Alibaba lobbying to stay off counterfeit blacklist October 18, 2015 A growing pile of fakes is giving Alibaba a headache. The US wants to blacklist Alibaba as a “notorious” market for counterfeit goods – but the Chinese e-commerce giant is fighting back. Alibaba and its bazaar site Taobao were both added to the US Trade Representative’s blacklist back in 2008. After successfully cleaning up fraudsters [...]
Volkswagen share price continues to churn amid emissions scandal October 17, 2015 Shares in embattled carmaker Volkswagen were down 3.8 per cent to 103.2p per share in Germany this morning, more than a week after news of its emissions scandal first broke. The company has suspended the research and development chiefs of its core VW brand, luxury division Audi and sports-car maker Porsche, sources told Reuters. This comes [...]
Tinder parent company Match Group seeks to woo investors with IPO October 17, 2015 Match Group wants to woo investors with an initial public offering (IPO). Match Group, owner of dating app Tinder as well as dating sites OKCupid and Match.com, filed documents with the Securities Exchange Commission for a listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "MTCH" yesterday. Media mogul Barry Diller's IAC/Interactive Corp, which owns Match Group, would retain [...]
UK Steelmaker Tata Steel expected to axe 1,200 jobs October 17, 2015 Britain's biggest steelmaker, Tata Steel, is expected to cut around 1,200 jobs in what will be a huge blow to the industry, a union source told City A.M. Reports suggest the bulk of the cuts will be at Tata Steel's Scunthorpe site, which employs 4,000 people. However, the axe could also fall at sites in Clydebridge, Cambuslang, Dalzell and Motherwell. The news broke as [...]
Volkswagen hires compliance manager Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt from rival Daimler to help clean up emissions scandal October 16, 2015 Volkswagen has today hired a new director of integrity and legal affairs in a bid to recover from its emissions scandal. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt is joining from rival Daimler, where she held the same position.She will pick up the newly-created role at VW on 1 January. Daimler has agreed to release Hohmann-Dennhardt from her contract early after a VW put a special request [...]
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver says China’s economy is unlikely to suffer a “hard landing” despite slowdown fears October 16, 2015 HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver has said China is unlikely to have a "hard landing", despite mounting concern over the strength of its economy. "The fears for China's economy are overplayed. I do not believe China will have a hard landing," Gulliver said in a speech today. "The last few months have obviously been difficult… (But) the [...]
What commodities crisis? Rio Tinto posts healthy third quarter results with more iron but less salt October 16, 2015 Miners may have been hit be the global commodities crisis in recent money, but here's one which is doing alright: global miner Rio Tinto posted a 17 per cent rise in third-quarter iron ore shipments today. The world’s second-biggest mining company reported iron ore shipments of 91.3m tonnes, on track to meet its 340m end-of-year target. The figure, up from 303m tonnes [...]
S&P: Impact of Bank of England and Prudential Regulation Authority’s ring-fencing on UK banks’ credit rating “limited” October 16, 2015 Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has said today that ring-fencing regulations will have a "limited" effect on one of the factors used to determine a big bank's credit rating. Yesterday, the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority outlined proposals for how big banks should separate their retail banks from their riskier investment arms. It's designed to help [...]
Ukog: UK Oil and Gas share price falls despite extending planning permission for its Markwells Wood well license October 16, 2015 Shares in UK Gas and Oil (Ukog) fell five per cent to 1.35p per share in early afternoon trade, despite the company securing an extension to planning permission for its Markwells Wood well in West Sussex. Ukog said the South Downs National Park Authority had agreed to extend planning permission for the well site until the end of September 2016. The company is [...]
AstraZeneca setback: Diabetes treatment fails to win approval in the US October 16, 2015 UK drugs company AstraZeneca faces a setback in the US, after it failed to win government backing for its diabetes treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in order to make a final decision on the combined use of saxagliptin and dagagloflozin to treat type 2 diabetes, it requires more details about clinical trials in humans. [...]