Banks warned off buybacks, dividend hikes as capital buffer loosened for crisis
By: Financial Post March 15, 2020 Ottawa is loosening capital requirements for Canada’s biggest banks, but asking lenders not to buy back shares or hike dividends with the extra cash, as the federal government and regulators moved Friday to bolster the financial system. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Superintendent of Financial Institutions Jeremy Rudin and Bank […]
Covid-19 could cause permanent shift towards home working
By: The Guardian March 31, 2020 Covid-19 could permanently shift working patterns as companies forced to embrace remote working by the pandemic find that their employees do not want to return to the office once the closures are lifted. The sudden increase in working from home is presenting problems as well as opportunities: on the […]
The new-look shopping mall that doesn’t sell stuff
By: The Guardian March 11, 2020 Four-year-old Joris Niekus hops excitedly in front of a wall-sized flatscreen as his dad loads up an interactive version of Roald Dahl’s BFG (known as GVR in Dutch). Seconds later, face beaming, his digitised silhouette is bopping across the screen together with Dahl’s gangly giant. It’s just one of […]
The ESG Weekly: Drug shortages and the coronavirus, from whence your drugs came
By: ESG now March 8, 2020 The market is freaking out about the coronavirus because it is everywhere but Antarctica, and now everyday medicine is becoming scarce because of supply chain disruptions. But what is a drug supply chain? And why do patients and investors need to worry about vitamin and antibiotic shortages due to […]
Coronavirus is the first big test for futuristic tech that can prevent pandemics
By: vox Feb 27, 2020 The novel coronavirus that first appeared in mainland China has now spread across the world, with more than 82,000 reported cases and nearly 3,000 deaths, as of Thursday. And right alongside the outbreak is the deployment of myriad types of AI-powered tech that is now being put on full display. New technology like infrared thermometers […]
Barclays drops staff spying software after backlash
By: Telegraph Feb 20, 2020 Barclays is scrapping technology which allowed bosses to spy on its bankers following a backlash over the invasion of staff privacy. The bank is axing tracking software which allows managers to see how long employees are spending away from their desks and the time it takes to do different tasks at their computers. Introduced in […]
Business and the next recession
By: Economist Feb 20, 2020 Cast your mind back to 2007. Flashy types were showing off their first-generation iPhones. Netflix sent dvds through the post for people who did not have the time to drop into a branch of Blockbuster. The biggest firms in the world were old-economy stalwarts such as General Electric and Royal Dutch Shell. […]
How to make sense of the latest tech surge
By: Economist Feb 20, 2020 In 2018 a new word entered Silicon Valley’s lexicon: the “techlash”, or the risk of a consumer and regulatory revolt against big tech. Today that threat seems empty. Even as regulators discuss new rules and activists fret about the right to privacy, the shares of the five biggest American tech firms […]
The EU wants to set the rules for the world of technology
By: The Economist Feb 20, 2020 Mark zuckerberg might not have liked everything he heard, but Facebook’s boss got the timing right for a recent visit to Brussels. He was among the first outsiders to hear about the European Union’s ambitious plans to keep the technology industry in check, outlined in a series of documents made […]