sales revenue into the company to give it a better, more profitable future.

It's a strategy that seems to have paid off: Amazon reported $2.5bn in profit last quarter, making it one of Wall Street's most profitable companies.

And the future seems bright.

Even more so than Apple, Amazon is in the business of how we'll live in the future.

Although nearly half of every dollar spent online by an American goes to Amazon, e-commerce still makes up just 9% of total retail sales here. And Amazon has also become the market leader in cloud computing, with its Web Services business line consistently beating expectations.

All of this suggests that when it comes to Amazon's growing market value, the best word to describe it might in fact be the name Mr Bezos reportedly initially had planned for the company: relentless.

Amazon reported nearly $53bn in sales in the three months ended in June, with record quarterly profit of $2.5bn.

The firm is expected to account for roughly half of all online shopping sales in the US this year - and nearly 5% of the country's overall retail market, according to research firm eMarketer.

It employs more than 575,000 people, a force nearly the size of Luxembourg's population.

It provides logistics, storage, loans and a selling platform to hundreds of thousands of third-party merchants.

Its profitable cloud computing division, which hosts huge swathes of the corporate world on its data servers, is the industry's global leader.--BBC

Mercedes takes on Tesla with fully-electric SUV

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its first fully-electric car, in a bid to take on US rival Tesla.

The subsidiary of Daimler says the EQC, which has two electric motors, will have a range of more than 450km.

It will start rolling off production lines at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen in 2019.

The firm is investing more than €10bn (£9bn) in the expansion of its electric range, and more than €1bn in battery production.

The new SUV is the first model in a range of ten EQ cars that Mercedes plans to launch by 2022.

With bans on combustion engines looming in the UK and France, and the establishment of a low-emission zones in cities across Europe, major automakers have been scrambling to enter the electric vehicle market.

Until recently, the California-based Tesla, which is struggling to meet production targets and burning through cash, had little competition.

Now, German brands Porsche and Audi are scheduled to produce luxury electric cars, as is Britain's Jaguar.

Earlier this year, the German government ordered Daimler to recall 238,000 vehicles in Germany after they were found to be fitted with illegal software that masks diesel emissions.

Across Europe a total of 774,000 diesel vehicles contain "defeat devices" and Daimler said it would recall them all.

It said it would refit software but denied any wrongdoing.--BBC

Nigeria slaps $2bn bill on phone giant MTN

Nigeria has asked mobile phone operator MTN to pay a $2bn (£1.6bn) tax bill, the company says.

MTN challenged the figure, saying it related to activities over the past decade. It said it had settled the bill with a $700m payment.

The tax demand is the latest in a series of disputes between MTN and Nigeria, the company's largest market.

In 2016 it agreed to pay Nigeria $1.7bn over failing to disconnect unregistered Sim cards.

Last week, Nigeria's Central Bank ordered the company to repatriate $8bn it said had been taken out of the country illegally.

MTN, Africa's largest mobile phone company, said the tax bill had emerged from an investigation by Nigeria's attorney general and related to "the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years".

But, it added, "MTN Nigeria believes it has fully settled all amounts owing under the taxes in question".

Shares in the company on the Johannesburg stock exchange fell sharply on Tuesday's news, reaching a low of almost 10 years.-BBC

Uber to block low-rating riders in Australia and New Zealand

Uber is to block customers in Australia and New Zealand from its ride service if they have a low passenger rating.

Riders rated four-out-of-five stars or lower will be banned for six months. Ratings are based on feedback left by drivers after each journey.

The move is aimed at improving passenger behaviour, the company said.

Uber told the BBC that Australia and New Zealand had been identified as a place to bring in the rule after feedback from drivers.

The same policy was introduced in Brazil earlier this this year, Uber said, but it's the first time the control has been rolled out in an English-speaking market.

An Uber spokeswoman declined to be drawn on exactly how many of its 2.8 million users in Australia and New Zealand currently had ratings of below 4.0 - but conceded it was only "a few thousand".

The "vast majority" - believed to be more than 90% - had ratings of at least 4.5, the company said.

The policy will kick in on 19 September and passengers will receive several warnings before they are banned.

What lowers your score?

Susan Anderson, general director of Uber in Australia and New Zealand, said riders with a 4.0 rating or below would have received a number of one-star reviews from drivers.

"These are the small percentage of riders who are persistently not treating drivers with respect," she told Channel Seven's Sunrise programme on Wednesday.

Uber plans shake-up of driver ratings

How to avoid surge pricing

What's wrong with doing make-up on a train?

She said drivers expected basic courtesy from riders. Poor behaviour included users not being at their pick-up spot, or organising pick-ups in unsafe areas on the road.

"Be polite and considerate. Take your rubbish with you and don't make a mess in the car," Ms Anderson said.

The company sent out a number of tips to users last month aimed at improving customer scores.--BBC

Lord Mervyn King attacks 'incompetent' Brexit approach

Former Bank of England governor Lord King has blasted Brexit preparations as "incompetent".

The Brexit supporter said it "beggared belief" that the world's sixth-biggest economy should be talking of stockpiling food and medicines.

This left the government without a credible bargaining position, he said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) said that getting a good deal with the EU was "by far, the most likely outcome".

Lord King said that "a government that cannot take action to prevent some of these catastrophic outcomes illustrates a whole lack of preparation".

"It doesn't tell us anything about whether the policy of staying in the EU is good or bad, it tells us everything about the incompetence of the preparation for it."

The 'Chequers' Brexit plan explained

What do the Brexit 'no deal' papers reveal?

Raab says Chequers EU feedback positive

Lord King: Brexit brings real opportunities

In a BBC interview to discuss the 10 years since the economic crisis - due to be aired next week - Lord King spent a significant amount of time saying the 11th hour preparation for a no-deal Brexit has undermined the government's negotiating position.

He added: "We haven't had a credible bargaining position, because we hadn't put in place measures where we could say to our colleagues in Europe, 'Look, we'd like a free-trade deal, we think that you would probably like one too, but if we can't agree, don't be under any misapprehension, we have put in place the measures that would enable us to leave without one.'"

'Significant progress'

In response, the government said it was "focused on negotiating a deal of unprecedented scope and ambition".

"We have already made significant progress," the DExEU spokesperson added. "The vast majority of the Withdrawal Agreement has now been agreed, and we are making further progress on the outstanding separation issues".

But Lord King predicts that we will find ourselves with what's been dubbed as Brino - Brexit in name only - which he said was the worst of all worlds. It's also a state of affairs that he fears could drag on for years.

"I think the biggest risk to the UK, and this is what worries me most, is that this issue isn't going to go away, you know the referendum hasn't decided it, because both camps feel that they haven't got what they wanted."

'Depressing' debate

Lord King expressed regret and surprise that it was more difficult for a single country to present a united front than the other 27 EU members.

He said: "They must have been really worried that they had 27 countries to try to corral, how could they have a united negotiating position, they were dealing with a country that was one country, made a clear decision, voted to leave, it knew what it wanted to do, how on earth could the EU manage to negotiate against this one decisive group on the other side of the Channel?

"Well, the reality's been completely the opposite. The EU has been united, has been clear, has been patient and it's the UK that's been divided without any clear strategy at all for how to get to where we want to go."

He also said he found the current level of debate around Brexit "depressing" and said it obscured the real challenges ahead.

"The biggest economic problems facing the UK are, we save too little, we haven't worked out how to save for retirement, the pension system is facing I think a real challenge, we haven't worked out how to save enough for the NHS and finance it, we haven't worked out how we're going to save enough to provide care for the elderly.

Brexit: All you need to know

At-a-glance: The UK's four Brexit options

"These are the big economic challenges we face, but are they being discussed at present in an open way?

"No, because the political debate has been completely taken up by Brexit," he said. "It's a discussion where both sides seem to be throwing insults at each other."

Lord King might argue he is being much more even-handed, with stinging criticism for all involved.

His comments come as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham calls for Brexit to be postponed, if a no-deal scenario seems likely.

In a speech on Wednesday, the former Labour minister will say that although "a price would undoubtedly be paid in terms of social cohesion," a suspension of the process would be necessary to avoid damaging jobs.--BBC

Welby - Taxes must rise to tackle 'unjust economy'

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for a fundamental rethink of how the economy works, including more public spending and higher taxes on technology giants and the wealthy.

In an interview with the BBC to mark the launch of a major report by the Commission on Economic Justice, of which he is a leading member, Archbishop Justin Welby said the present economy was "unjust".

He backed demands from the commission for a new regulator for technology firms, similar to those that oversee public utilities such as energy and water.

The spiritual leader of the Church of England said a new regulator would be tasked with ensuring that technology giants such as Google and Facebook were using people's personal data in a way that was socially responsible.

"They have enormous power and the use and handling of data has huge implications for people's security," he said.

"But it also has huge implications for the flourishing of individuals and the prosperity and fairness of our society.

"If you corner the market in data, you have probably more wealth advantages than if you corner the market in gold or oil.

"Data is the real place where the money is, and we've always said that people with huge power should be regulated."

Google tracks users who turn off location history

Corbyn: Tech firm tax could fund journalism

National Living Wage 'fails to cover families' basic needs'

Archbishop Welby also argued for an increase in the minimum wage to better reflect the cost of living and support struggling families and said that without action, "bitter resentment" would grow.

The commission, set up by the left-leaning think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the present "living wage", as it is described by the government, should be increased by £1 an hour to £8.83 for those over 25.

It said people on zero-hours contracts should be paid 20% more on top of that figure.

It also called for higher levels of corporation tax on businesses, a "minimum tax rate" on multinationals such as technology firms to stem "tax avoidance" and the scrapping of inheritance tax - to be replaced by a "lifetime gift tax" on any gifted income above £125,000.

Fairer taxes needed

The tax would be levied on individuals rather than estates.

"People suffer from injustice in the economy," Archbishop Welby told me.

"People suffer from the need to go to a food bank, even when you've got two adults both working.

"People suffer from being caught in a debt trap, because they can't replace a basic bit of equipment they need like a new stove, a washing machine - let alone have luxuries.

"I think one of the regrettable things in the last few years has been to call what we used to call the minimum wage a 'living wage'.

"We need a living wage because that enables people to live with dignity, and the dignity of the human being is fundamental to our understanding of what a just economy is about."

The commission's board members include the archbishop, as well as:

union leaders, such as Frances O'Grady of the Trades Union Congress;

business leaders, such as Helena Morrissey of Legal and General Investment Management; Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of Google's artificial intelligence arm, DeepMind; and Dominic Barton, global managing partner of the consultancy firm, McKinsey

Lord Bob Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, is also a member.

The commission was launched in 2016 after the vote to leave the European Union, which some believe was driven in part by the economic difficulties faced by many millions of people.

Its report says that problems in the economy are fundamental and have been building for more than 40 years.

Low levels of investment by businesses and the government in anything from a new piece of technology to new digital and transport links have meant that growth has suffered, it said.

And low levels of wealth creation, called productivity, have left many millions of people struggling as wages fail to keep up with the increase in prices.

"I start with the dignity of the human being which is what I learn from Jesus Christ - the dignity and value of each individual human being, whoever they are," the archbishop said, arguing that he was "non-political" and that his was not an attack on any particular government or party, as the problems had long-term roots.

He said he had met many politicians who were trying to tackle ingrained problems and that there was much to be optimistic about, including high levels of employment.

A government spokesman said: "Since 2010, we've supported more people into work, introduced the National Living Wage worth £7.83 per hour, doubled free childcare and helped workers keep more of the money they earn at the end of every month by cutting taxes for 31 million people by an average of £1,000."

The spokesman added the government was spending £20bn more per year on the NHS and increasing pay for teachers, nurses and soldiers.

Insecurity about income

Archbishop Welby said there were widespread problems.

"For a lot of people, even if their income has gone up a bit, it's become a lot less secure.

"You don't know from one week to the next what you'll be earning.

"And so for people trying to budget, people trying to just save a bit so that, I don't know, once a month they could have fish and chips with their kids or go to the cinema or go down to the beach on a nice hot summer, they can't plan.

"It comes back to justice and the common good."

I asked the archbishop if he agreed with the commission that taxes needed to increase on technology firms and the wealthy.

"What is clear is that tax should be a fundamental part of being a citizen, and that those who have the most should pay the most," he said.

"And that no company, through being multinational, being global, can evade the responsibilities of paying its proper amount of tax, based on the revenues it earns in this country.

"So yes, some people will need to pay more.

"I'm not going to point at individuals, but certainly we see people and companies that seem not to pay what sounds like a reasonable amount of tax."--BBC

ING fined €775m for lax crime prevention

Dutch bank ING has agreed to pay fines and other payments of €775m ($897m; £698m) after admitting errors in its policies to stop financial crime.

The bank said it regretted that its mistakes had let some customers use their accounts for things such as money laundering between 2010 and 2016.

ING chief executive Ralph Hamers said the bank took "full responsibility".

He said the bank's operations must "meet the highest standards" and that not doing so was "unacceptable".

Vincent van den Boogert, chief executive of ING in the Netherlands, said it was "taking a number of robust measures to strengthen our compliance risk management".

'Collective shortcomings'

An investigation by Dutch authorities found no evidence that any ING staff had helped customers who may have used banking services for potential criminal activities.

It ruled that the errors were not down to individuals, but more the fault of "collective shortcomings at all responsible management levels".

Despite this, ING has started measures against a number of former senior employees, including holding back some of their financial packages.

In a statement, Dutch prosecutors said: "Clients for years were able to make use of ING bank accounts for criminal activities pretty much undisturbed.

"ING should have seen that the money streams that ran through those bank accounts possibly were coming from crime."

The bank was fined €675m and also ordered to pay another €100m for disgorgement, to make up for not spending enough on staffing in the six-year period.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 <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=AFQjCNH8LYgdY55h-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%2FBullsBearsZimbabwe&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/20180905/93a79359/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/20180905/93a79359/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 45474 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180905/93a79359/attachment-0007.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29396 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180905/93a79359/attachment-0008.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29401 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180905/93a79359/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/20180905/93a79359/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/20180905/93a79359/attachment-0011.jpg>