International Financial News

BCE, with a workforce of around 44,610 individuals, is poised to reduce its employee count by nine per cent, amounting to approximately 4,800 positions. The majority of the lost jobs will take place within Bell Canada, with under 10 per cent coming from the Bell Media division.

BEIJING — China is encouraging banks and local businesses to accept foreign bank cards and is considering other steps to make mobile pay for international visitors even easier, said Zhang Qingsong, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China.

I have spent the past three decades working for a major international bank in Singapore and as I look back on my time here, I see that one thing has dominated my life: the fear of losing my job. 

Bank of America may be cutting a few heads and keeping a lid on costs by failing to replace people who've left, but it's hiring too. Last year, it recruited 15,000 people, including many in European fixed income sales, where it doubled the size of the currency and commodities salesforce working with corporate clients in the two years to mid-2023 and hired 50% more staff across EMEA sales and trading.

Dutch universities have collectively agreed to take measures aimed at limiting the influx of international students and enhancing proficiency in the Dutch language among both students and staff. The decision was reported by the National News Agency of the Netherlands (ANP). As part of these measures, there will be a pause in the development of new bachelor's programs in English. Universities will conduct assessments to identify existing courses offered in English that can be fully translated into Dutch. Master's programs offered in English will remain unaffected by these changes. The active recruitment of personnel through international fairs will not be actively encouraged, except in sectors facing significant labor shortages. A significant step in this direction is the agreement among universities that core bachelor's programs in key fields, such as economics and psychology, should be primarily taught in Dutch. This move aims to strike a balance between internationalization and ensuring that essential programs are accessible in the native language.

Brookfield Asset Management has appointed Anuj Ranjan as the new chief executive officer of its private equity business as the Canadian investment giant seeks to scale up the unit amid a challenging period for the broader buyout industry.

BEIJING — Hainan Airlines this week started letting passengers on some routes use Rokid's augmented reality glasses for free for in-flight entertainment, the tech startup announced Thursday.

Canadians that have turned to grocery store flyers and coupon-cutting may need to look for even more savings.

Capital Group is expanding its footprint in the active ETFs business, and on Wednesday filed for its fourth wave of products.

PM Modi said, "As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities. He is equally remembered for the work he did as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister, and a Member of Parliament and Legislative Assembly for many years.

Gurgaon is undergoing rapid development, and the city positions itself for significant growth and transformation. Several areas within Gurgaon are transforming into lucrative hubs, offering opportunities and holding immense potential for investors and residents. As the city experiences economic growth, sector 89 and the other sectors in the vicinity especially have emerged as the prime location, presenting compelling investment opportunities. This area is coupled with well-connected infrastructure, positioning the region as an ideal choice for investment. The skyscrapers, rapid urbanization, and strategic location attract businesses, professionals, and residents. The strategic development emerging in this city makes it an appealing prospect for those seeking to capitalize on its upward trajectory.

Family offices are one-stop wealth management for Ultra-HNIs and look after investments, estate planning, tax efficiency and philanthropy among other things.

Osborne, who was chancellor between 2010 and 2016, joins the US giant as it looks to expand internationally and faces up to a host of regulatory challenges, including an SEC lawsuit claiming it has operated its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency. Osborne was onstage as moderator last year when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong made headlines for suggesting the company could move its headquarters out of the US over regulatory frustrations. Says the ex-chancellor: "There’s a huge amount of exciting innovation in finance right now.

With a commanding lead in the polls ahead of a general election later in the year, the opposition party has set out its plans for financial services. Warning that the UK is in danger of slipping behind when it comes to innovation in financial services, the party says it will adopt a coordinated strategy and regulatory framework to embrace new technology. Labour "fully supports" the Bank of England's CBDC work and also wants to embrace securities tokenisation, which it says could increase liquidity, provide access to new asset classes and fractionalised assets, and strengthen risk management. "A future Labour government will therefore look to make the UK a global leader in tokenisation by advancing work to clarify the law around tokenisation, and working with regulators to establish a proportionate, outcomes-based regulatory regime to oversee the technology," says the plan. Labour also wants to take a lead in setting international standards for the use of AI in financial services. Meanwhile, the party is backing the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee's work to define the next phase of Open Banking including laying out the long-term regulatory framework. It is also promising to develop a roadmap for Open Finance, arguing it has the potential to help improve financial inclusion and support household saving and investment. In addition, a Labour government will ask the FCA and PSR to evaluate the potential to stand up a new regulatory sandbox to encourage development of products to reach excluded and underserved Brits. Read the full plan

The 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 26-29 February, will discuss, among other issues, how the WTO can become more relevant for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and businesses run by women. Informal working groups on both MSMEs and gender were launched at the 11th ministerial in 2017. Since then, each group has come up with reports and is working towards more concrete outcomes.

Federal authorities say a rare whale found dead off Massachusetts shows potential evidence of injury from entanglement in fishing gear, which is one of the most pressing threats to the species

Some influential dealers are pressing General Motors to introduce hybrid models, worried they risk losing customers who aren’t ready to make the switch to fully electric cars. Dealers who serve on advisory committees to the automaker have urged executives in several recent meetings to add hybrids to GM’s lineup, according to people involved in the discussions. GM has focused on fully electric cars in recent years and largely bypassed hybrids, which pair an internal combustion engine with a small battery and electric motor to boost fuel efficiency.

BENGALURU : Byju’s, Dunzo and a bunch of other startups are in a standoff with some vendors, mostly over charges of delayed payments likely arising from mounting financial constraints within the ecosystem. These companies on their part deny the charges, in several instances accusing the vendors of straying from the terms of their contracts, or citing contractual disagreements for non-payments. Vendors, lawyers and industry observers pointed to an increase in cases of defaults or delayed payments last year as several startups struggled to raise capital.

By Ariba Shahid

Indians now constitute one-tenth of all US visa applicants globally, with demand skyrocketing across all visa categories, witnessing a remarkable 60 per cent surge compared to the previous year. «In 2023, the US Embassy and Consulates in India processed a record-smashing 1.4 million US visas. Demand across all visa classes was unprecedented, with a 60 per cent increase in applications compared to 2022. Indians now represent one out of every ten US visa applicants around the world,» a statement by the US Embassy and Consulates in India said. Visitor visas (B1/B2) experienced a notable resurgence, representing the second-highest number of applications in the history of the US Mission, surpassing 700,000. The United States has ramped up staff in India whoch have led to a remarkable reduction of appointment wait times from an average of 1,000 days to a mere 250 days nationwide, across all visa categories. The US consular team in India achieved another milestone by issuing over 140,000 student visas in 2023, setting a record for the third consecutive year. Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai emerged as the top four student visa processing posts globally, solidifying Indian students as the largest cohort of international graduate students in the United States, constituting over a quarter of the one million foreign students in the country.

Adani Enterprises with an ‘Overweight’ rating and a target price of ₹4,368 per share, expecting an upside of over 50% on Adani Enterprises shares. Adani Enterprises share price jumped over 5% in early trade on Monday. The stock gained as much as 5.89% to ₹3,065.15 apiece on the BSE.