(Bloomberg) -- The firings of Luckin Coffee Inc.’s chief executive officer and her lieutenant in an escalating scandal over faked transactions is another body blow for the Chinese chain, which expanded at breakneck speed trying to supplant Starbucks Corp. as the dominant barista in a booming coffee culture.CEO Jenny Zhiya Qian and Chief Operating Officer Jian Liu were terminated and also resigned their board positions, according to a Tuesday filing by the U.S.-listed company. Six others either were suspended or placed on leave. Jinyi Guo, a board member and senior vice president, was named acting CEO.The dismissals reflect the increasing turmoil at a company once considered among China’s brightest growth stories. The Xiamen-based retailer faces scrutiny from regulators in the U.S and China, and the firings of top executives signal the financial wrongdoing may be more deeply rooted. The scandal is a black eye for China Inc., which already faces headwinds...
(Bloomberg) -- ABN Amro Bank NV’s new chief executive officer will review the bank’s strategy after the Dutch lender posted its first loss since 2013 and set aside almost twice as much as expected to cover for future loan losses.The made 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of provisions to account for loans going bad and said the figure may rise to 2.5 billion euros for the full year. The net loss of 395 million euros was driven by the provisions and its exposure to two clients. CEO Robert Swaak, just three weeks into the job, said reviewing the investment bank will be a top priority.European lenders have made billions of euros of provisions as government measures to contain the virus make it harder for clients to repay loans. ABN Amro’s exposure to the oil-and-gas industry, one of the highest in Europe, is also putting pressure on earnings after the sector was...
(Bloomberg) -- Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are staring down the possibility of mass bankruptcies and long-lasting unemployment unless there’s a more concerted government effort to shield the U.S. economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.That’s the context in which the Fed chair will speak Wednesday at 9 a.m. during a virtual event with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, though he may be loath to give clear hints on future monetary policy, with the central bank’s next rate decision still a month out.Some investors are looking for insights into how hard Powell’s resolve is against cutting the Fed’s benchmark interest rate beneath zero, something he has warned against doing in the past. President Donald Trump on Monday called such a policy a “GIFT” for the economy. “Powell is likely to push back on adopting negative rates, reinforce his willingness to continue using balance sheet tools,...
Uber (UBER) has rejected an all-stock proposal to buy food delivery company Grubhub (GRUB) for 2.15 Uber shares per share of Grubhub, reports CNBC’s David Faber.According to Faber, the two companies have been in discussions about a deal for about a year, but have so far failed to agree on a price.“We remain squarely focused on delivering shareholder value,” Grubhub wrote in a statement to CNBC. “As we have consistently said, consolidation could make sense in our industry, and, like any responsible company, we are always looking at value-enhancing opportunities. That said, we remain confident in our current strategy and our recent initiatives to support restaurants in this challenging environment.”Meanwhile Uber wrote: “We are constantly looking at ways to provide more value to our customers, across all of the businesses we operate.” The company added: “We have shown ourselves to be disciplined with capital and we do not respond to speculative...
Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses, and Brent held near $30 a barrel as potential OPEC+ plans to deepen supply cuts were tempered by demand concerns exacerbated by a possible second wave of coronavirus infections as countries ease lockdowns. "Fears are running rife that easing lockdown measures will trigger a second wave of coronavirus infections," said Stephen Brennoc at oil brokerage PVM. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) now expects world oil demand to fall by 8.1 million barrels per day (bpd) this year to 92.6 million bpd, compared with a previous forecast for a drop of 5.2 million bpd....
