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The Morning Ledger: China Prepares to Boost Access for Foreign Companies |
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President Xi Jinping and President Trump in Beijing in November 2017. PHOTO: ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Good day. China plans to replace an industrial policy savaged by the Trump administration as protectionist with a new program promising greater access for foreign companies, in a move to resolve trade tensions with the U.S., reports The Wall Street Journal.
Revised blueprint: China’s top planning agency and senior policy advisers are drafting the replacement for Made in China 2025—President Xi Jinping’s blueprint to make the country a leader in high-tech industries including robotics, information and clean-energy cars. The revised plan would play down China’s bid to dominate manufacturing and be more open to participation by foreign companies, these people said.
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Too good to be true? Odds are long that the new plan will go far enough in addressing U.S. complaints. Mr. Xi and others in the Chinese leadership are used to exercising a strong hand in the economy. Many bureaucracies and state-owned enterprises benefit from the unfettered access to resources that come with big government initiatives and so don’t want to be hampered by the greater competition of a level playing field.
Step in the right direction? If approved by Mr. Xi, the plan could nonetheless win over some foreign businesses and persuade some in the Trump administration that Beijing is making meaningful changes to retool the economy to be more market-driven.
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The European Central Bank is nearing a landmark decision to wind down its $3 trillion bond-buying program after it had mixed results in Europe. ECB officials are expected to confirm plans to end new bond buying, known as quantitative easing, at their meeting on Thursday.
Adobe Systems Inc., Ciena Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp. are among the companies scheduled to report earnings Thursday.
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Britain's exit from the European Union is set for March 29, 2019. PHOTO: TIM IRELAND/ZUMA PRESS
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As Brexit Nears, European Firms Look to Change Legal
Structure |
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Thousands of European companies registered in the U.K. may be forced to undertake the complicated and potentially costly process of changing their legal structure as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, CFO Journal's Nina Trentmann reports.
When Britain exits from the EU, planned for March 29, 2019, European companies registered in the U.K. under the EU’s freedom of capital movement principle may have to change their registration to keep doing business at home without their shareholders becoming personally liable for company debts. The potential legal hassle is one of many repercussions Brexit has presented businesses across Europe.
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Corporates Step Up Brexit Planning Amid U.K. Political Turmoil |
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Corporate decision makers at British and European companies are stepping up their preparations for a potentially disruptive Brexit amid deepening uncertainty over the U.K.’s future trading relationship with Europe, writes Ms. Trentmann.
Goods from auto parts to food ingredients could be stuck on both sides of the English Channel should the U.K. leave the bloc in a no-deal scenario. Companies in various industries are increasingly concerned about that prospect, said Paul Moody, an associate principal at consulting firm The Hackett Group Inc.
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U.K. Electricity-Network Operator National Grid Names CFO |
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U.K. natural-gas and electricity-network operator National Grid PLC appointed interim Chief Financial Officer Andy Agg as permanent finance chief, effective Jan. 1, reports Ms. Trentmann.
Mr. Agg has served as interim CFO since July, when his predecessor Andrew Bonfield left the company to become CFO at U.S. construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. Before his appointment as interim CFO, Mr. Agg worked as National Grid’s group tax and treasury director since 2016.
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Apple is planning a new campus in Austin, Texas, that could eventually have the capacity for 15,000 employees. PHOTO: JAY JANNER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Apple Inc. plans to invest $1 billion building a new corporate campus in Austin, Texas, the company said Thursday, as the iPhone maker seeks to make good on its promises to strengthen its contributions to the American economy.
Samsung Electronics Co. plans to close a Chinese smartphone factory in the next two weeks, a retrenchment that comes as the South Korean technology giant shifts manufacturing to India and its sales flounder in China, the world’s largest handset market.
The holiday season is looking merrier for Nintendo Co. after a difficult summer, thanks to a hot-selling new “Super Smash Bros.” game and early signs that its Switch console is doing better.
General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra spent much of last week on Capitol Hill in closed-door meetings with lawmakers who have accused GM of taking away jobs from U.S. workers to produce more vehicles in Mexico.
Lowe’s Cos. plans to increase its share buyback program by $10 billion, as the home-improvement retailer looks to turn investor sentiment and prove to Wall Street its business and growth plans are on solid footing.
Procter & Gamble Co. has acquired Walker & Co. Brands as the consumer-products giant looks to serve more African-Americans with health and beauty products.
Bottled water, which recently dethroned soda as America’s most popular beverage, is facing a crisis amid a consumer backlash against disposable plastic and new regulation.
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Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was detained in Beijing on Monday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Beijing’s detention of a former Canadian diplomat is being seen by friends and former colleagues as payback for Canada’s arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive at the behest of the U.S. A second Canadian, businessman Michael Spavor, has been detained in China, the BBC reports.
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The U.S. Justice Department has closed a criminal investigation into SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. over its response to a 2013 documentary that criticized the company’s treatment of killer whales and caused its attendance and stock to drop.
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Mallinckrodt PLC on Wednesday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated it won’t approve the company’s new-drug application for the reformulation of the painkiller Roxicodone in its current form.
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Charges announced last week against four people with ties to defunct Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co. demonstrate how professional service providers potentially can enable abuse of the financial system, observers say.
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AriseBank, one of the first startups sued by U.S. regulators over its initial coin offering will pay $2.3 million after being accused of scamming investors through claims such as building a cryptocurrency bank.
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IASB Wants Firms to Provide More Clarity When Assessing Contracts |
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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is proposing amendments to IAS 37--a standard that covers provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets--to provide more clarity on which costs should be included when assessing whether a contract will be loss-making or not, Ms. Trentmann writes.
The board put forward plans to amend IAS 37 to specify that the costs of fulfilling a contract include incremental costs, such as the costs of materials, and an allocation of other costs directly related to the contract, such as the depreciation charge for equipment a company uses to fulfil contracts.
The changes are most relevant for companies in manufacturing, construction and services sectors, and may result in some companies recognizing costs earlier, the IASB said in a statement. The deadline for commenting on the proposal is April 15, 2019.
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Protesters destroy a shop window during clashes with police in Paris on Dec. 8. PHOTO: STEPHANE MAHE/REUTERS
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The French economy is feeling the pinch of monthlong antigovernment protests that have left scars of rioting on the capital’s glitzy Champs Élysées boulevard.
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European Union lawmakers capped a two-year sprint to seal an economic partnership agreement with Japan on Wednesday, highlighting the U.S. allies’ urgency in reacting to President Trump’s disruptive trade policies.
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U.S. States’ revenue collections are off to a strong start in the current fiscal year, building on gains pegged to the expanding economy and help from the federal tax overhaul.
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U.S. inflation remains muted even though unemployment has fallen to near a 50-year low and economic growth in 2018 was among the fastest in this expansion.
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