From rollable TVs to mind-reading hats, here are some of the best (and weirdest) new gadgets from CES 2018 January 10, 2018 Televisions If there’s one constant in this world, it’s that everybody wants a bigger television. All human endeavour, the cumulative effort of generations, is geared towards inventing ever larger screens capable of displaying more pixels at higher resolutions and in new, never before seen colours, so that Fiona Bruce looks as good as can be. [...]
Samsung posts record profits but investor hopes go up in flames January 9, 2018 Samsung revealed overnight it is in line to make record annual profits. But quarterly profits missed expectations as staff bonuses and a strong currency took some gloss off a buoyant chip market. The South Korean electronics giant said fourth-quarter operating profit would be 15.1 trillion (£10.4bn) won, a jump of 64 per cent, but below [...]
Santander partners with China’s biggest retailer JD.com to allow firms to sell products in Chinese market January 8, 2018 Santander UK is partnering with China’s biggest retailer, JD.com, to allow its business customers to launch products in the Chinese market. Small and medium-sized enterprise customers at Santander will now be able to launch stores on JD.com if they have international trading experience and a turnover of at least £10m. Read more: Liam Fox travels [...]
London Stock Exchange Group’s LCH clearing arm enjoys record year January 8, 2018 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group’s LCH clearing arm processed a record volume of derivatives over the course of 2017, ahead of an expansion further into servicing growing Asian markets. The notional value of interest rate derivatives processed by LCH reached over $873 trillion during the course of 2017, according to data to be published [...]
Too big to list? Why the international scramble for the Aramco IPO might prove a wild goose chase January 4, 2018 Last week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a delay to its proposed introduction of a new listing category for the London Stock Exchange. The proposal – which has already endured a six-month consultation – is widely seen as an attempt by the regulator to bend its own rules on stock market flotations… in ways [...]
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg help boost world’s wealthiest by $1 trillion, Bloomberg billionaires index finds December 27, 2017 The world’s wealthiest people added a collective $1 trillion to their riches in 2017, with Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos making the greatest gains off the back of a standout year for the technology and retail giant. And the rich are getting richer, gaining four times more than they did in 2016, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires [...]
Innovating in zeros: How do disruptive businesses best the competition? December 20, 2017 “No one really thought it was going to work but, actually, it went okay.” That is how Jonas Kjellberg, entrepreneur and investor, described the sentiment around one of his most famous ventures — Skype. Kjellberg has always been interested in disrupting traditional systems, and he recalled some of his business successes and failures at [...]
Why is Pakistan struggling to find its feet as a successful emerging market? December 18, 2017 The key dilemmas facing Pakistan’s equity market — a small investor base, few new listings on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), and shrinking turnover — are tied to the lack of trust among investors and issuers as well as unnecessary compliance and tax burdens. It will take greater professionalism among the intermediaries and the rationalization [...]
David Cameron spearheads $1bn infrastructure fund to help China boost its trading links December 16, 2017 Former PM David Cameron has been charged with leading a $1bn (£750m) government-backed fund to boost transport infrastructure between China and its trading partners. Announced as part of Chancellor Philip Hammond’s two-day visit to China, the new element of the “Belt and Road Initiative” will create jobs and boost trade links, ministers said. The initiative [...]
Brexit trade deal: UK wants bespoke Brexit trade deal, not a “Canada” style agreement, says Philip Hammond December 16, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has dismissed the idea Britain will develop a Canada-style trade deal with the EU, saying a bespoke Brexit arrangement was more likely. Hammond, on an official visit to China, made the comments at a press conference this morning, flanked by Chinese vice premier Ma Kai and Chinese vice finance minister Shi Yaobin. [...]