Alibaba is racing against the clock to complete its landmark initial public offering within the next month, according to several people familiar with its plans. However, the self-imposed deadline is in danger of slipping as the company gets close to the moment when it will have to decide whether to go ahead with an international marketing trip involving its top executives, two of these people said.
Updated 6 Years ago

Japan's labor shortage is nearing crisis in some key industries as it spreads from construction to services, curbing companies' operations, pushing up wages and potentially crimping a tentative recovery in the world's third-largest economy. Airlines, retailers, truckers and restaurant chains are being forced to rethink expansion plans and, in extreme cases, shut up shop because they cannot fill jobs at any wage.
Updated 6 Years ago

Hong Kong’s de facto central bank bought $1.33 billion this week to maintain the city’s 31-year-old currency peg to the greenback as merger activity boosted demand for the local dollar. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority made purchases on July 1 for the first time since December 2012 and said demand for the local currency “increased lately,” partly driven by “commercial activities, including merger and acquisition activities and dividend distribution.” The authority, known as the HKMA, said today it has no further comments to add to last week’s statement.
Updated 6 Years ago

Many complain that there are too many issues in Nigeria, I agree, often they point to infrastructure and government I also agree. Where we often part ways is that while they see it as a pain I see it as opportunity. You can’t mine for gold in a gold mine, because if a mine is already there it means someone beat you to it. Nigeria is sitting on one mineral deposit which is still left quit untapped, that is youth. It is this limitless deposit of diamonds that I wish to mine.
Updated 6 Years ago

French financier Jean-Baptiste de Franssu has been appointed the new President of the Vatican bank. It is part of the major overhaul of the bank to restore its reputation after a long list of money laundering scandals. Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, 51, is the founder and Chairman of INCIPIT, and has been serving on the new Vatican economic council. An expert in investment banking, he was Chief Executive Officer of INVESCO Europe and member of the INVESCO Worldwide management committee.
Updated 6 Years ago

Russia has produced more gold than the United States for the first time in 25 years. It’s now the world’s third biggest producer after China and Australia, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia Sergey Donskoy said.
Updated 6 Years ago

Radha Arora, 55, president of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, oversees a portfolio of 18 properties, including New York’s Carlyle Hotel, the Rosewood Abu Dhabi and the Rosewood London, which recently opened after a $120m renovation. Arora, who is based in Dallas, plans to expand the group’s portfolio by 50 per cent over the next few years through such high-profile projects as Paris’s Hôtel de Crillon and Al Faisaliah at Durrat Arriyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Updated 6 Years ago

A Beijing court has ruled against Apple Inc (AAPL.O) by upholding the validity of a patent held by a Chinese company, clearing the way for the Chinese company to continue its own case against Apple for infringing intellectual property rights. Apple had taken Shanghai-based Zhizhen Internet Technology and China’s State Intellectual Property Office to court to seek a ruling that Zhizhen’s patent rights to a speech recognition technology were invalid.
Updated 6 Years ago

The naira was little changed against the dollar on the interbank market, amid expectations Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would sell dollars soon, after earlier dollar sales by some local oil companies. The local currency closed at 162.45 to the dollar, slightly firmer than the 162.50 it had closed at the day before.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the capital requirement of finance companies by 400 percent from N20 million to N100 million. This was contained in the revised guidelines for finance companies in Nigeria released on Wednesday by the CBN.
Updated 6 Years ago