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A management reset may be in order at The Boeing Company (BA) , contends the CEO of Irish budget carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC ( RYAOF ), after a string of delivery delays and disputes over pricing negotiations have clouded the business relationship of the two companies. Key Takeaways Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that Boeing's management needs a shakeup after a number of delivery delays and stalled pricing negotiations with the company. Ryanair ended negotiations to purchase up to 250 MAX 10 planes in September 2021 after pricing negotiations with Boeing broke down. Boeing's 737 MAX 10 and 787 Dreamliner have suffered major delivery delays due to certification and manufacturing issues. Faster-than-expected deliveries of Boeing's MAX 10 and Dreamliner could bring on a sharp rally in the company's share price. Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary lambasted the aerospace company's management at the airline's quarterly earnings conference call on Monday, … [Read more...] about Boeing (BA) Takes Heat From Top European Customer Ryanair

On Wednesday, May 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal watchdog agency responsible for consumer protection in the financial services industry, finalized an enforcement action against debt-relief payment processors RAM Payment and Account Management Systems (AMS) as well as AMS’s co-founders, Gregory Winters and Stephen Chaya. The respondents have been accused of illegally collecting debt-relief fees, misleading borrowers about when said fees would be paid to debt-relief companies, sending illegal advance fees to debt-relief companies, and failing to return funds to consumers who cancelled their student loan debt-relief agreements. The CFPB has ordered RAM Payment, AMS, Winters, and Chaya to pay over $11 million in consumer redress and civil money penalties, in addition to banning AMS, Winters, and Chaya from the debt-relief payment processing and account maintenance industry. Key Takeaways The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has … [Read more...] about CFPB Orders Debt-Relief Payment Processors to Pay Over $11 Total Million Penalty

Amazon.com, Inc . ( AMZN ) has rolled out several enhancements to its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing offering that are designed to enhance its utility to a wide range of customers. In particular, AWS is focused in 2022 on enabling many organizations—including startups, large enterprises, and government agencies—to become more agile and innovate more rapidly at lower cost. During the AWS Summit in San Francisco on April 21, 2022, Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of data, analytics, and machine learning services at AWS, offered details on several new product offerings. The innovations that he described range across several service categories, including databases, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT) , and application development. Key Takeaways Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced six major enhancements on April 21, 2022. Two increase flexibility and lower costs for AWS users. One makes creating digital twins easier. One facilitates … [Read more...] about Amazon (AMZN) Rolls Out Web Services (AWS) Innovations

Serba Dinamik seeks restraining order against units, proposes '100% return' scheme of arrangement to creditors - A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Four subsidiaries of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd are seeking a restraining order and a leave to convene a creditors' meeting -- a move seen as to revive the troubled oil and gas group which is facing a winding up petition from its creditors. In a bourse filing on Wednesday (May 18), Serba Dinamik said its subsidiaries, namely Serba Dinamik Group Bhd (SDGB), Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd (SDSB), Serba Dinamik Development Sdn Bhd and SD Controls Sdn Bhd, have filed an application for the two purposes on May 13. SDGB and SDSB are also among Serba Dinamik’s three subsidiaries, which together with the listed entity were slapped with winding-up petitions from six financial institutions for failing to service its RM1.2 billion syndicated term financing. The lenders are HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd, Ambank Islamic Bhd, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, … [Read more...] about Serba Dinamik units seek restraining order, proposes ‘100% return’ scheme of arrangement

- A + A (May 18): Asian sponsors of blank-check firms are facing a tough market for initial public offerings wherever they turn, as a combination of increasing regulatory scrutiny and fading investor demand shutters the window for new listings from the US to Asia. In the past three months, at least six Asia-related special purpose acquisition companies seeking a combined $1.3 billion from US IPOs have been scrapped, according to data provider SPAC Research. Of 12 blank-check firms that have filed to go public in Hong Kong, only one has actually started trading. It’s a similar pattern in Singapore, where SPACs have stalled after three inaugural IPOs in January. “The global IPO market has obviously been very quiet so far this year,” Paul Uren, JPMorgan Chase and Co.’s Asia Pacific head of investment banking, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “What we need to see for that to change is lower volatility and investors with more of a risk-on mentality.” Asia was … [Read more...] about Asia’s SPAC Hopefuls Have Nowhere to Turn As IPO Market Shuts

Reuters filepix for illustration purpose only - A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Malaysia is prepared to work closely with the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) to address the shortage of timber and timber products faced by the two countries. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said this can be done by sourcing and value-adding from other countries, especially for PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) — certified timber products. In a statement on Wednesday (May 18), she said the sanctions on Russian timber products imports to the US have undoubtedly led to American importers looking for alternative sources of material, especially for plywood. “The current market sentiments on Malaysian timber in the US is positive, especially for Meranti and Keruing, with year-on-year demand for Meranti and Keruing sawn timber increasing by 9% and 467% respectively,” she said. Zuraida noted that the … [Read more...] about Malaysia is ready to work with US, UK on timber shortage, says Zuraida

MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim (The Edge filepix by Sam Fong) - A + A JOHOR BAHRU (May 18): The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project is expected to play a major role in boosting economic activities, potentially becoming as huge as the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor. Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim said the RTS Link project’s value cannot be measured only from the point of view of its construction, as it should also take into account how it would be able to attract investments in the long run. “Investments made by the government should provide returns in the short and long term, so we are letting the people around the world know that there are plenty of opportunities to invest in Johor Bahru due to this RTS project. “Our wish is that one day the Johor Bahru-Singapore corridor will be a rival or match to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong corridor…that’s what we … [Read more...] about RTS Link can be as big as Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor

- A + A (May 18): Asian sponsors of blank-check firms are facing a tough market for initial public offerings wherever they turn, as a combination of increasing regulatory scrutiny and fading investor demand shutters the window for new listings from the US to Asia. In the past three months, at least six Asia-related special purpose acquisition companies seeking a combined US$1.3 billion from US IPOs have been scrapped, according to data provider SPAC Research. Of 12 blank-check firms that have filed to go public in Hong Kong, only one has actually started trading. It’s a similar pattern in Singapore, where SPACs have stalled after three inaugural IPOs in January. “The global IPO market has obviously been very quiet so far this year,” Paul Uren, JPMorgan Chase and Co’s Asia Pacific head of investment banking, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “What we need to see for that to change is lower volatility and investors with more of a risk-on mentality.” Asia was … [Read more...] about Asia’s SPAC hopefuls have nowhere to turn as IPO market shuts

When a $70 million NFT sold at Christie’s last spring—a time before Bored Apes, Cool Cats, and Lazy Lions roamed the earth—some scoffed at the fortune spent on computer pixels that could be copy-pasted to your screen for free. But the lot wasn’t just a jpeg, it was the jpeg—and the money went to claim the original work, or the one we would call “authentic.” Take away that distinction, and yes, the file is worthless. advertisement advertisement It’s a high-stakes game that’s rife with fraud, abuse, and theft, and not even the biggest players are immune. But OpenSea, the planet’s largest NFT marketplace, might have a few tricks up its sleeve. This morning, it’s rolling out two products to safeguard the authenticity of collections on its platform. The first streamlines the verification of creator accounts, and the second banishes copymints, or spoofs of existing NFTs, using image recognition. Verified badges are among OpenSea’s so-called … [Read more...] about OpenSea is on a new quest to ban copymints, armed with AI, Twitter threads, and Discord chats

This digital 3D image provided by Guatemala’s Mayan Heritage and Nature Foundation, PACUNAM, shows a depiction of the Mayan archaeological site at Tikal in Guatemala created using LiDAR aerial mapping technology. Researchers announced Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, that using a high-tech aerial mapping technique they have found tens of thousands of previously undetected Mayan houses, buildings, defense works and roads in the dense jungle of Guatemala’s Peten region, suggesting that millions more people lived there than previously thought. (Photo by CANUTO and AULD-THOMAS / PACUNAM via AP) GUATEMALA CITY — Researchers using a high-tech aerial mapping technique have found tens of thousands of previously undetected Mayan houses, buildings, defense works and pyramids in the dense jungle of Guatemala’s Peten region, suggesting that millions more people lived there than previously thought. The discoveries, which included industrial-sized agricultural fields and irrigation canals, were … [Read more...] about Scientists find massive Mayan society under Guatemala jungle