(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump forecast as many as 100,000 U.S. deaths from the virus, accused Beijing of attempting a cover up and promised a conclusive report on the pandemic’s origins. Italy began to reopen its economy after two months, but the premier’s plan was criticized for being too cautious.Spain also started to relax its lockdown regime after weeks of confinement as fatalities slowed, while Russia reported more than 10,000 new infections for a second day. New Zealand had no new cases for the first time since March and Hong Kong may soon reopen cinemas and gyms.Factory output across Asia and Europe slumped and a recovery will probably be “frustratingly slow,” IHS Markit warned. Hong Kong’s downturn is now the worst on record, extending the first recession seen in a decade.Key DevelopmentsVirus Tracker: global cases pass 3.5 million; deaths top 247,000January? Autumn? Doctors debate arrival time for a vaccineChina trade deal...
A threat by the Trump administration to ban the investment of US public servants' retirement funds in Chinese stocks is likely to be a lone, symbolic gesture that will find few followers among other fund houses, said money managers and brokers.The US$558 billion Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which covers the retirement savings of 5 million American civil servants, is expected to transfer mid this year about US$50 billion of its international fund to a portfolio that mirrors the MSCI All Country World Index, which tracks about 3,000 equities worldwide. The Chinese constituents of this index " 196 stocks traded in Hong Kong, mainland China and the United States " make up 4.9 per cent of the allocation.US President Donald Trump is exploring stopping the investment of the retirement funds in Chinese companies, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. But the TSP's total allocation to Chinese stocks " if it does go ahead "...
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump forecast as many as 100,000 U.S. deaths from the virus, accused Beijing of attempting a cover up and promised a conclusive report on the pandemic’s origins. Italy started to reopen its economy after two months, but the premier’s plan was criticized for being excessively cautious.Russia reported more than 10,000 new cases for a second day, while Germany had the fewest new infections in five weeks as more curbs on public life were lifted. New Zealand reported no new cases for the first time since March and Hong Kong may soon reopen cinemas and gyms.Factory output across Asia and Europe slumped and a recovery will probably be “frustratingly slow,” IHS Markit warned. Hong Kong’s downturn is now the worst on record, extending the first recession seen in a decade.Key DevelopmentsVirus Tracker: global cases pass 3.5 million; deaths top 247,000January? Autumn? Doctors debate arrival time for a vaccineChina...
(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s Wirecard AG plans to regain the confidence of investors with sweeping measures to improve compliance and control, said Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun, dismissing calls to step down.The payment processing company will reveal details of nine projects to improve “global internal control systems including how it reports and punishes compliance violations and dealings with business partners,” Braun told Bloomberg News late on Sunday.It follows an independent KPMG audit of Wirecard that caused its shares to fall more than 30% last week. KPMG said it was unable to obtain the data it needed and criticized the company for internal “shortcomings” and an unwillingness by its third-party partners to contribute to the report.Wirecard managers had hoped the KPMG probe would resolve lingering concerns around the Munich-based firm’s third-party business, merchant payments and business activities in India and Singapore, after a series of articles by the Financial Times accused it of...
The government of Iran is said to have issued a license to Turkey-based iMiner to mine bitcoin in Iran.The post A new licensed bitcoin mining farm is getting set up in Iran - report appeared first on The Block....
(Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA and John Malone’s Liberty Global Plc have never been closer to finally creating the U.K.’s biggest telecom operator after flirting with various combinations over the years.Racing for a potential announcement as early as this week, talks hinge in part on striking equal control for the merger of O2 and Virgin Media, while structuring a deal that’ll help the Spanish giant pay down its huge debt pile, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because the talks are private.In a statement Monday, Telefonica confirmed that talks are ongoing “on a potential integration of their respective telecommunications businesses in the United Kingdom” and there is no guarantee that an agreement can be reached.Liberty Global’s New York A-class shares surged 15% on Friday after Bloomberg revealed the talks, the biggest jump since 2009. Telefonica shares rose 1.8% in early trading Monday, while rival BT Group...
