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☆ Analysis: Apple supply chain data shows receding exposure to China as risks mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) wide exposure to Chinese manufacturing, notable both for its low costs and rising risks, has receded since the COVID-19 pandemic began, company supply chain data shows. "The China supply chain is not going to evaporate overnight," said Eli Friedman, an associate professor at Cornell University who studies labour in China. The Apple supplier data to 2021, however, shows no locations so far that stand out as substantial gainers to match China's decline, according to the Reuters analysis. Apple's annual data covers more than 600 locations among its top suppliers, which represent 98% of Apple's direct spending. While Apple's shift from China is increasingly evident, including in its own supply chain data, so too are the risks from the concentration of operations there.

“In terms of thinking about what the mid- and long-term goals should be…the task force has been focused on facilitation networks, procurement networks, money-laundering networks,” he said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. Mr. Bonham-Carter worked primarily as a property manager for the Russian oligarch, according to the indictment. Bonham-Carter is a U.K. citizen, living in the U.K., arrested in the U.K.,” Mr. Adams said. In some cases, OFAC may not add companies that prosecutors deem are subject to the control of sanctioned oligarchs, he said.

☆ Foot Locker Searches For a New Finance Chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Foot Locker Inc. is searching for a new finance chief to succeed Andrew Page, who is stepping down from the shoe-store chain as part of a reshuffling of its senior ranks. He was previously chief accounting officer and controller at Advance Auto Parts Inc., a Raleigh, N.C.-based auto parts retailer. He will step down as chief financial officer of Foot Locker early next year. Photo: The Wall Street Journal Foot Locker is working with an executive recruiting firm to identify a successor, the company said. Also, Foot Locker promoted Rosalind Reeves, its vice president of talent, diversity and organization capability, to chief human resources officer, effective Dec. 1.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. weighs sending 100-mile strike weapon to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

U.S. and allied military inventories are shrinking, and Ukraine faces an increasing need for more sophisticated weapons as the war drags on. GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring 2023, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and three people familiar with the plan. It combines the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) with the M26 rocket motor, both of which are common in U.S. inventories. The invasion of Ukraine drove up demand for American-made weapons and ammunition, while U.S. allies in Eastern Europe are "putting a lot of orders," in for a range of arms as they supply Ukraine, Bush added. Any arrangement would also require at least six suppliers to expedite shipments of their parts and services to produce the weapon quickly.

☆ Logistics Companies Are Diversifying Hiring, but Challenges Persist
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

Photo: Sarah Oden/Associated PressWomen and people of color are being hired into top roles in the logistics industry. United Parcel Service Inc. turned to Carol Tomé, a former finance chief at Home Depot Inc., in 2020 to become chief executive officer. Raj Subramaniam, who is from India, was chosen to succeed FedEx Corp. founder Fred Smith as chief executive earlier this year. Judy McReynolds has been chief executive of ArcBest Corp. , one of the largest trucking companies in the U.S., since 2010. Studies also show there is a big gap in pay across the logistics industry.

☆ Kyushu Electric says it will cooperate with Fair Trade Commission probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Kyushu Electric Power Co (9508.T) said on Monday that it has not received any notification of antitrust fines from the Fair Trade Commission and would fully cooperate with the regulator's investigation. Kyushu Electric Power said it is under the investigation and it will announce information swiftly if necessary. The Fair Trade Commission declined to comment on a report Friday in The Nikkei the commission has decided to fine three major utility firms including Kyushu Electric Power tens of billions of yen in total for breaching antitrust laws. The newspaper reported that the regulator will penalise Kyushu Electric Power, Chugoku Electric Power Co (9502.T) and Chubu Electric Power Co (9504.T) for agreeing not to expand in each other's industrial power supply markets. Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Vietnam's anti-graft crackdown chills supply chains, investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"If you don't do anything, you cannot do a mistake," Walde said of the current licensing paralysis caused by the bureaucratic anxiety. Germany is the second-largest exporter of drugs to Vietnam after France, according to 2020 data. SUPPLY SHOCKSThe negative economic consequences of the crackdown come on top of other challenges that Vietnam and other countries in Asia face, namely a weakening local currency, global supply constraints and declining world demand. "The crackdown won't be able to root out the widespread corruption if implemented without complete transparency and rule of law," said Hop. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Additional reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's first private rocket company looks to slash satellite costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Nivedita Bhattacharjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Employees pose in front of Vikram-S rocket, India?s first private rocket developed by Skyroot, an Indian Space-Tech startup, at a spaceport in Sriharikota, India, November 18, 2022. The Hyderabad-based company, backed by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, says the $68 million it has raised will fund its next two launches. Skyroot faces both established and up-and-coming rocket launch rivals that also promise to bring down costs. India opened the door to private space companies in 2020 with a regulatory overhaul and a new agency to boost private-sector launches. The Skyroot rocket that reached 89.5 kilometers altitude in last week's test launch used carbon-fibre components and 3D-printed parts, including the thrusters.

☆ The Disney CFO Who Raised Concerns About Bob Chapek Has Respect on the Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Nina Trentmann | Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Christine McCarthy, Walt Disney Co. ’s longtime finance chief, took an unusual step when she expressed a lack of confidence in the chief executive to directors of the entertainment giant. But Ms. McCarthy had raised concerns to Disney directors, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CFO Journal The Morning Ledger provides daily news and insights on corporate finance from the CFO Journal team. Following the leadership shake-up, Disney faces a challenge to regain trust from the street and Ms. McCarthy needs to realign with her old and new chief executive Mr. Iger, analysts said. Age 67, Ms. McCarthy is likely to stay on while Mr. Iger reviews Disney’s strategy and searches for another successor to himself, analysts said.

Japan and Britain hope to agree by the end of the year to merge their next-generation Tempest and F-X fighter programmes, sources said in July. Those talks, aimed at a joint project to field a plane in the mid-2030s, remain on track, according to four other people familiar with the discussions. Japan ended a ban on military exports in 2014 in a bid to promote overseas sales. An export boom, however, failed to materialize because Japan only allowed sales of non-lethal gear such as surveillance and rescue equipment. LDP lawmakers, Onodera said, are also discussing a joint U.S-Japan command structure that could be formed for national emergencies.

☆ Malawi vice president arrested over corruption, says graft watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BLANTYRE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested the country's Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima over graft allegations, it said on Friday. Chilima would be taken to court where he was expected to be charged with three counts of corrupt practices by a public officer, among other charges, the corruption watchdog said in a statement. The statement alleged Chilima was rewarded for assisting Xaviar Limited and Malachitte FZE, two companies connected to British businessman Zuneth Sattar to be awarded contracts by the Malawi Government. In August, the Financial Times reported that Sattar was under investigation by Britain's National Crime Agency over alleged abuse of Malawi's public procurement system. Earlier this year, Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera dissolved his entire cabinet on charges of corruption against three serving ministers.

☆ Carlyle sees big in Japan auto industry as EV shift shakes supply chains
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O) aims to enlarge its footprint in the Japanese automotive sector as the global shift to electric vehicles (EVs) shakes the industry's supply chain, its executives said. With the world quickly moving to EVs, Japanese auto parts suppliers are reviewing strategies that were traditionally tailored for combustion-engine cars, Reiji Terasaka, who heads Carlyle's Japan industrial team, told Reuters in an interview. The Japanese auto industry used to draw strengths from its decades-old keiretsu system - a hierarchical pyramid of equity-interlocked suppliers with automakers sitting atop and ensuring business security. Automakers might not be able to support all kinds of keiretsu companies anymore, Terasaka said, adding that he anticipated changes to how the keiretsu system operated. The private equity industry "has evolved over the last 10 to 20 years from where there was more of a focus on costs," Bernasek said.

☆ Startups trying to turn cities into carbon sinks to fight climate change have raised a record $2.2 billion this year, new report shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Green construction startups have raised a record $2.2 billion in 2022, per VC firm A/O PropTech. The construction and operation of buildings account for 37% of global CO2 emissions from energy use, according to the UN. The adoption of bio-based materials, such as wood, and a circular approach to construction can help cities become carbon sinks, the report stated. A carbon sink is when something can store more carbon emissions than it produces. Most building materials are currently "down-cycled" and used for things like filling potholes, she added.

☆ 23 of the most promising B2B marketplaces of 2022, according to investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We asked top venture capitalists to name the most promising B2B-marketplace startups of 2022. That's meant a new receptiveness for alternative hiring approaches like labor marketplaces, Jenny He, the founder and general partner at Position Ventures, told Insider. So B2B marketplaces for both tangible goods and labor became an innovative method to combat these issues. Insider asked top investors to nominate the most promising B2B-marketplace startups they'd come across, both within and outside their portfolios. Here are the 23 most promising B2B-marketplace startups of 2022, according to VCs, listed from least to most capital raised:

☆ Elon Musk puts an end to some Twitter perks, limits expenses due to company's 'challenging' financial situation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The email also addressed new policies on free food at Twitter, vacation time and other processes. "The future of Twitter is super bright if we can work together to be wise stewards of the company's resources." In addition to these and other changes detailed in the email, Twitter employees are expected to work in the office everyday as of Monday, the day the email was sent. "Allowances will be reevaluated over time and may be added back when the company's financial situation improves," the email noted. Meaning Twitter employees will now have to pay for much of the food the company will offer, where before everything was free.

☆ Norway to fund Ukraine gas procurement with $195 mln aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OSLO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Norwegian government on Monday said it had agreed to assist Ukraine with gas procurement for the coming winter, providing funding amounting to 2 billion Norwegian crowns ($195 million). The funds, part of a previously announced aid package of 10 billion crowns, will go via the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). "It is important to channel the support through an established, internationally recognised organisation, which will ensure effective and transparent use of the funding," Norway's Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said in a statement. ($1 = 10.2652 Norwegian crowns)Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine JacobsenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies could be made to disclose prices and deals agreed for any products they make to fight future pandemics, under new rules being drawn up by the World Health Organization and reviewed by Reuters. During the pandemic, many deals that governments made with pharmaceutical companies have been kept confidential, giving them little scope to hold drugmakers accountable. A spokesperson for the WHO said it was member states that were driving the current process towards a new agreement. "The process is open, transparent, and with the input from other stakeholders, including any interested stakeholders and public, able to submit comments at public consultations." The draft will be presented to them in full in a meeting on Friday, after being circulated earlier in the week.

☆ Food Company Post Holdings Promotes Treasurer Matt Mainer to CFO Role
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

St. Louis-based Post named its treasurer, Matt Mainer, as chief financial officer and promoted Jeff Zadoks, its current CFO, to operating chief, effective Dec. 1. Mr. Mainer has served as treasurer since joining the company in 2015, and will continue to hold the title after taking over as CFO. Post declined to make Mr. Mainer available for an interview. Photo: Post Holdings Mr. Zadoks has served as Post’s CFO since 2014. In his new role, Mr. Zadoks will work with the company’s business-line presidents on areas such as boosting revenue and cutting costs, said Post.

☆ How a recession could be a huge opportunity for 'upstream' startups
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the end of the boom times could spell opportunity for industrial or "upstream" startups. The startups working upstream are rarely household names, and likely never will be. But upstream startups today have an advantage even over their counterparts trying to raise funding in past recession: two years of supply chain pain. But dismissing upstream startups as too niche is short-sighted, said Menlo Ventures partner Steve Sloane, who's led investments in warehousing and robotics startups. Supply chain tech startups raised $41.3 billion in 2021 — a 120% increase in funding for the category since 2019.

☆ The US military is scrambling to build more ammo for itself and for Ukraine, but old Army paperwork could get in the way
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The issues come to light as the Pentagon is scrambling to ramp up its production of munitions. US military ammunition production — including of bullets, howitzer and mortar shells, and small rockets — is overseen by the Army. Workers with 155 mm artillery rounds at Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in October 2020. Workers perform .50-caliber linked-round inspection at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in June. A worker inspects rocket tube propellant at Radford Army Ammunition Plant in May 2022.

"We’ve built a platform for cooperation that can truly transform Indonesia’s power sector from coal to renewables and support significant economic growth," U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry said. EARLIER, LOWER PEAKThe Treasury official said that the peak power emissions for Indonesia in 2030 under the plan would be at a level 25% lower than their currently estimated peak in 2037. Indonesia's annual emissions reduction over those years would be larger than Britain's annual power sector emissions, the official said. U.S., JAPAN LEADThe United States and Japan are co-leading the effort with Indonesia on behalf of the other G7 democracies Britain, Canada, France, Germany Italy, as well as partners Norway, Denmark and the European Union. On Monday, Japan announced it would help Indonesia transition away from coal power through public and private institutions, including the state-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on military procurement network aiding Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Treasury also designated family members of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, as well as individuals that it said worked as financial facilitators in Suleiman's network. The U.S. Treasury blacklisted Milandr, a Russian microelectronics company that Washington says is part of Moscow's military research and development structure. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned major military industrial firms in Russia and the Commerce Department has cut off exports of American-made components and U.S. technologies that have been used in some of Russia's military hardware. Russia has managed to procure drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine. Iranian military entities and industries are already under heavy U.S. sanctions over Tehran's nuclear development program.

☆ U.S. to sanction military procurement network aiding Russia, Yellen says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States will impose new sanctions on a transnational network of individuals and companies that have been working to procure military technologies for Russia's war effort in Ukraine. "This is part of our larger effort to disrupt Russia's war effort and deny equipment it needs through sanctions and export controls," Yellen told reporters. She declined to provide details on which technologies the sanctions would target in an effort to cut off Russian purchases. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned major military industrial firms in Russia and the Commerce Department has cut off exports of American-made components and U.S. technologies that have been used in some of Russia's military hardware. Russia has managed to procure drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine.

☆ The 'world's largest floating wind farm' produces its first power
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A facility described as the world's largest floating wind farm produced its first power over the weekend, with more turbines set to come online before the year is out. The use of a floating wind farm to help power the production of fossil fuels is likely to spark some controversy, however. Earlier this year, meanwhile, the White House said it was targeting 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by the year 2035. As well as the 15 GW ambition, a "Floating Offshore Wind Shot" aims to reduce the costs of floating technologies by over 70% by the year 2035. "Bringing floating offshore wind technology to scale will unlock new opportunities for offshore wind power off the coasts of California and Oregon, in the Gulf of Maine, and beyond," the statement added.

☆ King Charles is giving hundreds of his lowest-paid workers a $700 bonus out of his own pocket, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

King Charles promised hundreds of his workers who earn less than $35,000 a bonus this month. The Sun reported the monarch's plan to give $700 to cleaners, servants, and footmen. An unnamed source told The Sun that the monarch will give an extra £600 (about $700) out of his own pocket to those earning below £30,000, such as cleaners, servants, and footmen. It is to target where it is needed the most in the Royal Household and reflects the reality of the economic situation the country faces." Employment website Indeed estimated the average salary for Royal Household staff ranged from £15,330 for cleaners to £57,446 for procurement managers.

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