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TOKYO :Japanese e-commerce and finance heavyweight Rakuten is weighing an initial public offering in the United States of its credit card business, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Rakuten began considering a potential U.S. listing of one of Japan’s largest credit card businesses last month, the sources said. The considerations are in the early stages, with other potential options including a stake sale to a strategic buyer, one of the sources said.One trigger for considering a U.S. IPO of Rakuten Card was rival SoftBank’s plans to list app pay operator PayPay in the U.S., the source said. The…

[BEIJING] China’s sweeping new restrictions on rare earth exports jolted governments and set off a race to secure alternative supplies, in a stark demonstration of Beijing’s global clout and growing risks for companies.The rules announced last week require overseas firms to obtain Chinese government approval before exporting products containing even trace amounts of certain rare earths that originated in China. They prompted threats of punitive measures from Washington, even as both sides signal an openness to talks, and pushback from the European Union.US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Oct 14) said that he might stop trade in cooking oil with…

The errors in Deloitte’s AI-assisted report were fixable. The existential threat to the consulting industry is notIT HAS been a gratifying time for people who delight in denouncing “artificial intelligence (AI) slop”, especially since Deloitte Australia recently handed them yet more ammunition. The consulting firm has to partially refund the Australian government for work done on a A$440,000 (S$370,000) report, after an academic found that the work contained multiple errors caused by the use of AI. According to The Australian Financial Review, the report, commissioned for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), included non-existent academic references and a “made-up quote”…

Figure is down from the 1.68% offered in the auction for the previous one-year tranche in July[SINGAPORE] The cut-off yield on the Republic’s latest one-year Treasury bill (T-bill) fell to 1.35 per cent, based on auction results released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Wednesday (Oct 15).This was a drop from the 1.68 per cent offered in the previous one-year auction that closed on Jul 24. The auction received a total of S$13.1 billion in applications for the S$5.8 billion on offer, representing a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.26.In comparison, the previous auction received a total of S$11.3 billion in…

HANOI :Vietnam is aiming to grow its economy by at least 10 per cent a year over the 2026-2030 period, according to a document prepared by the country’s ruling Communist Party for its upcoming five-year congress, released on Wednesday. It is also aiming to bring gross domestic product per capita up to $8,500 by 2030, according to the document posted on the party’s website, up from the $4,700-$5,000 target for the 2021-2025 period.The congress is held every five years and sets the main policies for the country as well as deciding new leadership for the party and the government. The…

Likely beneficiaries of the spat are shipowners that are neither Chinese nor American, such as Singapore-based players[SINGAPORE] With the US levying fees on Chinese-related vessels and China retaliating with tit-for-tat port fees on US-affiliated ships, the shipping market is now experiencing a wave of refinancing activity.Likely beneficiaries of the spat are shipowners that are neither Chinese nor American, such as Singapore-based players. Ali Susanto, global head of corporate finance at the world’s largest privately owned ship broker SSY, told The Business Times that there is a flurry of refinancing going on in the market, triggered by port fees levied by…

There was a reason Brian Callahan was No. 1 on FOX Sports’ most recent list of NFL coaches on the hot seat. And it didn’t take a well-embedded league source to understand why.The Tennessee Titans made that clear on Monday when they fired him, just six games into this season and 23 games into his tenure. Callahan departs with an unseemly record of 4-19 (1-5 this season), while the Titans get a head start on their search for a coach they believe will be better suited to developing potential franchise quarterback Cam Ward.But while Callahan was the first coaching casualty…

Investors are pricing in a near-certain chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut in both October and December[BENGALURU] Gold rose to a fresh high just shy of the US$4,200-per-ounce level on Wednesday (Oct 15), buoyed by rising expectations of further US rate cuts, while renewed US-China trade worries also boosted safe-haven demand.Spot gold was up 0.8 per cent at US$4,173.56 per ounce, as at 10.52 am, after hitting a record high of 4,186.68 earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.7 per cent to US$4,192.90.US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration planned to…

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The ongoing government shutdown is delaying the announcement of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for tens of millions of beneficiaries.Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the 2024 Social Security COLA announcement will now be Oct. 24. It is timed to the September Consumer Price Index, which also has not yet been released.The agency adjusts its benefits every year based on inflation. The postponement of the announcement is the most recent example of how the government shutdown, entering its third week and with little progress made toward a resolution, has made it more difficult for people to…

USA-CHINA/AIRLINES (UPDATE 2):UPDATE 2-Chinese airlines oppose Trump plan to stop flying over Russia on US routes[WASHINGTON] Major Chinese airlines on Tuesday (Oct 14) urged the Trump administration to abandon a plan to bar them from flying over Russia on US flights, saying it would increase flight times, raise air fares and could disrupt some routes.Last week, the US Transportation Department (USDOT) proposed banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on routes to and from the United States, saying the reduced flight time puts American carriers at a disadvantage.China Eastern, one of six Chinese airlines that sent letters, said in a…