Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 July 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 July 2019

 


 

 


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*  Lawmakers back plan to nationalise Kenya Airways

*  South Africa expects lower tax revenues, higher borrowing this year
-finmin

*  Nigeria's NNPC secures $3.15 bln to develop oil mining licence

*  Nigeria's central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 13.5 pct

*  South African court blocks Zambian plan to sell Vedanta copper mine

*  South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore H1 earnings more than treble

*  UK's SFO probes De La Rue over 'suspected corruption' in South Sudan

*  Guinea seeks developers for Simandou iron ore deposit

*  Technology giants' power to be probed in US

*  Global growth forecast cut by IMF amid trade tensions

*  Huawei cuts jobs at US unit after trade clampdown

*  UK hemp farm could lose £200,000 in crop destruction

*  Facebook won't rule out digital currency launch without US approval

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Lawmakers back plan to nationalise Kenya Airways

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s parliament voted on Tuesday to nationalise the
country’s main airline Kenya Airways to save it from mounting debts.

 

The loss-making airline, which is 48.9% government-owned and 7.8% held by
Air France-KLM, has been struggling to return to profitability and growth.

 

A failed expansion drive and a slump in air travel forced it to restructure
$2 billion of debt in 2017. The airline later proposed taking over the
running of Nairobi’s main airport to boost its revenue.

 

Parliament’s transport committee, however, rejected that plan, recommending
instead the nationalisation of the airline in a report debated by the
national assembly on June 18.

 

In a voice vote taken on Tuesday afternoon, the majority of lawmakers in the
chamber voted to accept the report.

 

Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph told Reuters the vote was “great
news”.

 

“Nationalisation is what is necessary to compete on a level playing field.
It is not what we want, but what we need,” he said, referring to competitors
such as Ethiopian Airlines which are state-run and profitable.

 

Air France-KLM could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

The government will now draw up an implementation plan, with clear time
lines, said Esther Koimett, the principal secretary at the ministry of
transport.

 

“Parliament is our boss ... we will obviously take the recommendations of
parliament,” she told Reuters.

 

Kenya is seeking to emulate countries like Ethiopia which run air transport
assets from airports to fuelling operations under a single company, using
funds from the more profitable parts to support others, such as national
airlines.

 

“The government is keen to take a consolidated view of aviation assets of
the country in order to make sure they work in a coherent and efficient way
to support the (Nairobi aviation) hub,” Koimett said.

 

The committee’s report proposes that Kenya set up an aviation holding
company with four subsidiaries, one of which would run Kenya Airways.
Another arm of the holding company would operate Nairobi’s main
international airport.

 

The committee’s report also recommended the holding company be given tax
concessions for a period to be determined and that it be exempted from
paying excise duty on all goods, including jet fuel.

 

Koimett dismissed concerns that nationalisation could lead to further
mismanagement. Kenya’s state-owned enterprises sector is riddled with
corporate corpses and near failures caused by theft and poor management over
the decades.

 

“Implementation is really the key thing ... Ultimately all these things have
to do really with ensuring that we get the right people in the right
places,” she said.

 

($1 = 103.7000 Kenyan shillings)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

South Africa expects lower tax revenues, higher borrowing this year -finmin

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s 2019/20 tax revenues could be
“significantly lower” than budgeted for and it may need to borrow more than
planned, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday, also citing the cost
of support for troubled power utility Eskom.

 

Mboweni was addressing parliament on a special appropriation bill that will
make an extra 59 billion rand ($4.24 billion)available to Eskom, which has
more than 400 billion rand of debt and is struggling to supply power to
households and businesses.

 

Mboweni said the lower tax receipts and additional costs related to Eskom
“could substantially increase the government’s borrowing requirements for
2019/20”. The government will have to revise its funding strategy and weekly
bond issuance to “levels beyond what we had planned”, he added.

 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has staked his reputation on cleaning up
corruption, problems at state-owned enterprises and reviving growth Africa’s
most developed economy, but sluggish growth and issues at Eskom are proving
difficult to fix.

 

Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity but was
forced to implement power cuts this year, fails to generate sufficient
profit to meet its debt servicing costs and has required state cash
injections to stay afloat.

 

The latest allocation, sourced from the government’s National Revenue Fund,
provides 26 billion rand for the 2019/20 financial year and 33 billion rand
for 2020/21, Reuters reported on Monday.

 

Mboweni also said he expects to announce the appointment of a chief
restructuring officer for Eskom later on Tuesday.

 

($1 = 13.9231 rand)

 

 

 

Nigeria's NNPC secures $3.15 bln to develop oil mining licence

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria’s state oil company has secured $3.15 billion from
Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited to develop
oil mining licence 13, it said in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday.

 

OML 13 is a wholly owned asset of NPDC, the upstream subsidiary of Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation.

 

 

 

Nigeria's central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 13.5 pct

ABUJA (Reuters) - The Nigerian central bank’s monetary committee voted
unanimously on Tuesday to hold its benchmark interest rate at 13.5% because
key macroeconomic indicators were “trending in the right direction”,
governor Godwin Emefiele said.

 

Most analysts polled by Reuters had predicted no change, though they said
the central bank would probably ease in September. [nL8N24N1J3]

 

The central bank also left the benchmark rate at 13.5% at its previous
meeting in May after a surprise cut of 50 basis points in March.

 

Emefiele said that rate cut was part of an attempt to stimulate growth in
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, and to signal a “new direction”.

 

 

 

South African court blocks Zambian plan to sell Vedanta copper mine

JOHANNESBURG/LUSAKA (Reuters) - South Africa’s High Court on Tuesday has
ordered the Zambian government to halt the sale of Vedanta Resources’s
majority-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) until a final decision is made
through arbitration.

 

Vedanta has been locked in a dispute with the Zambian government since May
when Lusaka appointed a liquidator to run KCM, which is 20% owned by
Zambia’s state mining company ZCCM and the rest by Vedanta. Zambia accused
KCM of breaching the terms of its licence.

 

The dispute in Africa’s second-largest copper producer has intensified
concerns among international miners about resource nationalism in Africa.

 

Mumbai-listed Vedanta denies that KCM has broken the terms of its licence
and says it will defend its assets in the southern African country.

 

South African High Court Judge Leicester Adams said on Tuesday in a ruling
seen as a big win for Vedanta that wind-up proceedings must be immediately
withdrawn until a final decision is made following arbitration.

 

“Pending the final determination of the arbitration, the first respondent is
interdicted and restrained from taking any further steps in the furtherance
and prosecution of the winding up proceedings,” he said.

 

Zambia’s Mines Minister Richard Musukwa said the government had advised its
attorneys in South Africa to appeal the judgment and that foreign judgments
were not enforceable in Zambia until they were registered in local courts.

 

“To that effect, it has no effect on the processes that are going on in
Zambia,” Musukwa said during a press briefing in Zambia.

 

Vedanta has welcomed the court ruling and said it was committed to resolving
the dispute.

 

Vedanta had sought the urgent order in South Africa to prevent KCM from
being wound up, arguing that the dispute should be subject to arbitration,
which cannot happen if the Zambian government is pursuing a new investor.

 

Peter Leon, a legal expert and attorney with Johannesburg-based firm Herbert
Smith Freehills said ZCCM could ignore the court ruling but this could
result in a breach of the court decision or contempt of court unless it was
appealed.

 

“This will inevitably have consequences for ZCCM once the arbitration itself
commences in Johannesburg,” he said.

 

Musukwa said last week that Zambia expected bids for the KCM business to be
submitted within weeks by nine companies from Russia, Turkey, Australia,
Canada and China - even as the court case over KCM’s ownership was underway.

 

 

 

South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore H1 earnings more than treble

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Kumba Iron Ore Ltd on Tuesday
reported a 239% surge in half-year earnings, boosted by higher iron ore
prices and a weaker rand/dollar exchange rate.

 

The company, a unit of Anglo American, posted headline earnings of 10.1
billion rand ($725.48 million).

 

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) were 31.51 rand in the six months ended
June 30, compared with 14.51 rand a year earlier.

 

HEPS is the primary profit measure in South Africa that strips out certain
one-off items.

 

Total revenue jumped 77% to 34.5 billion rand, largely driven by a 57%
increase in iron ore prices to $108 per tonne and the rand weakening by an
average 16% against the dollar.

 

Total sales volumes were flat at 21.4 million tonnes (NOT 21,400 tonnes),
compared with 21.2 million tonnes (NOT 21,200 tonnes) a year ago.

 

“For the second half of the year, we aim to improve our safety performance,
increase production volumes and deliver on our full-year 700 million rand
cost-savings target while continuing to achieve optimal market premia,”
Chief Executive Officer Themba Mkhwananzi said.

 

($1 = 13.9218 rand)

 

 

 

UK's SFO probes De La Rue over 'suspected corruption' in South Sudan

(Reuters) - The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has opened an investigation into
British banknote and passport printer De La Rue over “suspected corruption”
in its business in South Sudan, sending shares to a 16-year low.

 

“Given the early stage of these matters, it is not possible to predict
reliably what effect their outcome may have on De La Rue,” the company said
in a statement on Tuesday.

 

De La Rue said it intends to cooperate with the SFO in its investigation.

 

The investigation is a further setback for De La Rue, which produces
passports for 40 countries, after it said in May that its chief executive
would quit and it warned of a profit downturn this year.

 

Shares in the company fell as much as 17.4% to 246 pence at 1311 GMT,
hitting their lowest since July 2003.

 

 

 

Guinea seeks developers for Simandou iron ore deposit

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea has launched an international tender for blocks 1
and 2 of Simandou, giving companies until Aug. 2 to outline their bids, as
the country seeks to revive interest in the world’s largest undeveloped iron
ore deposit.

 

Guinea’s aspirations to develop Simandou have foundered because of the cost
of infrastructure and protracted legal disputes, but strong iron ore prices
and the resolution of some of the problems have increased the chances that
developers can be found.

 

Mines Minister Abdoulaye Magassouba told Reuters the international tender
would be “open, competitive and transparent”. The deadline for companies to
express interest was Aug. 2 and the process should be completed 30 days
after that, an official close to the tender said.

 

Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said western mining
groups and companies from Asia, including China, had shown interest in
Simandou, which has a very high grade.

 

High grade iron ore commands a premium and has become sought after by
countries, including China, because processing it creates less pollution
than lower grade ore.

 

Blocks 1 and 2 have become available following the resolution of one of the
legal cases that have embroiled Simandou. Billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s BSG
Resources (BSGR) said it would walk away from the Simandou project, but
retain the right to mine the smaller Zogota deposit.

 

The Guinean government has said ore mined from Simandou must be shipped from
its own ports, presenting a challenge for prospective developers as its
location is 650 kilometres from Guinea’s coast.

 

Guinea has said ore from Zogota can be shipped using a Liberian route. Those
involved in Zogota have said activity around the smaller, more manageable
project could help to release the deadlock around Simandou.

 

One industry source said Australian iron ore company Fortescue Metals was
interested in the Simandou tender.

 

Fortescue Metals had no comment.

 

The Facebook page representing the office of Liberian President George Weah
said Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest was among a group of potential
investors who signed an outline cooperation deal on Liberian rail
improvements on July 14.

 

Fortescue Metals said it had not signed a deal with Liberia over iron ore.

 

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto holds a 45.05% stake in Simandou’s
remaining blocks 3 and 4 which it has been trying to sell.

 

An outline deal to divest the stake to partner Aluminum Corp of China
(Chinalco), which holds 39.95 percent, lapsed last year without producing an
agreement, with sources citing as one obstacle China’s wish to control all
four blocks.

 

 

 

 

Technology giants' power to be probed in US

The US Justice Department has announced an investigation into leading online
platforms, examining whether they are unfairly restricting competition.

 

The DoJ did not name any firms, but companies such as Facebook, Google,
Amazon and Apple are likely to be scrutinised in the wide-ranging probe.

 

It was sparked by "widespread concerns" about "search, social media, and
some retail services online," the DoJ said.

 

It marks the latest scrutiny of tech firms' power over the US economy.

 

Last month, the Justice Department was reported to be preparing an
investigation of Google to determine whether the search engine giant had
broken anti-trust law.

 

The US Department of Justice said its anti-trust review would consider
"whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power
and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled
innovation or otherwise harmed consumers".

 

It is likely to examine issues including how the largest tech firms have
grown in size and power, and expanded into additional businesses, as well as
how they have used the powers that come with having very large networks of
users.

 

"Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital
platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,"
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, who heads the Antitrust Division,
said in a statement.

 

"The department's antitrust review will explore these important issues."

 

Growing backlash

Google and Facebook now dominate online advertising as consumers use their
smartphones to order food, watch films and socialise online.

 

Meanwhile the growing popularity of online shopping has boosted the fortunes
of firms such as Amazon.

 

Daniel Ives, an analyst at research firm Wedbush Securities, said the DoJ
investigation was a "major shot across the bows" of big tech companies.

 

However, he said the end result was likely to result in "business model
tweaks" or in a worst-case scenario potential fines rather than forced
break-ups of the underlying businesses.

 

Technology companies are facing a growing global backlash, driven by
concerns that they have too much power and are harming users and business
rivals.

 

Google and Apple declined to comment, while Facebook and Amazon did not
immediately comment.--BBC

 

 

 

Global growth forecast cut by IMF amid trade tensions

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its growth forecasts for the
global economy for this year and next.

 

It predicts growth of 3.2% in 2019, down from its April forecast of 3.3%.
Growth next year is set to pick up to 3.5% next year, although that is below
its earlier forecast of 3.6%.

 

Growth "remains subdued", the IMF says, and there is an urgent need to
reduce trade and technology tensions.

 

The Fund has raised its growth forecast for the UK this year to 1.3% from
1.2%.

 

The revision for the UK reflects what the report calls a
stronger-than-expected first three months of the year, boosted by pre-Brexit
stockpiling.

 

Next year, the report predicts 1.4% growth. The UK forecasts are based on an
assumption of an orderly Brexit followed by a gradual transition to the new
regime. As the report notes, what this will be remains highly uncertain.

 

The IMF named a no-deal Brexit as one of the key risks to global economic
growth.

 

"The principal risk factor to the global economy is that adverse
developments - including further US-China tariffs, US auto tariffs, or a
no-deal Brexit - sap confidence, weaken investment, dislocate global supply
chains, and severely slow global growth below the baseline," the Fund said.

 

In an interview with the BBC, the IMF's chief economist, Gita Gopinath,
said: "Global growth is sluggish and precarious. But it doesn't have to be
this way because some of this is self-inflicted".

 

The report is, by implication, strongly critical of US President Donald
Trump's approach to trade policy.

 

It says countries should not use tariffs - taxes on traded goods - to target
bilateral trade balances, or as a substitute for dialogue to pressure others
for reform.

 

Faisal Islam: What happened to post-Brexit free-trade nirvana?

Karishma Vaswani: Trade war infects Asia as exports plunge

Both these strategies are being employed by the Trump administration in its
more assertive approach to trade policy.

 

It has sought to pressure other countries to takes steps to reduce the
deficit the US has with them; to export less to the US or import more.

 

The official objective of the tariff increases directed against Chinese
goods was reform. The Trump administration wanted China to take action to
stop what the US sees as unfair subsidies and the unfair acquisition of
American companies' technology.

 

The IMF also calls for the uncertainty surrounding trade agreements to be
resolved quickly, including Brexit and the free-trade area encompassing the
US, Canada and Mexico.

 

The report describes inflation as muted. That, together with the subdued
growth means that the low interest rate policies pursued in many countries
are appropriate.

 

Japan and the eurozone both have one of their central bank interest rates
below zero. In the financial markets, the European Central Bank and the US
Federal Reserve are thought to be likely to cut rates in the coming months -
next week in the case of the US.

 

The IMF predicts that the US economy will see a significant slowdown as the
stimulus from tax cuts fades. After 2.9% growth last year, it predicts 1.9%
in 2020.

 

The largest forecast downgrades were in some of the major emerging
economies, including Brazil where there is uncertainty about pension and
other reforms, and South Africa, which is affected by strikes, energy supply
problems and weak agricultural production.

 

There was also a smaller forecast downgrade for both years for China which
partly reflects the trade tension with the US.

 

The somewhat quicker global growth predicted for next year is based mainly
on an expected improvement in four severely stressed emerging economies -
Turkey, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. That, Ms Gopinath says, is subject to
high uncertainty.--BBC

 

 

 

Huawei cuts jobs at US unit after trade clampdown

Huawei has cut more than 600 jobs at its US research unit Futurewei after
Washington put the Chinese firm on a trade blacklist.

 

The telecoms giant said the job cuts were due to "the curtailment of
business operations caused by the US".

 

Washington added Huawei to its "entity list" in May which restricts its
ability to trade with US firms.

 

Tensions between the US and China over trade and Huawei have escalated this
year.

 

Based in California, Futurewei is a research and development subsidiary of
Huawei.

 

In a statement, Huawei said "Futurewei Technologies announces a reduction in
force, directly impacting over 600 US positions," effective 22 July.

 

The company said the job losses followed the "curtailment of its business
operations" in the US after Huawei and 68 subsidiaries were placed on the US
"entity list".

 

The US added Huawei to the trade blacklist in May, a move that bans the
company from acquiring technology from US firms without government approval.

 

In July, the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the US the Commerce
Department would issue licenses to companies seeking to trade with Huawei
where there is "no threat to US national security".

 

Huawei: US ban will harm billions of users

Trump declares emergency over IT threats

How damaging is the Huawei row for the US and China?

Huawei, the world's largest maker of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly
denied claims that the use of its products presents security risks.

 

US-China tensions

Washington's clampdown on Huawei is part of a wider conflict simmering
between the US and China.

 

The two countries have been fighting a trade war for the past year, imposing
tariffs on billions of dollars worth of one another's goods.

 

The US has targeted Huawei with trade restrictions, while also pushing to
persuade allies to ban the Chinese company over the potential risks of using
its products in next-generation 5G mobile networks.--BBC

 

 

 

UK hemp farm could lose £200,000 in crop destruction

One of the UK's largest hemp farms, Hempen, expects to lose about £200,000
of sales by destroying its crop after it says it lost its licence to grow
it.

 

Last year, the Home Office said UK farmers could not harvest hemp flowers
for cannabis oil, or CBD, but could continue to grow seed and stalk.

 

However, last Thursday the Home Office told the firm that it would have to
cease production entirely.

 

The Home Office said it does not comment on individual licences.

 

Hempen's licence is in the name of its director James Norman, who is the
farm's tenancy holder.

 

Hempen said it was being unfairly penalised and would appeal. It also
criticised a "lack of clarity" in government regulation.

 

CBD oil products - fad or the future of food?

New heights but no high - why hemp sales are soaring

Why are so many countries now saying cannabis is OK?

Following Home Office guidance last November, Oxfordshire-based Hempen said
it had stopped growing Hemp for CBD purposes.

 

It instead focused its growing efforts on seed and stalk, which can be used
to make cold-pressed seed oil and hemp flour among other products.

 

The not-for-profit business said it had then reapplied for its hemp grower's
licence - which it had held for three years - in December. However, last
week it was rejected.

 

The farm says it started the destruction of its crop on Monday to remain
within the law.

 

The company employs 12 people and also uses some casual staff. It hopes to
avoid job losses by changing its product offering and continuing to supply
CBD by importing it from a European partner, which is legal.

 

The plants are being cut down and crushed by a tractor over the farm's 40
acres of hemp fields.

 

Hempen co-founder Patrick Gillett said: "In challenging economic times for
British farmers, hemp is offering green shoots of hope as a rare crop that
can pay for itself without subsidy.

 

"Instead of capitalising on the booming CBD industry, the Home Office's
bureaucracy is leading British farmers to destroy their own crops, and
millions of pounds' worth of CBD flowers are being left to rot in the
fields."

 

He added that he felt the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
should take over responsibility of regulating farmers from the Home Office.

 

What is hemp?

Hemp is a strain of the cannabis plant that contains little or no
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but does contain CBD.

 

THC is the part of the plant that gets people high, which is something that
CBD cannot do because it has no psychoactive effect.

 

Hemp is used for a wide variety of things, including fibreboard,
environmentally-friendly plastic substitutes and - outside the UK - for
food. It can be turned into everything from clothes to shoes, paper, animal
feed and building insulation.

 

UK hemp-growing rules

The Home Office has various rules and conditions for people to grow hemp in
the UK

 

They must have a licence which usually costs £580 or £326 for a renewal

Contact details must be provided, along with the location and hectarage of
the field where the hemp will be grown

The Home Office needs to know the seed type used and confirmation of whether
it is approved by the EU

Growers must undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

Crops may have to be screened or grown sensitively, for example not near
schools or areas of public access--BBC

 

 

 

Facebook won't rule out digital currency launch without US approval

Facebook is facing immense pressure from US regulators over its plans to
launch a digital currency, Libra, in association with more than 20 partners
including Visa, MasterCard and Uber.

 

As well as co-creating the Libra currency, Facebook plans, on its own, to
offer its own digital wallet, called Calibra. Like a physical wallet with
cash, Calibra will store a users’ Libra, and make it possible to engage in
transactions with other wallets.

 

Libra has the potential, lawmakers say, to dramatically disrupt the global
banking industry - a digital currency that can cross borders, without the
wild price fluctuations and illegal connotations of Bitcoin and its ilk.

 

Which is why David Marcus, the Facebook executive of its currency project,
was brought in front of two US congressional committees last week to answer
concerns.

 

“I want to be clear,” Mr Marcus said in his opening statement to US
lawmakers. "Facebook will not offer the Libra digital currency until we have
fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals."

 

But what exactly did that mean? A pledge not to launch anywhere without US
approval, or just a pledge not to launch in the US?

 

No clear answer

Almost a week later, it’s difficult to get a clear answer from Facebook
about whether it feels it needs US lawmakers on board in order for Libra to
go ahead.

 

Midway through last Wednesdays’ hearing, the second two hour-long session, I
dropped the company a note seeking clarification.

 

“If the US doesn't give approval, but Facebook gets approval elsewhere in
the world, will Libra’s launch go ahead in those places?” I asked.

 

A spokeswoman replied, telling me: "David [Marcus] committed that Facebook
will not offer the Libra digital currency until we have fully addressed
regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals. This is Facebook’s
commitment. We will be offering Libra through Calibra. Calibra will only
launch in jurisdictions in which we have approval to launch.”

 

That didn’t quite answer the question on whether the Libra project would
still go ahead if the US didn’t approve, or if Calibra - the part which
Facebook will run on its own - would be available in other countries, if not
the US. So I tried again.

 

"If the US is yet to approve Libra/Calibra, but country X does, will
Facebook launch Calibra in country X?”

 

The spokeswoman said she wouldn’t comment on a hypothetical scenario. Fine.
I tried again.

 

"Is it Facebook’s position, today, that in the absence of US regulatory
approval, it intends to launch Libra in other markets, subject to local
regulators’ approval?”

 

“Nothing more to share on this,” the spokeswoman said.

 

It’s hard to stay out of the weeds on this one. Technically, Facebook isn’t
in charge of the Libra Association, and so can’t be solely responsible for
its actions. But when I tried to reach the other partners on the project to
get their view, most directed me back. “Facebook is spearheading [leading],”
said one rep from a payments company. “You need to talk to them.”

 

Facebook’s spokeswoman confirmed to me that when Mr Marcus made his
commitments to Congress, he was referring specifically to Calibra, the
wallet, rather than the wider Libra currency. A spokeswoman for the Libra
Association said on Tuesday it would only launch in regions where it had
"addressed applicable regulatory issues and received appropriate approvals".
But that likely won’t be enough for US lawmakers concerned about the impact
the project could have on the dollar.

 

"Mr Marcus was very clear that Facebook 'would not launch until all concerns
are addressed' and I believe he is a man of his word,” senator Mark Warner,
who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, wrote in an email to BBC News.

 

"With Libra backed by the US dollar and dollar-denominated securities, its
launch will have very real consequences - and poses very legitimate
stability and soundness concerns - for the US, even if Facebook chose not to
launch it in the US.

 

"I appreciate Facebook engaging policymakers on this front and fully expect
them to adhere to Mr Marcus’s commitment not to launch Libra - full stop -
unless and until the concerns of regulators are addressed.”

 

There could, however, be little the US can do - the Libra Association will
be headquartered in Switzerland. On Tuesday, a Facebook spokeswoman
reiterated the view that it would seek approval in the jurisdictions it
operates.

 

"Engaging with regulators, policymakers, and experts is critical to Libra’s
success,” the spokeswoman said.

 

"This was the whole reason that Facebook along with other members of the
Libra Association shared our plans early. The time between now and launch is
designed to be an open, collaborative process. We will take the time to get
this right.”

 

But, again, neither Facebook, nor a spokeswoman for the Libra Association
itself, would be drawn on what would happen elsewhere if the US feels Libra
should not go ahead.--bbc

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


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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.

 


 

 


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