Headlines
Americas
Why Argentines are flocking to Uruguay
FRANCISCO, AN ACCOUNTANT, sips coffee in a café as he explains why he would move to Punta del Este, Uruguay’s most famous beach resort, from his native Argentina. “I can’t sit back and watch my government drain my pension pot empty over the next few years with crazy taxes.” Arturo, a business owner from the province of Buenos Aires, joins the...
Martín Vizcarra survives an impeachment vote
AT FIRST SIGHT, the impeachment vote on September 18th looked like a big victory for Peru’s president, Martín Vizcarra. Just 32 of 130 congressmen voted to remove him on suspicion that he had obstructed a corruption investigation. But the president owes his survival to the incompetence of his foes rather than to the strength or enthusiasm of his...
AMLO’s war against the intelligentsia
ON SEPTEMBER 21st President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO) began his televised early-morning press conference by asking a functionary to read out an interminable list of petrol prices at service stations around the country. Then there were video updates on AMLO’s pet infrastructure projects: an $8bn oil refinery, a new airport in Mexico...
The knife fight over Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement
THE PARTIES to a civil war almost never agree on why it began—and the parties to America’s decades-old fight for control of the Supreme Court are no different. For Republicans, the cause of the conflict is a Democratic Party that has tried to block conservative justices, starting with Robert Bork’s failed nomination in 1987, by underhand means....
What does Amy Coney Barrett think?
SPEAKING ON FOX NEWS, Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, conveyed the state of the battle to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “We’ve got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election,” he said. “That’s what’s coming.” Mr Graham had promised in 2016 to await...
Asia Pacific
SANNE appoints new business development director in Tokyo
Makoto Nagao, has been appointed to the newly created role of Director, Business Development adding further strength to SANNE’s Asia-Pacific business. With more than 35 years of experience, Nagao-san brings a wealth of knowledge, following a lengthy career with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, SMFG. While he was at SMFG, Nagao-san was General Manager...
Crayfish.io launches UK’s first funded initiative to get businesses China-ready
A ground-breaking initiative with a £500k investment fund dedicated to helping UK businesses get ‘China-ready’ has been launched in Cambridge by global online platform, Crayfish.io. Starting in September, the Crayfish China Accelerator programme - which has secured UK-China Enterprise Ltd (UKCE), a Chinese-capital-backed VC fund, as its...
SANNE opens new office in Mumbai, India
SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate services has further extended its global reach with the opening of a new office in Mumbai, India. With existing offices in 18 leading international finance centres, SANNE now has a local presence in one of the world’s fastest growing alternative markets and is also pleased to announce...
SANNE secures new bookkeeping licence in China
SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate administration services obtains new bookkeeping licence in China boosting its already strong proposition. The new licence expands SANNE’s existing product offering in China, adding bookkeeping, accounting and tax preparation services for Chinese registered entities. Jing Jing...
SANNE appoints Country Head to lead its Singapore business
Adding further expertise and knowledge to its APAC business As a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate business services, SANNE is pleased to announce the appointment of David Fowler to the role of Country Head − Singapore with immediate effect. Based in SANNE’s Singapore office, David will be taking over the role from Valérie...
Europe
Augusta raises additional $115m for litigation and dispute funding
Investment in response to growing demand from lawyers Augusta, the UK’s largest litigation and disputes funder by case volume announces it has raised a further US $115m from a multi-billion-dollar US-based investment manager. In 2018, Augusta secured £150m from a global investment fund, to finance business growth and investment in funding cases....
An affiliate of Sun European Partners announces that it has completed the sale of Famosa
Sun European Partners, LLP (“Sun European Partners” or “Sun”) today announces that one of its affiliates has completed the sale of Fábricas Agrupadas de Muñecas de Onil, S.A. (“Famosa” or “the Company”), a leading designer, developer, manufacturer and distributer of toys in Spain and throughout the world, to Giochi Preziosi S.p.A.. Famosa,...
Huge Tax Changes for Self-Employed Following Publication of New Legislation
On 11 July 2019, the Government published draft legislation outlining the IR35 changes coming to the private sector, which are expected to affect 250,000 businesses. The reform will impact users and suppliers of personal service company contractors in the private sector. Companies have only nine months to plan for the new off-payroll changes, as they...
Young people pick their banking partners for the future
Battle of the brands Generation Z calls the brands it will bank on in 2030 Britain Banks most trusted for handling payments and safe storage of dataTech brands first choice for creating smart, real-time servicesAs a sector, financial services scores poorly for ethics and positive social impact More than two in five young people (43%) believe that...
Alcentra Closes Significant Capital Raise for its European Direct Lending Strategy
Record €5.5 billion raise reflects strong investor demand, Alcentra’s track record of deployment and returns Alcentra, one of Europe’s largest and longest tenured managers of private debt and part of BNY Mellon Investment Management, has announced the close of its latest European direct lending capital raise. The firm has raised €5.5...
Mena
A Hopeful Forecast: More Accurate Long-Term Weather Predictions
What if you could get an accurate weather report as much as three weeks in advance? In some parts of the world, that could soon be possible.Right now, forecasters can reliably predict the weather in most parts of the United States up to eight days in advance, according to the American Meteorological Society. In recent years, research has shown that...
356 Elephants Dropped Dead. Did This Bacteria Poison Them?
In May and June, conservationists discovered the carcasses of 356 elephants in Botswana’s Okavango Panhandle. Some of the animals appeared to have collapsed and died suddenly, while walking or running. Others seemed disoriented, walking in circles before they died.While the elephant deaths have ceased, their cause has remained a mystery, creating...
Moussa Traore, Longtime President of Mali, Is Dead at 83
Moussa Traore, who gained power in the West African nation of Mali in a military coup and lost it in another coup more than 22 years later, has died. He was 83.His son Idrissa Traore confirmed the death but did not say when or where Mr. Traore died or specify the cause.Mr. Traore, who had studied at a French military academy and served in the French...
Mali Appoints New President After Military Coup
DAKAR, Senegal — A military officer who helped depose the president of Mali in a coup last month has announced that a retired colonel will lead the West African country as interim president until elections are held in 2022.Malian soldiers abducted the former president, Boubacar Keïta, and made him resign on state television in August in a coordinated...
‘Coloured Lives Matter’: A South African Police Shooting Like No Other
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The deadly encounter between the police and a young man from the projects, set off public outrage with all the familiar scenes: shrines of flowers and stuffed animals, clouds of tear gas and barrages of rocks aimed at officers in riot gear, and impassioned slogans.“Say His Name” read one poster.“Coloured Lives Matter,”...
International
Costs of carbon
SUPPORT FOR solar panels in Georgia came from a surprising point on the American political spectrum. In 2013 Georgia Power, the local electricity monopoly, was reluctant to increase the use of solar panels. That irked Debbie Dooley, a preacher’s daughter and co-founder of Atlanta’s Tea Party, a hard-right Republican faction. She wanted more energy...
The great disrupter
FOR MOST of the world, this year will be remembered mainly for covid-19. Starting in Asia, then spreading across Europe and America before taking hold in the emerging world, the pandemic has infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands. And it has devastated economies even more severely than did the global financial crisis which erupted in 2008. But...
Directing the disruption
THE PRINCIPAL message of this special report is that companies everywhere urgently need to step up their action against climate change. Its physical impact is already causing many of them serious damage. Pushed by voters, especially younger ones, governments around the world are introducing ever tougher regulations. Lawsuits could yet make firms’...
Cheap cheats
CARBON OFFSETTING is in vogue. The practice involves giving money to a green charity that takes action, such as planting trees or building solar panels, to stop emissions entering the atmosphere or to remove them from it. In 2018 around $296m was spent buying the equivalent of 98m tonnes of CO2 offsets in the “voluntary” market (ie, outside government-mandated...
Guilty by emission
“MAN HAS A time window of five to ten years before the need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategies might become critical.” That is a summary of James Black’s research on climate change. He was a scientist at ExxonMobil and shared his findings with his bosses in 1978, while underscoring the scientific consensus on global warming....