Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 March 2019

Fri Mar 29 08:18:04 CAT 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 March 2019

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

*  South African central bank keeps repo rate at 6.75 percent

*  South Africa's Capitec Bank cuts fees to compete with digital newcomers

*  Steinhoff sells South African auto showrooms unit to France's CFAO

*  Sudan suspends daily exchange rate setting mechanism - report

*  Kenyan shilling strengthens against the dollar

*  Coffee growers, future crops at risk amid low global prices -producers

*  Gabon oil workers suspend VAALCO terminal strike

*  Airlines face lawsuits over 'toxic' cabin air

*  Sackler billions targeted in New York fraud lawsuit

*  Brexit: Rolled-over UK free trade deals 'are incomplete'

*  Goldman Sachs fined £34m for reporting failures

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

South African central bank keeps repo rate at 6.75 percent

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa’s central bank kept its benchmark repo
rate unchanged at 6.75 percent on Thursday in a unanimous decision, saying
it assessed the risks to the inflation outlook to be more or less balanced.

All economists surveyed by Reuters predicted the repo rate would remain on
hold.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

South Africa's Capitec Bank cuts fees to compete with digital newcomers

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Capitec Bank will take hit of at least $25 million
from cutting transaction fees in 2019, its chief executive said on Thursday,
as the South African lender fights to defend market share from digital
newcomers.

Launched in 2001 as a specialist in small personal loans, Capitec is now
positioning itself as a fully-fledged bank with no-frills savings, insurance
and credit card accounts. This is to cut its reliance on unsecured loans,
which rely solely on a customers’ promises to pay them back.

But the launch over the last few months of three digital banks promising
fees as low as zero looks set to trigger a price war in the country, where
more than 80 percent of the population already have bank accounts.

Capitec’s chief executive Gerrie Fourie told Reuters his company would stand
the challenge thanks to its strong brand, product offering, extensive branch
network and prices, which were reduced at the start of this month.

“We have reduced our prices from March this year, and given money back to
our clients. For this year, we are going to give back 360 to 380 million
rand,” Fourie said, referring to the price cuts.

Fourie, at helm sine 2014, also said Capitec would hike fees for cash
withdrawals of more than 1,000 rand - in line with strategies set out by new
digital banks TymeBank and Discovery Bank, both of whom have no branches or
ATMs.

Fees at the main banks for deposits, withdrawals and transfers have for
years largely ranged from 100 rand to 250 rand a month, but can rise as high
as 450 rand - a sizeable sum in a country where the minimum wage is 20 rand
per hour

Capitec reported a 19 percent increase to 4,577 cents in headline earnings
per share - the main profit measure in South Africa - in the year ended
February, thanks to strong growth in customer numbers.

The company attracted an average of 127,000 clients per month in the past
year, bringing the total to 11.4 million.

In November, Capitec agreed a 3.2 billion rand ($219 million) deal to buy
Mercantile Bank, a move that should give it a foothold in business banking
if and when it is approved by competition authorities later this year.

“We believe business banking is complex, pricing is complex ... so the
thinking is can we do the same in business banking as we’ve done in retail
banking, by offering a simplistic and transparent product?” Fourie said.

($1 = 14.6079 rand)

Steinhoff sells South African auto showrooms unit to France's CFAO

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Steinhoff has sold a majority stake in its South
African auto dealerships unit, it said on Thursday, days after selling its
stake in a local industrial group to shore up its finances following a
devastating accounting fraud.

Steinhoff revealed details earlier this month of the 6.5 billion euros ($7.3
billion) fraud that has shocked investors and left the retail group
scrambling for working capital.

The company said it had reached an agreement to sell a 75 percent stake in
Unitrans, which runs one of South Africa’s largest auto showrooms and a
network of trucks dealerships with annual sales of more than 23 billion rand
($1.6 billion).

Unitrans is being sold to French distribution company CFAO, part of Japanese
conglomerate Toyota Tsusho Corp, Steinhoff said, without giving financial
details of the deal.

Steinhoff raised 4.8 billion rand from the sale of its 26 percent stake in
KAP Industrial to pay off debt and bolster its finances. It has also sold
stakes in South African investment firm PSG Group, French online retailer
Showroomprive.com, and a property in Austria.

($1 = 0.8898 euros)

($1 = 14.6596 rand)

Sudan suspends daily exchange rate setting mechanism - report

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has indefinitely suspended use of a mechanism for
setting the daily exchange rate of the Sudanese pound against the dollar, a
pro-government news website reported on Wednesday, without giving a reason.

The central bank in October announced the mechanism for setting the exchange
rate on a daily basis through a new body of bankers and exchange bureaus.

The move, which allowed for a sharp devaluation of the local currency, was
part of a package of measures designed to tackle an economic crisis.

But the Sudan Media Centre, citing a source in the body that sets the
currency rate, said on Wednesday the decision to suspend it was taken by the
central bank governor after he met the body to review its work.

The website gave no further details and officials from the central bank
could not immediately be reached for a comment.

Sudan’s economy has been struggling since the south seceded in 2011, taking
with it three-quarters of oil output and depriving Khartoum of a crucial
source of foreign currency.

Kenyan shilling strengthens against the dollar

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling was firm against the dollar on
Thursday helped by inflows from remittances amid thin dollar demand from oil
importers, traders said.

At 0833 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 100.70/90 per dollar,
compared with 100.80/101.00 at Wednesday’s close.

Coffee growers, future crops at risk amid low global prices -producers

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Global coffee growers are being forced into poverty by
low international prices for the crop, farmers’ representatives said at an
international conference, warning the future of the industry is at risk.

Coffee futures are near a 13-year bottom, trading as low as 93.45 cents per
pound on Wednesday – far below the cost of production in most countries.
[SOF/L]

In a statement on Tuesday from Nairobi, Kenya, where the International
Coffee Organization is conducting a biannual meeting, the World Coffee
Producers Forum said New York market prices are “allowing the impoverishment
of producers.”

“The current economic sustainability crisis of coffee producers needs to be
addressed immediately before it becomes a humanitarian crisis,” read the
statement, signed by producer associations from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico,
India, Vietnam, Central America as well as across Africa.

Futures have been weighed down by excess supplies, particularly from Brazil,
the world’s biggest and most efficient producer of arabica. The country last
year produced a near-record arabica crop and is widely expected to produce
another huge crop in the 2019-20 harvest year, despite it being an off-year
in the biennial production cycle.

The price environment has accelerated momentum to find pricing alternatives.
In January, a new platform for specialty coffee was launched in the hopes of
eventually delinking fine beans from the futures price.

Colombia’s growers’ federation has suggested that high-quality producers
untether their prices from the New York market, though traders were
uncertain about the feasibility of the effort.

“An approach based on the principle of co-responsibility and total
transparency must be implemented to ensure that all the links of the value
chain are profitable and healthy,” the statement added.

“Coffee farmers from all over the world have been reaching out for years to
the rest of the value chain hoping for a collective, constructive and
realistic approach to secure the economic sustainability of producers. The
response - unfortunately - has been very weak.”

Desperation among growers is such that some are switching to illegal crops
to make ends meet, a phenomenon already on display in Peru, whose federation
said some growers have abandoned their crop to grow coca, the main
ingredient in cocaine.

A survey from Rabobank earlier this month pegged Brazilian 2019-20 arabica
output at about 38 million bags, which would be the largest for cyclical
off-year.

Gabon oil workers suspend VAALCO terminal strike

DAKAR (Reuters) - A petroleum terminal in Gabon operated by VAALCO Energy
Inc resumed production on Thursday, the oil workers’ union said, after being
shut down for two days by a strike over employees’ annual leave.

“The national office is announcing the suspension of the current strike as
of this day and the resumption of work,” the union, called ONEP, said in a
statement.

It added that negotiations with management, mediated by the oil minister,
would begin next week but that the “fight” would continue if its demands
were not met.

The terminal off Gabon’s Atlantic coast typically produces 14,000 barrels of
oil per day.

Airlines face lawsuits over 'toxic' cabin air

Five of the UK's largest airlines are facing legal action which claims
pilots and cabin crew are regularly exposed to toxic fumes during flights.

The Unite union said legal notice has been served in 51 cases, the majority
of which are against British Airways.

EasyJet, Thomas Cook, Jet2 and Virgin Atlantic are also subject to the legal
action over "aerotoxic syndrome".

The airlines said that previous studies found no proof of long-term
ill-health arising from cabin air quality.

The Unite union, which represents airline staff, claims pilots and crew are
exposed to frequent "fume events" when air drawn into the aircraft becomes
contaminated by toxic compounds.

The union says the fumes, which originate from the oil used to lubricate the
jet engines, contain organophosphates and TCP, and that long-term exposure
can lead to chronic ill-health and life-threatening conditions.

"Independent expert evidence concludes that air on board jet planes can
contain a toxic mix of chemicals and compounds that potentially damage the
nervous system and may lead to chronic irreversible health problems in
susceptible individuals," said Unite's assistant general secretary for legal
services, Howard Beckett.

"The airline industry cannot continue to hide from the issue of toxic cabin
air whilst placing the health and safety of aircrew at risk."

'No safety risk'

British Airways responded that "none of the substantial research conducted
over many years" had shown a link between cabin air quality and ill-health.

"We would never operate an aircraft if we believed it posed a health or
safety risk to our customers or crew," British Airways said.

It also pointed to research by the regulator, the European Aviation Safety
Agency, which concluded that the aircraft air quality was "similar or better
than that observed in normal indoor environments".

Unite said that it has independent expert evidence that it will produce in
court to back its claim that the air "in most commercial airline cabins can
cause irreversible neurological damage and chronic illness among susceptible
individuals".

Inquiry

As well as backing the legal action, the union is calling for an inquiry
into the safety of cabin air. It suggests different oils could be used to
lubricate engines that are less likely to leak toxic fumes.

It is calling for better monitoring of cabin air and the installation of air
filters.

EasyJet said its aircraft were "fully compliant with the latest standards in
terms of air quality and air-conditioning".

It added: "EasyJet takes any health concerns raised by its crew seriously.
However, aviation regulators and manufacturers around the world have looked
at this issue and found no proof that long-term health issues arise from
cabin air quality."

The budget airline acknowledged that while "fume events" did occur, research
suggested they could cause "some minor acute symptoms" but found no link
with long-term health effects.

Of the cases being brought, four are by pilots, while the remaining 47 are
from cabin crew.

The majority, 41 of the cases, relate to British Airways. Unite, which has
campaigned on the issue for several years, said it could take up to a year
for the cases to come to court.

Unite also said that because air was not drawn in via the engine on the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the problem of aerotoxicity did not apply to that
aircraft.--BBC

Sackler billions targeted in New York fraud lawsuit

The wealthy Sackler family is facing new charges it fraudulently transferred
money from Purdue Pharma, the firm it owns that makes opioid painkillers.

In a lawsuit, New York's Attorney General said she will recover "billions of
dollars" that were "fraudulently conveyed" from the firm to the dynasty.

Purdue is facing thousands of lawsuits over how it marketed OxyContin, but
only a handful have named the Sacklers

Purdue and the Sacklers vigorously deny the allegations, a spokesman said.

A spokesperson for the Sackler family said: "Expanding this baseless lawsuit
to include former directors of Purdue Pharma is a misguided attempt to place
blame where it does not belong for a complex public health crisis.

The family "strongly" denies the allegations and will "vigorously defend
against them".

The lawsuit claims that money was transferred from Purdue Pharma to private
or offshore accounts that are held by members of the Sacklers in order to
protect the funds from litigation.

The Sackler family is worth $13bn according to Forbes magazine and have made
millions of dollars worth of donations to the arts, education and science,
mainly in the US and the UK.

However, the Sackler Trust has now suspended new charitable donations in the
UK. It follows a decision by National Portrait Gallery to give up a grant
from the trust.

The New York attorney general's lawsuit names eight Sackler family members,
all of whom are linked to either Mortimer Sackler or Raymond Sackler,
siblings who set up Purdue in the 1950s with their older brother Arthur.

After Arthur Sackler died, Mortimer and Raymond bought out his stake in the
firm.

The family members named in the suit are Richard, Jonathan, David and
Beverly Sackler, who are linked to Raymond.

Dame Theresa Sackler, Mortimer D., Ilene and Kathe are also named in the
claim and are related to Mortimer Sackler.

What are opioids and what are the risks?

The Sackler family and their controversial wealth

Tate art galleries shun Sackler money

National Portrait Gallery drops £1m donor

However, the Sackler Trust has now suspended new charitable donations in the
UK. It follows a decision by National Portrait Gallery to give up a grant
from the Trust.

Other organisations have also shunned Sackler money, including the Tate.

Lawsuit extended

The New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit against Purdue
Pharma last August, claiming that it oversold the benefits of OxyContin and
failed to adequately address the potential risks of taking the drug, which
include "serious abuse and death".

That lawsuit has now been amended to include the Sacklers, many of whom were
directors of Purdue.

It has also been extended to trusts controlled by the Sackler family and
other makers and distributors of opioid drugs.

These include Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which is owned by Johnson & Johnson
and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Ms James claims that Purdue, the Sacklers and the other companies named in
the lawsuit "are largely responsible for "creating the opioid epidemic that
has ravaged New York".

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently said that
the US opioid epidemic is now entering its third phase.

The first was started with opioid painkillers, the second was heroin which
people moved to when they were unable to get more prescription medicine and
the third is Fentanyl, a powerful opioid that has now entered the illegal
drugs market.

According to CDC, more than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2017,
68% of which involved a prescription or illicit opioid.

Purdue says that OxyContin represents less than 2% of total opioid
prescriptions.

Settlement

Earlier this week, Purdue Pharma reached a settlement with Oklahoma for
$270m after the state claimed it and other companies - Johnson & Johnson and
Teva Pharmaceutical - had used deceptive practices to sell opioids.

The deal was announced the day after Purdue Pharma failed to delay a trial
over the claims made by Oklahoma state.

Johnson & Johnson and Teva were not involved in the settlement.--bbc

Brexit: Rolled-over UK free trade deals 'are incomplete'

The EU free-trade deals that the UK government has managed to roll over are
"incomplete", say trade experts.

The UK Trade Policy Observatory told Newsnight the deals cannot guarantee
trade will continue for British companies in a no-deal Brexit.

This is despite claims from ministers that these deals have been rolled over
in their entirety.

The Department for International Trade said it had signed a trade continuity
agreement with Switzerland.

"This covers the vast majority of trade under the existing agreements," a
spokesman said.

But the CBI complained of the "gap between rhetoric and reality" from
ministers over these deals.

As a member of the EU, the UK is part of 40 trade deals which the EU has
with other countries.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, it would fall out of these deals
immediately. This would disrupt about 11% of UK total trade.

So a priority for the government has been to get these countries to roll
over their trade deals with the UK.

At a Conservative party event in 2017, Liam Fox said: "We're going to
replicate the 40 EU free trade agreements that exist before we leave the
European Union, so we've got no disruption of trade.

"Believe me, we'll have up to 40 ready for one second after midnight in
March 2019," the international trade secretary added.

As of 28 March, only eight of the 40 have been signed.

What trade deals has the UK done so far?

UK will find trade difficult, says Irish PM

Brexit jargon explained

Experts from the UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO) analysed the eight
published "continuity bilateral trade agreements" for Newsnight.

They concluded that the agreements are "incomplete" and would likely mean
additional costs and potential shortfalls in orders for UK firms.

UKTPO highlighted "rules of origin" problems for UK products, that a country
such as Switzerland may routinely re-export to the European Union.

Because certain products contain a high share of non-Swiss content, they
could face EU tariffs where they did not before. That could lead to fewer
orders for UK products from Switzerland.

UKTPO also highlighted that the UK and Switzerland had agreed on just three
out of 17 Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs), omitting products such as
medical devices and construction products.

"This implies additional testing and certification costs for exporters,"
said Nicolo Tamberi of UKTPO.

The University of Sussex-based research group said most of the problems
stemmed from the fact that the UK's future trade arrangements with its
biggest trading partner, the EU itself, were unclear.

"Bilateral negotiation cannot help when the issues are trilateral. Hence the
new agreements cannot guarantee 100% continuity of trade for the UK," said
Mr Tamberi.

Sam Lowe, a trade expert from the Centre for European Reform, agreed.

"A big part of the problem is that DIT has continually oversold both its
capacity to replicate the existing agreements and the nature of those it has
managed to replace.

"If the government had been a little more honest from the start, then it
might not have come as such a surprise to many people and businesses when
they fell short," he said.

A spokesman for the Department for International Trade said the trade
continuity agreement with Switzerland rolled eight separate EU agreements
into one single agreement.

"Switzerland has committed to working with us to roll over or replicate the
few remaining arrangements as soon as we have confirmed the nature of our
future relationship with the EU," he added.

The government announced a Norway/Iceland deal on 18 March.--BBC

Goldman Sachs fined £34m for reporting failures

US investment bank Goldman Sachs has been fined £34.3m for failures in the
way it shared information with the City watchdog.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank did not provide
"accurate and timely reporting" relating to some 220 million transactions
over a decade.

Tougher rules on transaction reporting were introduced after the 2008
financial crisis to stop market abuse.

Goldman said it had now improved its processes.

Goldman's role in the 1MDB scandal in 300 words

Goldman Sachs relaxes staff dress code

Mark Steward, the FCA's executive director of enforcement, said: "The
failings in this case demonstrate a failure over an extended period to
manage and test controls that are vitally important to the integrity of our
markets.

"These were serious and prolonged failures."

According to the watchdog, Goldman failed to provide "complete, accurate and
timely" information related to about 213.6 million transactions between 2007
and 2017.

It also erroneously reported 6.6 million transactions which were not, in
fact, reportable.

The FCA said the bank - which was recently caught up in the Malaysian 1MDB
corruption scandal - had not taken reasonable care to "control its affairs
responsibly".

In a statement, Goldman Sachs said it was "pleased to have resolved this
legacy matter".

"We dealt with the issues proactively at the time and have made significant
investments across the period to develop and enhance our reporting
procedures."

Earlier this month, Swiss investment banking giant UBS was fined £27.6m by
the FCA over the way it reported transaction data.

And last year Bank of America's Merrill Lynch paid £35m after failing to
report nearly 69 million transactions over two years.

The FCA said: "We expect all firms will take this opportunity to ensure they
can fully detail their activity and are regularly checking their systems so
any problems are detected and remedied promptly."--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Zimbabwe 

Independence Day

Zimbabwe

18 Apr 2019 

Good Friday

19 Apr 2019

Easter Saturday

20 Apr 2019

Easter Sunday

21 Apr 2019

Easter Monday

22 Apr 2019

Workers Day

01 May  2019

Africa Day

25 May 2019

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

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been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
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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
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for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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