Vietnam banking sector

State Bank Of India As the world debates the pros and cons of adopting a four-day workweek, hundreds of thousands of bank employees in India are demanding a five-day system. At least nine unions of bank employees will go on a day’s strike on June 27 to press their demand. They want time off every Saturday and Sunday, saying the technology at the disposal of banks would allow a smooth transitioning to a five-day workweek. “We have been talking to all stakeholders for the last seven years. But things have not moved as desired. A five-day work week is a basic demand from us and it’s for the betterment of health, and work-life balance of bank employees,” C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All Indian Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), told Moneycontrol. “Nearly 900,000 bank employees will shun work and protest on 27 June to drive this message and a few other demand points,” Venkatachalam  said. Bank employees in India are still working six days a week when other … [Read more...] about Forget a four-day workweek, bank employees in India want a five-day week​

The larger job market in India remains buoyant across sectors – even amid layoffs by a clutch of startups in recent months – and employees will generally continue to call the shots through FY23. “We see FY23 to remain an employees’ market with some amount of adjustments. Employees still have the bargaining power, opportunities and enjoy the benefit of demand,” said RP Yadav, chairman of Genius Consultants, a staffing and human resource company. While information technology and IT-enabled services will continue recruiting, e-commerce, logistics and export-oriented sectors including textiles and leather goods are doing well in terms of hiring. The consumer goods sector will increasingly do well, as will the retail and hospitality segment, according to staffing firms, HR experts and talent managers. The near-normal level of economic activity in retail and hospitality is indicative of a revival in these sectors after a prolonged phase of weakness due to the pandemic and offers a … [Read more...] about Amid startup layoffs, larger job market remains buoyant across sectors

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Bitcoin bank Custodia today sued the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City charging they have “unlawfully” delayed for 19 months acting on its application for a master account with the Federal Reserve. The bank, chartered in Wyoming under a crypto-friendly statute passed in 2019 allowing for “special purpose depository institutions,’’ says the master account would reduce its costs and is “vital” to its core mission of providing a bridge between digital assets and the U.S. dollar system. According to the suit, the Federal Reserve has a legal obligation to act within a year and states on its own paperwork that it ordinarily takes just five to seven days to act on a master account application. Custodia’s suit alleges the Kansas City Fed’s processing of its application was moving along until the Spring of 2021, when the main Federal Reserve got involved. The suit seeks to force the … [Read more...] about Bitcoin Bank Custodia Sues Federal Reserve, Demanding Decision On Master Account

BANGKOK, June 25 (Reuters): Thailand's inflation will remain elevated this year but should fall back into the central bank's target range of 1-3% in the second quarter of next year, a bank official had announced, South-East Asia's second-largest economy is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level late this year or early next year, Sakkapop Panyanukul, a senior director at the Bank of Thailand, told a trade seminar. The BOT predicts headline inflation of 6.2% this year and 2.5% next year. Thailand's economy is expected to grow by 3% this year and 3.7% next year, driven by exports, increased domestic demand and a recovery in tourism, the state planning agency had said earlier. Exports, a key driver of growth, still had momentum despite the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the global economy, Danucha Pichayanan, head of the National Economic and Social Development Council, told a business seminar. "The Russia-Ukraine issue is a risk but it's also an opportunity, … [Read more...] about Thai inflation seen back to target in Q2 2023, says central bank; economy expected to grow by 3% in 2022

(Representative image: Reuters) Dear Reader, A whiff of change wafted through the markets this week. The focus shifted from worrying over inflation to concerns about growth. The advance Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) for the current month for the US and the Eurozone showed slowing growth, but while they indicated inflation was cooling in the US, it continued to rise relentlessly in the Eurozone. They also reflected stalling demand and falling business confidence. The New York Fed’s economic model predicted an 80 percent chance of a hard landing for the US. UK consumer confidence hit a record low. In China, housing starts and property transactions reached extreme lows. The worries over an imminent recession in the US, the UK and the Eurozone sent commodity prices sharply lower. Copper prices have moved down dramatically. My colleague Ravi Ananthanarayanan wrote about the dark clouds hovering over steel . Crude oil prices too fell. That dissipated some of the … [Read more...] about MC Pro Weekender | A new narrative

Wall Street's main indexes rose over 1% on Friday as signs of slowing economic growth and falling commodity prices tempered expectations over how high the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to rein in inflation. Global financial markets have been roiled this month on worries that rapid rate hikes by major central banks could cause a recession, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) confirming a bear market last week as it recorded a 20% drop from its January closing peak. The three main indexes on Friday looked set to notch their first weekly gain in four, boosted by megacap growth stocks and defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities seen as safer bets during times of economic uncertainty. "Conversations about the U.S. economy likely slowing which could lessen the hawkishness of the Fed, combined with lower commodity prices and bond yields - these are reasons investors are mentioning to justify why we could experience a near-term bounce," said Sam Stovall, … [Read more...] about Wall Street rallies as traders dial back rate-hike bets

CLOSE cooperation between departments, institutions of higher learning and the private sector can drive the development of a sustainable agricultural ecosystem which can maximise the economic sustainability value of the country’s agro-food sector. Agricultural Department director-general Datuk Zahimi Hassan said this when officiating the launch of LKE Group Sdn Bhd’s first shariah-compliant durian partnership legacy programme on May 14. As part of the programme, LKE has partnered with Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) to conduct research on the most effective science-based methods to grow and care for durian plants in the long-term, in an effort to uplift the industry and make Malaysia the ideal destination for durian exports globally. Zahimi, who also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between LKE and TAR UC, said the rising popularity of the “king of fruits” is a new source of wealth for the nation. “Malaysia produced 390,635 metric tonnes … [Read more...] about Research to make Malaysia top durian destination

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Stocks continued their descent last week, with the S&P 500 now well into bear market territory at -23% from the high. While most define bear markets as a decline of 20% from the high, some pullbacks just kiss that level or don’t result in widespread carnage across all sectors. What we saw last week certainly qualifies the current situation as a “real” bear market. First, the S&P 500 was down almost 11% during the previous two weeks. Secondly, all sectors participated in the sell-off. Whether it is “profit-taking” or “selling what you can rather than what you want to,” this indiscriminate liquidation is the hallmark of a bear market. For example, energy stocks, which had been almost impervious to the market weakness this year, declined 17% last week! That still leaves energy up 31% and the only sector in the green year-to-date. Utilities, which were only slightly lower before last week, underperformed the market over … [Read more...] about Welcome To The Real Bear Market

Text messages obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) show director Richard Cordray’s communications with Clinton donor and lobbyist Eileen Mancera. The Daily Caller exclusively broke news of Richard Cordray’s likely illegal use of a private device for communications with other CFPB staffers last month, concealing his messages from FOIA requests. Documents exclusively obtained by TheDC show that Cordray used a private device for communications and seemingly did not back them up or copy an official device, thus attempting to conceal them from public view. Now, it seems Cordray was attempting to use a private device to conceal his messages–to conceal communications with high-level lobbyists and donors. An analysis of Cordray’s text messages with other CFPB staffers, obtained via a FOIA request, show him communicating with then-CFPB staffer Rohit Chopra, directing him to talk to Eileen Mancera. Chopra is also a … [Read more...] about EXCLUSIVE: Exposed Richard Cordray Texts Contain Worrying CFPB-Lobbyist Connections

Wall Street, New York City (File image: Reuters) Wall Street's main indices soared on Friday in a broad rally as signs of slowing economic growth and a recent pullback in commodity prices tempered expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate-hike plans. The S&P 500 rose over 3% for its biggest one-day percentage rise since May 2020. All 11 of the benchmark index's sectors ended at least 1.5% higher. Stocks rebounded this week as financial markets have been roiled over worries that rapid rate hikes by the Fed to rein in 40-year-high inflation could cause a recession. Still, investors have been gauging when the market might hit its bottom after the benchmark S&P 500 earlier this month recorded a 20% drop from its January closing peak, confirming the common definition of a bear market. "Some of the moves, the sellers just get exhausted so you don’t have as much capital moving out," said Shawn Cruz, head trading strategist at TD Ameritrade. "This might be a … [Read more...] about Wall Street mints big gains to end a strong week