Road to COP: Making companies do better 19 Oct 2021 Anne Simpson is one of the key figures in U.S. climate finance. As head of Board Responsibility at U.S. pension fund CalPERS, it’s her job to give companies a hard time if they shirk on decarbonisation. Ahead of November’s critical COP26 conference, she chatted to George Hay.
Crypto puts U.S. and El Salvador in the same boat 18 Oct 2021 Hispanic and Black people are top American owners of digital currencies. Discrimination and lagging access to financial services are drivers and are among the better reasons why the Central American nation turned to bitcoin. It’s a lost opportunity for traditional banks.
Capital Calls: Klarna, French vaccine, Philips 18 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: The $46 bln Swedish buy-now-pay-later company tries to outrun Britain’s financial watchdogs; Valneva’s Covid-19 shot may prove better than the UK’s home-grown version; the industrial giant sees light at the end of the supply-chain tunnel.
London’s IPO revamp gets its cautionary tale 18 Oct 2021 THG’s founder is giving up his golden share in the stricken online retailer, just as regulators prepare to make it easier for executives to keep control after listing. It’s a timely reminder of the benefits of “one-share-one-vote” governance. It’s not too late to turn back.
China growth is stuck in low gear for the duration 18 Oct 2021 Economic expansion slowed to 4.9% last quarter as austerity, Evergrande fallout, Covid-19 and a power crunch bit. President Xi Jinping, though, is targeting longer-term issues like inefficient growth and inequality. That’s a cue for China-dependent markets to brace for impact.
Capital Calls: Real estate distress is tricky call 15 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital has raised a $10 bln fund to buy struggling buildings. With the pandemic's long-term effects unclear, the key will be avoiding those destined to remain empty.
Green transition needs a wider focus than oil cuts 13 Oct 2021 Fossil fuel investment has fallen to levels that would limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the IEA says. Yet measures to hike green energy and curb demand are just as important, and lagging. Unless states act, high energy prices risk becoming an ongoing headache.
Capital Calls: Australia’s climate change 12 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Prime Minister Scott Morrison may yet unveil a national emissions-reduction plan for COP26 after winning cover from a major business group, the biggest state, and the Murdoch press.
IMF boss has new reason to push ambitious agenda 12 Oct 2021 Kristalina Georgieva has ridden out data-rigging allegations. Damaged trust may make it harder to forge a global consensus to fight inequality and climate change. But the fracas would motivate any leader with an eye on her legacy to aim for some big successes to bury its memory.
Carrefour’s domestic shopping aisle looks bare 11 Oct 2021 A tie-up between the $15 bln French grocer and rival Auchan fell apart amid a valuation dispute. Concerns over competition and jobs complicate local mergers, while a failed Canadian takeover showed foreign buyers are unwelcome. Carrefour has little choice but to expand abroad.
How to fill the global tax deal’s digital holes 8 Oct 2021 A landmark accord backed by 136 countries offers little scope for non-U.S. governments to raise money from giants like Facebook. One fix is to give nations with big markets a larger share of tax receipts. Sharing out levies according to where revenue is generated would be ideal.
Newcastle bid suits Saudi more than UK soccer 7 Oct 2021 A consortium led by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund may buy the northeastern club for 305 mln pounds. Saudi Arabia gets a storied team for a low price, and cheap PR. Yet having another deep-pocketed sovereign backer will further distort competition in British soccer.
Hong Kong tycoons laugh off Xi’s inequality push 7 Oct 2021 Real estate is overheating while residents get gouged at the grocery store. Leader Carrie Lam wants to increase housing supply but has propped up home prices and left elite monopolies alone. So far President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive is steering around the city.
Chancellor: Going green is everything except easy 6 Oct 2021 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the United Nations just weeks ago that transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy would be a cinch. Oops. The global energy crisis changes everything. Not least, it makes the cost of jettisoning hydrocarbons a great deal more expensive.
Funky hedging is a way for states to ease gas woes 6 Oct 2021 Countries caught by fuel-price spikes have no quick means to create alternative supply. As a result, they may be tempted to use public cash to buy options on gas a few years hence. It would waste taxpayer money if prices dropped, but sustained inflation would cause a mess too.
French cloud IPO is a bet on EU tech sovereignty 5 Oct 2021 OVHcloud is listing in Paris for up to 3.7 bln euros. Slow growth and the tight grip of founder Octave Klaba justify the IT group’s low valuation. But sales could surge if European businesses and governments push to keep data at home rather than with Amazon, Google or Microsoft.
Capital Calls: U.S. deal watchdog, Italian IPO 5 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Blog posts from the FTC’s competition chief reveal plans to go way bigger when extracting concessions from merging companies; Italy's $5 billion security group Leonardo is taking a second run at listing its DRS unit in the United States.
Cox: How Greta can transition from blah blah blah 4 Oct 2021 The young Swedish climate activist grabbed headlines in Milan at the runup to COP26 last week, castigating “so-called leaders” for talking much and acting too little. She’s got a point. But generational resentment won’t halt global warming. She’d be better off going nuclear.
Capital Calls: Merck pill, Zoom deal 1 Oct 2021 Concise views on global finance: Investors are being stingy about the pharma firm’s new drug to treat Covid-19; the video-conference company and Five9 are dropping their $15 bln transaction.
Zambia chips away at China’s secret debt edifice 1 Oct 2021 The African state owes Chinese lenders $6.6 bln, twice as much as previously thought. That doesn’t change its overall debt burden, just the mix of creditors. But it alters the power balance in restructuring talks. The case for borrowers to be more transparent just got stronger.