International
Headlines
America still leads in technology, but China is catching up fast
A RARE THING happened in an industrial park near Washington, DC, last November. Construction began on a $3bn extension to a semiconductor foundry owned by Micron Technologies, a maker of advanced memory chips, based in Idaho. “A few years ago, opening that sort of extension would have people saying, well, that is going to be moving to China soon,...
Approach Art Investment like a VC to make a profit
If you decided at this very moment to invest in your first work of art, how would you start? You might begin by walking into a gallery in search of an expert, or you might go online to gain an understanding of the kind of works that are appreciating in value. Yet for all that you might research, art is still seen by many as an emotional investment,...
“Flanker” banks are seeking to combine the old and new
AT THE ENTRANCE of the glass-and-chrome headquarters of Bank Leumi in Tel Aviv, look left and you will see Mani House, one of the city’s oldest buildings. From a balcony peers a statue of Theodor Herzl, the Zionist leader known as the Father of Israel. The marriage of historical and modern is fitting for Israel’s oldest bank, established before...
How Singapore’s incumbent banks are preparing for competition
IN 2014, AS ALIBABA was preparing to list in New York, Piyush Gupta, the chief executive of DBS, Singapore’s biggest bank, was watching with growing alarm. Together with his bank’s chairman, Peter Seah, he arranged a meeting with Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder, and Joseph Tsai, then its chief financial officer. “I walked away scared out of my wits...
In South-East Asia, Grab and Gojek bring banking to the masses
BOTH WERE founded by Harvard Business School graduates, from the same year. Both have apps that have been downloaded more than 100m times. Both started with ride-hailing and expanded into other logistics businesses, such as deliveries and food-ordering. The story of two South-East Asian “deca-unicorns”—fintechs valued above $10bn—is usually...
Finance
Tech Jobs Lead to the Middle Class. Just Not for the Masses.
Brittney Ball was living in a homeless shelter with her baby when she learned of a one-year program offering technical training, professional skills and an internship. She took the plunge.Five years later, Ms. Ball is a software engineer in Charlotte, N.C., earning more than $50,000 a year. A 30-year-old single mother, she has health insurance, retirement...
As ‘Rocketman’ Prepares to Take Off, Hollywood Holds Its Breath
LOS ANGELES — Multiple movie studios passed on the opportunity to make “Rocketman,” an R-rated musical fantasia about Elton John’s hedonistic breakthrough years. Too gay. Too expensive. Too reliant on an unproven star.But one film company, the down-on-its-luck Paramount Pictures, saw the audacious project as a chance to prove something to both...
Deutsche Bank Staff Saw Suspicious Activity in Trump and Kushner Accounts
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Anti-money laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank recommended in 2016 and 2017 that multiple transactions involving legal entities controlled by Donald J. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, be reported to a federal financial-crimes watchdog.The transactions, some of which involved Mr. Trump’s now-defunct foundation, set...
Running Scared: Network TV in the Streaming Age
As the curtain comes down on the 2018-19 television season, the major broadcast networks found themselves sinking deeper into trouble.Their once-dependable viewers have continued their migration to Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, and those who have yet to break the network habit are aging out of the group prized by advertisers.At their annual presentations...
Work in America Is Greedy. But It Doesn’t Have to Be.
The best employees show unending loyalty to work, staying long hours and being on call for bosses or clients. At least, that’s the credo of 21st-century American capitalism. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Even though long, unpredictable hours have become a feature of many jobs, and people who work them now earn disproportionately more, some...
Legal
OFAC Compliance Guidelines
Five months after Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of the US Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, presented five of the hallmarks of an effective sanctions compliance program, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has finally published long-awaited guidance for national and international organizations subject to its regulation...
New DOJ Guidance on Cooperation in False Claims Act Matters
This week, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice released guidelines on cooperation credit in False Claims Act cases. The guidelines strongly emphasize voluntary disclosure, but also provide insight into other actions that could give rise to cooperation credit. Background The False Claims Act (“FCA”) creates civil liability for persons...
Anti-Corruption Guidance in Russia: What’s a Company to Do?
Anti-corruption has been a hot topic in Russia for some time. But recently, the Russian government has begun to take creative approaches in the fight against corruption. These initiatives are aimed at raising public awareness of corruption among the general public. What appears to be missing in this outreach is compliance guidance to companies in...…...
DOJ Updates Guidance for Corporate Compliance Programs
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an update to its earlier guidance on how the DOJ will evaluate the effectiveness of a company’s corporate compliance program. The updated compliance guideline (“Updated Guidance”) is twice the length of the original, and utilizes a more instructive approach, serving as a roadmap to prosecutors, and...
Ninth Circuit Limits Protections for FCPA Whistleblowers
The Ninth Circuit held that the anti-retaliation provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act do not protect whistleblowers who make internal complaints about potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The court’s ruling limits the remedies available to employees who claim to have suffered adverse employment actions in retaliation for...
Deals
Uber to acquire Careem to expand the greater Middle East regional opportunity together
Careem to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber, operating as an independent company under the Careem brand and led by Careem foundersOpportunity for both companies to rapidly expand and capitalise on the region’s underpenetrated mobility opportunity and growing digital economy Transaction would be largest-ever technology industry transaction...
Litigation funding to double in five years as asset class becomes mainstream
Litigation funding is undeniably becoming a mainstream asset class with the market set to double in the next five years. This is the prediction from Dilip N Massand of Legal Ventures, a UAE based fund by Phoenix Advisors that specialises in emerging markets. It is backed by Dalma Capital, a leading alternative investment manager. Litigation ...
Offshore deal value jumps usd 100 billion in 2018
Record 196 offshore IPOs completed over course of the year, Appleby reports The total value of offshore M&A deals rose by a massive 47% in 2018 when compared to the previous year, driven in part by a surge in megadeals each valued at USD 5 billion or more, according to a report released today by offshore law firm Appleby. The latest edition of...
EMEA Deal Drivers in 2018
This exclusive and comprehensive report presents an in-depth review of all M&A activities across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EMEA), with analyses of specific geographical regions and market sectors. It also identifies key trends set to develop over the course of 2019. The report key highlights include: 2018 saw uneven progress for M&A,...
Intralinks® Deal Flow Predictor for Q2 2019
The number of announced M&A deals in Europe, the Middle East & Africa is forecast to fall by around 1 percent year-over-year during the first six months of 2019, with the Real Estate, Energy & Power and Materials sectors in Southern Europe and the Middle predicted to lead growth, according to the latest issue of the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor. Along...
Acq Lite
At World’s Biggest Dog Show, Pups That Give New life to Disabled Owners
EDITOR’S NOTE: This news is courtesy of iCopyright, so GNN has no control over the ads. Please remember we do not endorse the advertisements. The post At World’s Biggest Dog Show, Pups That Give New life to Disabled Owners appeared first on Good News Network. Read More
Stranger Sets Off Incredible Chain of Good Deeds That Saved 6 Lives
Six lives were saved at a hospital this week, and it is all thanks to one woman's decision to “be selfless for a day”. The post Stranger Sets Off Incredible Chain of Good Deeds That Saved 6 Lives appeared first on Good News Network. Read More
10 Things I Wish I Would Have Told My Kids
Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention to your current experience—both the internal and external—without judgment. Practicing mindfulness allows us to make wiser choices and pursue healthier and more beneficial avenues in life. Had I learned them earlier in life, I would have taught my kids the valuable life lessons that I’ve gleaned from...
DIY or Die: How an Industrious Outback Nurse Diagnosed His Own Heart Attack and Stayed Alive
The nurse was stationed at his medical outpost 100 miles away from the nearest hospital when he realized that he was about to have a heart attack. The post DIY or Die: How an Industrious Outback Nurse Diagnosed His Own Heart Attack and Stayed Alive appeared first on Good News Network. Read More
Daily Dose of Cute: Dachshund Shows Off Skills by Maneuvering Maze of Plastic Water Bottles
If you’re mourning the end of the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, you might like these games of skill involving a long-haired Dachshund. Takao showed off his thinking abilities earlier this week when he successfully maneuvered a maze of plastic water bottles that was erected by his owner. In the videos posted to his Instagram page, the...