Tag Archives: Regulation

Business

Boeing Faces New Hurdle in Delivering Dreamliners

Leave a comment

Federal air-safety regulators have stripped

Boeing Co.

BA 3.28%

’s authority to inspect and sign off on several newly produced 787 Dreamliners, part of heightened scrutiny of production problems that have halted deliveries of the popular wide-body jets.

The Federal Aviation Administration said its inspectors, rather than the plane maker’s, would perform routine pre-delivery safety checks of four Dreamliners that Boeing has been unable for months to hand over to its airline customers while it grapples with various quality lapses.

The agency has long empowered Boeing to perform the final safety signoffs on the FAA’s behalf, allowing it to issue what are known as airworthiness certificates needed to hand over new jets to airlines. The FAA said it has withheld the same authority on some of the planes in previous years to keep inspectors’ skills current.

Now, the FAA said its move to withhold final-approval authority was part of a broader set of actions directed at Boeing’s 787 production issues. A spokesman said the agency could decide to have its own inspectors sign off on more Dreamliners. “We can extend the retention to other 787 aircraft if we see the need,” he said.

A Boeing spokesman said Wednesday that the company has engaged the FAA throughout its efforts to resume Dreamliner deliveries and would follow the agency’s direction on final approvals as it has in the past. The spokesman said Boeing was “encouraged by the progress our team is making” on restarting the deliveries.

After halting deliveries in October, Boeing has built up an inventory of more than 80 newly produced, undelivered Dreamliners, according to aviation consulting firm Ascend by Cirium. Boeing has said it expects to resume deliveries by the end of March.

The wide-body jets have an excellent safety record and are used frequently on international routes. Boeing learned of the FAA’s move in January and has already factored the FAA signoffs into its expected delivery schedule, a person familiar with Boeing’s planning said.

Among specific aircraft slated for final approvals by agency inspectors are two Dreamliners ordered by

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

United expects to receive the planes in late March or early April, a person familiar with the Chicago-based carrier’s plans said this week.

The Boeing spokesman said the manufacturer would adjust its delivery plans if needed so it can take the time to conduct comprehensive 787 inspections “to ensure each meets our rigorous engineering specifications.”

The suspension of deliveries has cut off a significant source of cash paid by customers as the plane maker navigates the Covid-19 pandemic and weak demand in global air travel. Bernstein analyst

Doug Harned

has estimated the Dreamliner delivery slowdown could cost Boeing as much as $8 billion in cash flow through 2020 and 2021. He expects half of that to be recovered next year as airlines take delivery and pay the rest of the cost.

Boeing said in January that it would likely continue burning cash this year but has adequate liquidity after raising billions of dollars in debt last year. Investor optimism about the broader travel recovery helped lift its shares by 21% last week. The stock gained another 3.3% on Wednesday, valuing Boeing at $149 billion.

While limited in scope, the FAA move on the Dreamliner is similar to a step the agency took after two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX jets killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

The FAA stripped Boeing of its authority to perform the pre-delivery safety checks on MAX jets in late 2019. At the time, a faulty flight-control system and production-related missteps with that aircraft were under congressional and regulatory scrutiny. The FAA approved the 737 MAX to resume passenger flights last year.

The Dreamliner lapses are among several quality problems Boeing has faced in recent years in its commercial, defense and space programs.

Many of the 787 quality lapses involve tiny gaps where sections of the jet’s fuselage, or body of the plane, join together. Problems have emerged in other places, too, including the vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer at the tail, according to a March 12 FAA summary of the agency’s regulatory actions viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Boeing has previously disclosed problems with a factory process used to generate small shims—materials used to fill the small gaps where the aircraft sections are joined together. Such gaps could lead to eventual premature fatigue of certain portions of the aircraft, potentially requiring extensive repairs during routine, long-term maintenance.

In its summary, the agency said it would hold on to its Dreamliner approval authority “until it is confirmed all shimming issues are resolved and airplanes conform to the FAA-approved design.”

Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Read original article here

Business

Germany, France, Italy Suspend Use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine

Leave a comment

BERLIN—Germany, France and Italy joined a group of smaller European countries that have temporarily stopped administering Covid-19 vaccines made by

AstraZeneca

AZN 0.40%

PLC, saying the move was precautionary amid a small number of cases of blood clotting reported on the continent.

Denmark last week said it had paused AstraZeneca shots for two weeks following reports of blood clotting, and several other European countries quickly followed suit, saying they were doing so out of an abundance of caution. Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands are among countries that have paused vaccinating with AstraZeneca’s shot.

Health regulators in the U.K. and Europe, along with AstraZeneca and its vaccine development partners at the University of Oxford, say there is no known connection between severe clotting and the shot. AstraZeneca has said the number of cases of blood clotting among the roughly 17 million people in the European Union and U.K. who have received the shot is lower than for the general population.

Europe’s medicines regulator said last week it was looking into around 30 reported cases of severe clotting, out of around five million people who have received the shot in the bloc. Last week, the regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said the “vaccine’s benefits currently still outweigh risks” and has continued recommending its use. The agency said most side effects are mild or moderate. Clinical trials didn’t raise flags about blood clotting as a risk.

The temporary halt to the AstraZeneca shots is another major setback in a wider vaccine rollout in Europe hamstrung by supply shortages and other hurdles at the same time as the continent wrestles with rising Covid-19 cases. Europe’s vaccination rates are far lower than in the U.S. and the U.K., where Covid-19 cases have stabilized or are falling.

Delays in giving out the AstraZeneca vaccine threaten to exacerbate vaccination-drive woes and could put further pressure on governments trying to speed things up. AstraZeneca has become a particular target of European politicians who have accused it of not doing enough to provide the continent with more shots.

French President

Emmanuel Macron,

in announcing his country’s pause, said the EMA was expected to publish a recommendation regarding the vaccine on Tuesday. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The series of pauses across Europe threatens to undermine the AstraZeneca vaccine’s credibility just three months into its rollout. The U.K. was the first country to adopt the shot for mass use, at the end of December.

The shot previously faced skepticism over clinical-trial results that suggested it wasn’t as effective as other vaccines hitting the market. Some of those perceptions have faded as the U.K. inoculated millions of people with the shot, generating real-world data that showed it to be strongly effective in preventing severe disease and death.

The U.K.’s relatively quick vaccination program—with some 11 million AstraZeneca shots playing a key role—hasn’t raised blood-clotting concerns. The British medicines regulator has said it maintains its confidence in the vaccine and its safety.

Last week, reports surfaced of a potential clotting issue, with one death and a case of severe illness, in Austria. That country suspended one batch of the vaccine but said it didn’t have evidence of a connection between the health incidents and the shot and kept using it otherwise.

AstraZeneca has warned it would fall short of projected vaccine deliveries to Europe in coming months.



Photo:

Sean Gallup/Zuma Press

On Thursday, Denmark, Norway and Iceland halted use of the vaccine altogether. Danish authorities said they would wait at least two weeks before administering it again. The EMA, which acts much like the Food and Drug Administration in regulating medicine across the European Union, has already said serious blood clots weren’t any more common among vaccinated people than among the general population. It has said it is investigating the reported cases of multiple thrombosis, or the formation of blood clots within blood vessels, and similar conditions.

Last week, AstraZeneca warned it would fall short of projected vaccine deliveries to Europe in coming months, by 100 million doses—almost two-thirds less than what the continent was expecting based on the company’s earlier pledges.

AstraZeneca Chief Executive

Pascal Soriot

has repeatedly pushed back against doubts about the shot’s effectiveness and criticism of its rollout. Last month, AstraZeneca said it would roughly double global vaccine production to 200 million doses a month by April.

In Germany, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which regulates vaccine use, said it became concerned by an unspecified number of new cases showing thrombosis, blood-platelet deficiency and bleeding in people soon after vaccination with the AstraZeneca shot. In a statement on its website Monday, the institute said it recommended temporarily halting use of the vaccine until further study by the EMA after seeing what it called a “striking accumulation” of those symptoms.

The regulator recommended that people who “feel increasingly unwell” more than four days after receiving a vaccination should seek medical attention. It flagged severe, persistent headaches or “pinpoint bleeding” of the skin as symptoms of concern.

On Friday, a nonprofit global organization of specialists in blood-clotting disorders and research, the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, advised continued use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The society said that based on available data, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks “even for patients with a history of blood clots or for those taking blood-thinning medications.”

Covid-19 itself is known to cause blood clots, a factor researchers say they are taking into account when considering the benefits versus potential risks of vaccination.

Write to Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com and Jenny Strasburg at jenny.strasburg@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Read original article here

Business

Why the Next Big-Tech Fights Are in State Capitals

Leave a comment

Tech companies are turning their attention to statehouses across the country as a wave of local bills opens a new frontier in the push to limit Silicon Valley’s power.

Arizona, Maryland and Virginia are among states where lawmakers are seeking to limit the power of tech companies like

Alphabet Inc.’s

GOOG -2.50%

Google and

Apple Inc.

AAPL -0.76%

on a range of issues, from online privacy and digital advertisements to app-store fees. State policy proposals have bipartisan support from lawmakers who want to temper companies’ influence and financial clout, which have grown during the pandemic.

Google, Apple and others are hiring local lobbyists and immersing themselves in the minutiae of proposed legislation, according to state representatives. Tech companies face potential rules that would curb the reach of their platforms, crimp revenues with taxes or force them to facilitate additional privacy disclosures.

Prominent tech companies are embracing remote work amid an exodus of skilled labor from Silicon Valley. WSJ looks at what that could mean for innovation and productivity and what companies are doing to manage the impact.

While federal lawmakers have held hearings and are in discussions about policies to regulate tech companies, debates and votes could occur in states first. If passed, state laws matter because they can become de facto national standards in the absence of federal action, as with California’s 2018 privacy law, which gave consumers both the right to access personal information that businesses collect from them and the right to request that data be deleted and not sold.

Facebook Inc.

FB -2.00%

initially opposed the California measures, but supported them after they took effect. Companies such as

Microsoft Corp.

have opted to honor the new rules across the country.

“So much has happened since California passed the original [data] privacy act” in 2018, said

Sam McGowan,

a senior analyst at policy research firm Beacon Policy Advisors LLC. Lawmakers’ concerns now stretch well beyond privacy to such topics as anticompetitive behavior and how social-media companies police content, he said.

In Arizona, a closely watched bill regarding app-store payments has cleared the state House and is expected to be debated in the Senate in the next several weeks. The legislation would free some software developers from fees that Apple and Google place on apps, which can run up to 30% of sales from paid apps and in-app purchases. App developers would be able to charge people directly through the payment system of their choice. The bill would apply to Arizona-based app developers and consumers yet could set a wider precedent.

Republican state

Rep. Regina Cobb,

the legislation’s chief sponsor, said the bill is about “consumer protection and transparency,” and said a final vote could take place within the next month. Ms. Cobb said she believes there are sufficient votes to pass the bill in the narrowly divided Senate. Apple and Google have lobbied heavily against the bill, Ms. Cobb said.

Apple declined to comment on lobbying in Arizona. A company spokeswoman said Apple “created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place for users to download the apps they love and a great business opportunity for developers. This legislation threatens to break that very successful model and undermine the strong protections we’ve put in place for customers.”

Google declined to comment on the legislation or any lobbying efforts in the state.

In February, Maryland lawmakers passed legislation that would tax the revenue of companies such as Google, Facebook and

Amazon.com Inc.

from digital ads. This month

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam

signed into law new privacy rules similar to those in California, with added limits on the consumer data that companies can collect online.

Washington state has introduced privacy legislation. Some states have targeted online content moderation, with Texas proposing a measure that would prohibit social-media companies from banning users based on their viewpoints. New York state recently looked into changing its antitrust laws to make it easier for it to sue tech companies.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

What steps, if any, should lawmakers take to rein in the power of tech companies? Join the conversation below.

States may have an easier path to pass laws than Congress does, Mr. McGowan said, because many state governments have fairly short legislative sessions lasting a few weeks or months, meaning bills can swiftly make their way through committees and to votes.

Tech companies’ soaring growth and influence during the pandemic has raised urgency at the state level, according to

Robert Siegel,

a lecturer in management and a business-strategy researcher at Stanford University.

The biggest five companies—Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft—all saw staggering growth in 2020, as stuck-at-home Americans and businesses turned to online shopping, software and cloud-computing services, smart devices and video streaming. Those companies’ combined revenue grew by a fifth, to $1.1 trillion, and their collective market capitalization soared to $8 trillion during the pandemic.

Given the stakes and what some view as the inevitability of more regulation, tech companies must play a more active role in influencing legislation, Mr. Siegel said. Facebook and Google are among tech companies now calling for federal rules on issues such as data privacy and artificial intelligence.

“Large technology companies have no choice but to engage,” Mr. Siegel said. “So much money has been made by these companies, and that has everyone gunning for them. They have a size and scale and reach that nobody has.”

Facebook Vice President of State and Local Policy

Will Castleberry

said the company “will continue to support bills that are good for consumers, but a patchwork approach to privacy doesn’t give the consistency or clarity that consumers or businesses need. That’s why we hope Congress will pass a national privacy law.”

Technology companies have stepped up legislative spending at different levels of government recently. Facebook and Amazon outspent all other U.S. companies in federal lobbying last year, The Wall Street Journal reported in January.

Facebook spent nearly $20 million, up about 18% from the previous year, while Amazon spent about $18 million last year, up about 11%. Apple disclosed $6.7 million in lobbying spending, down from a record $7.4 million in 2019, and Google also reported a drop, spending $7.5 million. Google and Facebook are facing multiple antitrust lawsuits, and Amazon and Apple have been the subject of preliminary inquiries that could advance further under the Biden administration.

States are also using courts to seek change. A Colorado-led coalition of attorneys general filed an antitrust suit against Google in December over its dominance in online search. Meanwhile, California is looking into how Amazon treats sellers in its online marketplace, and authorities in Connecticut are investigating how Amazon sells and distributes digital books.

Amazon declined to comment.

Write to Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com and Dan Frosch at dan.frosch@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Read original article here

Business

Janet Yellen Stresses Importance of Crypto Regulation, Making Sure Bitcoin Is Not Used in Illicit Transactions – Regulation Bitcoin News

Leave a comment

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reaffirmed that it is important to ensure that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not used for illicit financing. In addition, she stresses the importance of regulating institutions that deal with bitcoin.

Janet Yellen Claims It’s Important to Make Sure Bitcoin Is Not Used for Illicit Financing

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen answered some questions regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with CNBC Thursday.

Yellen said she considers bitcoin a “highly speculative asset,” emphasizing its high levels of volatility in recent years. Responding to a question about whether bitcoin and cryptocurrencies need to be regulated, the treasury secretary said:

I think it’s important to make sure that it is not used as a vehicle for illicit transactions and that there’s investor protection. And so regulating institutions that deal in bitcoin, making sure that they adhere to their regulatory responsibilities, I think is certainly important.

The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high again Friday, pushing its market capitalization above $1 trillion. At the time of writing, the BTC price stands at $54,757.

This is not the first time Yellen has talked about cryptocurrencies fuelling illicit transactions. At her Senate confirmation hearing in January, she said: “Cryptocurrencies are a particular concern. I think many are used … mainly for illicit financing.” She subsequently clarified her position and promised to work with other federal regulators to implement “effective” crypto regulation. Then last week, she said the misuse of cryptocurrencies “is a growing problem,” reiterating that they “have been used to launder the profits of online drug traffickers” and have “been a tool to finance terrorism.”

Commenting on Yellen’s remarks about bitcoin on Thursday, Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki wrote:

Sec Treasury Yellen just said on CNBC bitcoin is used in criminal activity. Give me a break. And the US dollar isn’t. Who can believe these Academic Elites? Do they think we are that naive? Definitely buy more gold, silver, bitcoin.

A growing number of large corporations have embraced bitcoin. The cryptocurrency recently got a massive boost when Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, revealed that it had purchased $1.5 billion of BTC and will soon accept the cryptocurrency as a means of payment for its products. Mastercard also announced that it will allow certain cryptocurrencies on its network, and the nation’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, unveiled a crypto unit to provide bitcoin services. In addition, the U.S. city of Miami is trying to become a bitcoin hub.

Meanwhile, the pro-bitcoin U.S. Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, is on a mission to convincing Yellen that bitcoin is a great store of value. Lummis said she met with Yellen and believes that she has an open mind on this subject. However, the senator still believes that it will take some time to convince the treasury secretary.

What do you think about Yellen’s bitcoin remarks? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.



Read original article here

World

Russia Protests Go Beyond Navalny as Putin’s Reserve of Good Will Wanes

Leave a comment

ORYOL, Russia—Around 200 miles southwest of Moscow, Oryol is a world away from the bright lights and prosperity of Russia’s capital city. To understand the tens of thousands of demonstrators who turned out across the nation to protest the detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, look here.

Industry in Oryol never fully recovered from Russia’s post-Soviet collapse. Once-proud factories sit abandoned. Parts of the city lack indoor toilets and running water. With few job prospects, many young people feel they have no choice but to leave.

The treatment of Mr. Navalny may have lit the fuse for protests, but the rallies quickly became an outlet for Russians’ widespread grievances about falling living standards, collapsing infrastructure and chronic corruption, and mark a tectonic shift in relations between ordinary citizens and the Kremlin.

“People don’t go out to protest for someone, they go out against something,” said Artyom Prokhorov, a marketing manager in Oryol who shares a two-bedroom apartment with his ex-wife and their two children. “Navalny simply served as a trigger. People are tired of what’s happening here.”

For much of President Vladimir Putin’s 20 years in power, oil prices were high and economic growth solid. Russian military interventions abroad stirred national pride. And Russians largely stayed out of opposition politics and protests.

Read original article here

Science

Bizarre Coelacanth Hasn’t Spent 65 Million Years Unchanged After All, Its Genome Reveals

Leave a comment

In 1938, a living relic, thought 65 million years long extinct, was accidentally captured in a trawl net off the coast of South Africa.

The 2-metre (6.5-foot) long coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) turned out to be one of our closest fish relatives – looking largely unchanged since its most recent appearance in the fossil record back from the time of non-avian dinosaurs.

 

Now new genetic evidence shows this deep-sea predator has undergone hidden, but widespread evolution at a genetic level – by hijacking genes from other species.

While searching genetic databases for the ancestral version of a human gene involved in gene regulation, CGGBP1, University of Toronto molecular geneticist Isaac Yellan unexpectedly found coelacanth strangely has many variations of this gene.

Even more unusually, these different variations of the CGGBP genes didn’t all share a common ancestor with each other. This suggests that at some points around 10 million years ago, 62 of these genes were swiped by the coelacanth from other, unrelated species – through horizontal gene transfer.

These genes, with their ability to ‘jump’ around and even between genomes a bit like viruses, are known as transposons.

If they happen to jump into the right place in the genome, cellular machinery will copy them just like any other gene. But they can also jump into the wrong place, where they can be harmful and so are thought of as parasitic.

Occasionally though, they can end up in a position that’s useful to their host species and end up losing their ability to jump around but are conserved within their new place in the genome, which is what seems to have happened in the coelacanth, several times over.

 

“Horizontal gene transfer fuzzies up the picture of where the transposons came from but we know from other species that it can occur via parasitism,” said Yellan. “The most likely explanation is that they were introduced multiple times throughout evolutionary history.”

While it’s common to find transposons like these in many species, it’s unusual to find so many.

Test tube experiments and computer modelling demonstrated at least eight of the proteins that these genes code for bind to distinct repeated sequences of DNA, suggesting that – like the human version – they are involved in gene regulation. Some of them are only expressed in specific tissues.

“We don’t know what these 62 genes are doing, but many of them encode DNA binding proteins and probably have a role in gene regulation, where even subtle changes are important in evolution,” explained University of Toronto molecular geneticist Tim Hughes.

Coelacanth have leg-like lobed fins and are more closely related to us and our closest fishy relatives, the lungfish, than other types of fish. Our very distant shared ancestor means the coelacanth’s genome has the potential to help us unravel many mysteries about our own evolution.

 

Unfortunately, these fish are rarely seen and endangered, so opportunities to study them are limited. But the information we have from them is already proving fruitful.

A recent study on their genes suggests our bitter receptors may have roles beyond protecting us from toxic substances, like metabolic regulation and hormone sensing. Now coelacanth genes have demonstrated transposons potentially play a larger role than we realise in tetrapod evolution.

“Our findings provide a rather striking example of this phenomenon of transposons contributing to the host genome,” said Hughe.

This research was published in Molecular Biology and Evolution.

 

Read original article here

Sports

Brooklyn Nets score 147 to tie franchise record for points in regulation game

Leave a comment

OKLAHOMA CITY — Even with the NBA’s second-leading scorer sitting out, the Brooklyn Nets matched a franchise record Friday for the most points in a regulation game, dropping 147 on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 22-point win.

“We’re getting there. … We’re slowly inching forward on both ends of the floor,” coach Steve Nash said. “We struggled defensively at times, but we’re getting more solid with our game plan defensively. Offensively, you’re starting to see a little more flow. You’re seeing James [Harden] able to manage the game like that and manipulate the defense.”

By quarter, the Nets scored 36, 40, 39 and 32, building an early lead and consistently scoring throughout the game. They shot 57% from the field, hit 19 3-pointers and had 33 team assists.

With Kevin Durant sitting as part of a resting plan as he continues to work back from his Achilles injury, Kyrie Irving and Harden took the reins, combining for 50 points — 25 apiece.

“We’re catching a rhythm, obviously, offensively,” Harden said. “But defensively as well. We’re learning our strengths and our weakness and things we can get better at.”

The Nets’ offensive explosion has been steadily building, with 10 of their past 11 games featuring at least 110 points. But they’ve also been, to put it kindly, mediocre on the defensive end. The Thunder, who entered the game last in offensive efficiency, still put up 125 points while shooting 46.5% from the floor.

“There’s a familiarity growing, on both ends of the floor. [But] we’ve got a long way to go defensively,” Nash said. “It’s not our forte or strong suit, but we’ve got to be clean with our game plan and talking and participating in our actions.”

Harden and Irving spent various parts of the game orchestrating solo as Nash staggered their minutes. But there were also long stretches in which they played off one another, with Harden doing his usual isolation drive-and-kick thing, while Irving flashed his finishing ability in the paint.

“I’m always gonna say I won’t take any day for granted. This doesn’t happen often in history where you have this group together at this point,” Irving said. “Some of the guys were starters on their respective teams last year; some of the guys are MVP candidates. And to have all of that collective talent and not get the most of it, we’d be doing ourselves a disservice. So we just want to continue to push each other and hold each other accountable.”

Harden credited the overall communication improving among the group, with assignments, coverages and adjustments being called out clearly throughout the game. Irving and Harden were at the front of the scoring, but there was impressive balance to the game as well, with nine players total finishing in double figures.

“It’s very satisfying anytime you get a win, but anytime the whole team plays well and you do some great things as a collective group, it definitely stands out of the rest,” Irving said.

The Nets have won four straight and are 6-2 since making the trade for Harden. There have been some rough spots at times, with Harden going extended stretches less involved in the offense, or Irving’s efficiency dipping, but the chemistry has been building, Nash said, and is something he only expects to improve.

“Offensively, I think guys are getting a feel and a rhythm for one another, how guys like to play, where they like the ball, how they like to move, cut and play off each other,” he said.

Harden said the Nets are maintaining an eye on the process, noting that it’s only going to get harder as the season progresses. As the games get bigger and the season gets smaller, there will be more of a spotlight on the Nets’ chemistry and how they execute.

“We’re gonna be challenged every night; we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Irving said, “but what we’re doing now is just finding the continuity to utilize the strengths we have.”

Read original article here

Business

China central bank policymaker says fintech needs regulation just like banks

Leave a comment

People walk past the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, China September 28, 2018. 

Jason Lee | Reuters

BEIJING — The central Chinese government is making it clear that fintech companies like Ant Group fall under the same stringent financial regulation as banks.

Many start-ups in China and other countries are using new technology to sell cheaper and faster financial services, from money transfers to loans. Rapid consumer adoption has prompted banks to work with the start-ups, which often emphasize they are technology or fintech companies, rather than financial institutions.

“But fintech is still finance in essence, so the principle of ‘same business, same rules’ should apply,” Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, wrote in an opinion piece in the Financial Times Wednesday. Pan also heads the national foreign exchange regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

“We need regulation that emphasises the substance not the form of a company,” Pan added. “The aim is to align business rules and standards with regulation to fend off arbitrage.”

Chinese authorities have stepped up regulation on fintech companies in the last several months.

Most prominently, regulators abruptly suspended Alibaba-affiliated Ant’s listing in November just days before the company was set to hold what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering.

Pan did not mention Ant by name in the op-ed, but noted that “non-bank mobile payment business, led by Alipay and WeChat Pay” saw growth of 75% a year between 2015 and 2019 in non-bank mobile payments. Ant Group owns Alipay and WeChat Pay is run by Tencent.

He added that fintech companies pose the same risks as others in the finance industry, and might also gather “excessive” amounts of data and infringe on user privacy.

On Tuesday, the governor of China’s central bank Yi Gang indicated Ant could resume the IPO process if it could resolve legal issues.

Read the full opinion piece in the Financial Times here.

Read original article here

Business

Janet Yellen Clarifies Her Stance on Bitcoin — Promises ‘Effective’ Crypto Regulation – Regulation Bitcoin News

Leave a comment

Joe Biden’s pick to become the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has clarified her stance on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. This follows her remarks during a Senate hearing when she said that cryptocurrencies are mostly used for illicit financing.

Janet Yellen Clarifies Her Crypto Plans

Janet Yellen clarified her position on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in a written testimony published Thursday following the Senate hearing on her nomination as the Treasury Secretary. During the hearing, Yellen made some statements regarding cryptocurrencies which were heavily criticized as being inaccurate.

The finance committee began by briefly describing the benefits and risks of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. “Bitcoin and other digital and cryptocurrencies are providing financial transactions around the globe, like many technological developments, this offers potential benefits for the U.S., and our allies,” the written testimony reads. “At the same time, it also presents opportunities for states and non-state actors looking to circumvent the current financial system and undermine American interests. For example, the Central Bank of China just issued its first digital currency.”

“Dr. Yellen, what do you view as the potential threats and benefits these innovations and technologies will have on U.S. national security? Do you think more needs to be done to ensure we have appropriate safeguards and regulations for digital and cryptocurrencies in place?” the finance committee asked the Treasury Secretary nominee.

Yellen replied: “I think it important we consider the benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and the potential they have to improve the efficiency of the financial system.”

She continued, “At the same time, we know they can be used to finance terrorism, facilitate money laundering, and support malign activities that threaten U.S. national security interests and the integrity of the U.S. and international financial systems,” elaborating:

I think we need to look closely at how to encourage their use for legitimate activities while curtailing their use for malign and illegal activities.

“If confirmed, I intend to work closely with the Federal Reserve Board and the other federal banking and securities regulators on how to implement an effective regulatory framework for these and other fintech innovations,” Yellen concluded.

Yellen’s clarification marginally softens her stance on cryptocurrency, contrasting her previous statements made during her confirmation Senate hearing. “Cryptocurrencies are a particular concern. I think many are used … mainly for illicit financing and I think we really need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that anti-money laundering (sic) doesn’t occur through those channels,” Yellen said a few days prior.

Last week, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christian Lagarde, also made a statement about bitcoin that drew much criticism. She said bitcoin “has conducted some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity.” Many were also quick to point out how wrong Lagarde was, including a famed economist who said her statement was “outrageous.” He stressed that “we all know that the vast majority of money laundering globally is conducted in fiat currencies, particularly in U.S. dollars and euros.”

What do you think about Janet Yellen’s follow-up remarks about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.



Read original article here