World

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's stock exchange on Wednesday (Apr 27) reported its biggest quarterly drop in profits for six years as tightened Chinese regulations strangled new listings and the city struggled with its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) announced a net income of HK$2.67 billion (US$340 million) for the three months ended March - 31 per cent down year-on-year - with quarterly revenue down 21 per cent at HK$4.69 billion. The exchange operator has now seen four consecutive drops in quarterly profits. "We were not immune to global market sentiment, which resulted in some softness in the IPO market, reduced valuations in our investment portfolio and pricing volatility in our commodities market," said HKEX chief executive Nicolas Aguzin. The bours...

WASHINGTON :The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will promote competition and scrutinize the outsized influence Big Tech firms have in the marketplace, its director told the Senate Banking Committee during a hearing on Tuesday. Rohit Chopra, who was sworn in as CFPB director in October, fended off attacks from Republicans over his role in a regulatory spat. He is planning initiatives that will identify ways to lower barriers to entry and expand the pool of firms competing for customers based on quality, price, and service, he said. "We are especially interested in ways that small financial institutions can leverage technology and systems ... to capture market share while still preserving their relationship banking model," Chopra told lawmakers. In October, just a few we...

GENEVA: Russia's war in Ukraine has pushed the number of forcibly displaced people around the world above 100 million for the first time ever, the United Nations said Monday (May 23). "The number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution has now crossed the staggering milestone of 100 million for the first time on record, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts," said UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The "alarming" figure must shake the world into ending the conflicts forcing record numbers to flee their own homes, the UNHCR said in a statement. UNHCR said the numbers of forcibly displaced people rose towards 90 million by the end of 2021, spurred by violence in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democ...

HONG KONG/BEIJING :Three major private Chinese property developers who are financially healthy were asked by the authorities to issue bonds this week to help boost market sentiment, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. The authorities informed Country Garden, Longfor Group and Midea Real Estate about the plan late last week, the sources said. They declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to media. They added securities firms will issue credit default swaps (CDS) or credit risk mitigation warrants (CRMW) at the same time to attract investors to buy the bonds, helping private developers to raise funds from the public markets. The three developers declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Financial intelligence provider REDD first repo...

SHANGHAI : The yuan's slump has triggered a scramble by Chinese companies to hedge against the risk of further depreciation, which analysts say could add downward pressure on the currency. The yuan's 4 per cent tumble in April, its steepest monthly drop since foreign exchange reforms of 1994, is being driven by portfolio outflows, a rising U.S. dollar and a gloomy economic outlook at home. Lopsided corporate hedging presents yet another risk to the currency as it touched a fresh 18-month low on Friday and jitters swept global markets. "The expectation of further renminbi depreciation has pushed more companies to hedge against the risk," said Wang Dan, chief economist of Hang Seng Bank (China), calling the yuan by its official name. "By locking into a forward contract, demand for dollar...

“The recovery from COVID-19 has increased demand for oil, such as for use by industries, commercial and transport, so the price of oil increased,” said Assoc Prof Chang. “The Ukraine-Russia war affected production and supply of oil (so) it also increased oil prices … As long as the war continues, the price is expected to increase," he added. Dr David Broadstock, a senior research fellow and the head of the Energy Economics Division at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Energy Studies Institute, said the decision by Europe and other countries to stop purchasing natural gas from Russia has forced them to search for new gas suppliers. “At the same time, there are limits to how much gas supply chains can scale up without major new infrastructure development, which would also take ...

In 2016, Ryan Mundy was sitting in a room full of venture capitalists fielding start-up pitches when a thought occurred to him: None of the ideas he'd heard were geared toward solving the biggest issues in his own life. Mundy, a Super Bowl champion in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was struggling to find a purpose after leaving the NFL in 2015. He suffered from anxiety, stemming from multiple relatives being sequentially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease. Mental health was on his mind — and he was pretty sure that was true for other young Black Americans, too. "I found it very troubling that I knew how to take care of my shoulder and knee, but when it came to emotional and mental health support, I was having a really rough go at it," Mundy t...

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden's visit to Japan this month is expected to coincide with the formal launch of a new US economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific, even as China seeks "very aggressively" to fill a void since Washington quit a regional trade pact, Tokyo's ambassador to the United States said on Monday (May 9). Koji Tomita told a virtual event hosted by Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies that Japan and the United States had been working on the details of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which, he said, needed to strike a balance between inclusivity and high standards. Asian countries are keen to boost ties with the United States, but have been frustrated by its delay in detailing plans for economic engagement with the region since former Pres...

TOKYO: President Joe Biden launched his plan for US economic engagement in Asia on Monday (May 23), leaving it to the 13 founding countries to work out how to enforce their agreements and whether China could ever join. Biden chose on his first trip in office to Asia to formally unveil the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), although critics said it offered scant benefit to countries in the region even before it was announced. The White House says the deal offers no tariff relief to the countries that join, including India, Malaysia and the Philippines, but provides a way to sort through issues ranging from climate change to supply chain resilience and digital trade. Washington has lacked an economic pillar to its Indo-Pacific engagement since former President Donald T...

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