Business

Elon Musk buys & takes control of Twitter in $44bn deal

October 28, 2022March 5, 2023 News

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has completed his $44bn (£38.1bn) takeover of Twitter, according to a filing with the US government. Mr Musk tweeted “the bird is freed” and later said “let the good times roll”. A number of top executives, including the boss, Parag Agrawal, have reportedly been fired. Mr Agrawal and two other executives were escorted out of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Thursday evening, said Reuters. The completion of the deal brings to an end months of legal wrangling but it has prompted questions over the…

PM Liz Truss sacrifices finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng in the fight to survive

October 12, 2022March 5, 2023 News

British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, shortly before she is expected to scrap parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country. Kwarteng said he had resigned at Truss’s request after rushing back to London overnight from IMF meetings in Washington. Truss, in power for only 37 days, will hold a news conference later on Friday, Downing Street confirmed. “You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted,” Kwarteng…

‘It was really, really important’: Truss on UK’s mini-budget amid economy woes

October 1, 2022March 5, 2023 News

British Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Friday she recognised there had been some financial market disruption following the government’s so-called mini budget and that it was important monetary and fiscal policy are coordinated. Truss has so far argued market turbulence following the announcement of planned tax cuts a week ago is a result of global problems caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and that she would stick to her plan to try to boost growth. The Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill, said on Thursday there was…

Netflix loses almost a million subscribers

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

After enjoying a long reign as the king of streaming, Netflix faces a tough fight to keep its crown. It lost almost 1m subscribers between April and July, as the number of people quitting the service accelerated. But that was not as many as the streaming giant had feared. Asked what may have stopped subscriptions sliding further, the firm’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, said: “If there was a single thing, we might say ‘Stranger Things.’” The new season of the hit drama has been a phenomenal success, and may have…

Amazon offers to limit use of merchant data in bid to settle EU antitrust probe

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

Amazon has offered to limit its use of marketplace seller data and make changes to ‘Buy Box’ rankings in a bid to settle antitrust concerns in the European Union, the Commission confirmed today. It has also offered to revise how sellers can quality for inclusion to Prime; and allow them to choose their own delivery firm and negotiate terms directly with the carrier, as well as committing not to use any data obtained via Prime about the terms and performance of third party carriers for its own competing logistics services….

Dutch central bank fines Binance 3.3 million euros

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

The Dutch central bank (DNB) on Monday said it had fined Binance, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, 3.3 million euros ($3.35 million) for offering services in the Netherlands without being registered in the country. The fine was issued against Binance Holdings Ltd. in April 2022, following a public warning issued against Binance in August 2021, DNB said. The bank said in a statement that Binance in June had indicated it would appeal. The DNB said Binance had been in violation of Dutch money-laundering laws and had enjoyed a competitive…

Crypto lender Celsius defends bitcoin mining plans as bankruptcy kicks off

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

Cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network said bitcoin mining is key to the company’s restructuring efforts at a U.S. bankruptcy court hearing on Monday in Manhattan. New Jersey-based Celsius received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn to spend $3.7 million in construction costs at a new bitcoin mining facility and $1.5 million on customs and duties on imported bitcoin mining rigs. Patrick Nash, a lawyer for Celsius, told Glenn that bitcoin mining could provide a way for the company, which halted other business operations like its cryptocurrency lending, to repay customers,…

The hike is (almost) here! Now for what comes next: Five questions for the European Central Bank

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

The European Central Bank is set to deliver its first interest-rate hike since 2011 this week, yet markets are already fast-forwarding to focus on the path for higher rates beyond Thursday as economic prospects darken. That outlook is getting murkier by the day because inflation is still accelerating and growth slowing sharply. “The trade off the ECB is facing is more severe than any of the other major central banks,” said Silvia Ardagna, head of European economics research at Barclays. Here are five key questions for markets. 1. So, we’ll…

US dollar nudges down from multi-year highs as euro gasps for gas

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

The dollar began the week nudging down from multi-year highs, with a hotter-than-forecast inflation reading in New Zealand lending modest support to the kiwi, though fears about Europe’s gas supply put a cap on dollar selling. The greenback has soared this year thanks to a combination of rising U.S. interest rates and wobbling economies in Europe and China. It pushed above parity on the euro for the first time in almost 20 years last week, before easing back. The euro last bought $1.0094 and the yen, which has tumbled about…

Swiss central bank plans at least 50 bps rate hike in September, newspaper reports

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 News

The Swiss National Bank is currently planning to raise interest rates by 50 or 75 basis points in its next scheduled monetary policy announcement in September, a Swiss newspaper reported on Saturday, citing one or more people involved in the matter. The central bank last month raised its policy rate for the first time in 15 years and Chairman Thomas Jordan said soon afterwards that ongoing inflationary pressure meant further tightening would likely be needed. Data published last week showed Swiss inflation hit a 29-year high of 3.4% in June,…