Trump wavers on Tiktok deal as Bytedance seeks Chinese approval September 17, 2020 US President Donald Trump has said he is “not prepared to sign off” on a plan to offload management of Tiktok’s US operations to Oracle, as parent firm Bytedance admits the deal will require approval from Beijing. Trump said he will be briefed on the full details of the plan today, which is expected to [...]
Thomas Cook relaunches as online-only firm September 16, 2020 Iconic holiday firm Thomas Cook will today relaunch as an online-only company, a year after going bust in dramatic circumstances. To start with, the new travel company will sell holidays to destinations that are on the government’s safe travel list. In November, Chinese firm Fosun, which also owns package holiday brand Club Med, acquired the [...]
FXCM stock baskets offer cream of the crop industry stocks September 16, 2020 It’s been months now of lockdown, and with the majority of the world spending more time working from home with CNN, BBC and Bloomberg playing on the TV in the background, it is no surprise there has been a surge in new day traders looking to take advantage of the current market volatility by beginning [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks jump after strong Chinese industrial data September 15, 2020 The FTSE 100 rose sharply and US stocks opened higher as investors reacted well to stronger-than-expected economic data from China. Britain’s main stock index was up nearly one per cent during the afternoon session at 6,085 points. The FTSE 250 index – which is made up of slightly smaller firms – climbed 0.6 per cent. [...]
Mitie-Interserve deal to face competition probe September 15, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog today announced that it was launching an investigation into whether Mitie’s acquisition of fellow outsourcing giant Interserve’s facilities management business could damage competition. Back in June Mitie signed a £271m deal with its rival for the division, which will create a giant new entity with more than 80,000 employees. The move [...]
Crystal ball: Here’s what the Oracle deal could mean for Tiktok September 14, 2020 Tiktok owner Bytedance is said to have clinched a deal to offload management of the app’s US operations to software giant Oracle, after turning down a widely publicised bid from Microsoft. US President Donald Trump ordered Bytedance to separate itself from its US arm in August, giving the firm a 45-day deadline to find a [...]
City of London Corporation hits out at China for breaching its UK treaty September 10, 2020 The City of London Corporation has accused China of breaching the Sino-British treaty, after imposing draconian national security laws on Hong Kong. The local authority’s Court of Common Council – which comprises all of its elected officials – voted in favour of the motion, which accused Beijing of denying Hong Kongers the right to enjoy [...]
The Digital Currency Crossroads: CBDCs across borders, and the UK approach September 10, 2020 Growing interest in Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) has widely been viewed as a response by central banks to the emergence of private stablecoins, most notably Facebook’s Libra, announced in June 2019. Regulators and intergovernmental organisations, such as the Financial Action Task Force, have been working to understand the risks and potential of stablecoins, and [...]
Nearly 100 UK MPs condemn the ethnic cleansing of China’s Uighur Muslims September 9, 2020 More than 100 British parliamentarians have written to China’s UK ambassador to condemn the ethnic cleansing of Uighur Muslims in the country’s north. The letter, written by Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh and signed by 76 MPs and 57 Lords, tells ambassador Liu Xiaoming that “chilling” footage of Uighur Muslims being sent to internment camps in [...]
Fortnite rival PUBG cuts ties with China’s Tencent in India September 8, 2020 The owner of Playerunknown Battlegrounds, also known as PUBG, is to sever a publishing deal with Chinese giant Tencent for its game in India, in an effort to get around the government’s ban of its app in the country. South Korean firm PUBG Corporation said today it will no longer give Tencent Games the rights [...]