Elon Musk eyes his first trillion, Oppenheimers to drive Asia-Africa investment and more.
New Zealand passes a law to force financial institutions to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities, while China continues to deal with a deepening property slump, and Credit Suisse settles Mozambican fraud and bribery charges. Meanwhile, the Oppenheimers set their business sights on driving Asia-Africa investment from Singapore.
New Zealand forces climate-related disclosures
New Zealand has become the first country in the world to pass a law forcing financial institutions to disclose and act on climate-related risks and opportunities.
The new rules will apply to large insurers, banks, publicly listed companies, listed issuers and investment managers, reports The Guardian.
By forcing them to disclose that, the law hopes to ensure the effects of the climate crisis are constantly considered in business, investment, lending and insurance underwriting decisions.
Oppenheimer looks to Asia-Africa investments drive
The family office for Nicky Oppenheimer and his son Jonathan has set up an outpost in Singapore to boost its Asia exposure and partner with the region’s wealthy, reports Bloomberg.
Edoardo Collevecchio, the former chief of staff for Oppenheimer Generations, is moving from London to build and lead its team in Singapore, while Yi Ling Ong joins from Temasek as head of investment for the Asia unit, the company said in a statement.
The investment firm, which represents a branch of the dynasty that founded mining giant Anglo American and turned De Beers into the world’s largest diamond producer, said it hopes a presence will help drive investments between Asia and Africa.
China faces property slump
A property slump in China looks likely to slow down the world’s second largest economy, with home prices falling for the first time in six years last month.
The slowdown in the home market is becoming more evident as debt-laden developers including Evergrande struggle to raise cash and sentiment among homebuyers evaporates. That’s clouding the outlook for the economy, which depends on the broader property industry for almost a quarter of its output.
Credit Suisse reaches settlement on bribery and fraud charges
Credit Suisse will pay about $475 million to American and British authorities to resolve bribery and fraud charges relating to a $2 billion Mozambican corruption scandal, while its subsidiary pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.
The charges stem from bond offerings and a syndicated loan Credit Suisse helped to arrange between 2013 to 2016 to finance a tuna fishing industry project in Mozambique. Many of the proceeds were diverted via kickbacks to Credit Suisse bankers and Mozambican officials, reports Reuters.
Elon Musk tagged to become first trillionaire
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, with an estimated $241 billion fortune, could become the first trillionaire, an investment bank has predicted.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley forecast that Musk, who has made most of his wealth from the electric car company Tesla, could make much more money from his fledgling space exploration business SpaceX, which is expected to exploit a range of potential industries, including space infrastructure, Earth observation and deep-space exploration, reports The Guardian.
