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The UK government said last August it would advance a bill in the current parliamentary session, which is expected to end this autumn, providing detailed regulations by 2025. That has not yet happened, with political turmoil forcing the government to water down ambitions for this session. Transport Minister Mark Harper in December said there would no longer be a Transport Bill this session, and did not mention a separate AV bill in an outline of the ministry's legislative agenda. Last month Junior Minister Jesse Norman said he shared AV startups' concerns. They fear a self-driving bill will be crowded out by other vote-winning priorities in the run-up to the election.

Persons: Toby Melville LONDON, Claudio Gienal, Mark Harper, Iain Stewart, Jesse Norman, We've, Kaity Fischer, Wayve, Ashley Feldman, Alexander Dennis, Jim Hutchinson, Oxbotica, Paul Newman, Nick Carey, Ben Klayman, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Ireland, AXA, Transport, United Arab Emirates, Microsoft, Autonomous Vehicles, Stagecoach, BP, Thomson Locations: Oxford, Britain, British, France, Germany, California, London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Fife

☆ Buy this cheap insurance giant with 9.2% yield, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bank of America has named European insurance giant AXA as one of its top picks in the insurance sector, given its attractively low valuation and generous dividends. The investment bank believes AXA shares are a bargain because it is predicted to earn much more than its stock price suggests. This yield consists of a 6.8% dividend yield plus a 2.4% yield from the company buying back its own shares. AXA's valuation is said to be one of the lowest in its sector, even with the prediction of a steadily increasing dividend yield. Shares of the French multinational have risen by 3.8% so far this year and currently offer a dividend yield of 6.2%.

Persons: Andrew Sinclair, Sinclair's Organizations: of America, AXA, Bank of America, CS, Atlantic, company's Locations: Paris

☆ AXA CFO says the insurance firm is seeing price increases across the board
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAXA CFO says the insurance firm is seeing price increases across the boardAlban de Mailly Nesle, CFO of AXA, discusses the insurance company's first-quarter earnings and discusses its pricing strategy as it looks to overcome macroeconomic challenges.

Both hiked interest rates a quarter point - but only the ECB said more was to come. Without committing to it, the Fed signalled a pause in its 13-month, five percentage point tightening campaign. Money markets do partly agree with Lagarde - seeing one more quarter point rate rise in the pipeline. They now see the so-called terminal ECB rate at 3.5% in September - still a chunky 175 bps below peak Fed rates if you assume that at 5.25%, those have now reached the end of the line. "The extent of policy tightening delivered by the ECB to date is already sufficient to cause a recession," said Fidelity International's Anna Stupnytska.

ROME, May 5 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury is open to reducing its 64% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) through one or more share sales on the market, three people briefed on the matters told Reuters. After rescuing MPS at a cost of 5.4 billion euros ($6 billion) for taxpayers, Rome pumped another 1.6 billion into the Tuscan bank last November when it covered 64% of a 2.5 billion euro capital raise. MPS had to raise fresh capital to fund staff exits and replenish its capital reserves after the Treasury failed to clinch a sale of the bank to UniCredit (CRDI.MI) in 2021. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said several times that MPS's privatisation should foster the creation of several large banking groups in the country. ($1 = 0.9081 euros)Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A solid start to earnings season will be put to the test in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

The biggest week of this earnings season showed us that things aren't as bad as many feared. The week ahead of earnings, including several more Club names, should tell us more. The results are always important, but it's the guidance and management commentary we will really hone in on to better understand the path ahead. In Amazon's case, a solid first quarter for its AWS cloud business was overshadowed by management seeing a material slowdown in April. ET: Nonfarm Payrolls Looking back It was the biggest week of this earnings season for the Club as several of our mega-cap holdings and industry bellwethers reported results.

☆ An executive coach who worked with Nelson Mandela and the last leader of the Soviet Union, says CEOs must realize they will always upset 'a large bunch of people every day'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

René Carayol, an executive coach for more than 20 years, said CEOs can never make everyone happy. He told Insider the chief executive role is "the toughest job in the company." Carayol has a high-profile list of clients, including world leaders and CEOs at Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. He's advised four former CEOs of Barclays Bank and even former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Inherent and implicit in the role is you are upsetting a large bunch of people every day.

Summary German public sector secures 5.5% rise for 2024Deal sets precedent, piles pressure on ECB's forecastsECB to raise rates on May 4FRANKFURT, April 24 (Reuters) - The "very generous" pay rise secured by Germany's public sector workers may complicate the European Central Bank's fight against inflation, analysts said on Monday. "The permanent increase next year may raise some eyebrows at the ECB because wages were supposed to peak this year," Natixis economist Dirk Schumacher said. Other economists noted the German public sector pay agreement followed a period of falling real wages, when prices grow faster than salaries. "Doves may argue that the deal comes after a period of wage restraint and is reasonably front-loaded," Christian Schulz, an economist at Citi, said. "This means that it will probably take at least another five years for public sector wages to recover this loss of purchasing power and for employees to have the standard of living they had in 2021," Fratzscher said.

☆ 6 startups that have raised $100 million or more in 2023 to change healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftKey raised $300 million in a round led by its majority investor Lorient Capital. The clinical-trials-tech startup Paradigm raised a $203 million Series A round led by Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftMed raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. Vytalize Health, a startup that helps doctors provide value-based care, raised $100 million from Enhanced Healthcare Partners, Monroe Capital, and North Coast Ventures.

☆ See the 6 startups that have raised the most cash in 2023 to transform healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Startups in the industry raised $3.4 billion across 132 deals in the first three months of 2023. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftKey raised $300 million in a round led by its majority investor Lorient Capital. The clinical-trials-tech startup Paradigm raised a $203 million Series A round led by Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftMed raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures.

☆ Here's the 13-page pitch deck supply-chain-tech startup Tive used to raise a $54 million to keep growing its 'AirTag' for global freight
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tive makes a tracking device that helps supply chains keep track of their goods as they move. The 8-year-old startup announced a $54 million Series B funding round last year, led by AXA Venture Partners, which brought the company's total funding to $82 million. Tive trackers use cellular networks to broadcast their data faster and more accurately than consumer products. Tive sensors track temperature, whether a shipment has been opened, and whether it's been stored incorrectly. Here's the pitch deck Tive used to raise its $54 million Series B round to get one step closer:TiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTiveTive

☆ Banking turmoil means recession fears are creeping back
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here's what some closely watched market indicators say about recession risks:1/ CRUNCH TIME? Central bankers are closely monitoring the potential for banking stress, on top of lending conditions that were already tightening, to trigger a credit crunch. European Central Bank boss Christine Lagarde has also said the market turmoil may help fight inflation. Reuters Graphics3/ BANK STOCK ROUTWorld shares down just 0.1% in March and still sitting on gains this year seem to signal little recession risk, but worries are mounting under the surface. Global bank stocks, which had outperformed the MSCI World Stock Index before the turmoil, are down nearly 15% this month (.dMIWO0BK00PUS).

REUTERS/Murad Sezer/IllustrationORLANDO, Florida, March 27 (Reuters) - The most extraordinary outcome of the March banking shock would be if the problem dissipated quickly. Many people hope the crisis of confidence infecting global banking this month can be repelled almost as quickly as it appeared. SAVINGS AND LOANS DEBACLEThe easy comparison for any banking or market turmoil is the GFC of 2007-08. But crises don't have to be equal to or worse than the world's most calamitous financial disaster in a century to be extremely damaging. But other banking crises follow the same playbook, even if their outcomes are not as extreme.

Brookfield has prevailed over other investment firms in an auction that Data4's majority owner, Axa Investment Managers, held for the company, the sources said on Friday. If negotiations and financing arrangements are concluded successfully, a deal could be announced as early as next week, the sources added. The sources cautioned that there remained a chance that no deal would be completed and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Brookfield declined to comment, while representatives for Data4 and AXA Investments, a division of French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA), did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Headquartered in Paris, Data4 operates at least 25 data centers across France, Italy, Spain and Luxembourg, according to its website.

Most carmakers said their battery packs are repairable, though few seem willing to share access to battery data. Lauterwasser said access to EV battery data is part of that fight. EV battery problems also expose a hole in the green "circular economy" touted by carmakers. Hill estimated at least 95% of the cells in the hundreds of EV battery packs - and thousands of hybrid battery packs - Synetiq has stored at Doncaster are undamaged and should be reused. 'PAIN POINTS'The British government is funding research into EV insurance "pain points" led by Thatcham, Synetiq and insurer LV=.

☆ French insurer AXA has about $640 mln exposure to Credit Suisse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) had a "limited exposure" of about 0.6 billion euros ($639.5 million) to Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), it said on Monday. "AXA has no exposure to Credit Suisse AT1s or to Credit Suisse equity. The group has limited exposure to Credit Suisse of circa 0.6 billion euros, comprising covered bonds and senior bonds. AXA has less than 20 million euro exposure to bank AT1s," the insurer said in an emailed statement. ($1 = 0.9383 euros)Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How Credit Suisse has evolved over 167 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is how Credit Suisse has developed over 167 years:1856Politician and business leader Alfred Escher founds Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA) to finance the expansion of the railroad network and promote Swiss industrialisation. 1997A reorganisation turns CS Holding into Credit Suisse Group and drops the SKA name; it also buys insurer Winterthur, a strategic partner. 2002A reorganisation creates two units: Credit Suisse Financial Services and Credit Suisse First Boston; two years later it splits into three units by adding Winterthur. 2005Credit Suisse and CSFB merge and stop using the Credit Suisse First Boston brand name. The Swiss authorities provide assurances that Credit Suisse has met "the capital and liquidity requirements imposed on systemically important banks".

☆ French insurer AXA outlines bond exposure to SVB and US regional banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, March 16 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) has a relatively small corporate bond exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O), group Deputy CEO Frederic de Courtois told a Morgan Stanley investor conference this week. "On direct impact, we have 66 million corporate bond exposure to SVB. On regional banks of the size and the type of SVB, the lightly regulated regional banks, we have about 300 million exposure on corporate bonds," he said. The details of his March 15 presentation at the conference were made available on AXA's website. Courtois did not specify to which currency he was referring, in his comments on AXA's exposure.

☆ Axa Investment registers as crypto service provider in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - French market regulator AMF said Axa Investment Managers had registered as a crypto service provider in the country, joining a list of several financial firms getting regulatory approvals to avoid service disruption in France. Apart from the French investment firm, Binance, Bitstamp, and Societe Generale have received such nods in the country. The move comes after the European Union (EU) deemed last year that cryptocurrency companies will need a license and customer safeguards to issue and sell digital tokens in the EU. Firms operating in an EU state were given until January 2024 to get a license without disruption to their service. Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh VenkateshwaranOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Monte dei Paschi investor CariFirenze doesn't plan to sell stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FLORENCE, Italy, March 3 (Reuters) - A local banking foundation that invested in Monte dei Paschi's (BMPS.MI) new share issue last year said on Friday it had no plans to sell the stake it built under efforts to make the lender part of a larger banking group. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an event, the chairman of banking foundation CariFirenze, Luigi Salvadori, said the Monte dei Paschi (MPS) stake was not a purely financial investment but a strategic one "because we believe there is a need for another large banking group." CariFirenze was one of several banking foundations - traditionally investors in Italian lenders - that responded to an appeal by the Italian Treasury to back the make or break share sale. "We also liked CEO Luigi Lovaglio's plan," Salvadori said. Reporting by Silvia Ognibene, Wriring by Valentina Za; editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US blacklisting is no match for TikTok virality
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States’ web of trade restrictions has a TikTok-sized hole in it. The Commerce Department added another 28 Chinese firms to its trade blacklist on Thursday, requiring licenses to acquire U.S. wares. Yet social media app TikTok, which government officials have repeatedly voiced national security concerns over, hasn’t been hit with trade curbs. TikTok parent ByteDance is based in China and has eluded that list, largely because the Commerce Department’s tools affect hard goods, not software. Meanwhile, negotiations between U.S. regulators and TikTok over a security deal have dragged on for years.

☆ UniCredit finds costly fix for faulty CEO pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UniCredit shares are up 75% over the last twelve months, against 22% for the STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index. To give Orcel an incentive to beat his goals again, and to keep the pay-conscious dealmaker happy, UniCredit tweaked the package. It hiked his fixed pay to 3.25 million euros but changed the way the bonus will be allocated. If Orcel hits new and more challenging targets he will earn a bonus of 4.25 million euros, lower than last year’s payout, paid all in stock. But if he overshoots again, he could get up to 9.75 million euros.

☆ UK housebuilders face slow and painful refurb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UK housebuilding is facing a bleak future. In previous slowdowns, the UK’s Conservative Party bailed out the sector with packages like Help to Buy, which subsidized mortgages to help buyers. After Wednesday’s 9% share price decline, it’s share price is now worth less than half of what it was before the outbreak of Covid-19. With little help on the horizon, UK housebuilders face a slow and painful rebuild. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Insulin cuts make drug prices a little less bazaar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

If drug companies don’t play along, insurance companies will go elsewhere. The list price of Sanofi’s (SASY.PA) insulins rose 143% between 2012 and 2021, but the net price fell 54%. Amgen (AMGN.O) offered an autoimmune disease drug earlier this year with two prices. American politicians have been pressuring drug companies to lower prices, and President Joe Biden welcomed the move. In theory, lower list prices mean everyone pays less out of pocket at the pharmacy.

☆ Insurer AXA sells off most of its shares in Monte dei Paschi at 2.33 euros/share
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) said on Tuesday that it had successfully sold off most of its shares in Italian bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI), divesting the stocks at a price of 2.33 euros per share. Following this sale, AXA will hold 0.0007% of the Italian bank's share capital. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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