FIVE Financial News

Embattled professional services giant PwC has lost two lawyer partners in the past week and others are expected to follow suit once they have worked out notice periods of six months.

By David Shepardson

There is a high possibility that the next UK election will be fought against the backdrop of a recession. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research recently predicted a 60% possibility of recession by the end of 2024 and highlighted the widening of the gap between the prosperous and less well off parts of Britain. The forecast also echoes recent Bank of England assertions that the GDP would remain below pre-pandemic levels “in the medium term." “Despite continuing to expect the United Kingdom to steer clear of a recession in 2023, GDP is projected to grow barely by 0.4 per cent this year and by 0.3 per cent in 2024, with the outlook remaining highly uncertain.

Who’s Vaibhav Taneja Tesla’s New Indian-Origin CFO? Kirkhorn joined Tesla in 2010 as a senior financial analyst and was promoted five times. Most recently, he became the CFO in early 2019 at the age of 34.

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith has announced his retirement plan. He said Wednesday that he will retire from his office effectively in July 2024. The most-respected sports administrator has shocked athletes and sports enthusiasts.

India1 is set to transform itself into a fintech company from being the top white-label ATM services provider. While the fintech businesses could take time to deliver profits, the ATM business keeps ringing in the cash. “We are looking at revenue streams beyond white-label ATMs,” said K Srinivas, managing director and CEO of India1 Payments. “Besides providing switching services to smaller banks to connect their ATM network, we are also working as a digital loan facilitator by connecting our 54 million customers who are already on our digital platform to potential lenders,” he added. India1 Payments, in which ICICI Ventures has about 49% stake, is promoted by Australia’s Banktech group. The company plans to leverage its customer base using its white-label ATM platform by being an account aggregator and connecting those interested in small-ticket loans with the potential lender. This could earn the company a fee-based income for the concluded transactions. The company will also continue to expand its mainstream business of providing white-label ATMs in semi-urban and rural areas where it is already having a strong presence and increase its ATM network and expand its regional spread. India1 Payments currently manages 12,200 white-label ATMs throughout the country and plans to double the count by rolling out another 12,000 more ATMs over the next five years.

Investing.com — Against the bullish mantra of Saudi production cuts, the keeper of U.S. energy data has delivered a volley of its own — a three-year peak for U.S. oil output, estimated in its latest weekly report.

By Nell Mackenzie

India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by a margin of 4-0 in their final round-robin league match to enter the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on an unbeaten note at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, in Chennai on Wednesday. Akashdeep Singh scored the final goal for India at 55th minute of the game through a field play. Caption Harmanpreet Singh converted two penalty corners (15th, 23rd minutes), while Jugraj Singh (36th) netted from another set piece.

Galaxy Digital's latest earning report shows a major reduction in losses to $46 million as the cryptocurrency market grows through the second quarter of the year. 

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd posted a net loss of ₹53 crore in the first quarter of FY24 compared to a profit of ₹107 crore a year ago. Consolidated revenue increased 7.6% year-on-year from ₹1,843 crore to ₹1,983 crore.

Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief said he does not want to remain in a cell that is infested with flies during the day and insects at night, reported India Today. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Monday petitioned Islamabad High Court to shift the former prime minister from the Attock jail in Punjab to high-security Adiala prison in Rawalpindi.

₹3,100 per quintal for rice under the so-called open market sale scheme domestic (OMSS-D), which did not find many takers given that it was priced above market rates. Buyers on Wednesday picked up only 1,500 tonnes, and a total of 495 tonnes in the previous five auctions, prompting government to cut the base price by ₹200 a quintal. The new reserve price will take effect from next week’s auction.

RBI) norms, excess balances can be invested in payments for projects and investments, government treasury bills and government securities. While the quantum of investment is not available publicly, the $10-12 billion figure is an estimate provided by industry executives dealing in trade and settlements. Treasury bills (T-bills) are short-term debt instruments issued by the government.

Slumping capital markets and M&A revenues are set to hit earnings at Canada’s biggest banks when they report this month, according to Royal Bank of Canada.

Investing.com — U.S. crude stockpiles rose by nearly six million barrels last week — about a third of what they lost the prior week — amid shifts to global supply dynamics from Saudi production cuts aimed at getting more money for a barrel despite weak demand from No. 1 oil buyer China.

Meta Platforms' Threads app is adding new updates including the ability to share posts through Instagram messages, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday, as the company tries to retain users on its new app. Threads — which rivals X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch.

A decision by a bloc of West African nations to shut down their borders with Niger as a way of sanctioning its coup plotters is harming local businesses in northern Nigeria, where a cross-border economy has boomed for years

Stocks are slipping as Wall Street waits for a highly anticipated report on inflation that’s arriving the following day

The Supreme Court is reinstating a regulation aimed at reining in the proliferation of firearms without serial numbers, called ghost guns

₹50 lakh claim saying that he had died in an accident. But the elaborate scheme failed, says Mayank Bathwal, the insurer’s chief executive officer. “We got hold of the original death certificate and could figure out that the policy was issued on 17 May, while the death had occurred on 13 May." In another case, in Udaipur, Rajasthan, also involving ABHI, the person insured died due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) whereas a claim was raised under a personal accident policy.