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All three candidates vying to win the Feb. 14 election in Southeast Asia's largest economy have said they will prioritise cleaning up the power sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To do that, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former provincial governor Ganjar Pranowo, running neck-and-neck in recent surveys, would consider ending state-run Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) monopoly in order to allow renewable power producers to sell directly to customers. Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, trailing in opinion polls, has called for improved leadership for the power sector but has not proposed breaking up PLN's monopoly. Proponents argue that opening the sector would accelerate adoption of renewables, as independent power producers will be incentivised to offer green power to companies pledging carbon neutrality. Agam, from the climate consultancy, said delaying renewable power to companies could mean lost investment.

Persons: Prabowo Subianto, Dita Alangkara, Ganjar Pranowo, Anies Baswedan, Agam Subarkah, Alexander Sonny Keraf, PLN, Prabowo, Eddy Soeparno, Soeparno, Gayatri Suroyo, Ananda Teresia, Stefanno Sulaiman, Stanley Widianto, Tony Munroe, Miral Organizations: Indonesia's Defense, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Reuters, Defence, Former Jakarta, Cendekia, POWER WHEELING Ganjar, Thomson Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, Rights JAKARTA, Southeast Asia's

☆ China's not-so-special economic zone embodies a harsh new reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( David Kirton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/David Kirton Acquire Licensing RightsSHENZHEN, China, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Tony Xiong is among the latest arrivals to the glitzy office towers in the newest part of Shenzhen, built to showcase China's economic miracle. Office workers are not the only ones grumbling about the unattractiveness of Qianhai, a special economic zone where Chinese dreams of global financial might and economic prosperity that once seemed inevitable are now darkened by half-empty skyscrapers and shopping malls as well as barely used motorways. And that's before China's tallest skyscraper of over 1,000 metres and a cluster of other towers are completed. With China entering a new era of sluggish growth, Qianhai may never reach the international status to which it aspires. The Qianhai Authority and China's State Council Information Office did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the local and macro economic challenges.

Persons: David Kirton, Tony Xiong, Qianhai, Knight Frank, Antonio Fatas, Deng Xiaoping's, Xi Jinping, Xi, Zhiwu Chen, incentivised, Witman Hung, I've, Brian Miller, Klaus Zenkel, it's, Bill Deng, Zhang, James Pomfret, Marius Zaharia, David Crawshaw Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Authority, Communist Party, University of Hong, Qianhai Authority, HSBC, UBS, Standard Chartered, Chamber of Commerce, Greater, Thomson Locations: Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, Rights SHENZHEN, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, China's, Qianhai, University of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hengqin, Macau, Nansha, South China, Greater Bay Area, . Hong Kong

August throughput was also up from July's 14.87 million bpd. Year-to-date throughput gained 11.9% from a year earlier to 491.4 million tons, or 14.76 million bpd. The NBS data on Friday also showed China's domestic crude oil production in August gained 3.1% from a year earlier to 17.47 million metric tons, or 4.11 million bpd. The year-to-date volume rose 2.1% from a year earlier to 139.85 million tons, or 4.2 million bpd. Natural gas production last month rose 6.3% from a year earlier to 18.1 billion cubic metres (bcm), the NBS said.

Persons: Andrew Hayley, Chen Aizhu, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Air, National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Thomson

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seal is pictured on a gate outside the RBI headquarters in Mumbai, India, February 2, 2016. Retail CBDC transactions are averaging close to 18,000 a day, way short of the RBI's one million-a-day target by 2023 end. UPI is an instant real-time payments system that allows users to transfer money across multiple banks without disclosing bank account details. The facility, announced in June, has been activated by large banks, including State Bank of India, the country's largest lender. Top private lender HDFC Bank is working with a technology firm IDEMIA to build a version of offline CBDC transactions for feature phones, according to two people aware of the plans.

Persons: Danish Siddiqui, Sharat Chandra, Akhil Handa, Handa, Jaspreet Kalra, Siddhi Nayak, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Bank of India, REUTERS, Danish, Rights, Reserve Bank of India, UPI, State Bank of India, India Blockchain, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Rights MUMBAI, Siddhi

☆ IKEA stores owner Ingka plans recycling expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ingka Investments' Peter van der Poel told a panel at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London that a recycling initiative in the Netherlands would be expanded to markets including France, Belgium and Scandinavia. "The thing here is to understand in many markets in Europe, still incineration is incentivised (over) recycling. Ingka Investments is the investment arm of Ingka Group, which owns and operates the majority of IKEA stores. Investing in what it calls the circular economy, which includes recycling, is part of Ingka's sustainable investment portfolio, alongside renewable energy and forests. Van der Poel says this is viable because Ingka has an investment horizon of "generations", out to 100 years.

Persons: Anna Ringstrom, Peter van der Poel, Van der Poel, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Emma Rumney, Simon Jessop, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Ingka, Ingka Investments, Reuters IMPACT, Investments, IKEA, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Europe, London, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Scandinavia, North America

Signage is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies CURO Group Holdings Corp FollowAug 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. consumer finance regulator sued a subsidiary of fintech lender Curo Group Holdings Corp. (CURO.N) on Tuesday, alleging it pushed struggling borrowers to refinance short-term loans to keep them in debt and reap fees. Curo acquired Heights Finance for $360 million in late 2021 from private equity firm Milestone Partners. The agency said Heights Finance generated 40% of its net revenue from repeated refinances. The case is CFPB v. Heights Finance Holding Co. et al., No.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Rohit Chopra, Curo, refi, Jody Godoy, Mark Potter Organizations: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, CURO Group Holdings, Curo Group Holdings Corp, U.S, Finance Holding Co, Heights Finance, Milestone Partners, Finance, Heights Finance Holding, District of, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, U.S, Greenville , South Carolina, Texas , Oklahoma , Alabama, Georgia , Tennessee, South Carolina, District of South Carolina, New York

Recovering profit margins may prompt complex refiners to maximise yields of transport fuels, causing excess naphtha output as a byproduct in a tepid petrochemical market and further depressing feedstock margins. Mandell expects margins to continue to perform well throughout the year heading into higher-demand crop planting season and into winter in the United States. "The healthy margins reflect the bull market for diesel combined with still strong gasoline cracks even if gasoline did weaken sharply on week. U.S. oil companies said during recent second quarter earnings presentations that strong global demand for fuels and low product inventories are driving robust profits. "Global capacity additions continue to progress slower than anticipated, and we believe that global demand growth will remain strong," Hennigan added.

Persons: Brian M, Mandell, Eugene Lindell, bullish HSFO, FGE's Lindell, Lindell, ENEOS, Phillips, Michael J, Hennigan, Mohi Narayan, Laura Sanicola, Ahmad Ghaddar, Jeslyn Lerh, Tony Munroe, Muralikumar Organizations: NEW, Phillips, Saudi, Reuters, Petronas, Hyundai, India's Reliance Industries, Oil, Marathon Petroleum, Marathon, Thomson Locations: NEW DELHI, WASHINGTON, Latin America, Asia, United States, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, U.S, New Delhi, Washington, London

☆ Tesla's sales in China have tumbled and its slumping economy may not be to blame, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla sales in China have slumped – and it's faltering economy may not be the reason why, according to Bank of America. That's because demand for Tesla rival BYD rose 4%, while Tesla deliveries dropped 31% month-over-month in July. It suggests demand for Teslas in China is waning in the face of local competition. In a recent note, the bank highlighted Tesla Model 3 and Model Y deliveries in China dropped by 31% month-over-month in July, while its largest EV competitor in China, BYD Auto, grew 4% month-over-month. Tesla has repeatedly dropped prices of its vehicles over the past year, in a bid to undercut rivals and boost market share.

Persons: BYD, TSLA, John Murphy, Tesla, Murphy Organizations: Bank of America, Service, EV, BYD, Beijing Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, BYD

NEW DELHI, July 27 (Reuters) - Walt Disney's (DIS.N) India streaming service plans to start enforcing a policy of allowing its premium users to login from only four devices, an effort aimed at limiting password sharing in a key market, two sources with direct knowledge said. In India, a premium account of Disney+ Hotstar streaming service still allows logins on as many as 10 devices, even though its website currently says "number of devices that can be logged in" is four. Industry data says Hotstar is market leader in terms of users with approximately 50 million. The new planned restriction will also apply to its cheaper plan which will limit usage across two devices, the second source added. Disney's Hotstar topped India's streaming market between January 2022 and March 2023 with a 38% share of viewership, while rivals Netflix and Prime Video held 5% each, data from research firm Media Partners Asia showed.

Persons: Walt Disney's, Disney's, Disney, Mukesh Ambani's JioCinema, Hotstar, Walt Disney, Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil, Jane Merriman Organizations: Netflix, Disney, Media Partners, Media Partners Asia, Thomson Locations: DELHI, DIS.N, India

☆ UK water meltdown resurrects bank crisis dilemmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The government may take over heavily indebted Thames Water, a hapless privately held utility unable to fund capital needs that may stretch to 10 billion pounds. Under Macquarie’s (MQG.AX) ownership, which lasted from 2006 to 2016, Thames’ debt rose to over 80% of RCV. They’re issued through a vehicle called Thames Water Utilities Finance. Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley resigned abruptly on June 27. Thames shareholders, led by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, committed in 2022 to provide 1.5 billion pounds of extra funds.

Persons: Ofwat, Rishi Sunak, Gordon Brown, Kemble, They’re, Sarah Bentley, “, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Royal Bank of Scotland, Thames, Ontario, Thames ’, Guardian, UK, RBS, Investors, Water Utilities Finance, Yorkshire Water, SES Water, Sky News, Thames Water, Thomson Locations: –, Thames, Yorkshire, Britain’s

If approved, a bitcoin ETF from the world's biggest asset manager could attract investors reluctant to buy the high-risk cryptocurrency directly. Digital asset manager Grayscale had its proposal for a spot bitcoin ETF rejected last year. LESS CAPITAL OVERALLAfter surprise rate hikes in Australia and Canada, and as the Federal Reserve forecasts two more hikes, investors are now betting that interest rates will remain higher for longer. Bitcoin had benefited from ultra-low interest rates, which incentivised investors to take riskier bets in search of returns. "Albeit - there are likely to be further challenges with interest rates continuing to increase," he said.

Persons: Mike Caldwell's, Jim Urquhart, Bitcoin, Charles Schwab, Youwei Yang, BTCM, Wes Hansen, Gordon Grant, Grant, Strijers, he'd, Riyad Carey, Genesis Trading's Gordon Grant, There's, bitcoin, Usman Ahmad, Elizabeth Howcroft, Tom Wilson, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, BlackRock, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Investments, Reuters Graphics, Silicon Valley Bank, SEC, Fidelity, Cboe, Kaiko, Federal Reserve, Blackrock, Zodia, Chartered, Technology, Thomson Locations: Sandy , Utah, Silicon, United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong

☆ UK's payments regulator lays down mandatory reimbursements in APP fraud victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Britain's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Wednesday it has made it mandatory for banks and payment firms to reimburse victims of online bank fraud within five days, in cases where users at a business send money to a bank account controlled by fraudsters. Thousands of people have seen their savings swept away in recent years by an unprecedented wave of fake online bank transactions hitting Britain, called authorised push payment (APP) fraud. The PSR said the new rules will be imposed on the Faster Payments system, where the vast majority of APP fraud has occurred so far, with the reimbursement requirements coming into force next year. The regulator also said that all payment firms will be incentivised to take action, with both sending and receiving firms equally splitting the reimbursement costs. The PSR last year said it planned to introduce new rules to tackle APP fraud once the parliament expands the powers of the regulator.

Persons: Aby Jose Koilparambil, Savio D'Souza, Nivedita Organizations: Systems, fraudsters, PSR, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ UK growth hinges on more than a new pension giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Politicians and financiers think a consolidation of the country’s pension funds would breathe new life into its stocks, startups and infrastructure. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that UK defined-benefit pension funds, company-sponsored plans that promise a specific payment upon retirement, have moved away from UK equities. The proposals also entail creating a 100 billion pound pension fund, modelled on the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a retirement giant with $536 billion assets under management. Overall, some 19% of these funds’ assets are in UK stocks, according to the Pensions Policy Institute. If UK assets can yield the risk-adjusted returns offered by other assets, pension funds will join in too.

☆ Rivals can feast on Credit Suisse client spoils
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Credit Suisse saw 110 billion Swiss francs flying out the door in the final quarter of 2022. These outflows were chiefly cash from wealthy clients and some deposits at Credit Suisse's Swiss bank unit. Those holding accounts at both Credit Suisse and UBS may dislike too much wealth concentration. And Credit Suisse is hardly incentivised to transfer securities swiftly. The minister said this was needed because Credit Suisse customers had again withdrawn money.

LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Europe’s gas inventories remain comfortable despite much colder-than-normal temperatures across the northern part of the region which have boosted heating demand significantly since the start of December. Inventories in the European Union and United Kingdom (EU28) totalled 987 terawatt-hours (TWh) on December 12, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (“Aggregated gas storage inventory”, GIE, December 14). Chartbook: Europe gas inventoriesExceptionally high prices coupled with conservation measures enacted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have significantly changed consumption patterns. Related columns:- Europe on course to end winter with plenty of gas (Reuters, Nov. 28)- Europe’s gas storage peaks after record refill season (Reuters, Nov. 18)- Europe’s gas prices retreat as storage almost full (Reuters, Oct. 13)- Mission accomplished? Europe fills gas storage ahead of schedule (Reuters, Oct. 4)John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst.

The proposal comes in an amendment to a statute on industrial innovation put forward by the economy ministry, raising the corporate income tax break to 25% from 15%. "Facing the new competitive pressure brought about by the restructuring of the global supply chain, the future development of Taiwan's industry is at stake," the ministry said in a statement. In the wake of a global chip shortage, governments around the world have been touting incentives to bring chip production onshore. The European Commission this year also unveiled a 45 billion euros ($46.6 billion) chip plan. ($1 = 0.9653 euros)Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China to implement policies to boost private investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) - China's state planner on Monday issued a notice saying it would further improve the policy environment to encourage the development of private investment, the latest move to prop up the faltering economy facing multiple headwinds. China will increase policy support to stimulate the vitality of private investment, stabilise market expectations and increase job opportunities, as "private investment accounts for more than half of the total social investments," said the notice. Beijing also said it woud support the development of the platform economy with a focus on investment of key projects such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and blockchain. Central-owned enterprises will be encouraged to step up the use of new products and technologies from private enterprises. Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The trial results released on late Tuesday could mark a rare victory in the search for a treatment for the memory-robbing disease after years of clinical failures. Biogen's stock surged 46.6% to $290.99 in premarket trading, putting it on track to add over $13.5 billion in market capitalization. BMO analyst Evan Seigerman called the data an "unequivocal win" for Biogen and Alzheimer's patients. The latest trial boost for Biogen and Eisai's lecanemab has raised hope for success in trials testing Roche's gantenerumab and Lilly's donanemab. Shares of smaller Alzheimer's drug developers also rose in premarket U.S. trading.

☆ Explainer: What does Vladimir Putin's 'partial' mobilisation mean for Russia's military machine?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The exact number of mobilised reservists in Ukraine is classified but official pronouncements suggest it is at least 400,000. * The immediate call-up of 300,000 military reservists who have previously served in the Russian army and have combat experience or specialised military skills. Western military analysts forecast it will therefore be several months before they see action. According to a copy of the legislation, seen by Reuters, voluntary surrender would become a crime for Russian military personnel punishable by 10 years in prison. * Western military analysts are divided on whether partial mobilisation is too little too late to alter the course of the war in Moscow's favour.

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