Business

Emirates president Clark warns Omicron could cause ‘significant traumas’ for aviation

A major hit to the peak December travel season because of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would cause “significant traumas” in the global aviation business, Emirates airline President Tim Clark said on Tuesday.
Clark said Emirates was working on the basis the newly discovered variant could be dealt with effectively by vaccines, but acknowledged the next few weeks would prove critical for the industry as scientists assess the risks.

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“I would say probably by the end of December, we’ll have a much clearer position,” Clark said in an interview for the Reuters Next conference.

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“But in that time, December is a very important month for the air travel business,” he added. “If that is lost, or the winter is lost to a lot of carriers, there will be significant traumas in the business, certainly the aviation business and the periphery.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the heavily mutated Omicron coronavirus variant is likely to spread internationally and poses a very high risk of infection surges that could have “severe consequences” in some places.
Omicron was first reported on Nov. 24 in southern Africa, where infections have risen steeply. It has since spread to more than a dozen countries, many of which have imposed travel restrictions to try to seal themselves off. Japan on Monday joined Israel in saying it would close its borders completely to foreigners.
“It’s likely to arrest, inhibit, but not stall the uptick in demand that we’ve all had the benefit of in the last month or two,” Clark said.
He noted, however, that it could also “go the other way”, with more draconian measures in response to a greater threat from the variant.
Clark said the airline’s decision to close down flights out of South Africa and a handful of surrounding countries was difficult, given strong demand for the December period.
However, he said bookings generally remained strong despite the reintroduction of measures in some European markets such as track and trace, quarantine, and PCR testing.
“People haven’t made that decision to cancel or pull off, so we’re hoping that it doesn’t worsen, that the border procedures for re-entry are not so draconian that it prevents them from travelling at all,” he said.

Fleet plans

Emirates Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said just two weeks ago at the Dubai Airshow that the airline planned to deploy a further 60 A380s in response to improving demand, adding to the 47 currently in operation.
“That will be tempered by whatever form this variant takes,” Clark said on Monday. “If it’s mild and its accepted as being mild in its effect and the efficacy of the vaccine shield is able to deal with it, then we hope to have all our aircraft flying, including all the 380s by the summer of next year.”
Clark said re-embedding cabin crews, pilots, and engineers and re-training them for safety and other procedures was currently the “greatest inhibiter” for the airline.
“We are continuing to move as if this variant will be dealt with,” he said. “If it isn’t … we will retard our plans accordingly.”

Business

Swiss government suspends forms of variable remuneration at Credit Suisse

Switzerland's finance department has issued an order to Credit Suisse to temporarily suspend certain forms of variable pay for the bank's employees, the Swiss government said.

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“This measure relates to already granted but deferred remuneration for the financial years up to 2022, for example in the form of share awards,” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement.

The government said that deferred payments that were already in the process of being paid out were exempt from the order.

The Swiss government also instructed its finance department to propose further measures on variable remuneration for Credit Suisse.

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Business

Yellen vows to safeguard US bank deposits, may need more interventions

The US banking system is stabilizing after strong actions from regulators, but further steps to protect bank depositors may be needed if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that threaten more contagion, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bankers on Tuesday.

In prepared remarks to an American Bankers Association conference, Yellen said government steps taken in recent days to protect uninsured deposits in two failed banks and create new Federal Reserve liquidity facilities have shown a “resolute commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors’ savings and the banking system remain safe.”

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Yellen, speaking more than a week after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) closed the failing Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, said the “decisive and forceful” actions were strengthening public confidence in the US banking system and protecting the American economy.

“The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks. Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader US banking system,” Yellen said in the remarks released by the Treasury.

“And similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion,” she added.

She said she believed the actions by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury had reduced the risk of further bank failures that would have imposed losses on the bank-funded Deposit Insurance Fund.

Yellen did not provide details on what further actions may be warranted.

Some banking groups have called for temporary universal guarantees on all US bank deposits, a step that requires approval by Congress under expedited procedures. However, the conservative Republican House Freedom Caucus opposes expanding deposit guarantees beyond the FDIC’s current $250,000 limit per depositor, a major roadblock to swift action aimed at stemming a deeper crisis.

Guarantees for uninsured deposits in specific troubled banks would require Yellen, President Joe Biden and “supermajorities” of the Fed and FDIC board to determine that the bank qualifies for a “systemic risk exception” – actions taken in the SVB and Signature cases.

Yellen said the Fed’s new Bank Term Funding facility and discount window lending were working as intended to provide liquidity to the banking system and aggregate deposit outflows from regional banks have stabilized.

A move by large banks to deposit $30 billion into troubled First Republic Bank last week “represents a vote of confidence in our banking system,” Yellen added.

She also said it was important to maintain a “dynamic and diverse banking system” to support the U.S. economy, with large, mid-sized and small banks all playing a role to support households, small businesses and increasing competition in financial services.

Yellen said she was keeping in close contact with bankers, state and federal regulators, market participants and international counterparts about the banking situation.

She added that the situation was “very different” from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, when subprime mortgage assets put many banks under stress.

“We do not see that situation in the banking system today. Our financial system is also significantly stronger than it was 15 years ago.”

The Treasury chief said that in coming weeks, regulators will examine the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, “but we will need to reexamine our current regulatory and supervisory regimes and consider whether they are appropriate for the risks that banks face today.”

Business

Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns

Google has suspended the Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo on its app store after malware was discovered in versions of the app from other sources.

Google said in a statement Tuesday that it suspended the Pinduoduo app on the Google Play app store out of “security concerns” and that it was investigating the matter.

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The suspension of the Pinduoduo app –- mainly used in China –- comes amid heightened US-China tensions over Chinese-owned apps such as TikTok, which some US lawmakers say could be a national security threat. They allege that such apps could be used to spy on American users.

Pinduoduo is a popular e-commerce app in China which often offers discounts if users team up to buy multiples of an item. Google warned users Tuesday to uninstall any Pinduoduo app not downloaded from its own Play store.

“Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps,” Google said in its statement. “Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app.”

It was unclear if there are similar security concerns around the Pinduoduo app for Apple users, and Pinduoduo was still available to download from Apple’s iOS store Tuesday.

PDD Holdings Inc, which operates Pinduoduo, did not immediately comment. Hong Kong traded shares in the company tumbled 14.2 percent on Tuesday.

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