Happy Media

Business Line September 04, 2019 There is a lot of weight on the shoulders of shoppers around the world, and the strain is starting to show. As threats to demand ranging from US-China trade tensions to Brexit hit business confidence and investment, consumers are proving the main drivers of global growth. JP Morgan Chase & Co reckons global retail sales volumes charged ahead at a rate of 4.8 per cent in the last quarter, buoyed by still-tight labour markets. But there are signs that could soon change, as weakness in manufacturing seeps into hiring, and financial markets tighten amid the trade war. Both forces could lead households to retrench, fanning fears that the world economy is heading to recession. Morgan Stanley economists are already warning that American consumers are all that stand in the way of a US contraction. “It would be misguided to believe that manufacturing weakness is not going to filter through to the rest of the economy, even though factories

Hindustan Times September 04, 2019 The United States on Wednesday designated Mumbai-based Mehdi Group, its subsidiaries and two offices in Singapore and UAE and several officials and ships among 16 entities and 10 individuals alleged to a part of a “oil-for-terror shipping network” run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). The US department of treasury said the Mehdi Group and its director, Ali Zaheer Mehdi, “have managed vessels and found additional ones to move Iranian oil” and brea “responsibility for crewing and operating” at least seven of the vessels used by the the IRGS-QF-run network. The group’s three Indian subsidiaries named were Bushra Ship Management Private Limited, Khadija Ship Management Private Limited and Vaniya Ship Management Private Limited. And the off-shore branches were Singapore-based Mehdi Offshore and Ship Management Pte. Ltd. (Mehdi Offshore) and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Penta Ocean Ship Management & Op

The Tribune September 05, 2019 The government has made it mandatory on financial institutions, retailers, telecom service providers, utility companies and others to provide all pertinent data to the licensed private credit bureaus regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The measure has been taken as part of government’s reforms aimed at ensuring ease of doing business (EODB) in Pakistan. Following the collection of information and data, the credit bureaus will be able to offer value-added services to different enterprises and businesses. The government is set to release a formal notification in this regard following a nod from the Law Division and the cabinet. Meanwhile, the SBP has issued credit bureau licences to two private companies, which will begin operations after completion of formalities and compliance with the regulations laid down in the Credit Bureau Act 2015. The concept, procedure and operational scope of private credit bureaus were introduced t

Dawn September 05, 2019 Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have formally agreed to exchange values of goods for imports and exports to control of under and over invoicing as part of Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendation. Saudi Arabia will become Pakistan’s 23rd major trading partner with whom the country will formally into an agreement to monitor and control illicit financial flows and currency smuggling as part of the recommendations of money laundering watchdog. The FATF has recommended that narcotics, smuggling, under and over invoicing are the primary sources of illicit financial flows (IFFs), which is inherently a global phenomenon. Over invoicing is a serious threat and a tool used for whitening of black money. Pakistan already has agreements in places with 22 countries, including the USA, China, Malaysia, UAE etc for online sharing of information on real-time basis to curb under and over invoicing. ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD On Tuesday, a five-me

Reuters September 04, 2019 A European trade mechanism to barter humanitarian and food goods with Iran will not work until Tehran sets up a mirror company and meets international standards against money-laundering and terrorism financing, a French diplomatic source said. Britain, France and Germany, parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year’s U.S. withdrawal, salvage trade promised to Iran under the accord and still prevent Tehran from developing nuclear bomb capability. French President Emmanuel Macron has led those efforts and is trying to clinch a $15 billion credit line that would offset tough U.S. sanctions that have strangled Iran’s oil exports, but that requires getting some backing from Washington. In addition to that the Europeans have attempted for more than a year to set up the Instex trade mechanism, but it is still not operational. It would initially