Category: Business & Economy

NEW YORK – An executive at a Swiss holding company did not get prison time for participating in a scheme to help US taxpayers hide more than US$60 million (S$81 million) in assets in a fraudulent arrangement known as the “Singapore Solution”. Daniel Walchli, 56, pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States…

NEW YORK – Citigroup implemented a fresh round of job cuts in its US investment bank last week, according to people familiar with the matter, as the financial giant completed a planned restructuring. Technology, media and telecom were among the coverage areas hit hardest at the Wall Street lender, with several senior bankers as well as those in more junior…

Chemical manufacturer 3M will begin payments starting in the third quarter to many U.S. public drinking water systems as part of a multi-billion-dollar settlement over contamination with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and several consumer products, the company said. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M announced Monday that last year’s lawsuit settlement received final approval from the U.S. District Court…

LONDON – Just as they first ventured to do over a century ago, the world’s largest oil companies are staking claims far from home – this time to swallow, rather than spew, planet-warming industrial emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is emerging as a potential multi-billion-dollar revenue stream for companies like ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron, which are under global pressure to…

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Wednesday it is pouring an additional $2.75 billion into Anthropic, bringing its total investment in the artificial intelligence startup to $4 billion. Amazon will maintain a minority stake in San Francisco-based Anthropic, a rival of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. “Generative AI is poised to be the most transformational technology of our time, and we believe…

  MONTREAL – Boeing’s board has begun the search for a big hitter to take the helm of the troubled plane maker following the turbulent tenure of chief executive Dave Calhoun, with many industry executives and analysts predicting it will seek an outside remedy. Facing mounting pressure from airlines, regulators and investors, Boeing on March 25 announced a broader than…

  NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks retreated March 25 as a market rally showed signs of fatigue and tech heavyweights faced stepped-up regulatory scrutiny in Europe. Maris Ogg of Fiduciary Trust said the reticent start was unsurprising given the relatively light schedule this week as far as economic news. “It certainly wouldn’t be unusual” to have some kind of…

NEW YORK – Boeing announced on March 25 that CEO Dave Calhoun will leave his post as the aviation giant faces increased scrutiny after a series of safety incidents and manufacturing issues. The company has been hit by problems including a near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off…

SINGAPORE – Digital content production house Vividthree Holdings in an announcement on March 24 noted the arrest of its board chairman and independent director Ho Choon Hou by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in relation to alleged breaches-of-disclosure obligations by private cord blood bank Cordlife Group. Dr Ho was arrested by the CAD in relation to an offence under the…

SHANGHAI – The Chinese authorities are examining the role of PricewaterhouseCoopers in China Evergrande Group’s accounting practices after the developer was accused of a US$78 billion (S$105 billion) fraud, ramping up pressure on the global accounting giant that audited a slew of developers before the sector’s meltdown. The country’s securities regulator this week accused Evergrande’s main onshore subsidiary Hengda Real…

  MUMBAI – India’s inequality gap has widened sharply under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decade in power, with the richest 1 per cent of the population now owning 40 per cent of the country’s wealth, a new study found. The top 1 per cent, or about 9.2 million people, earn 22.6 per cent of total income – the highest share…

SINGAPORE – Mr Mikkel Larsen, chief executive officer of Singapore’s Climate Impact X (CIX), a carbon credit exchange and marketplace, has announced his resignation, CIX said in a statement on March 21. Mr Larsen, 49, will remain in his role until a new or interim CEO is appointed. He will continue to serve as a member of CIX’s board thereafter,…

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a decision hailed by an environmental group as a historic victory, an Amsterdam court ruled Wednesday that Dutch national airline KLM misled consumers in statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of “greenwashing.” Amsterdam District Court said in a statement that in some advertisements, that are no longer in use,…

For too long, Americans have suffered from a convoluted property system that condemned them to pay some of the world’s highest commissions, up to 6 per cent on residential sales. The real estate agents’ lock on online listings drove up costs and combined with a shortage of affordable homes to shut all but the most affluent buyers out of the…

LONDON/ZURICH – A year after the banking crisis that felled Credit Suisse, the authorities are still considering how to fix lenders’ vulnerabilities – including in Switzerland, where the bank’s takeover by rival UBS created a behemoth. The Swiss government-sponsored rescue of Credit Suisse and US bank salvages in March 2023 doused the immediate fires kindled by a run at little-known…

  BlackRock and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC are exploring the sale of a network of gas pipeline assets in Britain hat could fetch about US$2 billion (S$2.67 billion), according to people familiar with the matter. The owners are working with investment bank Jefferies Financial Group to find potential buyers for Kellas Midstream, the people said, asking not to be…