French insurer Axa SA topped the property & casualty league...
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Dearth of mechanics and higher repair costs lead to dip in UK electric car sales
A dearth of mechanics trained to handle the most advanced EV fixes...
Israel bracing for potential direct attack from Iran in days
The assault from Iranian soil has emerged as one of the main...
Warren Buffett becomes sixth member of $100 billion club
Surpassing $100 billion is all the more notable considering how much the Omaha billionaire has given away. A co-founder of the Giving Pledge, a campaign to encourage billionaire philanthropy, Buffett has donated more than $37 billion in Berkshire stock since 2006. Without those gifts, which have cut his holdings of Berkshire Class A shares nearly in half, he’d be worth more than $192 billion.
HSBC toughens stance on fossil fuel funding after shareholder heat
HSBC’s announcement reinforces how the world’s biggest financial firms are bowing to mounting public and political pressure to join the battle against climate change, by reducing their funding of fossil fuel companies and encouraging clients in other sectors to cut emissions.
Europe’s sustainable assets surge in 2020, more to come – EFAMA
The surge in ESG assets has been driven by stimulus-driven market recovery and investors increasingly looking for resilient investments, as well as a push from governments to encourage environmentally-friendly investments.
The first part of the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) was rolled out on Wednesday, aiming to make the ESG market more standardised and transparent. read more
Most economies won’t return to pre-Covid activity levels by 2022: Moody’s
Policy actions will continue to support economic activity and financial markets after the pandemic has eased, it added. Policymakers will continue to support economic activity long after the pandemic has faded, in some cases for years, Moody’s said.
Moody’s expects the incidence and prevalence of the pandemic to gradually decline over the course of this year, as vaccination numbers rise. In turn, this will allow governments to gradually ease lockdown measures.
US selects compensation experts to oversee Boeing 737 MAX victim fund
While Boeing has mostly settled Lion Air lawsuits, it still face more than 100 lawsuits in Chicago federal court by families of the Ethiopian crash asking why the MAX continued flying after the first disaster.
Greensill, Gupta and the fragile tower of money and metal
The crisis began at Bond & Credit Company, the Sydney unit of insurance giant Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. last summer. It decided not to extend policies covering the loans Greensill made, and has fired a manager who had a key role in signing off on that business. Compounding Greensill’s problems, around the same time, the German regulator BaFin started a probe into his fast-growing bank in Bremen.
BaFin was concerned that too many of the assets of Greensill Bank were tied to the same source: Gupta. The investigation found irregularities, including that the bank had booked claims for transactions by Gupta that hadn’t yet occurred but which were accounted for as if they had. During this slow buildup of pressure, in late 2020 Softbank wrote down its investment in Greensill, though this only came to light in recent weeks.
5 hacking groups targeting Microsoft’s email servers
Microsoft said that the company is “working closely with CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), other government agencies, and security companies to ensure we are providing the best possible guidance and mitigation for our customers”.
Apollo and Athene to merge in all-stock transaction
The merger of Apollo and Athene combines two growth companies providing products and services that are in high demand – investment returns and retirement income. The stronger capital base and complete alignment will allow the company to rapidly scale asset and liability origination, broaden distribution channels and act as a leading global solutions provider. The company will operate in an environment powered by strong market and demographic trends.
Up to $223b of the world’s top 100 brands’ value could be at risk from a data breach: Finds Infosys-Interbrand Study
Infosys and Interbrand found that industries such as Technology, Financial services and Automotive might suffer a higher overall brand value at risk from data breaches, whereas Luxury brands and Consumer Goods face greater value at risk as a percentage of their net income.
Austria suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death
One 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering, it said. A pulmonary embolism is an acute lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot. “Currently there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination,” BASG said.