Alibaba’s US$4.5 billion convertible bond sale ‘oversubscribed’, as tech giant builds war chest to fund share buy-backs

Alibaba Group Holding is selling up to US$5 billion worth of convertible bonds to fund its share buy-backs, as leaders of the Chinese tech giant declared e-commerce and cloud computing as its core businesses in a move “towards strategic clarity”. The Hangzhou-based firm, which owns the South China Morning Post, said it expects to raise close […]

Russia says secondary sanctions are hurting export revenues, oil payments

“The widening of sanctions and pressure on friendly countries leads to companies’ reduced export revenue,” the central bank said in a report on financial stability in a section titled “main vulnerabilities”. Russia distinguishes between countries that imposed sanctions over its actions in Ukraine and those that did not by calling them ‘unfriendly’ and ‘friendly’. “Unfriendly […]

Fintech nightmare: ‘I have nearly $38,000 tied up’ after Synapse bankruptcy

A dispute between a fintech startup and its banking partners has ensnared potentially millions of Americans, leaving them without access to their money for nearly two weeks, according to recent court documents. Since last year, Synapse, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup that serves as a middle man between customer-facing fintech brands and FDIC-backed banks, has had disagreements with several […]

UAE’s economy grew by 3.6% in 2023 on non-oil growth

The UAE economy expanded by 3.6 per cent last year, driven by strong non-oil sector growth as the country continues to pursue its diversification goals. The country’s gross domestic product reached Dh1.68 trillion ($456.56 billion) at constant prices last year, preliminary estimates from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre showed on Thursday. At current prices, meanwhile, the Emirates’ GDP stood […]

Climate change: Tencent chooses Chinese carbon capture and removal start-ups to receive US$13.9 million in funding

Chinese tech behemoth Tencent is extending around 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) to fund technologies that prevent carbon dioxide emissions and suck the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere in a decarbonisation move that looks beyond solutions such as renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs). “Renewable energy, electric vehicles, and nature-based solutions are all examples of […]