U.S., states poised to sue Facebook for monopoly abuse #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

U.S., states poised to sue Facebook for monopoly abuse (nationthailand.com)

U.S., states poised to sue Facebook for monopoly abuse

Dec 07. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · David McLaughlin, Ben Brody · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, COURTSLAW

Facebook Inc. soon will be hit by federal and state antitrust lawsuits accusing the social media giant of abusing its dominance and thwarting competition, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Lawsuits are expected as soon as this week from the Republican-led Federal Trade Commission and a group of state attorneys general led by New York’s Letitia James, a Democrat, according to the people, who described the plans under condition of anonymity.

The complaints will mark the second time in less than two months that the U.S. and state officials have leveled monopoly charges against a U.S. technology giant. Combined with the Justice Department’s October complaint against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, the lawsuits mark the most significant monopoly cases filed in the U.S. in 20 years.

For Facebook, the lawsuits will represent the biggest regulatory attack in the company’s history, potentially imperiling its ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp. The cases culminate investigations into Facebook that began last year, part of a wave of antitrust scrutiny directed at U.S. tech firms that promises to carry over into the Biden administration.

Facebook became a prime target for President Donald Trump in the last two months of his administration. Last week, he threatened to veto the annual U.S. defense authorization bill unless Congress adds a rider to abolish the law that protects technology companies, including Facebook, from liability over most content posted by users. The demand followed months of attacks by Trump and other Republicans, who claim the technology platforms suppress conservative views.

In addition to the Facebook case, states are planning new lawsuits against Google in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is targeting Google’s advertising business, while another group that includes Colorado, Iowa and New York has been investigating the company’s search monopoly, the subject of the Justice Department’s complaint.

It will be up to Biden’s Justice Department to carry the Google case forward, while the Facebook case will fall to whomever Biden picks as FTC chairman if Joe Simons, who was appointed by Trump, leaves the agency.

The cases reflect how public sentiment has turned on companies that have gone from scrappy start-ups to digital behemoths, said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, who teaches antitrust law at Vanderbilt University.

“We like the underdogs and the upstarts and competition, and when those companies were the underdogs and shaking things up they were a lot more popular,” she said. “Now they look like the big barons of industry that created the political will that led to the first antitrust laws.”

New York’s James said in an interview on Bloomberg TV Thursday that the states could combine their case with the FTC’s. The states’ investigation of Google, which initially included nearly every state, eventually fractured along partisan lines.

“I am confident that it will be a bipartisan matter as we move forward,” she said in response to a question about the states’ Facebook inquiry. “And in the event that we do file, we look forward to the possibility of consolidating with the FTC.”

No final decisions have been made and the filings could be delayed. The FTC declined to comment. James declined to discuss further details of the states’ Facebook probe.

The FTC case has focused in part on the company’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram and its 2014 purchase of WhatsApp — and whether they were intended to choke off competition.

That was among the findings of a 16-month House investigation of Facebook and other tech giants. The House report, released in October, accused Facebook of buying smaller companies that it viewed as competitive threats to protect and expand its dominant market position. Since its founding in 2004, Facebook has acquired at least 63 companies, according to the report.

The report cited internal documents showing that once Facebook identified competitive threats, “it attempted to buy or crush them by cloning their product features” or blocking them from connecting to the company’s platform.

“Facebook took these steps to harm competitors and insulate Facebook from competition, not just to grow or offer better products and services,” it said.

According to the report, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to a colleague that “Instagram can hurt us meaningfully without becoming a huge business.” When Facebook’s chief financial officer asked if the goal of buying Instagram was to “neutralize a potential competitor,” Zuckerberg responded that that was a motivation for the deal.

Facebook has long denied it’s a threat to competition. Zuckerberg told Congress in July that the company faces intense competition around the world and is constantly innovating to develop products users will like and to avoid falling behind.

Instagram’s success was far from guaranteed, he told lawmakers. It was Facebook’s investments in the company that made it successful.

“With hindsight it probably looks like obvious that Instagram would have reached the scale that it has today, but at the time it was far from obvious,” he told Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which oversaw the panel’s antitrust report. “This has been an American success story.”

The Facebook complaint is the most significant antitrust action under the FTC’s Simons, who has led the agency since 2018. Last year, Simons reached a $5 billion settlement against Facebook for privacy infractions, an agreement that was widely criticized by privacy advocates, Democratic lawmakers and the agency’s two Democratic commissioners for not requiring changes in the way Facebook operates.

Cisco agrees to buy British cloud company for $721 million #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Cisco agrees to buy British cloud company for $721 million (nationthailand.com)

Cisco agrees to buy British cloud company for $721 million

Dec 07. 2020

By Syndication The Washington Post, Bloomberg · Linus Chua

Cisco Systems agreed to buy British customer service software maker IMImobile Plc in a deal valued at about 543 million pounds ($721 million) as part of a plan to enhance tools to help companies keep track of and interacting with users. IMImobile shares rose the most on record.

The deal, Cisco’s largest British acquisition in about three years, offers IMImobile investors 595 pence per share in cash, the company said in a statement on Monday. That’s a 48% premium to the company’s Friday closing price of 402.50 pence.

Cisco is seeking to push further into automation to improve the way its customers reach out to their end-users, enabling them to make their pitches and services more effective. And it wants to add those capabilities to its existing customer-relationship management offerings.

IMImobile shares jumped 47% to 593 pence in early London trading on Monday, their biggest ever gain, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. San Jose, California-based Cisco, down 7.5% this year, rose 27 cents to $44.38 in New York on Friday.

Cisco’s Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins is seeking to recast the company — whose hardware is the backbone of the internet — as a networking software and services provider. He’s responding to an industrywide shift that has seen more of the functions traditionally provided by in-house hardware migrate to outsourcing offered by remote data centers.

With IMImobile, it sees an opportunity to use artificial intelligence software to automate the outreach process more effectively than is currently possible. For example, it will help customers channel their offerings into the approach that they prefer, such as through text messages, social media or a voice call. Another instance is to provide a company representative with more contextual information about the customer they’re dealing with to make sure that they tailor that interaction in a way that the customer wants.

“A great customer relationship is built on consistently enjoyable interactions where every touchpoint on every channel is an opportunity for businesses to deliver rich, engaging and intuitive experiences,” Cisco Senior Vice President Jeetu Patel said in the release.

The acquisition adds to a growing list of deals as technology companies seek to strengthen their AI capabilities. A week ago, ServiceNow Inc. said will buy Canadian startup Element AI Inc., marking the software maker’s fourth AI-related acquisition this year.

Asia News Network begins new chapter as legal entity in Singapore #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Asia News Network begins new chapter as legal entity in Singapore (nationthailand.com)

Asia News Network begins new chapter as legal entity in Singapore

Dec 08. 2020

By Shefali Rekhi
Asian Insider & Asia News Network editor

Twenty-one years after a group of regional editors sealed an agreement in Bangkok to form a voluntary alliance, Asia News Network (ANN) has taken a major step forward with its formal registration as a legal entity, based in Singapore.

The new company, Asia News Network Ltd, will strive to bring Asia closer through an active sharing of news content on developments in the region between the 23 members of the alliance.

Becoming a formal legal entity was also considered necessary to enable the grouping to take a step forward in working on joint projects, such as hosting conferences and the syndication of content.

Born as a grouping of nine media titles, ANN now includes 23 leading titles of the region, based in major locations in the region.

The network’s members hail from the 10 Southeast Asian economies, China, Japan and South Korea as well as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries in South Asia.

The Straits Times is a founding member of the alliance.

Said Warren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings’ English/Malay/Tamil Media Group and editor of ST, who is also chairman of the network: “After 20 years of working together, all of us felt it was time for us to take things forward, by forming a company limited by guarantee, based in Singapore.

“This opens up new opportunities for us to collaborate on editorial projects, working with partners and sponsors, and other initiatives, all with a view to promoting good journalism and credible content on the region, across the ANN grouping.”

The registration means the “institutionalisation as an entity whose permanence is guaranteed by the commitment of its members,” added Ravindra Kumar, editor and managing director of The Statesman in India.

The change in ANN’s status is “an opportunity for the alliance to seek new partners and sponsors, opening up a whole new dimension for the grouping”, said Esther Ng, chief content officer for Malaysia’s Star Media Group.

“This is new territory, so it is exciting,” she added.

The founding members of the network aimed to promote coverage of Asian affairs through regional journalists for an Asian audience, at the time of inception.

The rising costs of subscribing to international wire services in the years after the 1997 Asian financial crisis weighed among considerations of the editors to establish the grouping.

The alliance’s members now see bringing Asia closer as their key challenge as the grouping begins a new chapter as a company limited by guarantee in Singapore.

“Given the many challenges facing the media industry, there is much scope, and need, for media organisations to work more closely together, from training and developing our journalists, to working on joint editorial projects and events,” Fernandez said.

“It is my hope that in the coming years we will really be able to bring Asia closer through a more intense exchange of news and views to create a partnership of growth and prosperity that will make the coming Asian Century truly remarkable,” added Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of Bangladesh’s The Daily Star.

The process of transforming the voluntary alliance into a legal entity commenced soon after the network marked its 20th anniversary in Seoul in April last year.

Members of the alliance debated two other prominent locations –Tokyo and Perth – recommended by international professional services firm KPMG before voting in favour of moving the alliance from Bangkok to Singapore.

Readers can expect “a projection of an Asia bound together by ideas, greater cooperation and collaborative projects that concern the region”, Kumar said.

“In coming years, ANN will establish a global footprint as Asia’s most authoritative media voice.”

Over the years, members have collaborated on several editorial projects, hosted conferences in different countries and engage heads of government in conversation, including Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.

ANN members also exchanged views with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House during its 20th anniversary celebrations in Seoul.

ANN can offer more original news analyses and there will be more organisational collaboration between members to offer in-depth analyses on issues affecting the region, Ng said.

“For example, a new partner could fund an in-depth coverage of the South China Sea conflict or how Covid-19 is affecting the region,” she noted, adding that “readers would want to get an insight into Asia through the eyes of Asians”.

KTC expects improvement in credit card business this month #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

KTC expects improvement in credit card business this month (nationthailand.com)

KTC expects improvement in credit card business this month

CorporateDec 08. 2020

By The Nation

Krungthai Card Pcl (KTC) expects its credit card business to improve in the remainder of this year, benefiting from the company’s campaigns to attract people with high purchasing power and the government’s “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” (Shop and Payback) scheme.

KTC executive vice president – credit card, Pittaya Vorapanyasakul, said that transactions via credit cards in the first 10 months amounted to Bt213 billion, while the volume of credit card subscriptions was 210,000 cards.

She expected transactions via credit cards this year to drop by 8-10 per cent year on year from a 15 per cent rise, while the volume of credit card subscriptions is expected to be at 250,000 cards, down from 270,000.

“In the past 10 months, the company’s revenue from the credit card business dropped due to the Covid-19 impact on people’s income, but we believe that it would improve in the remainder of this year from our campaigns to attract people with high purchasing power and the government’s ‘Shop Dee Mee Kuen’ [Shop and Payback] scheme,” she said. She added that the improvement, however, would not compensate for the loss in the previous months.

She said the company’s non-performing loans (NPLs) were currently at 2.7 per cent, up from 1 per cent due to a change in financial reporting standards.

She said the company would closely monitor non-performing loans and the approval of new credit cards for customers, especially those who were affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

“The company’s business plan next year is currently under consideration,” she added.

In a blow to New York, Goldman considers basing asset management in Florida #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

In a blow to New York, Goldman considers basing asset management in Florida (nationthailand.com)

In a blow to New York, Goldman considers basing asset management in Florida

CorporateDec 07. 2020Goldman Sachs headquarters, center, in New York on July 12, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jeenah Moon

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Sridhar Natarajan · BUSINESS

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is weighing plans for a new Florida hub to house one of its key divisions, in another potential blow to New York’s stature as the de facto home of the U.S. financial industry.

Executives have been scouting office locations in South Florida, speaking with local officials and exploring tax advantages as they consider creating a base there for its asset management arm, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The bank’s success in operating remotely during the pandemic has persuaded members of the leadership team that they can move more roles out of the New York area to save money.

Goldman may yet decide against centering asset management in Florida, where it would join a growing list of firms seeking tax and lifestyle advantages. It also may opt for another destination like Dallas, where it has been accelerating its expansion, the people said.

The deliberations at the Wall Street icon, often a trendsetter for the industry, adds to the cloud over New York’s future. As restaurants and stores fight to survive, the city is trying to stem the flight of white collar jobs to states with lax tax regimes and lower costs of living.

Manhattan now has the most office space available since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. This time, the trend began even before the pandemic struck, with AllianceBernstein Holding LP shaking up city boosters in 2018 with plans to move its headquarters to Nashville.

Inside Goldman, sentimental attachment to the city where it rose to prominence is taking a back seat to the company’s ambitious target unveiled early this year to cut $1.3 billion in costs, in part by shifting employees to cheaper locales. It’s unclear how many people could eventually go to Florida. In the last decade, Goldman has incrementally expanded offices in places like Dallas and Salt Lake City to thousands of jobs in an effort to trim expenses. The virus has cemented its resolve to accelerate that shift.

“We are executing on the strategy of locating more jobs in high-value locations throughout the U.S., but we have no specific plans to announce at this time,” a spokesman for Goldman Sachs said in an emailed statement.

The firm’s newly reconfigured asset-management division pulls in about $8 billion in annual revenue and is a critical pillar of Goldman’s plans to diversify its ways of making money. Goldman Sachs, which employed almost 41,000 people at the end of September, doesn’t disclose its divisional head count. Asset management has accounted for about a quarter of the firm’s revenue in recent years.

A decision to create a central location for the business in Florida would not only include back-office staff but also some investment professionals, two of the people said. The shift would be carried out over time.

Goldman has looked at potential office space in the corridor north of Miami that covers places like Palm Beach County and Fort Lauderdale, the people said.

Florida’s warm weather and lack of a state income tax have lured wealthy Americans for years. But until 2020, the region struggled to peel away the rainmaking class from Wall Street’s most elite firms. Most hedge funds that relocated to the state were relatively small. And while Deutsche Bank AG built a Jacksonville campus, many personnel there have focused on back-office and other support functions.

Now the migration of larger financial firms and money managers is showing signs of gaining momentum. Some employers are trying to accommodate owners or top talent who prefer the state. Such pressure may build as throngs of New Yorkers decamp to the Sunshine State as they wait for a vaccine in spacious homes with private pools.

Already, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. plans to move its headquarters to West Palm Beach from midtown Manhattan. Other investing powerhouses like Blackstone Group Inc. and Ken Griffin’s Citadel have been bulking up their presence in the state.

Meanwhile, New York’s defenders have been calling on business leaders to stand by the metropolis, predicting it will rebound once the pandemic passes.

“With all due respect to Florida, no place can compare to New York City’s concentration of talent, education, innovation and next-generation technology,” said Bill Neidhardt, press secretary to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The city continues to see new expansions and investments from the leading industries and we expect more to come.”

Goldman’s top competitors have flirted with the idea in the past. JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon in 2013 praised Florida’s business-friendly policies and joked that he sometimes wonders aloud why the nation’s biggest bank doesn’t relocate to Miami. Executives at one point floated the possibility of moving the firm’s headquarters to the state but dismissed the proposal over issues including the quality of Florida’s schools.

The coronavirus has stoked more serious conversation inside boardrooms, especially as executives fret about the new Democratic administration raising taxes and look to cut expenses to improve returns in an ailing economy.

Airbnb to boost IPO price range, aims for $42 billion value #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Airbnb to boost IPO price range, aims for $42 billion value (nationthailand.com)

Airbnb to boost IPO price range, aims for $42 billion value

CorporateDec 07. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Olivia Carville, Katie Roof, Crystal Tse · BUSINESS

Airbnb Inc. boosted the price range of its initial public offering, pushing its potential valuation to as much as $42 billion.

The San Francisco-based company will now offer its shares for $56 to $60 apiece, up from a previous price range of $44 to $50 each, according to a filing Monday. That would increase the amount Airbnb is expected to raise to as much as $3.1 billion, and push its fully diluted valuation to $42 billion from $35 billion at the top of the earlier range. The home-rental company, which has seen a bounce back in domestic bookings since the early days of the pandemic crushed demand, still plans to offer 51.6 million shares.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are leading the IPO. Airbnb plans to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ABNB

Moncler to buy Stone Island Sportswear brand for $1.4 billion #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Moncler to buy Stone Island Sportswear brand for $1.4 billion (nationthailand.com)

Moncler to buy Stone Island Sportswear brand for $1.4 billion

CorporateDec 07. 2020Pedestrians pass a Moncler luxury fashion store in London on Oct. 15, 2018. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jason Alden

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Tommaso Ebhardt, Flavia Rotondi · BUSINESS, RETAIL

Moncler SpA agreed to buy Stone Island, a rival maker of high-end sportswear, for $1.4 billion (1.15 billion euros) in cash and shares, investing in a new platform for growth as the pandemic erodes demand for skiwear.

Moncler said Monday it will purchase 70% of Stone Island’s parent company SPW from Chief Executive Officer Carlo Rivetti and other members of his family. The skiwear maker will then buy the remaining 30% from Singapore’s state investor Temasek. Moncler shares rose as much as 3.8%.

With Stone Island, Moncler is diversifying after a streak of double-digit sales growth ended. The purchase also gives the Italian company, known for expensive winter jackets, a bigger presence in its home territory and a sportswear brand that appeals to younger customers after a takeover approach by French fashion company Kering SA last year.

The brand, founded in 1982, is known for colorful edgy sport jackets, which can cost more than $1,000. It also specializes in high-tech fabrics and has made garments that change colors depending on temperature.

Most European countries besides Switzerland have ordered ski resorts to shut down, undercutting one of the markets Moncler depends on. Chairman Remo Ruffini, 59, said that while the deal comes at a challenging moment, he sees potential in expanding Stone Island’s reach.

“I can see Stone Island growing in essential markets, such as Asia and the Americas, still unexplored by them, which we know well,” he said on a conference call. “It is precisely in these moments that we need new energy and new inspiration to build our tomorrow.”

Covid-19 has accelerated the luxury industry’s dependence on e-commerce and underlines the importance of younger shoppers from Generation Z, who were first to return to stores after lockdowns, Bain & Co. said in a report last month.

The deal values Stone Island at 16.6 times 2020 expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 68 million euros. The Rivetti family plans to reinvest part of the proceeds to become a shareholder in Moncler.

The deal is the latest in the luxury industry this year after LVMH salvaged plans to buy Tiffany & Co. in a record $16 billion acquisition. Luxury-goods makers are betting that demand for high-end products will rebound as consumers cut back on travel spending during the pandemic.

Moncler may be able to help Stone Island improve its distribution. The acquirer gets 77% of its revenue through its own network of 218 stores, while Stone Island only has 24 shops and gets three-quarters of sales from wholesale partners.

Moncler and Stone Island have benefited from growing demand for so-called athleisure wear, which may be accentuated by the switch to working from home. McKinsey and Business of Fashion forecast a strong market for the segment in 2021 in a report published last week.

Stocks drop amid virus surge #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Stocks drop amid virus surge (nationthailand.com)

Stocks drop amid virus surge

EconDec 08. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Rita Nazareth, Claire Ballentine

Stocks fell as coronavirus infections swept across U.S. states, triggering fears of more restrictions. The pound pared losses as the U.K. agreed on further talks with the European Commission to address the impasse over a trade deal.

The S&P 500 dropped from an all-time high, led by energy, real estate and financial companies. Intel Corp. tumbled on news that Apple Inc. is planning a series of new Mac processors for introduction as early as 2021. Interactive Brokers Group Inc. sank after saying it was experiencing “a significant failure” across multiple parts of its data-storage system. The Nasdaq 100 rose for a ninth straight day — its longest winning streak in almost a year. Boeing Co. jumped as UBS Group AG recommended buying shares of the plane maker. Airbnb Inc. boosted the price range of its initial public offering.

The U.S. is now averaging about as many deaths per day from covid-19 as it was in April, and several large states — including California, New York and Pennsylvania — are facing alarming upward momentum in hospitalizations. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, warned that the Christmas season could be worse than Thanksgiving for fueling the spread of disease. Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said indoor dining in New York City — the early epicenter of the pandemic — will close if the regional hospitalization rate hasn’t stabilized after five days.

As coronavirus cases surge, markets are increasingly expecting a stimulus deal to be done — especially after last week’s disappointing jobless data. With Republican and Democratic negotiators struggling to reach an agreement on both a mammoth government spending bill and covid-19 relief, lawmakers are set to postpone what had been a Friday night deadline for passing a bill. Talks over a $908 billion pandemic relief plan have slowed, with negotiators unable as yet to resolve key details on state and local aid as well as liability protections for businesses.

“The market is basically assuming that it gets done,” said Bryce Doty, portfolio manager at Sit Fixed Income Advisors. “Now any setback makes the market vulnerable, because it’s built in that they will pass it.”

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels for crisis talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as they try to break the deadlocked negotiations over a post-Brexit trade deal. The two spoke on Monday evening amid warnings from British officials the talks could collapse unless negotiators make a rapid breakthrough.

A record close for the S&P 500 last week did little to move the needle on valuations from a recent tight range. Still, multiples are tracking higher and well above the long-term average.

“On a classic valuation metric, the market looks very expensive. But on a price-to-cash return basis, it actually doesn’t look that expensive,” Dennis DeBusschere, head of portfolio strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

– The S&P 500 fell 0.2% at 4 p.m. EST.

– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3%.

– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2%.

Currencies

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.1%.

– The euro fell 0.1% to $1.2109.

– The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 104.05 per dollar.

Bonds

– The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased three basis points to 0.93%.

– Germany’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to -0.58%.

– Britain’s 10-year yield decreased seven basis points to 0.283%.

Commodities

– The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.5%.

– West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.1% to $45.74 a barrel.

– Gold strengthened 1.3% to $1,863.65 an ounce.

Banks play ‘Robin Hood’ in food delivery business by waiving fees, charges #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Banks play ‘Robin Hood’ in food delivery business by waiving fees, charges (nationthailand.com)

Banks play ‘Robin Hood’ in food delivery business by waiving fees, charges

EconDec 08. 2020

By The Nation

In a bid to help businesses affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Kasikorn Bank (KBank) have separately come up with food delivery platforms

.SCB’s “Robinhood” app, which aims to help community level eateries by waiving application fees and gross profit fees, expects some 50,000 members when it is officially launched next year.

Meanwhile, KBank subsidiary KBTG’s “Eatable” a platform serves as a “helper” for restaurants by allowing customers to book tables or order in advance.

In the “new normal”, the food delivery business has grown exponentially, especially since the need for social-distancing to curb Covid-19 infections has taken the joy out of going to restaurants.

Kasikorn Research Centre found that since the arrival of Covid-19, the food-delivery industry has become very competitive, with as many as 20,000 small to medium-sized eateries signing up to delivery apps every week. In the first half of this year, the food-delivery sector grown by about 150 per cent compared to the same period last year.

It is believed that up to 68 million food deliveries will have been made in Thailand by year end.

Meanwhile, Srihanath Lamsam, managing director of Purple Ventures which created SCB’s Robinhood app, said the aim of the platform is to help society and small merchants by waiving gross profit fees. Most food delivery apps charge up to 35 per cent.

He said by using the Robinhood app, restaurants can save money and focus on boosting the quality of their products.

Under Robinhood, the delivery person also gets paid delivery charges in full without any deductions.

The Robinhood platform, which was introduced in October, will be officially launched early next year.

Even before its official launch, this platform is proving to be very popular, with 300,000 transactions taking place over the last few months with nearly 30,000 restaurants participating. There are more than 10,000 drivers looking after the delivery side of things.

Meanwhile, KBank’s “Eatable” platform is not a food-delivery app but serves more like a “helper” for restaurants and provides customers a new experience by offering them the options of dine-in, dine-out and delivery.

Eatable can be accessed via any web browser, and allows customers to order food for delivery, book a table, or order in advance for pick-up etc.

These services are provided for free and can help boost sales for small businesses.

Ruangroj Poonpol, president of Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG), said more than 1,000 eateries have joined the platform since it was launched for trial two to three months ago.

The platform will be officially launched in early 2021.

KBTG is also in the process of creating a new platform called Kai Tai Dian Cai that Chinese tourists can use via WeChat. This system is also expected to be launched next year.

Airports ordered to hurry upgrades in 2021 as Thailand eyes return of tourists #SootinClaimon.Com

Posted on December 8, 2020 by SoClaimon

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Airports ordered to hurry upgrades in 2021 as Thailand eyes return of tourists (nationthailand.com)

Airports ordered to hurry upgrades in 2021 as Thailand eyes return of tourists

EconDec 08. 2020

By The Nation

Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senneam has ordered the Department of Airports to accelerate the 2021 investment of Bt5 billion, most of which will be spent on increasing runway length.

Trang airport’s runway will be extended from 2,200 metres to 2,990 metres at a cost of Bt1.8 billion while Buriram airport runway will be extended from 2,100 to 2,900 metres for Bt950 million.

The budget will also be spent to expand an apron at Buriram airport, and reinforce a runway and expand an apron at Surat Thani airport (Bt800 million).

Meanwhile, a runway will be improved and an apron extended at Khon Khaen airport to increase capacity from five to 12 aircraft. The department is drawing up a reference price and bidding detail.

The department has requested a budget of Bt12 billion for 2022.

Thawon also ordered the department to open Betong airport in Yala in the next couple of months.