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Capital Calls: Crypto hangs up Super Bowl placard

11 Feb 2022

Concise views on global finance: Cryptocurrency firms have lined up for ads on the U.S. football championship, much like dotcoms did in 2000. They are paying up to $7 mln per spot, or twice as much, adjusted for inflation.

Review: Hollywood’s China tragedy, in three acts

11 Feb 2022

In Erich Schwartzel's "Red Carpet", Tinseltown spots a lucrative opportunity, then starts a decades-long courtship of what becomes the world's biggest box office. Now Disney and rivals face a hostile Beijing and rising nationalism. It's a classic in the cautionary tale genre.

Pru CEO change puts HSBC and StanChart on the spot

10 Feb 2022

Mike Wells is retiring after shaking up the $46 bln insurer and redirecting its focus to emerging markets. Whoever replaces him will be based in Asia instead of London. Where the top brass sit depends on many variables, but the job is harder to do far from the main hub.

Toshiba rejig goes long pragmatism, short vision

7 Feb 2022

The $18 bln Japanese titan now intends to split into two, not three. Ditching its earlier plan as too costly makes some sense, while buybacks and more asset sales may somewhat placate its most vocal critics. What’s lacking, though, is a longer-term strategy – and leadership.

Boris Johnson’s fate is an economic sideshow

26 Jan 2022

The partygoing prime minister’s antics have cast doubt over his political future. Past upheaval had far-reaching consequences, particularly for Brexit. But Britain’s direction is now mostly fixed. And a new leader would have to grapple with the same contradictions as Johnson.

Japanese inequality lives in a retirement home

26 Jan 2022

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to shrink the widening wealth gap. One big factor is decaying elderly finances as inflation ticks up and fiscal coffers shrink. More transfers to retirees would be smart politics, yet young Japanese pay too high a price supporting the old.

India Insight: Narendra Modi’s sale of the century

24 Jan 2022

The prime minister is taking a calculated risk with a record IPO of $200 bln Life Insurance Corp. It will attract millions of first-time investors and boost the country’s spending power. How, and whether, that will affect the financial system’s shock absorber is a big question.

Viewsroom: Credit Suisse chair, Unilever’s GSK bid

20 Jan 2022

As António Horta-Osório quits the Swiss lender after less than a year, Liam Proud explains what happened and offers career advice. And Unilever’s 50 bln pound offer for the pharma giant’s consumer unit puts both CEOs on the spot, say Aimee Donnellan and Dasha Afanasieva.

China plays lonely game of Covid whack-a-hamster

19 Jan 2022

As Hong Kong culls 2,000 of the rodents, Beijing is blaming overseas mail for spreading Omicron. Dogged devotion to Covid-zero and the resulting disruptions are becoming increasingly farcical, and costly, as the rest of the world learns to live with the virus.

How António Horta-Osório can bounce back (again)

18 Jan 2022

The tennis-loving Credit Suisse chair resigned after flouting quarantine rules. He’s survived a past personal scandal and is one of a small number of Europeans with a strong track record of running a big bank. Breakingviews imagines some advice from an optimistic headhunter.

Demographic flatline will test China’s generosity

18 Jan 2022

The population may have peaked in 2021, far earlier than expected. Beijing might prefer to continue to tackle root causes including high living costs, but a desire to prop up the economy in a key political year makes less disruptive, clumsy fixes like cash subsidies practical.

The Exchange: Xpeng boldly goes

18 Jan 2022

The Chinese electric-car maker has navigated everything from shrinking subsidies to Covid-19. Embracing new ways of working is critical, President Brian Gu tells Katrina Hamlin. Future forays into Europe, the metaverse and flying cars will test the Tesla rival’s resilience again.

New Credit Suisse chair has grim streak to break

17 Jan 2022

António Horta-Osório has resigned from the Swiss bank after flouting Covid-19 rules. It’s less than a year since he arrived to steady the lender following CEO Tidjane Thiam’s ousting. Incoming Chair Axel Lehmann, formerly of UBS, has to hope his reputation is more durable.

Capital Calls: BlackRock gets an active boost

14 Jan 2022

Concise views on global finance: A renaissance in active strategies at the world’s largest investment manager helped vault it past $10 trillion in assets under management.

Samsung tech prowess drained by governance woes

7 Jan 2022

Operating profit at the maker of microchips and Galaxy phones is set to hit a four-year high of $11.5 bln. Despite the dominance, it trades at a discount to Apple and TSMC. A recent management shakeup provides a chance to tidy up the leadership mess and boost shareholder returns.

Capital Calls: Beyond Meat’s faux chicken

5 Jan 2021

Concise views on global finance: The plant-based meat company’s shares jumped 5% on news KFC will offer its product. The extra value assumes benefits beyond selling buckets of substitute fried chicken.

Capital Calls: BlackBerry’s demise is a warning

4 Jan 2021

Concise views on global finance: Life support ends on Tuesday for the once ubiquitous phone's operating system. When cult gadgets lose their edge to devices that do much more, the descent can be inexorable.

Theranos jury draws a line between hype and lies

4 Jan 2022

Elizabeth Holmes, who touted non-existent capabilities for her now-defunct blood-testing startup, has been convicted of defrauding investors. If it stands, she faces jail time. Even in Silicon Valley, there's a limit to how flagrantly founders can fake it until they make it.

Wall Street will find ways to satisfy crypto envy

3 Jan 2022

Banks have mostly been shut out of the $2 trln digital asset craze. Many want in, but they will have to deal with murky regulation, a 24/7 market and patchy legal protections. A fight for profit and customers may also obscure other risks in a market untested by the mainstream.

What our columnists got right and wrong in 2021

31 Dec 2021

We look back at a year as unpredictable as its predecessor. We foresaw an M&A surge, even if some of the deals we called for, like Tesla buying Daimler, failed to materialize. But we nailed a few biggies, like Grab’s moment in the limelight, inflation’s return and mRNA’s success.