Month: February 2020

By Ritu, Capital Sands Chinese banks are taking extraordinary measures to avoid recognizing bad loans, seeking to shield themselves and cash-strapped borrowers from the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak. Some of the measures, which include rolling over loans to companies at risk of missing payment deadlines and relaxing guidelines on how to categorize overdue debt, have the explicit approval of regulators in Beijing. Some lenders are also refraining from reporting delinquencies to the country’s centralized credit-scoring system and allowing borrowers to skip interest payments for as long as six…

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By Ritu, Capital Sands Indian jewelers have received surprise tax notices asking them to turn over money they made from customers who scrambled to buy gold after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2016 ban on high-currency notes, according to a dozen jewelers and tax officials. When Modi announced a sudden ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee bills on Nov. 8, 2016 to weed out undeclared cash, clients thronged the store of one Mumbai-based jeweler, clamoring for necklaces, rings, bullion – anything gold. The jeweler – who asked to only be identified…

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By Ritu, Capital Sands Europe’s stock markets opened lower again on Wednesday, as corporate warnings of hits from the coronavirus outbreak added to growing signs of it spreading within Europe and further afield. Markets followed the lead of both Wall Street on Tuesday and Asian stocks overnight, both of which posted further losses after the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the virus was likely to reach communities in the U.S. News of a big fiscal stimulus package from Hong Kong and further supportive measures from China…

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By Ritu Capital Sands India will buy defence equipment worth more than $3 billion from the United States, President Donald Trump said on Monday, the second day of his two-day visit to the South Asian nation. The United States was working productively with Pakistan to counter terrorism on its soil, Trump said at a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in capital New Delhi. New Delhi and Washington are yet to sign a trade deal, but the two countries would begin talks to strike a comprehensive agreement,…

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By Ritu, Capital Sands PepsiCo Inc has agreed to buy Chinese snack brand Be & Cheery from local jujube maker Haoxiangni Health Food Co Ltd for $705 million, the companies said. The U.S. multinational food and beverage maker said the acquisition of Be & Cheery, which sells snacks from nuts to dried fruits mainly on Chinese e-commerce platforms, was an important step in its goal to become China’s leading consumer-focused food and beverage company. “Be & Cheery adds direct-to-consumer capability, positioning us to capitalise on continued growth in e-commerce, and…

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