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The Morning Ledger: Companies Prepare for a ‘No-Deal’ Brexit |
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British luxury fashion maker Burberry has said a no-deal Brexit could cost the company tens of millions of pounds in tariffs. PHOTO: HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
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Good day. Executives at British and European companies are rushing to prepare hundreds of millions of additional customs declarations; they are overhauling customer contracts; and girding for potentially billions in new taxes. All for a scenario that may never happen: the “no-deal” Brexit.
Lack of clarity. The U.K. plans to leave the European Union on March 29, but there is no clarity over the terms of its departure. Parliamentarians this month rejected the U.K. government’s Brexit deal, raising uncertainty about how—or perhaps even whether—the split will take place. The U.K.’s parliament is expected to revisit the matter Tuesday, reports CFO Journal's Nina Trentmann.
[Continued below…]
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Tariffs loom. If the exit happens without an agreement on the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU, Britain would trade as a “third country” with EU-member states. The companies on both sides would have to follow World Trade Organization rules, which would require tariffs ranging from 4% to about 40%, depending on the product.
Too risky not to prep. The prospect of new tariffs, which many executives see as a worst-case scenario, is prompting the complex and expensive administrative haul. Taking a wait-and-see approach would be too big a risk as it could hamper the flow of goods.
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Biogen Inc., Pfizer Inc., Xerox Corp., Harley-Davidson Inc., 3M Co. and Apple Inc. are among the companies scheduled to report earnings Tuesday.
The WSJ's Tripp Mickle has what you need to know about Apple's results.
Greece is set to return to international bond markets on Tuesday for the first time since the country’s exit from its bailout era last August.
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Yum Brands Opens Search for New CFO |
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Yum Brands Inc. is looking for a new chief financial officer following the promotion of its current finance chief, David Gibbs, to president and chief operating officer. The promotion, which sets him up as a potential successor to the company’s CEO, highlights the increasing role CFOs are playing in corporate strategy.
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PG&E is California's largest utility and provides natural gas and electric service to 16 million people. PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
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PG&E Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday as it struggles with billions of dollars in potential liabilities from its role in sparking California wildfires, triggering one of the most complex corporate reorganization cases in years.
SAP SE will take a restructuring charge of up to €950 million euros ($1 billion) to reshape its business after growth slowed in parts of the software maker over the last three months, Reuters reports.
Snap Inc. named its chief accountant Lara Sweet as its interim finance chief, taking over for Tim Stone who has spent less than a year at the company.
Caterpillar Inc. said its profit this year is likely to rise less than analysts were expecting, as China’s slowing economy and write-offs on loans to equipment customers weigh on the machinery giant.
Tesco PLC said Monday that up to 9,000 of its employees’ jobs could be at risk, as the U.K. grocer plans to close fresh-food counters at 90 of its stores as part of a turnaround.
Dutch health-technology company Koninklijke Philips NV is moving “hundreds of millions” of euros worth of production from the U.S. to China, and vice versa, to avoid punitive tariffs, Reuters reports.
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Acting U.S Attorney General M. Whitaker, flanked by Secretary of Commerce W. Ross and Secretary of Homeland Security K. Nielsen, announces enforcement action against Huawei. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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The Trump administration unveiled a sweeping set of actions—including criminal charges—against China’s Huawei Technologies Co. in its latest salvo against the telecom giant, with authorities unsealing a set of indictments just days before U.S.-China trade talks are set to resume. Huawei denied any wrongdoing, the BBC reports. The company's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, "should not be a hostage," her lawyer said, as reported by Reuters.
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TPG Telecom Ltd.’s plan to build a $1 billion mobile telecoms network has collapsed after the Australian government blocked use of equipment made by China’s Huawei Technologies Co. on national security grounds.
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The U.S. imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. on Monday in an effort to cripple President Nicolás Maduro’s government and empower an opposition leader.
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Wynn Resorts Ltd. would pay a fine but wouldn’t lose the ability to operate its Las Vegas casinos as part of a proposed settlement with a Nevada gambling regulator.
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Brazilian police arrested five people Tuesday in connection with the deadly collapse of a dam owned by iron-ore producer Vale SA, including employees of the mining company. Brazil’s top prosecutor said she would pursue criminal charges against company executives.
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Workers prepare a container at the port in Qingdao in China's eastern Shandong province earlier this month. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Cabinet-level delegations from the U.S. and China will resume trade negotiations on Wednesday, but early indications are that the two sides remain sharply divided, suggesting a hard slog ahead for a deal to be cut before a March 1 deadline.
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U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell likes to think of himself as a plain-spoken communicator, but his past three months as the central bank’s leader have proved challenging because markets have occasionally misunderstood him.
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The partial U.S. government shutdown will cost the economy about $3 billion in reduced output in 2019, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday.
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Chinese purchases of U.S. real estate last year dwindled to their lowest level since 2012, as Beijing kept up the pressure on Chinese investors to bring cash home during a period of worsening economic growth.
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Horizon Discovery PLC, a U.K. life sciences company, appointed Jayesh Pankhania as new chief financial officer with immediate effect, replacing Richard Vellacott.
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Mr. Vellacott is stepping down after seven years at the company, having acted as CFO, chief operating officer, deputy chief executive and interim CEO during his tenure, Horizon said.
Mr. Pankhania joined Discovery's finance department in April 2018 from Xtera Ltd., the company said. Compensation details were not available.
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