The coronavirus crisis is a make-or-break moment for globalisation March 6, 2020 The anti-globalisation movement is going viral. A new disease — virtually unknown, fiercely contagious, at times deadly — has put every aspect of modern life at risk. While governments grapple with the domestic realities, urging citizens to self-isolate and wash their hands while reciting Shakespeare, a larger question is looming: is this the end for [...]
HSBC evacuates over 100 from Canary Wharf HQ after employee contracts coronavirus March 5, 2020 HSBC has evacuated more than 100 staff from one floor of its Canary Wharf headquarters after one of its research analysts contracted coronavirus. City A.M. understands that an analyst in the bank’s research department tested positive for Covid-19 late last night, and informed the bank of his diagnosis this morning. Read more: City of London [...]
Coronavirus: ITV shares fall as travel firms pull advertising March 5, 2020 Coronavirus has hurt 2020 demand for ITV advertising as travel operators stopped booking ads with the broadcaster, but it has posted better than expected earnings for 2019. MGM and Universal’s decision yesterday to delay the release of the next James Bond movie, No Time To Die, from April to November due to the coronavirus outbreak, [...]
The world’s biggest economy is scared March 4, 2020 The final weeks of 2019 saw the traditional flurry of analysts and market commentators raising the prospect of so-called black swan events in 2020. Looking back through these notes today, one is confronted with a range of nightmare scenarios ranging from military conflict in the South China Sea to the collapse of a major investment bank [...]
Premier League broadcasting: What does Amazon’s initial success with Prime Video mean for the market? March 3, 2020 Amazon broadcast its first live football matches in December, showing 20 Premier League games to subscribers on its Prime Video platform. The decision to make a first foray into the sector was a brave, albeit relatively small, one for the US retail giant. Now that the dust has settled, it looks increasingly like an intelligent [...]
Alphabet’s Waymo nabs $2.25bn in first external funding round March 2, 2020 Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet, said tonight it has raised $2.25bn (£1.76bn) in its first external investment round. In addition to Alphabet, investors included car parts supplier Magna International, US dealership chain Autonation, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and three large investment firms: Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Alphabet [...]
UK tycoons buy Twickenham Studios as they launch £500m film venture March 2, 2020 Two British tycoons have snapped up Twickenham Studios as part of a £500m project to develop studio space to meet surging demand for new films and TV shows. Piers Read, producer of The Inbetweeners and Peep Show, and Jeremy Rainbird, who launched Bafta-winning production company Merman, have bought the west London studio hub for £50m. [...]
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup halt foreign business trips over coronavirus March 2, 2020 US banking giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have expanded their restrictions on business trips by staff in response to the coronavirus epidemic. Citigroup’s restrictions will now cover all international business trips “until further notice”, the bank said. Previously, it had only restricted travel to a select number of countries that had reported outbreaks of the [...]
Car shipping cartel to face UK class action March 1, 2020 Five shipping companies who ran a cartel for importing cars to the UK will face a class action lawsuit. MOL, “K” Line, NYK, WWL/EUKOR and CSAV are being sued for overcharging UK consumers and businesses. The European Commission ruled in 2018 they had breached competition rules by coordinating rates and capacity. Brussels imposed a €395m [...]
US stocks fall for seventh consecutive day as coronavirus fears increase February 28, 2020 US stocks opened down again today for the seventh straight day as investors continued to sell after new cases of coronavirus pummelled global stock markets. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both fell 2.5 per cent, to 25,119.36 and 2,904.44 respectively. The Nasdaq fared marginally better, opening 1.9 per cent down at 8,402.67. The [...]