Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 19 August 2021
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 19 August 2021
<https://www.nedbank.co.zw/>
ü IMF suspends Afghanistan's access to funds
ü Ultra Electronics deal unlikely to be rejected
ü Former Netflix staffers charged for making $3m from insider trading
ü FTSE bosses earn 86 times more than average worker in 2020
ü PCR testing ‘rip off’: Watchdog warned government in April
ü 40 million T-Mobile customers hit by US data breach
ü Brazil hopes the world will get a taste for its favourite spirit
ü Apple censors engraving service, report claims
ü Franco Manca owner planning big UK and overseas expansion
ü White-collar staff calling shots as job markets recover
ü Goldman Sachs to buy Dutch asset manager NNIP for around $2 billion
ü Fifty shades of green: EU sustainable fund rules muddy the waters
ü Huawei CFO's U.S. extradition hearings in Canada end, date for ruling
coming Oct. 21
ü AstraZeneca CEO Soriot tops FTSE 100 pay-out charts in 2020 -report
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw>
IMF suspends Afghanistan's access to funds
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Afghanistan will no longer be
able to access the lender's resources.
The move follows the Taliban's takeover of the country last weekend.
An IMF spokesperson said it was due to "lack of clarity within the
international community" over recognising a government in Afghanistan.
Resources of over $370m (£268m) from the IMF had been set to arrive on 23
August.
These funds were part of a global IMF response to the economic crisis.
Access to the IMF's reserves in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets, which
can be converted to government-backed money, have also been blocked. SDRs
are the IMF's unit of exchange based on sterling, dollars, euros, yen and
yuan.
"As is always the case, the IMF is guided by the views of the international
community," the spokesperson added.
It comes after an official from the Biden administration told the BBC that
any central bank assets the Afghan government has in the US will not be made
available to the Taliban.
In a letter to the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congress members
called for assurances that the Taliban would receive no US-backed aid.
"The potential of the SDR allocation to provide nearly half a billion
dollars in unconditional liquidity to a regime with a history of supporting
terrorist actions against the United States and her allies is extremely
concerning," 17 signatories wrote.
Earlier, the head of Afghanistan's central bank said the US had cut off
access to its assets - around $7bn of which are held at the U.S. Federal
Reserve.
Ajmal Ahmady, who fled the country at the weekend, tweeted that Da
Afghanistan Bank's total reserves were approximately $9bn as of last week.
But he said as per international standards, most of this was held in safe,
liquid assets such as US Treasury bonds and gold offshore.
"Given that the Taliban are still on international sanction lists, it is
expected (confirmed?) that such assets will be frozen and not accessible to
Taliban," Mr Ahmady tweeted.
"We can say the accessible funds to the Taliban are perhaps 0.1-0.2% of
Afghanistan's total international reserves. Not much."
Mr Ahmady added that Washington's suspended shipments of physical dollars
were causing Afghanistan's currency to depreciate. The Afghan currency, the
Afghani, has fallen to record lows.
"I believe local banks have told customers that they cannot return their
dollars — because [Da Afghanistan Bank] has not supplied banks with
dollars," he tweeted.
"This is true. Not because funds have been stolen or being held in vault,
but because all dollars are in international accounts that have been
frozen."
In June, the IMF gave Afghanistan its latest loan instalment which was
approved in November. In the same month, the UN published a report which
stated that the "primary sources of Taliban financing remain criminal
activities," including "drug trafficking and opium poppy production,
extortion, kidnapping for ransom, mineral exploitation and revenues from tax
collection in areas under Taliban control or influence."
The World Bank also funds many development projects in the country and has
provided Afghanistan with $5.3bn since 2002. It has not yet responded to the
BBC's request for comment on the current status of this funding.
Independent money transfer giant Western Union has also suspended money
transfer services to Afghanistan "until further notice".
The IMF has taken similar steps against other regimes not recognised by a
majority of its members. This happened in April 2019 when SDR access was
blocked after more than 50 member countries refused to recognise President
Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. The IMF also halted
payments to Myanmar after the military junta seized control.
On Monday, the IMF will complete a $650bn allocation of SDRs to its 190
member countries.
The sudden advances made by the Taliban left the IMF with an urgent
decision. It is about to hand out to almost all its members a reserve asset
called special drawing rights. It's an exercise that is not about
Afghanistan. It's about reinforcing the global economic recovery from the
pandemic related crisis. And it's happening on Monday.
So if the new regime in Kabul were to be excluded at this stage the IMF had
to move quickly. And it has done so, reflecting what a spokesperson called a
lack of clarity about the recognition of the government. That is what lies
behind the IMF decision at this stage.
It does also raise the possibility that financial assistance might come to
be used as leverage to encourage the Taliban not to allow the abuses that
many fear - and that some reports say are already taking place.--BBC
Ultra Electronics deal unlikely to be rejected
As predicted, the government has asked for an investigation to be carried
out into the proposed £2.6bn takeover of Ultra Electronics, a major supplier
to the Royal Navy, by US private-equity firm Cobham.
To be honest, it would have been pretty odd if the government had not wanted
to kick the tyres of a foreign swoop on a UK company that makes very
sensitive stuff for jet fighters, submarines and nuclear missiles.
The approach for Ultra from US-owned Cobham beeps pretty loudly on the
existing legislative radar for foreign takeovers. Under the Enterprise Act,
takeovers can be "called in" on grounds of National Security, Financial
Stability or media plurality.
Those areas of sensitivity are set to be extended to a list of up to 17
sectors under new legislation due to come in early next year - to reflect
the modern concerns of cyber security, chip manufacture and
healthcare/vaccine technology.
'Big moment'
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who has instructed the Competition and
Markets Authority to prepare a report on the Ultra's takeover, said the UK
was open for business. However, foreign investment "must not threaten our
national security".
He added he had also tabled an Order in Parliament preventing Ultra from
"disclosing sensitive information to Cobham" about the goods or services it
provides to the government or armed forces.
Simon French, chief economist, at Panmure Gordon, told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme that the deal was a big moment for defence policy.
He believes the decision by Mr Kwarteng is a "culmination of a number of
takeovers in recent years that have been pushed through, but have proved
controversial, both at the time and retrospectively".
"There's quite a lot of industrial, highly sensitive industrial capacity
falling into foreign ownership," he said.
"If this were to be rejected or heavily curtailed by the government, that
might be a once in more than three decades shift in the UK's approach to
such situations."
However, it would also be a surprise if this deal was not approved. Remember
that potential acquirer Cobham was itself bought by US buyout group Advent a
few years ago.
The usual thought process is what, why, who. What are they buying? Why are
they buying it? And crucially, who is buying it?
In the past, takeover deals from companies based in countries the UK calls
allies were seen as pretty harmless. If Cobham were a Chinese company, it
probably wouldn't have even got this far.
But national security aside, there is another thing that is beginning to
bleep on the radar of UK PLC - PLC's are disappearing and increasingly into
non-UK checkout baskets.
Defence contractor Meggit and even homespun grocery chain Morrisons are
subject to bidding wars between US buyers.
Even before these deals are concluded, the value of UK companies bought by
private foreign buyers so far this year is greater than all deals in the
previous five years combined.
Critics say that companies that go into private and foreign hands are less
transparent, are more likely to shoulder debts used to buy them and have
managements whose ultimate priorities are not domestic.
Free market advocates say that as some companies go private, others become
public. It's all money voting to invest in the UK.
Whatever you think, UK PLC seems to be on sale.-BBC
Former Netflix staffers charged for making $3m from insider trading
The Wall Street watchdog has charged three former Netflix software engineers
over an alleged insider trading ring that made $3m (£2.2m).
The ex-staff members and two close associates were named in court papers.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said confidential Netflix
subscriber growth data was used in the scheme.
The information was allegedly used to trade the streaming giant's shares
ahead of its earnings reports.
The SEC alleged that Sung Mo Jun, a former software engineer at Netflix, was
at the centre of a long-running scheme to illegally trade shares using
insider information about the company's subscriber growth.
According to the complaint, while working for Netflix in 2016 and 2017, he
repeatedly passed non-public information to his brother and a close friend
who both used it to trade ahead of multiple Netflix earnings announcements.
The SEC also alleged that after Sung Mo Jun left Netflix, he obtained
confidential subscriber growth information from two other company insiders.
"We allege that a Netflix employee and his close associates engaged in a
long-running, multimillion dollar scheme to profit from valuable,
misappropriated company information," said Erin Schneider, director of the
SEC's San Francisco regional office.
The SEC said it uncovered the alleged scheme using data analysis tools to
find suspiciously successful patterns of trading.
At the same time, the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of
Washington filed a criminal case against four of the defendants, which could
lead to prison sentences.
What is insider trading?
Insider trading is the buying and selling of a listed company's shares or
other securities, such as bonds or share options, based on information that
is not available to the public.
In many countries, including the US and UK, insider trading is illegal as it
is seen as giving an unfair advantage to those with access to the
information.
While the rules and penalties differ around the world, in many jurisdictions
a person who is aware of non-public information and trades on that basis may
be subject to penalties by financial markets regulators as well as
potentially facing criminal prosecution.
The definition of an insider can often be broad, and may cover not only
people with direct access to confidential information but also those they
share it with and who make trading decisions based on that information.-BBC
FTSE bosses earn 86 times more than average worker in 2020
The bosses of Britain's biggest companies earned 86 times the average
full-time wage last year.
The median pay of a chief executive of a FTSE-100 firm - the UK's blue chip
company index - was £2.69m in 2020, according to the High Pay Centre.
That was down 17% from £3.25m in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
"These are still very generous rewards," said High Pay Centre director Luke
Hildyard.
The think tank's research revealed average bonus size fell from £1.1m in
2019 to £828,000 last year.
Bosses 'earn average worker's salary in 34 hours'
Staff shortages remain despite more out of work
Meanwhile the average long term incentive plan payment fell from £2.4m to
£1.38m.
"CEO pay packages are designed to reflect the experience of shareholders,
employees and other stakeholders so in one sense the lower pay levels this
year show the system working as intended," Mr Hildyard said.
But he pointed out that most chief executives have already made millions of
pounds over the course of their careers and the still high rewards come "at
a time when, in general, government support for the economy has probably
been more important to the survival and success of the UK's biggest
companies than the decisions of their executives."
The research also showed that average chief executive earnings at the nine
FTSE-100 companies that used the furlough scheme to pay their employees, was
£2.39m.
Mr Hildyard said the UK's high chief executive pay reflected a wider gap
between rich and poor in Britain than in most other European countries.
Top five FTSE earners
Pascal Soriot of drugs giant AstraZeneca was the highest-earning chief
executive, making £15.45m last year.
He was considerably ahead of Brian Cassin of credit reference agency
Experian who made £10.3m, according to the think tank's figures.
In third spot was Albert Manifold of building materials company CRH who
received £9.92m.
Laxman Narasimhan of consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser was fourth with
£9.24m, while the fifth highest-paid FTSE boss in 2020 was Rob Perrins of
housebuilder Berkeley, who made £8.03m.
Valuable
Chief executive pay has fallen when their roles have never been more
valuable, reckons Matthew Lesh, head of research at the Adam Smith
Institute.
"Amid a historic global crisis the captains of industry have played a key
role in keeping us fed, entertained and connected," he said.
Generous compensation is necessary to attract top talent that delivers
innovative products, creates jobs and boosts company value, Mr Lesh added.
"Investors are known to react viciously to changing CEOs because leadership
is key to business success."
He said that rather than obsessing about chief executive pay, "we should
embrace policies that will boost pay for all workers as the economy recovers
from Covid-19.
"This means cutting taxes and red tape that holds down incomes."
Quite apart from the reminder of the huge gap that has, over the years,
opened up between the best-paid employees and the average - with chief
executives on 86 times as much as the average worker - the High Pay Centre
think tank's analysis is also a reminder of the weakness of the premise on
which exorbitant bonuses and long-term incentive plans are based.
This is namely that the key determinant of a company's success is the
shareholder value it generates. In addition, it is the notion that the key
determinant of that is a talented top boss who must be attracted, retained
and incentivised to do their best by the offer of big money.
It wasn't Pascal Soriot, the highest paid chief executive of a FTSE-listed
company (pay: £15.45m), who led the team that came up with AstraZeneca's
vaccine. That was Sarah Gilbert and Andrew Pollard of Oxford University. But
the reason shareholders won't begrudge him it isn't because of what it did
to AstraZeneca's profits.
In fact, by offering to distribute it at no profit (unlike Pfizer),
AstraZeneca's losses due to the vaccine in the first half of 2021 were more
than $50m.
But what it's done for the firm's reputation - and the benefit to public
health - are incalculable. It's not just the bottom line that counts.-BBC
PCR testing ‘rip off’: Watchdog warned government in April
The Competition and Markets Authority has told the BBC it warned government
officials that consumers could face risks from the fast-growing Covid PCR
testing industry in April and May.
The business and competition regulator said it provided advice and market
analysis to officials from the Department of Health and Social Care.
It said the advice detailed potential market and consumer risks.
It comes after the CMA was criticised by its former chairman this week.
Lord Tyrie told the BBC that the situation with PCR testing for travel was a
'predictable Covid rip-off', and that the competitions watchdog hadn't done
enough.
The government has said it was provided with some general market analysis
from the CMA on the potential implications for the PCR testing market and
that its advice informed the government's approach on the private provider
list.
The CMA said it cannot disclose this information.
The revelation comes after a summer of complaints from travellers and
holidaymakers who have taken a holiday or visited family who they've been
cut off from because of the pandemic.
The UK government has made it a condition of any international travel that
tests before travel, and on your arrival in the UK are mandatory.
The number of tests that are needed is dependent on your arrival from either
a green or amber country or your vaccination status. Arrivals from red
countries must still use quarantine hotel facilities.
Some of the most common complaints from travellers mention tests listed on
the government's list of providers that don't exist at the price advertised
whilst others allege poor service.
At the start of August, the Health Secretary asked the competition watchdog
to investigate "excessive" pricing and "exploitative practices" among PCR
Covid test firms.
In a letter to the CMA, Sajid Javid said it was time for a "rapid
high-level" review to protect consumers.
The BBC understands that a full CMA market study or investigation would
require a formal consultation before an investigation could be launched and
these investigations typically last between 6 and 18 months. Therefore, a
wholesale reform of the market could be difficult because of time
constraints.
It is understood that due to the time and process needed for a full review
of the market, the Government was advised it is better placed to tackle
immediate issues in this market.
The travel industry has been demanding action, after complaining about the
'onerous' level of testing in place, which they believe is a barrier to
passenger revival.
But, given the lateness of any government intervention, and the impact on
the travel sector, people in industry believe the damage has already been
done.
Julie Lo Bue Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, the UK's
largest group of independent leisure & business travel agent experts, said
"it feels like a PR exercise for the government to come out and say 'we're
looking at this now'.
"It is far too late, when the public has had to pay for all these tests,"
she added.
On Friday, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary announced that the price of PCR
Covid tests provided by NHS Test & Trace for travel would fall, by £20 for
one test to £68, and by £35 for two tests to £138.
The Government has consistently maintained that testing for travellers is in
place to protect public health.-BBC
40 million T-Mobile customers hit by US data breach
More than 40 million T-Mobile customers have been hit by a US data breach,
the company has admitted.
It blamed the breach on a "highly sophisticated cyberattack".
It said it is "taking immediate steps to help protect all of the individuals
who may be at risk from this cyberattack".
The firm said that while criminals stole personal information, no financial
details were leaked as a result.
The breach only came to light following online reports last weekend that
criminals were attempting to sell a large database containing T-Mobile
customer data online.
The US telecom giant confirmed that hackers had gained access to its systems
on Monday.
"Late last week we were informed of claims made in an online forum that a
bad actor had compromised T-Mobile systems," it said.
"We immediately began an exhaustive investigation into these claims and
brought in world-leading cybersecurity experts to help with our assessment.
"We then located and immediately closed the access point that we believe was
used to illegally gain entry to our servers."
The company said its investigations identified approximately 7.8 million
current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts' information in the stolen
files, as well as just over 40 million records of former or prospective
customers who had previously applied for credit with T-Mobile.
It said that approximately 850,000 active T-Mobile prepaid customer names,
phone numbers and account PINs were also exposed but that it had reset all
of the PINs on the accounts to protect customers.
It added that no phone numbers, account numbers, PINs, passwords, or
financial information were compromised in any of the files of customers or
prospective customers.
"We take our customers' protection very seriously and we will continue to
work around the clock on this forensic investigation to ensure we are taking
care of our customers in light of this malicious attack," the company said.
"While our investigation is ongoing, we wanted to share these initial
findings even as we may learn additional facts through our investigation
that cause the details above to change or evolve."
Hackers previously stole the personal information of 15 million T-Mobile
customers and potential customers in the US in 2015.
There is no indication yet that former UK customers of T-Mobile have been
hit by the data breach.
The company's UK operation T-Mobile UK was rebranded as EE in 2012 and sold
to BT in 2016 for more than £12bn.-BBC
Brazil hopes the world will get a taste for its favourite spirit
There is no other drink that represents Brazil more than the sugar cane
spirit cachaça.
You visit a bustling bar with friends on a hot evening, and enjoy cold
glasses of the country's national cocktail - caipirinha, a mixture of
cachaça, sugar, and lime, with lots and lots of ice.
Or just as popular - you drink cachaça neat, downing shots to toast your
companions.
Yet like the nation as a whole, the spirit has had a difficult pandemic.
With bars and restaurants across Brazil closed for long periods since last
spring and households not allowed to mix, sales slumped by almost a quarter
in 2020.
Producers and industry leaders now hope to boost overseas orders of cachaça,
in order to compensate. But as Luciano Sadi Andrade, marketing manager at
distillers Companhia Müller de Bebidas, admits: "It has always been a
challenge... to explain the concept of cachaça for the foreign market."
So what exactly is cachaça? Pronounced "ka-SHAS-sa", it is distilled from
sugar cane juice. This, Brazil says, makes it different to rum, which is
typically made from the molasses, or thick treacle, left over after sugar
cane has been processed into sugar.
Fans of cachaça say this makes it taste fresher and fruitier than rum.
Cachaça, which can only be made in Brazil, is believed to have been first
distilled in the country in 1516. This means that it predates the production
of both rum and tequila.
It is also regarded to be the world's third most-produced spirit, after
vodka and China's baijiu.
The country makes some 800 million litres of cachaça a year, according to
trade body Brazilian Institute of Cachaca (Ibrac) Yet such is the thirst for
the spirit in its vast home country - less than 1% is exported.
To boost overseas awareness, earlier this year Ibrac joined forces with the
Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency to launch a 24-month
promotional drive.
Their work so far includes a website - Taste Brasil - which gives
information on cachaça, how to make a good caipirinha, and details of other
cocktails that can be made with the spirit. Producers are being given
financial help to attend international drinks fairs and to find overseas
partners.
Much work needs to be done as export sales of cachaça actually fell last
year, down 24% to 5.75 million litres, from 7.3 million litres in 2019.
Ibrac director Carlos Lima says the problem was a simple one - the pandemic
closed bars and restaurants around the world. "Nearly 70% of the cachaça
sold abroad is used as an ingredient for cocktails, and consumed in bars."
The hope is that with greater awareness of the spirit more people around the
world will be tempted to drink it at home. Mr Lima stresses its
"versatility" as a mixer.
The family-owned Weber Haus is a cachaça producer that is already exporting
- it's been doing so since 2004 and its bottles are now found in 25
countries, with the US being the biggest overseas consumer.
Boss Evandro Haus says overseas sales fell by 10% in 2020, but that they
have since improved. "It was a difficult year but things are going in the
right direction now. We have had orders from China, France, Italy and
Luxemburg, for example."
To help boost overseas sales, he adds that Weber Haus has "redesigned our
products, with a new layout and presentation".
Another producer that is already exporting is Cachaça da Quinta. Katia Alves
Espirito Santo has been in charge since 2007. She had previously been
working for the United Nations but her father persuaded her to come home and
run the family firm.
The brand won an international spirits award in 2013, and from there started
to sell in Taiwan, Japan, the US and France.
It now exports half its bottles but is also intent on expanding its domestic
sales. When the pandemic hit and shut bars, Mrs Espirito Santo says the firm
switched to focusing on supermarket and online sales.
Mr Lima says the global push will encourage drinkers to use cachaça in any
number of cocktails, and not just caipirinha. The hope is that people will
increasingly drink the spirit year round. "In other countries, people are
(currently) still seeing cachaça as a summer drink used to prepare
caipirinha."
But while cachaça producers and promoters obviously sing the drink's
praises, what do overseas spirits experts think about its chances of being
an international best-seller?
Presentational grey line
New Economy
New Economy is a new series exploring how businesses, trade, economies and
working life are changing fast.
Presentational grey line
"The availability of cachaça in Europe and the US has increased over the
past few years," says Wes Burgin, the man behind the website The Fat Rum
Pirate. "However, such is the size of the domestic market that a lot of the
premium, small-batch, aged cachaça rarely leaves Brazil.
"It always works well in classic cocktails such as mojitos and daiquiris.
However, cachaça [has] grassy, herbal and funky flavours, especially in
un-aged or young cachaça, [and this] can still be a little too much for
audiences in the US and Europe."
Mrs Espirito Santo adds that Brazil's more than 1,000 producers have to work
together to raise global awareness. "Cachaça is a high-level distilled
drink. It is tradition, art, knowledge and technology," she says.-BBC
Apple censors engraving service, report claims
Apple censors references to Chinese politicians, dissidents and other topics
in its engraving service, a report alleges.
Citizen Lab said it had investigated filters set up for customers who wanted
something engraved on a new iPhone, iPad or other Apple device.
And Apple had a broad list of censored words, not just in mainland China but
also in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Apple said its systems "ensure local laws and customs are respected".
"As with everything at Apple, the process for engraving is led by our
values," chief privacy officer Jane Horvath wrote in a letter provided to
CitizenLab in advance of the publication of its report.
And the engraving service tried not to allow trademarked phrases, alongside
those that "are vulgar or culturally insensitive, could be construed as
inciting violence, or would be considered illegal according to local laws,
rules, and regulations".
But CitizenLab accuses Apple of having "thoughtlessly and inconsistently
curated keyword lists".
Sexual words
CitizenLab, a research group at the University of Toronto known for its work
in technology and human rights, said there had been previous research on the
censorship of Apple's App Store in China.
But there were until now only anecdotal reports of engravings being refused,
it said.
Its new report found more than 1,100 filtered keywords, across six different
regions, mainly relating to offensive content, such as racist or sexual
words.
But it alleges the rules are applied inconsistently and are much wider for
China.
"Within mainland China, we found that Apple censors political content,
including broad references to Chinese leadership and China's political
system, names of dissidents and independent news organisations, and general
terms relating to religions, democracy, and human rights," it says.
The report also alleges that censorship "bleeds" into both the Hong Kong and
Taiwan markets.
It found:
1,045 keywords blocked in mainland China
542 in Hong Kong
397 in Taiwan
In contrast, Japan, Canada and the US had between 170 and 260 filtered
words.
Historical figures
In Hong Kong, phrases referencing the "umbrella revolution", pro-democracy
movement, and freedom of the press appeared to be blocked, along with the
names of some political dissidents.
In Taiwan, the report found filtering of senior members of China's ruling
Communist Party, including historical figures such as Chairman Mao Zedong.
Hong Kong is what is known as a special administrative region of China.
The former British colony is part of China but governed under special
principles and enjoys a high degree of autonomy.
Taiwan, meanwhile, is self-governing but Beijing considers it a breakaway
rebel province that will one day be reunited with mainland China.
"Much of this censorship exceeds Apple's legal obligations in Hong Kong and
we are aware of no legal justification for the political censorship of
content in Taiwan," the report says.
What's behind the China-Taiwan divide?
Hong Kong's year under China's controversial law
It also cites mistakes - such as 10 people with the surname Zhang having
their engravings censored, a restriction with no obvious political
significance.
"Apple does not fully understand what content they censor," CitizenLab
alleged.
"Rather than each censored keyword being born of careful consideration, many
seem to have been thoughtlessly reappropriated from other sources," it said
- possibly including a list used to censor products at a Chinese company.
China was a valuable market for big technology companies, CitizenLab said.
But its research "points to a more alarming trend of the export of one
jurisdiction's regulatory and political pressures to another".
There were "growing uncertainties and dilemmas global companies face between
upholding internationally acknowledged human-rights norms and making
decisions purely based on commercial interests", it added.
'Mistakenly rejected'
Replying to the group, Ms Horvath said Apple's rules depended on the region
- and "no third parties or government agencies have been involved in the
process".
"To a large degree, this is not an automated process and relies on manual
curation," she said.
"At times, that can result in engraving requests being mistakenly rejected.
"And we have a process in place to review and correct those situations when
they occur."-BBC
Franco Manca owner planning big UK and overseas expansion
The owner of Franco Manca and The Real Greek is planning to open up to 150
restaurants across the UK and overseas in the next few years.
Restaurant group Fulham Shore said it was trading profitably and expected
sales to remain above 2019 levels until Christmas.
Founder David Page highlighted expansion plans for "towns and cities from
Cardiff to Canterbury and from Newcastle to Norwich".
Shares rose 4.6% to 17p on Wednesday.
The group owns 74 casual dining restaurant locations - including 55 Franco
Manca outlets and 19 Real Greek sites - which are all now open.
"Since the beginning of the current financial year commencing 29 March, the
group has continued to trade profitably and ahead of management
expectations, driven by strong performances across our suburban
restaurants," said Mr Page, who is also executive chairman of the group.
"From July 2021 all restaurants have been open and operating without
restrictions, welcoming increasing numbers of customers as the UK's
vaccination programme progresses."
However, despite its plans, Fulham Shore still reported a loss of £4.8m for
the year to 28 March, compared with a £1.8m profit from 2020.
Sales dropped 41.3% to £40.3m, as a result of the impact of enforced
closures for large parts of the year.
He added that Franco Manca and The Real Greek were both still seeing a jump
in demand for takeaways and deliveries, which were outperforming 2019 levels
following the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Fulham Shore plans to open 10 more restaurants this year, saying it had
identified more than 125 possible new UK locations for Franco Manca and 30
more The Real Greek locations.
In the UK, the restaurant group hopes to have a total of 230 restaurants in
the next seven years.
And it is close to signing overseas franchising deals in Portugal, Greece
and Japan, according to The Times.
Last autumn, Fulham Shore courted controversy when it lambasted its rivals,
saying some of its own restaurants were breaking trading records despite the
pandemic, and that too many ailing firms had been kept afloat by artificial
means.
The restaurant group said it was benefiting from the closure of other
hospitality venues, which enabled it to secure new premises at favourable
rents.-BBC
White-collar staff calling shots as job markets recover
(Reuters) - Having hunkered down at home and clung on to his job through the
2020 lockdowns, Dutch IT worker Benito Castillion is now on the hunt for a
career-enhancing move - and it's a shift of perspective he shares with
millions of white-collar staff worldwide.
Based in Prague, the 46-year-old had updated his LinkedIn profile and
started attending virtual job fairs.
"If the pay is right and there is a good opportunity to switch jobs I'd be
willing to take the risk," he told Reuters. "Now I see companies are willing
to pay a bit more. That is important now."
That mindset is driving what one U.S. management professor has dubbed the
"Great Resignation" and a U.S. recruiter the biggest movement of human
capital for decades, as skilled workers start to re-evaluate careers and
life choices.
Having spent more than a year living with the stresses of the coronavirus
pandemic, many now find themselves able to call the shots on pay and
conditions as companies compete for staff amid labour shortages created by
fast vaccine-led recoveries in rich-world economies.
In Europe's largest, Germany, more than a third of companies complained of
staff shortages last month, the highest rate for three years, an Ifo
institute survey showed.
Lockdowns have meanwhile shone a harsh light on employers who failed to
support and motivate staff working remotely for the first time in their
careers, often under difficult conditions.
The Microsoft 2021 Work Trend Index showed 41% of the global workforce are
considering resigning this year - a near doubling of job-switching intent on
the two years before the pandemic.
"I’ve spoken with around 20-30 companies who all say the attrition of
candidates leaving is skyrocketing," said Blake Wittman, European Business
Director of recruiter GoodCall, which lists L'Oreal and Nestle as clients.
"It feels like the world is not going to implode and therefore candidates
finally have this confidence (to say) 'I'll go see what's out there'," he
told Reuters of a surge in activity dating back to the second quarter of
this year.
Arran Stewart, co-founder of U.S. recruitment portal Jobs.com, said what he
called the "largest shift in human capital in our lifetime" had potential
major repercussions for both workers and companies.
THE LURE OF FLEXIBILITY
Jon Hill, who specializes in IT and digital recruitment across Europe, said
a backlog of 18 months of resignation intentions was coming onto the market
at once.
"People are actively applying and looking for opportunities. They are a lot
braver about being more direct," said Hill.
Employers are racing to keep up.
Second quarter revenues at Randstad jumped at least 20% year on year as
coronavirus lockdowns were eased across the globe, the global staffing group
said last month.
Also in July, Christoph Catoir, president of competitor Adecco told Reuters
that some U.S. sectors were seeing one-off wage increases in excess of 5%,
with Europe close at around 3-5%.
But while recruiters agree that wage increases remain the best way to
attract and keep staff, the flexibility offered by hybrid working is turning
into a major lure.
"In terms of interesting perks the coolest one is probably access to 'an
office' almost anywhere’," said Wittman of moves by some companies to set up
satellite working spaces for employees outside major cities
"This way the employee doesn't have to work from home, but also doesn't need
to spend valuable time stuck on a highway."
Other efforts to directly enhance employees' well-being include the
“collective break" that German e-commerce firm Zalando offered staff in the
first week of August by shutting its offices completely.
"First feedback from our colleagues
has been very positive," said a
spokesperson. "Especially the fact that the teams were not immediately
greeted by an overflowing email inbox.."
Remote working has prompted some companies to replace luncheon vouchers with
equivalent benefits for home food delivery, Catoir said, with other perks
aimed at responding to employees' wider interests.
"Climate change is one topic to attract or retain people. They used to offer
company cars in the past, but now there are more and more company bicycles,"
he said.
Job.com's Stewart said many workers now were only searching for jobs they
could do remotely. "If they don’t have the option to work from home in their
current company, they will leave."
It seems too early to say whether the dynamic between workers and employers
is undergoing a permanent shift. Current tight market conditions will ease
over time, and some employers - notably in the financial sector - are
fundamentally resistant to hybrid working.
But, with the pandemic still raging, one sector showing a longer term
commitment to enhancing pay, working conditions and training for staff is
healthcare, where - with Job.com's Stewart reported signing-on bonuses of as
much as $1,000 - demand for services is set to grow as populations age in
many economies.
Health sector employers "are conscious they have no other choice, and have
good visibility because demographics are with them," added Catoir.
"And we know this virus may not be the last one."
Goldman Sachs to buy Dutch asset manager NNIP for around $2 billion
(Reuters) - Dutch insurer NN Group (NN.AS) said on Thursday Goldman Sachs
(GS.N) will buy NNIP, its asset management arm, for 1.7 billion euros ($1.98
billion) in the biggest acquisition by the American firm since David Solomon
became chief executive in 2018.
The deal is part of Solomon’s strategy to make the bank’s revenue stream
less reliant on earnings from global markets and advising on deals.
"This acquisition allows us to accelerate our growth strategy and broaden
our asset management platform," Solomon said in a statement.
NNIP, or NN Investment Partners, has $335 billion in assets under
management, and the acquisition will double the total that Goldman Sachs
manages in Europe to more than $600 billion.
Goldman said NNIP's 900 employees will join GS and the Netherlands will
become "a significant location" in its European business.
Additionally, the two companies will enter a 10-year strategic partnership
under which Goldman will provide asset management services to NN Group on an
investment portfolio of $190 billion, the companies said.
"The combined investment expertise and scale will enhance the service
offering to NN Investment Partners’ clients, including NN Group," said NN
CEO David Knibbe.
NN said the sale of NNIP will improve its Solvency II ratio by 17 percentage
points and extra capital would be used for acquisitions or additional
returns to shareholders.
The Dutch firm's asset management arm had also attracted interest from other
insurers and asset managers, including UBS(UBSG.S), Germany’s DWS (DWSG.DE)
and U.S. name Nuveen, Reuters reported in June. [nL5N2NT2I1]
($1 = 0.8565 euros)
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Fifty shades of green: EU sustainable fund rules muddy the waters
(Reuters) - If you want to invest in a fund branded as sustainable under new
European Union rules, you're spoilt for choice. But you may end up owning
shares in oil companies, mining conglomerates or tobacco firms.
A Reuters analysis of funds marketed to retail investors increasingly hungry
for anything green shows asset managers are adopting a wide range of
strategies to justify the sustainable label since the EU brought in
disclosure rules in March.
The EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is an attempt to
deliver transparency for investors focused on environmental, social and
governance (ESG) issues but fund managers say the definition of
sustainability is too vague and has created confusion about what makes the
cut.
Take the Allianz (ALVG.DE) Global Water fund.
It actively invests in companies that improve the supply, management and
quality of water and is marketed as falling under Article 8 of the SFDR,
which means it is a fund that promotes "among other characteristics,
environmental or social characteristics, or a combination of those
characteristics".
Now take one of Legal & General Investment Management's (LGIM) Article 8
exchange-traded funds (ETF).
The L&G UK Equity UCITS ETF tracks the Solactive Core United Kingdom Large &
Mid Cap Index, which excludes coal miners and firms that make weapons such
as cluster bombs or have breached U.N. principles on corporate values.
Its top 10 holdings are the same as for L&G funds tracking the FTSE 100
index that don't carry the Article 8 label and include oil giants BP (BP.L)
and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), miner Rio Tinto (RIO.L) and British American
Tobacco (BATS.L).
L&G said the fund was considered Article 8 because it promotes
sustainability characteristics by applying LGIM's Future World Protection
List and this was a "binding element" of the investment process.
"The lens we should use is what is right. It's not just about what is
legally required because it seems not very much is legally required," said
Eric Christian Pedersen, head of responsible investments at Nordea Asset
Management.
GREEN RUSH
The new EU rules have sparked a rush by investment firms to badge products
as sustainable as they seek to grab a share of the booming market in
sustainable mutual funds that hit a record $2.3 trillion in the second
quarter. read more
>From March 10, the rules automatically placed all investment funds into a
coverall Article 6 category. Managers could then upgrade them to Article 8,
or Article 9 which is for products with an explicit sustainable investment
objective.
The investment industry has dubbed Article 8 funds "light green" and Article
9 "dark green", though the EU regulations do not use those terms.
A European Commission spokesperson said its rules were designed to ensure
funds were transparent about the sustainability of products so investors
could make choices, and was not a labelling scheme.
Reuters asked 20 of the biggest fund houses for a list of products they
market as Article 8 or 9.
An analysis of the funds of the 14 firms that replied shows some Article 8
products have limited claims to sustainability, such as those tracking
conventional stock and bond indexes, investing in fossil fuels or buying
debt from countries with weak ESG standards such as Saudi Arabia and
Nigeria.
Some claims hinge on funds excluding securities they would not have bought
anyway, based on the index being tracked.
For some in the industry this represents so-called greenwashing, where the
benefits of a business or asset are exaggerated to attract environmentally
aware investors.
Hortense Bioy, director of sustainability research at Morningstar, said
Article 8 funds ranged from climate-themed green to "very, very light
green", excluding just a few firms.
"Managers need to ask if they are even relevant," she said. "That is the key
message: investors shouldn't expect anything from Article 8."
INDEX TRACKERS
Industry experts say none of the asset managers is breaking any rules.
Managers determine themselves which article to apply and Brussels does not
check whether claims are justified.
The Reuters analysis shows some managers are more likely to brand funds as
sustainable than others.
Two of Europe's biggest firms, Alliance Bernstein and AXA Investment
Management, classify nine in every 10 euros of assets they manage under the
scope of SFDR as Article 8 or 9, according to data they supplied to Reuters.
Others such as Pictet Asset Management and Allianz Global Investors place a
little over half of their relevant assets in those categories, their data
showed.
Reuters Graphics
Morningstar (MORN.O) data published in July shows a third of the assets
falling under SFDR are now billed as Article 8 or 9, with Article 6 products
disappearing from recommendation lists sent by investment advisers to retail
investors.
Many Article 8 funds have clear sustainability criteria, such as strategies
that invest in businesses with the lowest carbon impact in their sectors, or
Allianz's water-focused fund.
For others, that's not always the case. Candriam's Cleome Index Europe
Equities is another Article 8 product. It tracks the MSCI Europe index but
excludes companies that don't comply with the U.N. principles.
Critics say such exclusions are very limited.
When asked for an example, Candriam did not point to any company expelled
from the U.N. list that is also part of MSCI Europe. The Candriam fund's top
10 holdings replicate the index.
A Candriam spokesperson said it also applies exclusions on companies
materially involved in controversial weapons, tobacco and thermal coal, and
the Cleome equity fund uses proprietary ESG analysis relative to the
benchmark, justifying Article 8.
Morningstar analysis shows one in four Article 8 funds has exposure to
companies involved in controversial weapons and one in five to tobacco. A
third of Article 8 and 9 funds have more than a 5% exposure to fossil fuel
firms.
'NASTY' ESG?
Demand for funds with a sustainable label is soaring.
"There is a clear commercial opportunity," said Eric Borremans, head of ESG
at Switzerland's Pictet Asset Management, which classes 57% of its assets as
Article 8 or 9.
Borremans said Pictet had no index-tracking Article 8 funds but planned to
apply the label to some after incorporating more exclusions.
U.S. investment giant BlackRock (BLK.N) told Reuters it expected to exceed a
target of putting 70% of its new, or rebranded, products this year under
Articles 8 or 9.
Some funds use ESG thresholds to justify sustainable labels.
JPMorgan Asset Management says 51% of the securities in its Article 8 range
must carry an ESG score in the top 80%. These are scores fund firms or
third-party providers give companies based on ESG metrics such as carbon
usage, governance or human rights in supply chains.
Critics say such thresholds are too weak.
"You have funds saying most of our holdings are not nasty and therefore I'm
ESG," said Pedersen at Nordea, which requires 100% of its Article 8 holdings
be above a minimum ESG score.
The JPMorgan (JPM.N) threshold, for example, also means 49% of companies in
its funds could rank in the bottom 20% for ESG goals, although the funds
exclude sectors such as tobacco, controversial weapons and coal miners.
JPMorgan Asset Management did not respond to questions about ESG scores. A
spokesperson said the firm remained "focused on a thoughtful and thorough
approach to the implementation of SFDR".
Pictet's Borremans said funds interpreting the rules loosely now can get
away with it, but strategies sailing close to the wind will eventually be
exposed.
By next year, the EU will flesh out its taxonomy -- a list of
environmentally sustainable economic activities -- and from July 2022 funds
must detail how they meet sustainability criteria based on the EU's
Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that will clarify disclosure
requirements. read more
"It could hurt the reputation of an asset manager to offer financial
products as falling under Article 8 and 9 or as taxonomy aligned if this
cannot subsequently be backed when the RTS enters into application," the
European Commission spokesperson said in emailed comments.
Amundi's (AMUN.PA) head of cross-border product, Florian Schneider, said
SFDR rules made clear products with minimal exclusions were Article 8.
"The danger is everyone blindly assuming all Article 8 funds offer the same
level of ESG integration when there are very different shades of green."
($1 = 0.7274 pounds)
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Huawei CFO's U.S. extradition hearings in Canada end, date for ruling coming
Oct. 21
(Reuters) - Canadian prosecutors said the defense of Huawei Chief Financial
Officer Meng Wanzhou failed on facts and law, as hearings in their bid to
extradite her to the United States finished on Wednesday.
The Chinese tech-giant executive will now await the judge's ruling in her
case, the date for which will be set on Oct. 21.
Meng Wanzhou, 49, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in
December 2018 on a warrant from the United States, charging her with fraud
for allegedly misleading HSBC (HSBA.L) about Huawei's business dealings in
Iran.
She has claimed innocence and is fighting the extradition, confined to
Vancouver and monitored 24/7 by private security that she pays for as part
of her bail agreement.
The defense fails "on the facts and they fail on the law. You should have no
difficulty finding dishonesty sufficient to make ... a case for fraud,"
Canadian government prosecutor Robert Frater told the court.
"No one has received a fairer extradition hearing in this country than Ms.
Meng," he added.
Her lawyers have argued that her extradition should be stayed because the
United States misled Canada when it summarized the evidence against Meng,
that former President Donald Trump's comments on her case poisoned any trial
she might face, and that no real fraud took place, among other reasons. read
more
Canadian prosecutors have maintained that the United States has a valid case
against Meng and emphasized that the bar for extradition is low. read more
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in British Columbia's Supreme Court
must decide based on whether the evidence would allow Meng's trial to
proceed in Canada.
If Holmes rules in favor of extradition, the final decision will then be
made by Canada's justice minister. Both decisions can be appealed by Meng's
legal team, which observers of the case have said means it could drag on for
years.
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
AstraZeneca CEO Soriot tops FTSE 100 pay-out charts in 2020 -report
(Reuters) - Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of COVID-19 vaccine maker
AstraZeneca (AZN.L), was Britain's highest paid company boss in 2020, a year
when the average FTSE 100 leader saw their pay fall by almost a fifth, a
report on Thursday showed.
Soriot, whose handling of the pandemic response has drawn criticism despite
the company producing its vaccine at cost price, took home 15.45 million
pounds ($21.25 million), a report from the High Pay Centre said.
That compares with median pay for CEOs in Britain's flagship stock index of
2.69 million pounds, down from 3.25 million pounds in 2019, the report
found, but still 86 times the median earnings for the average UK worker.
Shareholders had demanded bosses share the financial pain as companies
across a range of sectors experienced a tough year, with lockdowns in many
countries hitting sales.
The proportion of companies paying bonuses dropped to 64% from 89% in 2019,
while 77% paid out long-term incentives based on performance over the
previous 3-5 years, compared to 82% the previous year.
Of the nine companies which took public money through the British
government's furlough scheme, the average CEO pay was 2.2 million pounds.
"CEO pay packages are designed to reflect the experience of shareholders,
employees and other stakeholders so in one sense the lower pay levels this
year show the system working as intended," said High Pay Centre Director
Luke Hildyard.
"On the other hand, these are still very generous rewards...at a time when,
in general, government support for the economy has probably been more
important to the survival and success of the UK's biggest companies than the
decisions of their executives."
Rounding out the top five earners were Experian's Brian Cassin, with 10.3
million pounds; CRH's Albert Manifold, with 9.92 million pounds; Reckitt
Benckiser's Laxman Narasimhan, with 9.24 million pounds, and Berkeley's Rob
Perrins, with 8.03 million pounds, the report said.
($1 = 0.7271 pounds)
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Invest Wisely!
Bulls n Bears
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INVESTORS DIARY 2021
Company
Event
Venue
Date & Time
Companies under Cautionary
ART
PPC
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Starafrica
Fidelity
Turnall
Medtech
Zimre
Nampak Zimbabwe
<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
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