DEALING WITH A DIKTATOR

Tunisia and EU sign pact to stem migration


NGO migrant rescue ships Sea-Watch 3 and Ocean Viking rescue 394 migrants in Mediterranean

Updated Sun, July 16, 2023 
By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia and the European Union signed on Sunday a "strategic partnership" deal that includes combatting human traffickers and tightening borders during a sharp increase in boats leaving the North African nation for Europe.

The deal follow weeks of talks and Europe's pledge of major aid to Tunisia amounting to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) to help its battered economy, rescue state finances and deal with a migration crisis. Most funds are contingent on economic reforms.

"It contains agreements on disrupting the business model of people smugglers and human traffickers, strengthening border control and improving registration and return. All essential measures for bolstering efforts to stop irregular migration," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter.


The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyens said the bloc will allocate 100 million euros to Tunisia to help it combat illegal migration. The deal promotes macro-economic stability, trade and investment, green energy transition and legal immigration.

Thousands of undocumented African migrants have flocked to the city of Sfax in recent months seeking to head for Europe in traffickers' boats, amounting to an unprecedented migration crisis for Tunisia.

"We are very pleased, it is a further important step towards creation of a true partnership between Tunisia and the EU, which can address in an integrated fashion the migration crisis," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Miloni said.

Meloni, whose country has suffered a sharp increase in immigration boats, said that there would be an international conference on migration in Rome next Sunday with a number of heads of state, including Tunisian President Kais Saied.

Some 75,065 boat migrants had reached Italy by July 14 against 31,920 in the same period last year, official data showed. More than half left from Tunisia, overtaking Libya, which has traditionally been the main launchpad.

Saied said this month his country would not become a border guard for Europe.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara, Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Rome and Anthony Deutsch in Amesterdam, Writing by Tarek Amara and Hatem MaherEditing by Andrew Cawthorne)

EU, Tunisia sign 'strategic' deal on migration, economy

Francoise Kadri
Sun, July 16, 2023 

European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen shakes hands with Tunisian President Kais Saied after announcing a strategic deal with Tunis on economic development and irregular migration (-)

The European Union and Tunisia on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding for a "strategic and comprehensive partnership" on irregular migration, economic development and renewable energy.

The deal, which includes financial assistance, came as Tunisia has been under fire over its treatment of migrants since February, after President Kais Saied accused "hordes" of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries of a "plot" to change the country's demographic makeup.

The cash-strapped North African country, a key route for migrants trying to make their way to Europe, has since seen a rise in racially motivated attacks.

Tensions came to a head after a Tunisian man was killed on July 3 in an clash between locals and migrants in the city of Sfax.

Since then, hundreds of migrants fled their homes in Tunisia or were forcibly evicted and driven to desert areas along the borders with Algeria and Libya, left to fend for themselves in searing heat.

Speaking at the Tunisian presidential palace, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday's accord aims to "invest in shared prosperity".

"We need an effective cooperation, more than ever" on migration, von der Leyen said, announcing greater cooperation against "networks of smugglers and traffickers" and in search and rescue operations.

She was accompanied by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, who were all in Tunisia in June for talks on ways to curb irregular migration.

- 'Unlimited generosity' -

Tunisia lies about 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, and has long been a departure point for migrants risking perilous sea journeys on makeshift boats in hopes of reaching Europe.

The International Organization for Migration has said 2,406 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean in 2022, while at least 1,166 deaths or disappearance were recorded in the first half of 2023.

Meloni on Sunday welcomed "a new and important step to deal with the migration crisis", and invited Saied to an international conference on migration on July 23.

Rutte said both the European Union and "the Tunisian people" stand to benefit from the agreement, noting that the EU is Tunisia's biggest trading partner.

The deal also covers financial aid to schools in Tunisia and renewable energy initiatives.

Saied meanwhile called for a "collective agreement on inhuman immigration and (forced) displacements of people by criminal networks".

He insisted that Tunisia "gave the migrants everything it can offer with unlimited generosity".

Hours before the announcement, AFP correspondents at the Tunisian-Libyan border saw dozens of exhausted and dehydrated migrants in a desert area, claiming they were taken there by Tunisian authorities.

In June, von der Leyen had offered Tunisia 105 million euros (around $115 million) to support measure to curb irregular migration and 150 million euros in immediate support, as well as a long-term loan of around 900 million euros.

- IMF loan 'diktats' -

But the long-term loan would be contingent on approval of the nearly $2 billion loan currently with the International Monetary Fund, that has stalled over differences with Saied, who assumed near total governing powers since 2021.

Von der Leyen said the EU remains "ready to support Tunisia" and provide the funds "as soon as the necessary conditions are met".

But Saied has repeatedly rejected what he calls the "diktats" of the IMF before a loan is granted, even as the country struggles under crippling inflation and debt estimated at around 80 percent of its gross domestic product.

On Sunday, Saied stood his ground saying he rejects IMF demands to lift subsidies on basic products and services, namely oil and electricity, as well as the restructuring of 100 state-owned firms.

"We must find ways to cooperate outside the framework of monetary institutions that were set up after the second world war," he said.

- Stuck in the desert -

Earlier on Sunday, Libyan border agent Mohamad Abou Snenah told AFP near the Tunisian border that "the number of migrants (coming from Tunisian) keep rising every day," adding that his patrol had so far rescued 50 to 70 people.

Ibrahim, a Congolese migrant who used to live in the Tunisian city of Zarzis, told AFP he was stopped on the street on his way back from work.

"They dropped us in the desert," he said. "We've been in the desert for many days."

Tunisian rights groups said on Friday that between 100 and 150 migrants, including women and children, were still stuck on the border with Libya.

The Tunisian Red Crescent said it has provided shelter to more than 600 migrants who had been taken this month the militarised zone of Ras Jedir on the Mediterranean coast.

Moscow takes control of Russian subsidiary of Danone and Carlsberg's stake in brewer

Reuters
Sun, July 16, 2023

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Russian state has taken control of French yoghurt maker Danone's Russian subsidiary along with beer company Carlsberg's stake in a local brewer, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

The decree said that foreign-owned stakes in Danone Russia and Baltika Breweries were being put under the "temporary management" of government property agency Rosimushchestvo.

It comes after the Russian subsidiaries of Germany's Uniper and Finland's Fortum were taken under state control in April.

The Kremlin warned at the time it could seize more Western assets on what it said was a temporary basis in retaliation for foreign moves against Russian companies abroad after Moscow sent thousands of its troops into Ukraine last year.

Carlsberg said in a statement late on Sunday it had "not received any official information from the Russian authorities regarding the presidential decree or the consequences for Baltika Breweries".

It added that the prospects for full disposal of its business in Russia were now highly uncertain. Carlsberg said in June it had signed an agreement to sell its Russian business, subject to regulatory approvals.

Danone said in a statement that it was investigating the issue, adding that the Kremlin's decision would have no impact on its financial guidance for 2023.

The French company said last October it was seeking a buyer for its dairy food business in Russia, in a deal that could lead to a write-off of up to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion).

(Reporting by Caleb Davis and Darya Korsunskaya; Additional reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen and Lavanya Sushil Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

A timeline of China's 32-month Big Tech crackdown that killed the world's largest IPO and wiped out trillions in value

South China Morning Post
Sat, July 15, 2023

Chinese authorities initiated a regulatory storm against the country's Big Tech firms in late 2020 out of concerns that the country's major internet platforms were becoming too large and powerful.

Beijing's discipline of the tech sector wiped out trillions of dollars in market value from Chinese tech companies, kneecapped one of the most dynamic sectors in the world's second largest economy, and accelerated US-China decoupling. As a result, China's large tech companies, which once rivalled their US counterparts in size, are now much smaller.

Here are the major milestones of China's Big Tech crackdown that kicked off 32 months ago.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

November 2020

An initial public offering from Ant Group, which would have been the world's largest on record, was called off at the last minute in Shanghai and Hong Kong, sending shock waves through the global investment community. The IPO was quashed after a controversial speech the previous month from Alibaba Group Holding co-founder Jack Ma. Ant is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post.

China's financial watchdogs rushed to bring Ant's operations under the purview of conventional financial regulations, forcing the tech giant to undergo internal restructuring.

Later in the month, Chinese authorities summoned 27 major internet companies, including Tencent Holdings, food delivery giant Meituan, as well as TikTok owner ByteDance and Alibaba, lecturing them to correct alleged monopolistic practices, unfair competition and counterfeiting. China's antitrust watchdog, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), rushed an antitrust guideline to rein in internet-based monopolies.

December 2020

China's top leaders highlighted at the annual Central Economic Work Conference that the country must prevent the "disorderly expansion of capital", a goal used to curb the influence and size of Big Tech. The message to investors and entrepreneurs was that the "barbaric" growth of China's internet industry was over.

On Christmas Eve, the SAMR announced that it had officially launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba.

In a speech at the Bund Summit in Shanghai on October 24, 2020, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma Yun compared Chinese banks to pawnshops. Photo: WEIBO alt=In a speech at the Bund Summit in Shanghai on October 24, 2020, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma Yun compared Chinese banks to pawnshops. Photo: WEIBO>


April 2021

China's market regulator fined Alibaba a record 18.2 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion), equivalent to 4 per cent of its 2019 revenue, for abusing "its dominant market position in China's online retail platform service market since 2015".

The antitrust authority then summoned 34 technology companies, including Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan, for a meeting and demanded they "pay full heed to the warning of Alibaba's case".

July 2021

China's market regulator started to look into merger cases dating back to the early 2000s and fined Big Tech firms for failing to report certain deals for an antitrust review. It issued at least 22 fines of 500,000 yuan each - the maximum penalty allowed under China's anti-monopoly law - against Alibaba, Tencent and ride-hailing giant Didi Global.

As a result, Big Tech mergers and acquisitions plummeted, and companies started to divest previous investments to downsize their balance sheets.

China's powerful internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), also launched an unprecedented probe into Didi for violations of data and national security, two days after it launched a US$4.4 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The move opened a new front in the Big Tech crackdown, bringing Chinese IPOs in the US to a halt.

Didi was ordered to stop registering new users on its main app. Two months later, China's Data Security Law came into force.

Signage at the Didi Global offices in Hangzhou on August 2, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Signage at the Didi Global offices in Hangzhou on August 2, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg>

October 2021

China fined Meituan 3.4 billion yuan for abusing its dominant market position using what it referred to as a "pick one from two" practice that forced merchants into exclusive deals. The fine was equivalent to about 3 per cent of Meituan's total domestic revenue of 114.7 billion yuan in 2020.

January 2022

China's regulatory storm started to ebb when authorities released a guideline promoting the "healthy and sustainable development" of the platform economy. It reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to cracking down on monopolies, unfair competition and abuse of data, but the document also struck a more positive tone by recognising the role Big Tech firms play in the economy and encouraging their development.

May 2022

Vice-Premier Liu He told a few tech executives that the government would support the development of the sector and public listings, giving tech stocks a shot in the arm and raising hopes that the worst of Beijing's regulatory scrutiny was over.

July 2022

The CAC imposed a fine of 8 billion yuan on Didi Global for data violations, ending the year-long investigation.

December 2022

President Xi Jinping addressed the Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing. The meeting concluded that internet platforms will be supported to "fully display their capabilities" in boosting the economy, job creation and international competition.

January 2023

Didi Global said it had resumed new user registrations for its ride-hailing app, after getting approval from the CAC.

The same month, Ant Group and 13 other platform companies said they "have basically completed business rectification" under the guidance and supervision of financial regulators after being ordered to address various compliance issues in late 2020.

July 2023

Two-and-a-half years after the government killed Ant Group's IPO, financial regulators fined the fintech giant a total of 7.1 billion yuan for breaking rules related to "corporate governance and financial consumer protection". The move was seen by industry experts as the end of China's crackdown on the tech sector.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang later offered support to major tech companies at a symposium while China's powerful economic planning agency praised Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan for their contributions to the country's growth and technological progress.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved

UK

Labour would need to build 3,000 new wind turbines to meet its net zero targets

Ben Riley-Smith
Sun, July 16, 2023 

Offshore wind turbines near Redcar, England - Abstract Aerial Art/Digital Vision

Labour would need to oversee the creation of up to 3,000 new onshore wind turbines in its first term in office to hit the party’s ambitious net zero targets, The Telegraph can reveal.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to more than double the amount of power generated from onshore wind from the current level of 15GW to around 35GW by 2030.

Analysis for The telegraph by RenewableUK, the British wind energy trade body, estimates that between 2,000 and 3,000 new wind turbines on UK soil would be needed to achieve that ambition.

That could mean an increase of around one-third from the current total of 8,600, and it would be delivered by Sir Keir ending the effective ban on new onshore turbines being built in England.


A Labour Party spokesmen did not dispute the accuracy of the estimate.

The construction of wind farms on the UK mainland has proved much more politically sensitive than building turbines offshore.
Boosting energy output

Climate campaigners insist onshore wind is one of the quickest, cheapest ways to boost the UK’s green energy output, but some past projects have received criticism for being eyesores.

New wind turbines tend to be much taller than past models. One wind farm in Scotland recently replaced 1990s era 50-metre tall turbines with ones that were 200 metres in height.

Labour frontbenchers are looking at offering incentives to communities to back nearby energy projects, such as cash payouts, energy bill discounts or investment in local groups.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate change secretary, will publicly signal his interest in incentive schemes on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Conservative think tank Onward.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Decisions on onshore wind should be for local people and new developments must have the support of local communities.

“We recently consulted on improving the rewards and benefits offered to communities which back onshore wind farms but Keir Starmer wants to discard all of that and impose thousands of turbines on areas where people don’t want them.”
Energy bill crisis

Ed Miliband said: “Opposing cheap, clean power for our country has left us at the mercy of fossil dictators like Putin which has given us the worst energy bills crisis in memory.

“Labour would end the ban by bringing onshore wind into line with other local infrastructure so the British people can reap the benefits of cheaper power and we would ensure direct benefits for the communities that host clean power.”

Labour has estimated that the effective onshore wind ban in England has added £180 onto annual household energy bills, given how much wind power would have increased without one.

The wind power target is part of Sir Keir’s push to make the UK a “clean energy superpower”, named earlier this year as one of his five central drives for government.

A document detailing his plans if Labour wins the next general election included aiming for a “cheaper, zero carbon electricity system by 2030”, arguing the lack of progress has kept household bills high.

Specific targets were announced to hit that ambition, including quadrupling offshore wind power, tripling solar power and backing new nuclear modular reactors.
Effective wind farm ban

Successive Conservative governments have long had in place an effective ban on new onshore wind farms in England, with planning rules so tight that any local objection can effectively block a project.

On taking office, Rishi Sunak said he would block new windfarms, reversing plans by Liz Truss to make onshore turbines easier to build. But he was forced to backdown by Tory rebels and in December announced a consultation on loosening the restrictions that effectively ban new projects.

Boris Johnson had been preparing to unveil a similar expansion in onshore wind as the one that Sir Keir is proposing in his energy security strategy last year, but he backed off at the last minute.

The vast majority of current onshore wind turbine projects seeking permission are in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, rather than England, due to windier conditions and looser planning rules.

James Robottom, RenewableUK’s head of onshore wind, said: “Onshore wind is one of the UK’s cheapest sources of electricity and we can build it much faster than other power sources.

“So at a time when we need to strengthen Britain’s energy security as a matter of urgency and protect billpayers against volatile international gas prices, we should be accelerating the roll-out of projects in areas where they have community support.”

As asylum-seekers struggle while waiting for work permits, Chicago businesses can’t fill jobs










Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Laura Rodríguez Presa, Talia Soglin, Nell Salzman, Chicago Tribune
Sun, July 16, 2023 at 4:00 AM MDT·11 min read

Huberth Espinoza, 65, sat on a bench outside the 5th District police station in Pullman on a Wednesday in late June, waiting to be picked up for work.

An asylum-seeker from Venezuela, Espinoza said he came to Chicago to work but could not immediately get a job permit. So he worked for about two weeks for a man who would take him and other migrants to do odd jobs — construction, painting and yardwork — but he had not been picked up or paid in a week.

Espinoza said he was owed about $600.

“He told us he’d be back at 9 a.m., but he never came. We don’t know if he’s going to pay us,” he told the Tribune.

For most migrants, finding work is volatile and sometimes dangerous because they lack work authorization permits. And while many migrants work under the table, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, Illinois business owners say they have open jobs they can’t fill. Business leaders, along with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other political leaders, have urged the federal government to expedite the process.

Last month, more than 100 employers and business group leaders from more than a dozen states, including Illinois, signed an open letter coordinated by the American Business Immigration Coalition asking the White House to allow states to sponsor work permits for new migrants and longtime undocumented workers.

Signatories include leaders of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García began circulating a letter urging President Joe Biden to provide and expedite work permits to both new migrants and long-term contributing immigrant workers — including DACA-eligible, farmworkers and essential workers — as “one of the more sensible solutions, which are key to addressing America’s labor shortages and lowering inflation.”

“The solution to labor shortages is right here at hand,” he said. “In addition to that, it helps to address the cost of migrants and providing them with food and shelter because if they can gainfully work with authorization, then we won’t be scrambling to find funding for New York, Chicago and LA, or other cities, because it’s having a real impact on those budgets.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Pritzker said the governor had met with White House officials “urging them to expedite work authorizations so that those who wish to live and work in Illinois can do so with dignity and respect.”

More than 10,000 asylum-seekers, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Chicago since August, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing refugees to cities led by Democrats. Many migrants are living in harsh conditions in city-run shelters or police stations; the Chicago Police Department said earlier this month it was investigating alleged sexual misconduct by at least one officer against a migrant or migrants, potentially including a minor, housed at a West Side police station.

Many migrants have left the shelters to find work and a place to live, even if it could affect their chances of getting asylum, or if the pay is low and the job conditions are poor, Kalman Resnick, an immigration lawyer, said during a panel with the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance on how the real estate industry can help the new arrivals.

The timeline to file for asylum and subsequent job authorization depends on each migrant’s case and several factors including their way of entry to the U.S. and what policies were in place at the time, said Katherine Greenslade, director of the Resurrection Project’s legal clinic, a nonprofit that provides services for migrants. “It’s complex and lengthy; that’s why we recommend legal counsel,” she said.

In most cases, asylum-seekers cannot apply for permits to work legally in the U.S. until five months after they’ve submitted their asylum applications, something many are not able to do until they’ve already been in the country for months.

“Many of them are in shelters or in various unstable housing situations where getting a legal screening is just not the first or even the fifth thing on their mind,” said Megan Davis, the director of legal services at Erie Neighborhood House, a nonprofit that provides legal aid and other help to migrants.

It can take more than six months, on average, for a person to receive a work permit after they file an application, Greenslade said.

The backlog of applications at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has slowed processing times even further, meaning some applicants for work permits must wait up to 15 months from the time they apply, according to García’s letter.

In the meantime, many migrants work under the table. Their work can be precarious, leaving them with unpredictable schedules, earnings and at higher risks of exploitation, wage theft and abuse. And working illegally, especially if they do so by using fake documents or documents that belong to U.S. citizens, can ultimately have adverse impacts on migrants’ immigration cases, legal aid attorneys said.

In Venezuela, 30-year-old Patricia Moyeja was four months away from getting a degree in nursing when she came to the United States. Twenty-three-year-old Julianna Ovalles was studying to be a police officer, and her sister Alexa, 22, was studying business management.

The women, who now live in city-run shelters, waited for work in late June in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the Chatham neighborhood, where hundreds of people were looking for jobs.

“We’ve been coming here for a week. We are looking for jobs cleaning houses, painting, whatever we can find,” said the younger Ovalles sister.

The job search would be easier if she had a work permit, said her older sister, Julianna. For now all they can do is wait and hope for the best, she said. The women said they make $120 to $150 a day if they’re lucky.

“We are good, we’re safe here. I like the city of Chicago, but we need more opportunities to work. We came here to work,” she said.

Day laboring has become a common way for migrants in Chicago to find work. Like the two sisters, many go stand by hardware stores, waiting to be approached and offered a job. They work as contractors and get paid in cash, typically by the day.

Even migrants who have college educations or have worked in skilled professions including accounting, teaching, nursing or the law have to take on precarious jobs that in the long run won’t allow them the opportunity to learn English, said Laarni Livings, a head volunteer with a network of volunteers in the South Loop area.

Legal aid workers in Chicago said they believed very few of the new asylum-seekers have received work permits.

The Resurrection Project has assisted a “handful” of new arrivals who are far enough along in the legal process to apply for work permits, but most of their applications are still pending, Greenslade said. Only one asylum-seeker whom the group has worked with has received a work permit; that person was able to submit their asylum application last fall, she said.

At Centro Romero, an organization that provides social services for the immigrant community, the legal department has screened over 2,000 new arrivals since last fall, said Diego F. Samayoa, associate director. Of those, fewer than 5% have been approved so far, he said, adding that they are concerned many applicants may be denied because their parole has expired.

Most asylum-seekers are paroled into the country, which means they are allowed in temporarily to process their asylum case. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could, at its discretion, grant a parolee temporary employment authorization, if it is not inconsistent with the purpose and duration of their parole.

That, however, is rare, Greenslade said. Most people paroled in are given a year or just a few months in the country, so they won’t get the permit on time, or if it arrives, it’ll be expired.

When a mother from Venezuela, who declined to give her name, arrived in the Chicago area last September, she sent out her application for employment authorization with the help of Centro Romero. But her parole ended at the end of November, which means that even if she gets approval from USCIS, the permit could be expired by the time it arrives.

Most of the asylum-seekers in shelters may not have even started the process, as they wait to be connected with legal counsel, Greenslade said. But the number of migrants in need of legal services surpasses existing nonprofit legal capacity, and most cannot pay for a private attorney, she said.

But as migrants wait for work permits, Chicago businesses want to hire them.

“Everybody’s short on workers right now,” said Brad Tietz, vice president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Migrants looking for work, he said, would be a welcome “pool of talent” to enter the area workforce.

There are upward of 1,800 open hotel jobs in the Chicago area, according to Indeed.com. The hotel industry, which has struggled to fill positions after losing workers during the pandemic, has lobbied in Washington for a bill that would shorten the time migrants must wait for work permit eligibility to one month after they apply for asylum.

Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said the labor shortage is present across the hotel industry, but the need is particularly acute for culinary workers.

“When there’s a banquet for 1,000 people at one of our big hotels downtown, just imagine how many people are needed to service that meal,” he said. Most city hotels now pay over $23 an hour as a starting wage, Jacobson said.

“There are people who are living in hotels who have applied for asylum and they are not allowed to work in the hotel,” said Chirag Shah, executive vice president of the national hotel association. “In a lot of circumstances, the hotels have open jobs.”

Sam Sanchez, who owns Chicago bars and restaurants including Old Crow Smokehouse and Moe’s Cantina, said he exchanged phone numbers with migrants hoping to find work when he volunteered at a food distribution in the spring.

Sanchez, who also owns a construction company, said some migrants who were skilled plaster finishers pulled up images of their work to show him on their phones.

“I got their number, I can’t wait,” Sanchez said.

The restaurant industry, like the hotel industry, took a beating during the pandemic and has struggled to fill jobs even as consumer demand has bounced back.

“A lot of people went to work construction, and they never came back,” Sanchez said. “People just moved on.”

Sanchez, who is also chair of governmental relations for the Illinois Restaurant Association, referenced the funding Chicago has allocated to help migrants. In May, the City Council approved $51 million for spending on migrant care, which mostly covered the expenses of agencies contracted to run city-run shelters, according to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas.

“If we would allow them to have work visas, the city of Chicago would not be spending that kind of money,” Sanchez said. “Allowing them to come in and not allowing them to work becomes a burden on the city, the state and the federal government. They don’t want to be a burden. They want to work. And we need workforce.”

Brayan Lozano, an asylum-seeker from Colombia, echoes the leaders’ plea. He’s been in the city for nearly three months. With the help of volunteers, he has found an apartment to rent, which he pays for with money he earns as a self-employed contractor.

“We come here to work, we want to contribute to society at the same time that we help our families,” Lozano said in Spanish.

“We don’t want to be a burden to the government,” he said.

Shelly Ruzicka, a workers’ rights advocate with Arise Chicago, said it is important for migrants to know they have the same rights as any other workers, regardless of their immigration status, whether working in factories, for companies or as day laborers.

Ruzicka urges migrants to keep written documents of the work agreement, including pay, type of labor and work. But even after submitting a complaint, getting their money back from wage theft does not happen immediately, if at all.

In his native country, Lozano worked as a social worker and human rights organizer, he said, which is why he sought asylum. In Chicago, he is also a key member of the volunteer network in the South Loop, looking out for fellow migrants and connecting them with resources.

He said he often communicates the possible negative consequences of working illegally, but also watches after those who take a job. Most share their locations with him, and he accompanies them to inspect the space. If he suspects exploitation or wage theft, he informs the volunteers and asks for guidance.

When the volunteer group learns of someone experiencing wage theft, they first talk to the employer and attempt to get their money. Other times, the only thing they can do is warn other migrants of the employers that could potentially exploit them.

Unfortunately, Livings said, “there is little to nothing we can do for them.”

WAGE THEFT

Hamas unable to pay salaries in Gaza after Qatari aid delay, officials say





Sun, July 16, 2023 
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers have been unable to pay salaries for 50,000 public sector workers, with officials in part blaming a delay in a monthly payroll grant from Qatar, a crucial aid donor to the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

The salary crisis has sparked an unusual amount of criticism on social media in Gaza, including by some of Hamas' own employees. A drop in tax revenue and a jump in spending has made the situation even more difficult.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents live in poverty, and the economy is dependent on foreign aid. Qatar has paid hundreds of millions of dollars since 2014 for construction projects. It currently pays $30 million per month in stipends for families, fuel for electricity, and to help pay public sector wages.

Hamas officials say no salary aid has been received since just over half of a $5-million grant to support the May payroll. The reason for the delay was not clear.

In Doha, Qatar’s International Media Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The government is going through a stifling and escalating financial crisis, with a continuous increase in the deficit month after month, which led to the delay of salaries this month," Awni Al-Basha, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister, told Hamas Aqsa radio.

"We are making significant efforts to pay the salaries, and we hope to do so at the end of this week," he said.

Monthly payroll costs Hamas 125 million shekels ($34.5 million) per month, said Basha.

On Sunday, Salama Marouf, chairman of the Hamas government media office, said there has also been an increase in spending, particularly for the ministry of health and repayment of bank debts. He called on Qatar to increase the salary grant to $7 million.

Gaza has been under an Israel-Egyptian blockade since 2007 when Hamas, which opposes peace with Israel, took control. Public sector employees have not received full salaries since 2013.

"With 60% (of salaries) we used to meet the basics of our needs at home. What happens when the salary is completely cut off?" said Mahmoud Al-Farra, an employee at the Hamas government media office. "This a big disappointment."

Some took to social media, questioning whether the crisis was authentic.

"Where are the taxes they collect and the grants that enter Gaza go?" one resident posted on Facebook.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha; Reporting and writing by Nidal Almughrabi; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

How Tsingtao's IPO in Hong Kong turned on the tap for 30 years and US$1 trillion of Chinese offshore listings

South China Morning Post
Sat, July 15, 2023

Three decades ago today, a Chinese brewery founded by German settlers offered an unusual toast on the trading floor of the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Instead of the typical flutes of champagne for cheering stock debuts, Tsingtao Brewery handed out glass mugs filled with its namesake beer for guests to celebrate its HK$889 million (US$114 million) initial public offering (IPO), the very first offshore share sale by a China-domiciled company.

Hong Kong had never seen anything like this. The trading floor turned into "bedlam," as dozens of journalists, photographers and TV camera crew jostled with up to 100 regulators, company executives and government officials in a "melee," according to the Post's 1993 report on Tsingtao's debut.

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The IPO was a success, with investors outbidding the number of available shares by more than 110 times, lifting Tsingtao's stock price by 29 per cent on debut day. The triumph paved the way for China's subsequent financial reforms in the following decades, using Hong Kong as the stepping stone in each critical step of the capital market's growth.


Guests at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after the successful listing of Tsingtao Brewery on July 15, 1993. Photo: SCMP alt=Guests at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after the successful listing of Tsingtao Brewery on July 15, 1993. Photo: SCMP>

Tsingtao's IPO "reflected the rapid development of the mainland's economy over the past 30 years, and the thriving growth of Hong Kong's financial market," said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International.

Designated with the stock code 168 - an auspicious number that rhymes with the homonyms for "continuous prosperity" - Tsingtao has done well in Hong Kong. The stock has risen 24-fold since its debut, from HK$2.80 to HK$71.25 on Friday, turning the brewery into a HK$127.76 billion behemoth.

If each of the dividends Tsingtao has paid out since 1993 were reinvested in the stock, the total return would be 42 times, according to Bloomberg's analytics. Put another way: HK$5,600 paid in 1993 for one board lot (2,000 shares) of Tsingtao would overflow to HK$117,440.

Tsingtao Brewery's listing on the cover of Business Post on Friday, July 16th, 1993. alt=Tsingtao Brewery's listing on the cover of Business Post on Friday, July 16th, 1993.>

It is not just Tsingtao and its investors that have had cause to raise a glass. Regulators, investment banks, industry professionals and the local markets have all benefited from so-called H-share listings over the past 30 years. Since Tsingtao's IPO, 389 such listings have raised a total of HK$2.08 trillion.

"H shares" originally referred to the Hong Kong-listed shares of mainland Chinese companies owned or backed by the state, though today it is often used to refer to any mainland firm trading on the city's stock exchange. The term "red chip" was used to denote overseas-incorporated firms with mainland-backed parent companies.

When red chips and private enterprises are included in the mix, more than 1,400 Chinese companies have raised HK$8.2 trillion in Hong Kong in the last 30 years, accounting for about two thirds of the total. They represent 80 per cent of market capitalisation and turnover today, according to stock exchange data.

Charles Lee Yeh-kwong, who hosted Tsingtao's listing ceremony in his capacity as stock exchange chairman at the time, was the mastermind who talked to then-Premier Zhu Rongji to raise the idea of Chinese companies listing their shares in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.

"It was Premier Zhu Rongji who chose the name H shares to represent Hong Kong," Lee told the Post. "We submitted a list of proposed names to him including W shares for world shares, and I shares for international shares. Premier Zhu chose H shares, as he considered that the best name to represent Hong Kong. And it is."


Workers stick labels on bottles of Tsingtao at a brewery in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, in August 2000. Photo: AFP alt=Workers stick labels on bottles of Tsingtao at a brewery in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, in August 2000. Photo: AFP>

Without H-share listings, Hong Kong would not have attained its current status as an international financial centre, Lee said in a briefing on Friday on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Tsingtao's listing.

"Hong Kong is among the top four IPO markets in the world in the past 14 years, mainly due to the listings of mainland companies," he said, adding that credit is due to Premier Zhu for insisting that H shares adopt international standards of disclosure and governance. "The listing reform forced all mainland firms to improve their management and disclosure. It is vital to the development of the Chinese economy."

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairwoman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, was among the regulators to usher in H-share listing when she was with the Securities and Futures Commission.

"H shares fuelled the growth aspirations of ambitious Chinese companies, helping them to raise funds and elevating their role and visibility on the international stage," Cha told the Post.

"They also cemented Hong Kong as the go-to market for international capital seeking opportunities in the region, allowing investors around the world to tap the incredible China growth story of the last three decades. I am honoured to have played a part in this journey."

Tsingtao Brewery was established by German and British merchants in Qingdao, Shandong province, in 1903 as Germania-Brauerei Tsingtao - when the penultimate emperor Guangxu was still on the throne.

Its former company secretary, Lucy Yuen Lu, who handled the listing, said the brewer's reputation as a well-known international brand helped it to become the first to list in Hong Kong.

"The Hong Kong and mainland regulators wanted the first China company listing in Hong Kong to be successful. And it was. We had a 110-times oversubscription," she said in an interview with the Post in 2007.

Teresa Ko, Hong Kong and China chairman of law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has been involved in many H-share listings. She recalled the challenges of the early days.

"Many mainland executives had no concept of due diligence but they were very helpful with our verification exercise and lined themselves up with supporting documents to show to us," she said.

"Back in those days, there were no mobile phones - only one line that could make international calls on a black telephone locked in a box . The box was in a hotel room which was locked every night at 9pm and we had to queue to make a phone call."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

UK

NOT EVEN A RED TORY BUT A PINK ONE

SIR Keir Starmer  says he’s happy to be branded a ‘fiscal conservative’ as he refuses to commit to greater public spending

JEREMY CORBIN THOU SHALL BE AVENGED

Adam Forrest
Sun, July 16, 2023 

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is happy to be branded a “fiscal conservative” as he repeatedly refused to commit to greater spending on the NHS and other public services.

The Labour leader was called “delusional” by the Labour left – but Sir Keir insisted that he did not mind “ruffling feathers” and argued that his party could not win power by offering reckless spending pledges.

Sir Keir is also facing a row over his party’s benefits policy, after he revealed that a Labour government would keep the controversial two-child cap on benefits devised by austerity architect George Osborne.

His shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth had signalled an end to the two-child benefit cap only last month, calling the policy “heinous” and arguing that it was “absolutely keeping children in poverty”.

But asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg if he would scrap the cap, which means support is only provided for the first two children in a family, Sir Keir said: “We’re not changing that policy.”

The Labour leader repeatedly refused to say whether his party would spend more on public services in government, stating only that “a Labour government always will invest in our public services. The way to invest in our public services is to grow our economy.”

Urging “reform” of the NHS rather than committing to providing it with more money, Sir Keir said: “If all we do is simply patch up and keep going, then we won’t fix the fundamentals, and that’s why reform is so important.”

Asked if he was happy to be known as a “fiscal conservative”, Sir Keir said: “I don’t mind what label people put on me.”

Sir Keir is thought to want a Labour government to follow the Tories’ tax and public spending levels until growth returns to Britain’s juddering economy.

The Labour leader has acknowledged frustration with his plan for fiscal restraint. “Taking seriously the foundations of economic responsibility may not set people’s pulses racing – but the new country we can build on top of them will do,” Sir Keir wrote in The Observer.

Keir Starmer is under pressure to spend more on public services (PA Wire)

Andrew Fisher, who was policy chief for Jeremy Corbyn when he was leader of the party, said it was “delusional” to refuse to commit to extra spending on the NHS and public services. “Reforms are necessary, but they’re not an alternative to spending more,” he tweeted.

Mick Lynch, the firebrand leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said people cannot “spot the difference” between Labour and the Tories. “He’s got to show that he’s on the side of working people,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

“Keir Starmer and his team have got to show some clear water, some red water, between themselves and the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, and themselves and the Conservatives.”

The left-wing campaign group Momentum said Sir Keir was “siding with the Daily Mail” when it comes to the “cruel” two-child benefit cap, and called for “real investment” in public services and infrastructure.

But Sir Keir took on his critics on economic policy. “Frankly, the left has to start caring a lot more about growth, about creating wealth, attracting inward investment and kickstarting a spirit of enterprise,” he said – calling it “the only show in town”.

Keir Starmer with Keir Mather, the Labour candidate in next week’s Selby by-election (Getty)

Grilled on deselections, suspensions, and the blocking of left-wing candidates – including the North of Tyne mayor, Jamie Driscoll – Sir Keir said he “rejects” the idea that he is ditching people and policies.

Asked by Laura Kuenssberg if he is happy to “ruffle feathers” in order to win power, Sir Keir said: “Of course” – before suggesting that he would be happy with even a one-seat Labour majority in 2024.

“The biggest danger is complacency,” he said on the chances of a Labour government. “I remind myself every day ... that to get from where we landed in 2019 to a one-seat majority at the next election will be a bigger swing than Tony Blair got in 1997.”

Deputy leader Angela Rayner said a Labour government will not nationalise industries if it will cost “a load of money” to do so. She told The Observer: “With the rail companies, we have said that once their contracts are up we’d bring them back into public ownership, and that’s a way of doing it. It’s pragmatism, not ideology. It’s about asking, ‘Will it improve people’s lives?’”

Asked about Sir Keir’s treatment of figures on the left of the party, she insisted that Labour needs to remain a broad church. “It has to be, because it’s not just about the party, it’s about voters,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir wouldn’t say if he would keep negotiating on current public-sector pay disputes, describing it as “the government’s mess” in his BBC interview. He also refused to put an “arbitrary” target on housebuilding – saying only that he wants to see “hundreds of thousands more houses” built.

Sir Keir did not rule out changing the Bank of England’s 2 per cent inflation target under a Labour government. Asked if he would look at changing the target, he said: “That’s something, I think, for us to address closer to the election.”

Starmer Faces UK Labour Backlash Over Bid for Fiscal Restraint



Alex Wickham
Mon, July 17, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- UK opposition leader Keir Starmer faced criticism from across his own Labour party over a pledge to keep a controversial limit on child benefits brought in by the governing Conservatives.

Four Labour mayors, including London’s Sadiq Khan, are opposing Starmer’s announcement that he would keep the two-child cap on benefits, according to people familiar with their thinking. They add to several members of Starmer’s top team who strongly criticized the Tory policy before their own leader’s reversal on the matter.

The push-back highlights the tricky balance Starmer is trying to strike as he bids to lead Labour back to power after more than 13 years in opposition. The Labour leadership is seeking to convince voters that the party will not be reckless with public spending if it wins a general election due by January 2025. But that comes at the price of abandoning previous Labour promises of largess and riling both the party’s members and its traditional supporters.

The Child Poverty Action Group charity estimates that scrapping the current Conservative policy that prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for their third child would cost the exchequer some £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) a year — while lifting 250,000 children out of poverty and benefiting another 850,000 children still in poverty. But Starmer told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that Labour was “not changing that policy” if it gets into power.

Traditionally, the Conservative Party has sought to portray Labour as reckless with the public finances during election campaigns, a charge Starmer is determined to counter. But that also risks alienating his own party.

Khan, along with Liverpool City Mayor Steve Rotheram, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol, all think the cap should be scrapped, the people familiar said.

The backlash extends further than that, from lawmakers who are concerned that Labour’s focus on fiscal restraint means they are not offering voters enough hope or change from the status quo.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told the Daily Record newspaper Monday that his regional party will “continue to oppose the two child limit.” Meanwhile, Rosie Duffield, a Member of Parliament on the right of the party, and Zarah Sultana, a left-wing MP, both opposed Starmer’s position on Twitter.

Several members of Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet, including Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, and Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, have previously strongly condemned the two-child cap.

Separately, Jamie Driscoll, another regional mayor who is also on the left of the party, resigned from Labour on Monday after he was blocked from standing for the party.

--With assistance from Kitty Donaldson and Emily Ashton.

70% of UK's most popular domestic flights 'are faster and cheaper by train'


Ellen Manning
Sun, July 16, 2023 

Some of the most popular domestic flights in the UK could be completed quicker, cheaper and more environmentally friendly by train, a new report has found. (Stock image: Getty)

Most of the nation’s most popular domestic flights and some short-haul European destinations could be completed cheaper and faster by train, according to a new report.

Of the 23 most popular flights to UK and Europe destinations, 70 per cent were faster by rail and 57 per cent were cheaper or the same price, research by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) found.

On top of the time and money savings, switching just a quarter of those domestic flights for rail journeys would save 171,377 tonnes of carbon emissions - equivalent to taking 117,900 cars off the road, researchers found, while switching half of the flights would equate to taking 283,000 cars off the road.

Public transport lobby the CBT is calling for airlines to provide "realistic travelling times" for domestic flights as part of its Fewer Flights Charter aimed at reducing aviation’s carbon emissions.

The CBT is calling for various measures to encourage people to travel by train and to reduce flights. (Stock image: Getty)

Its research showed that flying from London Heathrow to Edinburgh costs between £60 and £300 by air versus £24.90 to £145.70 by rail.

Accounting for travel and processing time in the station or airport, taking the train to the Scottish capital would be 20 minutes quicker than via plane, it found, while the carbon emission for the flight per passenger was 132.35kg versus 14.53kg by train.

Read more: How the pay rise for public sector workers compares to people in the private sector

It took less than half the time of a flight to catch a train from Heathrow to Manchester - at two hours and six minutes versus four hours 30 minutes, while each rail passenger would emit 54.94kg less carbon emissions, at just 7.02kg.

In addition, travelling from the same airport to Brussels would take four hours 35 minutes by air but just one hour 53 by rail, with carbon emissions at 54.04kg versus 1.57kg.

The CBT is calling for airlines to publish 'realistic' travel times. (Stock image: Getty)

Silviya Barrett, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Travelling by rail within the UK and to the near continent is much more environmentally friendly than flying but also, as our report proves, in many cases cheaper, faster and more economically productive. Yet people simply aren’t aware that this is the case.

"To help incentivise train travel more and reduce carbon emissions from transport, we need to see government policies which ensure rail is always the easier and cheaper option so that more people can choose the train over the plane."

The CBT's report, ‘Plane speaking: moving from journeys from air to rail’ calls for a reduction on the number of flights to cut aviation emissions.

The group’s ten-point manifesto calls on government to require airlines to give passengers realistic travelling times for domestic flights, and force them to publish carbon emissions for domestic flights and the equivalent rail option.

They also want airlines to offer free rail tickets to the airport for passengers taking international flights, to introduce a domestic flight reduction target, set up a tax on domestic aviation fuel, and reverse the cut in Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights.

On top of that, the CBT is calling for a new rate of Air Passenger Duty for all private jet passengers, and for VAT to be applied every private jet flight, as well as penalties for airlines flying empty aircraft unnecessarily, as well as investment in more railway lines and stations and improvements to fares and ticketing.

War, Debt Distress, Inflation: G-20 Finance Chiefs Spar in India

Ruchi Bhatia
Fri, July 14, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- The finance and central bank chiefs of the world’s largest economies will debate the risks of Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine and yet another shift to resuming interest rate hikes in meetings next week in Gandhinagar, India.

The discussions among the Group of 20 nations come as the war drags on for nearly 17 months, slowing the global economy and keeping policymakers on edge over resurgent inflation and stuttering growth. G-20 chiefs are also examining regulations for cryptocurrencies and ways to access more climate financing.

There will be demands on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to shore up their balance sheets and address the impact of climate change and future pandemics. The G-20 meetings will build on discussions in Paris last month involving 40 world leaders who made commitments for easier access to cash for poorer countries facing debt stress.

Here are the major themes at play for the key meetings next Monday and Tuesday:

War Language

As the G-20 president this year, India struggled to get countries to agree to language around the war and is trying to achieve a chair summary at the end of next week’s meetings. That’s a tall order given India failed to secure a statement in the last finance ministers’ meeting in April.

China and Russia had objected to language describing the conflict even as Western leaders condemned Moscow and pledged further support for Ukraine. It’s expected it will remain tough for India to negotiate language that is palatable to all the G-20 members ahead of the leaders’ summit in September.

“On all items in core agenda, common ground was found, except for the impact of war between Russia and Ukraine on the world economy,” India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said on Thursday.

Interest Rate Conundrum

Global monetary policymakers are increasingly diverging on policy stances, particularly when it comes to inflation. While elevated price gains are keeping US and European central banks in tightening mode, the prospect of deflation is compelling China to consider further easing.

Central bankers will also discuss threats posed by the banking sector turmoil that shook investors worldwide earlier this year. The failure of two mid-sized US lenders and a near-collapse of European banking giant Credit Suisse Group raised fears of a contagion, complicating the growth trajectory for the world that’s also dealing with the after-effects of the war in Europe.

Multilateral Reforms

An overhaul of the World Bank and the IMF will be on the table with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen leading the charge. She has urged the development lenders to work harder to mobilize private capital as global challenges mount.

An expert panel headed by economists Lawrence Summers and NK Singh suggested both lenders ramp up annual loans to developing countries while tapping sovereign donors and the private sector for further funds, according to people familiar with the matter.

The panel has also advocated boosting market-linked financing to $300 billion annually by 2030, they said. In comparison, the volume of financing resources committed by multilateral organization stood at $162 billion in 2016, according to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development report.

A spokesperson for India’s finance ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The G-20 countries are also exploring ways for the lenders to deliver loans with special provisions to protect developing nations from climate risk.

Debt Distress

The proportion of countries in debt distress, or at high risk of one, has doubled to 60% from 2015 levels, according to International Monetary Fund data. However, there are tentative signs of debt breakthroughs.

Countries like Zambia, which has been waiting for debt resolution for years, secured a deal with official creditors, including China under the G-20’s Common Framework.

The development could lead the way for other nations such as Ghana, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia, which are locked in negotiations with creditors and bondholders to restructure debt.

Crypto Regulations

Bankrupt FTX Trading Ltd. and other high-profile failures in crypto-asset markets over the past year have pushed regulators including the Financial Stability Board and the IMF to find ways to implement global standards.

“We must avoid a globally fragmented system of regulation that would allow crypto-asset activities to flow to the areas where regulation is less stringent,” said FSB Chair Klaas Knot in a letter to G-20 Finance Ministers ahead of the meeting. “This will require a further strengthening of cross-border cooperation and information sharing.”

Digital currencies issued by central banks are gaining more traction as global trade expands after the pandemic.

More than half of the world’s central banks are exploring or developing digital currencies, according to the IMF. India’s Central Bank Digital Currency has 1.3 million customers since its launch and is aiming for a million transactions a day by end-2023.

--With assistance from Erica Yokoyama, Michelle Jamrisko and Anup Roy.

Bloomberg Businessweek