Thousands of California scientists strike over stalled contract talks


November 15, 2023 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of scientists who work for California began a rolling three-day strike Wednesday — the first walkout by a state civil service union.

Members of the California Association of Professional Scientists marched under cloudy skies in Sacramento to protest lack of progress in contract talks. The walkout will spread to Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities on Thursday and Friday.

The union represents about 5,200 members who work in more than 50 state departments and deal with issues ranging from air pollution and toxic waste control to earthquake hazards and agricultural pests, according to its website.

Members have been without a contract since 2020 despite bargaining and mediation. The membership rejected a tentative agreement earlier this year. Another state mediation session is planned for Nov. 28.

It is the first time that state workers have struck since civil servants won collective bargaining rights in 1977, The Sacramento Bee reported.

“Nobody wants to be on strike, and nobody wants to be the first,” the union's president, Jacqueline Tkac, told the Bee. “But it feels really inspiring to know that we have people that are so fired up about our situation that they’re willing to go out on strike for the first time and take that risk.”

Last week, the California Department of Human Resources filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the union in an attempt to prevent the strike.

On Wednesday, the department said it was disappointed by the strike and that the state continues to bargain “in good faith.”

The state “will continue to work with CAPS to achieve a fair successor agreement as we have with other bargaining units,” department spokesperson Camille Travis said in an email.

The union's main concern is higher wages. It says state scientists are paid 40% to 60% less than “comparable positions who have the same level of responsibility and do similar or identical work.”

Global decline in male fertility linked to common pesticides

EVAN BUSH
November 15, 2023 

Getty Images / Westend61

A prolonged decline in male fertility in the form of sperm concentrations appears to be connected to the use of pesticides, according to a study published Nov. 15.

Researchers compiled, rated and reviewed the results of 25 studies of certain pesticides and male fertility and found that men who had been exposed to certain classes of pesticides had significantly lower sperm concentrations. The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, included data from more than 1,700 men and spanned several decades.

“No matter how we looked at the analysis and results, we saw a persistent association between increasing levels of insecticide and decreases in sperm concentration,” said study author Melissa Perry, who is an environmental epidemiologist and the dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University. “I would hope this study would get the attention of regulators seeking to make decisions to keep the public safe from inadvertent, unplanned impacts of insecticides.”

For decades, scientists have been trying to untangle puzzling questions over male fertility. Sperm concentrations are one of several factors that are a useful indicator. A report last year found that sperm counts were falling in every region of the globe and the pace of that decline was accelerating.

“There’s been some pretty, I’d say, convincing and sort of scary data on measures of male fertility over the previous 50-70 years, whatever it might be, from different places around the world suggesting sperm concentration is on decline and not just a little bit,” said John Meeker, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health who was not involved in either of the recent studies. “It’s concerning.”

Scientists have long suspected changes to the environment could be contributing, and they’ve been probing the role of pesticides for decades in studies of animals and in human epidemiology research.

The new analysis focuses on two groups of chemicals — organophosphates and some carbamates — that are commonly used in insecticides. The researchers looked at data collected from groups of people with exposures to pesticides and others who were not. Most, but not all, of the research centered on exposures in the workplace. The researchers controlled for outside factors that could contribute to lower sperm counts like smoking and age.

“It was very well done, very carefully done, very comprehensive,” Meeker said.

Perry said researchers aren’t sure how pesticides are affecting sperm concentrations and more research will be needed.

It’s likely that pesticides are one of many environmental factors that could be contributing to a decline in sperm concentrations.

“The more you study something, the more complicated it seems to get, especially when it comes to biology and the human body,” Meeker said. “We’re slowly pointing out various chemicals or classes of chemicals we think could be harmful to something like reproductive health, but as far as a single smoking gun, I haven’t seen anything to that extent.”

The trend of sperm concentration declines has been widely observed in studies around the world, but it’s a complicated topic and some scientists still have reservations. Sperm are notoriously difficult to count and the technology to do so has changed over the years. There are many confounding factors that can affect male fertility, including age, obesity and opioid use, to name a few.

Sperm concentrations are one important data point to consider, but other factors — like how sperm are shaped and how they swim — are also critical to male fertility.

Perry said she hopes agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency begin to factor the impact of chemicals and pesticides on reproductive health in their assessments.

“Given the body of evidence and these consistent findings, it’s time to proactively reduce these insecticide exposures for men wanting to have families,” Perry said.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com

UK Sikhs feel uneasy and overlooked after Canada killing

James PHEBY
Tue, November 14, 2023 

Expatriate Sikhs are concerned about India's crackdown on the separatist Khalistan movement 

(Oli SCARFF)

Britain's Sikh population, whose ancestors first migrated from the Punjab more than a century ago, have long been admired as a model of integration and for maintaining a strong identity.

Lauded in their country of origin and beyond for their valour, industriousness and charity, Sikhs took those values to Britain, which during the country's imperial past praised them as a martial race.

They won accolades for standing up to rioters in London in 2011, for charity work during the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently for feeding the hungry during the cost-of-living crisis.


"We don't often complain," Jas Singh, adviser to the Sikh Federation UK, which represents some 500,000 Sikhs in the UK, told AFP at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, near Birmingham in central England.

But the tight-knit community is now appealing for help to address long-term issues such as racism and a lack of representation in politics and culture.

"We still need help just like everybody else," said Kulbinder Kaur Gakhal, an education administrator at the Smethwick gurdwara, one of the oldest and largest in Europe.

"The fact that we only have two Sikh MPs. Given our numbers, we should have maybe six or seven. Across the civil service, there's very low Sikh representation -- in the police, in education," added Jas Singh.

"This is a wall of discrimination that we face," he added.

Despite official figures showing a 169 percent rise in attacks on Sikhs in 2021/22, there is no approved definition for anti-Sikh hate crimes in the UK.

- Fresh worries -

A statue outside the gurdwara paying tribute to the many Sikhs who fought with the UK in the world wars is frequently vandalised, said Gakhal.

"They have security cameras and information that's led them to know who's done it. But the authorities aren't able to pinpoint, so it's a shame," she added.

But it is an Indian crackdown on the Khalistan movement, which wants an independent Sikh state in India, and its wider global fallout that has left many in the community particularly concerned.

New Delhi has banned the movement as a security threat and taken a particular interest in those close to Amritpal Singh, a firebrand Sikh leader who was arrested in April in India after a month-long manhunt.

In February, hundreds of his supporters, some carrying swords and guns, had pushed past barricades outside a police station near Amritsar, demanding the release of an aide held inside.

Protests were held around the world over the manhunt, including in London, where Avtar Singh Khanda -- a friend of Amritpal Singh -- was accused by Indian media of pulling down an Indian flag.

The 35-year-old activist, who was never named by UK police as a suspect, died on June 15 after suddenly falling ill with blood cancer.

His funeral at the Smethwick temple, which has pro-Khalistan flags flying outside, was attended by thousands.

- Shockwaves -

The announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September that there were "credible allegations" linking India to the killing of another pro-Khalistan activist in Toronto on June 18 sent shockwaves through the Sikh diaspora.

India strenuously denies any links, but the announcement prompted Khanda's family and friends to demand a coroner's inquest into his death.

"I don't know what investigation they did, but it would have only taken a few hours," Amit Singh, a volunteer at Smethwick-based Punjab broadcaster PBC, told AFP.

"The community feels that they definitely didn't take anything seriously. Until an investigation occurs, doubt will remain," added Singh, who was with Khanda shortly before he was taken to hospital.

The High Commission of India in London did not reply to an AFP request for comment on the case.

According to Jas Singh, more broadly there was now "a high level of apprehension and fear" among Britain's Sikhs, "especially those who travel back to India".

"There is extra security at the gurdwara. It's disappointing that the police and the authorities have not reached out to the community," he added.

He believes the UK government's desire to secure a trade deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has led them to ignore the community's concerns.

"Not only do we have their silence, but we also have them going the other way with (UK Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak announcing pro-Khalistan extremism as an issue.

"Sikhs have no arrests, no pending cases, no threat or risk to British interests," he added.

jwp/phz/fg/smw

India and Canada investigating ‘threat’ to Air India flights by Sikh separatist group
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Wed, November 15, 2023 



Indian and Canadian authorities were investigating alleged threats against Air India flights after a Sikh separatist leader warned against flying with the airline.

Ties between the two G20 nations plummeted to the lowest ever in September after Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of being involved in the killing of a Canadian national linked to the secessionist Khalistan movement.

The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – a designated terrorist in India – kicked off a diplomatic row between the nations and triggered multiple protests by separatist Sikh groups in Canada.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Canada-based separatist leader, released a video earlier this month where he repeated multiple threats of danger to those travelling by the Indian state carrier on 19 November.

“We are asking the Sikh people to not fly via Air India on 19 November. There will be a global blockade. Do not travel by Air India or your life will be in danger,” he said.

“It is my warning to the government of India,” added Mr Singh Pannun, who is also a designated terrorist in India.

Canadian transport minister Pablo Rodriguez in a social media post said the Trudeau administration "takes any threat to aviation extremely seriously".



"We are investigating recent threats circulating online closely and with our security partners. We will do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe," he added.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was reportedly working with its domestic and international partners as part of an investigation into the “threats” against the Air India flights.

The Canadian government had previously denounced an online hate video that was widely circulated during the initial days of the spat between the two countries.

Following the threats, authorities in India beefed up security at the capital New Delhi and neighbouring Punjab airports. All Air India passengers at Delhi and Punjab airports will be put through a “secondary ladder point check”, according to an order issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The process involves an extra round of frisking of passengers and checking their bags at the aerobridge as they enter the aircraft.

Additionally, a pre-existing security alert issued for the festive season in October for all civil aviation installations has been extended till 30 November.

New Delhi said it would take up the threat against Air India flights originating from and terminating in Canada with concerned Canadian authorities.

However, Mr Singh Pannun told The Guardian that the video "clearly states I’m asking the global Sikh community to boycott Air India and instead Sikhs should fly Air Canada and British Airways".

"Where is the threat? There is none."

In 1985 an Air India flight was bombed in a terrorist attack orchestrated by Khalistan leaders. The Air India flight 182 from Montreal exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 people on board.

"RCMP have every right to investigate a terror threat. And if they consider calls for boycott an act of civil disobedience, if that is terror, then so be it, let them investigate,” Mr Singh Pannun said.

“We are simply asking Sikhs not to make the decision to direct their money towards countries like India.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Ultrawealthy charities that are helping no one and report nothing cost U.S. taxpayers billions every year, report says

Irina Ivanova
Wed, November 15, 2023 

Getty Images

Americans sent half a trillion dollars to charity last year—a substantial chunk of money to pay for worthy causes left unaddressed by the government and corporations.

But a huge portion of that money isn’t going to food pantries or scientific research or even churches. Instead, the ultrawealthy, including many billionaires who have pledged to give away their technology or stock-market-fueled fortunes, are funneling their wealth through opaque financial instruments, where it can sit for years tax free without touching an actual charity, according to a new report from the progressive think tank Institute for Policy Studies.

“There's a fair amount of charitable dollars that are not being deployed, where the donors have already gotten a tax break,” Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality at IPS, told Fortune.

More than one-quarter of charitable giving in the U.S. last year went to donor-advised funds, or DAFs, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. DAFs are vehicles that give the donor an immediate tax deduction, but allow money to sit potentially for decades without being used for actual charitable work.

DAFs are the fastest-growing type of charitable investment, according to Fidelity. Among the ultrawealthy, they are the most popular, and many of the headline-grabbing billionaire donations in recent years have gone to DAFs.

In 2021, Bill Gates donated $15 billion; Elon Musk gave $5.7 billion, Jack Dorsey gave $700 million, and Mark Zuckerberg $700 million—but rather than individual charities, those donations all went to the donors’ DAFs or family foundations, IPS notes. Last year, more than two-thirds of the billionaires who signed the Giving Pledge, a nonbinding promise to give away the bulk of their wealth to charity in their lifetimes, gave either to donor-advised funds or their family foundations.
A donation in name only

Proponents of DAFs say that their structure encourages giving: The tax deduction encourages wealthy patrons to dedicate money for charity even before they’ve decided which cause to support. “Donors may have good reasons to postpone grants,” a Stanford Law School article says.. In one hypothetical, a tech founder who “sells a startup for millions of dollars” may want to donate her takings but is too busy to immediately decide how to direct the funds; a DAF is a good choice for this person, the law article notes.

However, while DAFs could in theory grow the charitable pie, in practice, they too often allow the donor the illusion of charity while letting them keep control of their funds, critics say.

While a gift to a DAF is treated the same as an outright gift to the Red Cross or United Way, in practice, it “effectively allows the donor to retain ongoing control over the charitable disposition and investment of the donated assets,” tax scholars Roger Colinvaux and Ray Madoff wrote in 2019. What’s more, “donors are under no obligation, and have no incentive, ever to release their advisory privileges to make the funds available for charitable use.”

And ultrawealthy donors get a substantially larger tax break than a middle-class worker. As much as 74 cents of every dollar given to charity comes back to the donor in the form of tax breaks, according to calculations by Colinvaux and Madoff, with the highest-earning donors getting the biggest benefits A person in the top tax bracket would save 37% of their federal income tax for every dollar they contribute with a charitable donation; a similar amount of state income tax; and, depending on what they donate and when, they can also avoid capital gains tax and estate tax. (By contrast, a typical worker who makes about $60,000 and doesn’t own stocks would save 22% from their cash contribution, in addition to any state tax savings.)

What’s more, because there's no way to track donations from particular DAF accounts, they act as a form of “dark money,” allowing donors to give vast sums, essentially anonymously, to a range of potentially unsavory organizations, including nonprofits that advocate for specific political causes or organizations classified as hate groups, IPS says.

“This allows DAFs to be used to hide transfers — similar to the way the ultra-wealthy use multiple shell companies to hide the movement of money among offshore accounts,” IPS writes.

All of these strategies are completely legal, the IPS notes, as are other potentially questionable tactics used by family foundations—such as paying family members to serve as foundation trustees or act as executives of foundations, sometimes at salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. However, the IPS argues, they erode public trust in charities and the tax system overall.

“The fact that billionaires opt out of paying taxes, have these closely held family foundations and get to play God about where the money goes, that’s private power — unaccountable private power,” Collins said.

“At this point philanthropy is at risk of becoming taxpayer-subsidized private power.”
Big tax losses

Estimates of how much the tax system loses to all kinds of charitable deductions are inevitably low, since only some philanthropic transactions are tracked, IPS notes. Still, it estimates that taxpayers’ losses are in the billions.

Last year, the corporate and personal charitable tax deductions directly cost the U.S. $73 billion, IPS said—substantially more than the budget of the Department of Energy or Department of Labor. If accounting for the gains in investments made by charities themselves, which are also tax-exempt, the losses exceed $110 billion. And they go into the hundreds of billions when estimating the cost of donations of special assets, like stock, real estate. or art.

“We the taxpayers are chipping in quite a bit in the lost revenue,” Collins said. Given the size of this public subsidy to ostensibly charitable causes, Collins argues that taxpayers deserve more transparency from increasingly popular vehicles like DAFs, as well as stricter laws to make sure their activities are, actually, charitable.

IPS is advocating to change the tax laws including requiring that DAFs spend a certain amount of money every year, like private foundations must do, and increase their reporting, as well as closing loopholes that let foundations transfer funds to DAFs.

“They're being marketed as a ‘you can have it all’ donation instrument,” Collins says. “Give the money, you can still control the investing side, you get a tax break — and there's a secrecy element.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

GOLD BUGS

Hong Kong Ousts Dubai as Biggest Hub for Russian Gold Trade

Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper and Eddie Spence
Wed, November 15, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Shut out of London following the invasion of Ukraine, Russian gold trading switched to Dubai. Now it’s shifting again, to the bullion hub of Hong Kong.

The city has long been a key conduit for bullion entering the Chinese mainland — the world’s biggest consumer market — but since April, Russian shipments surged. Hong Kong imported 68 tons of Russian gold this year, four times as much as the whole of 2022.

The shift to Hong Kong was driven by US sanctions on Russia’s top gold miners, as well as a crackdown by the United Arab Emirates on illicit activities in its bullion market, according to people familiar with the matter. The move east underlines the challenge faced by the West in curbing resource flows that fund the Kremlin’s war machine.

Before the invasion of Ukraine, almost all the gold exported from Russia — the world’s second-largest miner — was shipped to vaults in London, the center of the global bullion trade. But the Kremlin’s attack made Russian gold taboo in the mainstream industry, even before a formal ban blocked imports to the Group of Seven Nations and European Union.

When Russian gold was locked out of London, Dubai — a key transit hub for bullion being shipped to Middle East and Asian markets — was the initial beneficiary. The UAE maintained its neutral stance this year, refusing to take formal measures against Russian gold despite lobbying by the US and UK, people familiar with the discussions said.

Russia shipped 96.4 tons of bullion to the UAE in 2022, making it the country’s largest supplier. That was more than five times the volume exported through Hong Kong.

While there’s still no UAE ban on importing Russian gold, volumes have fallen significantly. That’s partly due to regulatory clean-up, after the Middle East nation was added to a watch-list by the Financial Action Task Force, a global money laundering watchdog.

Bank transfers in the UAE have been subjected to increased oversight, while cash payments are monitored through a mandatory government database, which has made paying Russian exporters more difficult, people familiar with the matter said. US sanctions in May on Russia’s biggest gold miners — Polyus JSC and the local unit of Polymetal International Plc — also had a chilling effect as UAE traders and banks are more reluctant to deal with designated entities, the people said.

Some Dubai-based gold buyers began rerouting shipments to Hong Kong, according to preliminary data from trade-tracking firm ImportGenius, based on Russian customs figures for the six months through August.

Other UAE firms pulled back altogether. State-owned logistics firm Transguard, which is part of airline Emirates Group, said in May it had stopped transporting Russian gold.

“The UAE operates with clear and robust processes against illicit goods, money laundering and sanctioned entities, and implements the highest international governance standards across the gold trade,” the government-chaired Gold Bullion Committee wrote in a statement to Bloomberg. The UAE will continue to trade “in compliance with all current international norms as set down by the United Nations.”

Last Wednesday, the UK issued a fresh round of sanctions on companies linked to the Russian gold trade, including Dubai-based Paloma Precious DMCC, which it said had imported $300 million from the country. The firm was formerly the shareholder of Emirates Gold DMCC, the refinery suspended from the UAE’s accredited list due to concerns about its ownership.

At the same time, China has made it clear that it wants to boost trade with Russia, underscoring the close ties between the nations’ leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has provided diplomatic and economic support to Moscow that has helped blunt the effects of Western sanctions, while China is now the largest importer of fossil fuels from Russia.

VPower Finance Security (Hong Kong) Ltd., which moves cash and precious metals for some of China’s biggest financial institutions, is a key player in handling newly imported gold from Russia, data from ImportGenius shows. VPower did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The shift to Hong Kong was also helped by a surge in Chinese gold prices above international ones in September. That drew bullion into the country, creating profitable arbitrage opportunities for banks with import licenses.

(Updates with government statement in 11th paragraph. An earlier version corrected attribution of the statement)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Mining giant Glencore snubs London with $7bn coal deal listing

Matt Oliver
Tue, November 14, 2023 

Gary Nagle, chief executive of Glencore, believes its new business will get a better valuation in the US - Jose Cendon/Bloomberg

Glencore has become the latest company to snub the London Stock Exchange after confirming proposals to spin off and list its coal business in New York.

The FTSE 100 mining giant has announced it will acquire a majority stake in the steelmaking coal business of Canada-based Teck Resources for $6.9bn (£5.5bn), bringing to a close months of tense negotiations.

It sets the stage for a break-up of Glencore, which is proposing to split off the newly combined coal businesses into a standalone entity.

The demerger is expected to happen within 24 months of the Teck deal closing, assuming it is approved by shareholders.

But in a blow to the City, bosses on Tuesday reiterated plans to list the combined coal business in New York rather than London – with secondary listings also going elsewhere, to Toronto and Johannesburg.

The remaining Glencore group, which will focus on the “transition metals” used in electric cars and other green technologies, will remain listed in London.

Glencore proposed a New York listing for the coal business because of the large pools of capital available and a “pragmatism” among American investors who are more willing to invest in fossil fuels, a source close to the company said.

Gary Nagle, Glencore’s boss, has previously complained that European investors are overly focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures as opposed to profits.

On Tuesday, he said there was a strong appetite in North American markets for a coal business, adding: “We believe we would get a better valuation for this business in New York than we would in London.”

Glencore expects the Teck deal to close in the third quarter of 2024, paving the way for a listing of the coal business by the second half of 2026.

The proposal to list in New York comes amid concerns in London about an exodus of companies going abroad or being taken private.

Earlier this year, Cambridge-based chip designer Arm also snubbed the London Stock Exchange when it decided to list its shares in New York, despite heavy lobbying by the UK Government.

It came after Aveva, the industrial software business, was delisted by French parent Schneider, of France and cyber security company Avast was bought by US-based NortonLifeLock.

Australian mining giant BHP was also among those to delist from London in 2022, with the company choosing to centralise in Australia instead.

This year, research by City broker Peel Hunt has found the London market is expected to lose up to 30 businesses worth more than £100m, amid yet more takeovers and delistings.

Glencore Wins Teck Coal Unit, Paving Way for Its Own Split

Thomas Biesheuvel and Jacob Lorinc
Tue, November 14, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Glencore Plc will buy a majority stake in Teck Resources Ltd.’s coal business, ending a months-long saga that transfixed the mining industry and setting the stage for the commodity giant to exit the coal business itself.

The two companies have spent much of the year in a bitter public fight after Teck rejected an unsolicited $23 billion offer from Glencore, which proposed creating two new metals- and coal-focused companies. The Glencore offer, while unsuccessful, was enough to disrupt an earlier plan by Teck to spin off its coal business.

For Glencore and its relatively new chief executive officer, Gary Nagle, the deal represents a company defining moment that will pave the way for an exit from its hugely profitable but polluting thermal coal business and leave it focused on metals needed for the energy transition. Glencore intends to put the combined coal operations into a new company listed on the New York Stock Exchange within two years of the acquisition closing, Nagle said.

“I don’t think this is a second prize,” Nagle said on a conference call. “We’ve done very well acquiring an excellent asset.”

For Teck, the deal finally ends its struggle to find a solution for its mines that produce steelmaking coal after years of studying various options, while securing the cash it needs to fund its metals business.

Teck shares rose 2.7% as of 9:37 a.m. in Toronto, while Glencore rose 4% in London.

In the deal announced Tuesday, Glencore will pay $6.93 billion for a 77% stake in Teck’s business, while steelmakers Nippon Steel Corp. and Posco, which currently own minority stakes in Teck coal mines, will hold the rest. Glencore said it also expects to pay $250 million to $300 million to acquire a shareholder loan made by Teck to the coal business. The Glencore deal, which requires Canadian government approval, implies an enterprise value of $9 billion for Teck’s coal business.

The fight over Teck has highlighted the challenges facing miners with large coal operations — the businesses are big profit drivers for both companies, but many investors are increasingly reluctant to hold exposure to the polluting fossil fuel.

Before the Teck proposal became public, Glencore had previously said it would continue running its mines until they were depleted, even as many of its rivals pulled out of the thermal coal business. Assuming Glencore’s plans to split out the business proceed, its remaining operations — like Teck’s — will be focused on metals such as copper and zinc.

Glencore’s successful coal bid is an ironic end to the acrimonious saga, after Teck and its controlling shareholder, Norman Keevil, pointedly attacked the Swiss company’s track record in rejecting its earlier takeover proposal. The deal will ensure “continued socially and environmentally responsible steelmaking coal operations and enhanced benefits for Canada,” Teck said on Tuesday.

Nippon Steel, which currently owns 2.5% in some of Teck’s coal assets, will convert the ownership and put in additional cash to take a 20% stake in the business, while Posco will convert its ownership stake in Teck mines to a 3% holding in the business.

Teck, which will now have no exposure to the coal business, said it will use the proceeds to pay off debts, build new metal mines and return some to shareholders.

Best Value

“We were able to achieve what we saw as the best value for this transaction as well as a clean separation,” said Teck CEO Jonathan Price. “The valuation for this transaction was clearly superior.”

The deal caps a difficult year for the Canadian miner. Alongside the bruising takeover battle with Glencore, it has also faced a cost blowout at its flagship new copper mine in Chile which was originally the main lure for Glencore. The company must now reassure shareholders that it can use the coal sale proceeds to build new copper mines on time and on budget.

The Glencore deal won’t require a vote by Teck’s shareholders, unlike the earlier spinoff plan that was abandoned after it failed to win enough support.

The separation of the coal business may also make Teck a target for some of the industry’s biggest names, who are keen to add more exposure to copper. Teck said Tuesday that Glencore had agreed to a two-year standstill from the time of closing, which would prevent it making a further unsolicited takeover bid.

The deal will need to be approved by the Canadian government, which has been increasingly focused on protecting the country’s natural resources. The fight over Glencore’s initial takeover offer drew the attention of federal and regional government officials.

 Bloomberg Businessweek

Glencore coal deal shows power of fossil fuels - even on their way out

Tue, November 14, 2023 
By Clara Denina and Pratima Desai

LONDON (Reuters) -Glencore's deal to buy Teck Resources' steelmaking coal unit shows how cheap fossil fuels can be a lucrative option for companies - for a decade or two at least - even as they are phased out in favour of renewable energy.

Western companies may be loathe to search for new sources of coal or build new mines, but investors say coal still has a powerful role to play in the coming years since it can be used to feed the needs of the global shift to cleaner energy. Demand for coal - driven by Asia - remains strong, lifting prices.

Coking coal is emerging as a top option for companies to make a foray into, as it is used to make steel, an important component in large infrastructure and renewable projects.

The world's largest miner BHP, for example, also decided this year to hold on to its higher-quality coking coal assets, after a 2020 review of its wider coal portfolio prompted the sale of some mines.

By buying Teck's coking coal business, Glencore will create a coal powerhouse that analysts say should generate between $5 billion and $6 billion a year in free cash flow. The company is already one of the world's biggest listed producers of thermal coal, with an output of around 110 million tonnes a year, and also has its own coking coal assets.

Among the most polluting fossil fuels, thermal coal is used to produce electricity and is being phased out as part of a global transition to clean energy sources.

Glencore CEO Gary Nagle reiterated the company's commitment to phasing out its thermal coal assets over time, but said he believes demand for both thermal and coking coal will continue to be strong for years to come.

Mining investors agree.

"The world economy benefits from cheap energy. However you are going to get that energy: coal, natural gas...that cheap carbon energy helps to build economically viable renewable energy, otherwise renewable energy starts to look expensive," said Ian Woodley, portfolio manager at Old Mutual.

"With a reasonable lifespan, up to 30 years, (these companies) are saying they are not going to go through a major exploration drive or build new mines, but will be investing for safe and productive production, and then harvesting these assets for cash with everything going back to shareholders, it is going to be a big capital return story," he added.

COKING COAL PRICES SURGE

As Western banks and insurers stand by pledges to restrict lending and insurance coverage to the sector over climate change concerns, expansion of coal mines is unlikely.

Still, global demand for coal reached an all-time high of 8.3 billion tonnes in 2022, half of which came from China, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Coking coal prices rose this year to above $300 a tonne due to tight supply and optimism that the global economy will avoid a deep recession.

Thermal coal prices stand at around $120 a tonne, after surging to a record high above $400 last year as countries desperately sought alternatives to Russian gas after the start of the war in Ukraine.

"Asia is not going to stop burning coal any time," said an investor at a natural resources fund, adding that the company will find a way to make money off the assets even after they are spun off.

Glencore said it would spin off the combined coking coal and thermal coal assets within two years of the deal's closing and eventually list those assets in New York, with secondary listings in Toronto and Johannesburg.

"Coking coal is unique so it won't go away... Teck has been one of our most profitable investments," said Peter Letko, co-founder of investment firm Letko Brosseau, calling Teck's steelmaking business a "prized asset".

(Reporting by Clara Denina and Pratima Desai, additional reporting by Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Veronica Brown and Deepa Babington)

Canada likely to approve Glencore-Teck deal despite foreign investment scrutiny

Tue, November 14, 2023 

By Divya Rajagopal

TORONTO (Reuters) -As Glencore prepares for the long grind to convince Canada of the virtues of the Swiss trader-led consortium's $9 billion bid for Teck Resources' coal unit, investors and lawyers are optimistic about the deal approval despite the government's increased scrutiny of foreign investments.

In recent years, Canada has tightened the Investment Canada Act (ICA), the main tool the government uses to review inbound deals to ensure transactions are not harmful to national security.

Glencore CEO Gary Nagle's initial bid for the entire Teck Resources faced stiff opposition from Justin Trudeau's Liberal government and from the premier of British Columbia, where the company is based. Teck twice rebuffed Glencore's overtures.

On Tuesday, the federal innovation ministry declined to specifically comment on Glencore's bid, citing confidentiality provisions of the Act, but said any transaction involving a Canadian company and a foreign company would be subject to a review under the ICA.

"All regulatory processes will be followed regarding review of the proposal," Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said during a conference. "The government concern remains to protect Canadian jobs, environmental issues, rights of indigenous people; Teck is important for Canada and they are a champion for Canada."Greg McNab, a partner with law firm Dentons who specializes in the energy and mining sector, said he expects the deal to be approved by the government.

"The Canadian government makes a lot of tax revenues from coal, but it does not want to be seen as blocking the sale of those assets to someone else, at least from the public policy perspective," McNab added.

After seven months of pitched battles, Glencore on Tuesday was finally able to persuade Teck to sell a 77% stake in the Canadian miner's steelmaking coal business for $6.9 billion in cash, with 20% going to Japan's Nippon Steel Corporation.

Anticipating an intense and a long review, Glencore has made a 28-point commitment to ICA, including a pledge to keep the company headquartered in Vancouver with a majority of the board of directors and senior leadership made up of Canadian nationals. Glencore expects the transaction to close in the third quarter of 2024.

United Steelworkers union (USW), representing over 4,000 Teck employees in British Columbia, said it would not support the proposed sale of Teck's steelmaking coal operations to Glencore without further commitments.

"While we see a number of good and broad commitments such as job retention, a Vancouver-based head office... underlying concerns persist regarding Glencore's role as a corporate entity," USW Western Canada Director Scott Lunny said, adding that there has been no communication from the company.

In the past five fiscal years starting in 2018/19, nearly 100 inbound deals were subject to Canada's extended national security review, of which 10 were forced to divest stakes, one was blocked and two reviews are ongoing.

While the number of companies undergoing extended reviews has increased, outright rejections have been rare.

Glencore said it would demerge the coal units of both companies within 24 months of the deal's close.

The deal announced on Tuesday isn't subject to approval by Teck shareholders, who in April scuppered a planned split of the company.

While all investments are subject to national security review, only significant acquisitions of control of Canadian businesses by foreign investors are reviewed for net benefit.

"I will be surprised that the deal will be scuttled because the way the deal is structured with multiple parties," said Peter Letko, co-founder of Letko Brosseau, a Montreal-based asset management firm and a Teck investor.

"I think this is a fair deal, they have accomplished what they (Teck) wanted to do, remove the higher emission product from their portfolio. This was the strategy of the Keevil family too," Letko added, referring to Teck's Keevil family which owns 55% of Teck's Class A shares though Temagami Mining.

(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal;Additional reporting by Akanksha Khushi; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Miral Fahmy)

CANCEL IT

Judge's ruling advances plan to restructure $10 billion debt of Puerto Rico's power company

Associated Press Finance
Tue, November 14, 2023 

Deteriorated U.S. and Puerto Rico flags fly on a roof eight months after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the Barrio Jacana Piedra Blanca area of Yabucoa, a town where many continue without power in Puerto Rico, May 16, 2018. A federal judge on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, tentatively approved a portion of the newest plan to restructure $10 billion of debt owed by Puerto Rico’s power company amid heated negotiations between creditors and the U.S. territory’s government.

 (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File) 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday tentatively approved a portion of the newest plan to restructure $10 billion of debt owed by Puerto Rico’s power company amid heated negotiations between creditors and the U.S. territory’s government.

The overall debt restructuring plan has been amended four times this year by a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances. A confirmation hearing is set for March 2024 as various bondholders continue to oppose the plan.

The board did not have immediate comment on the judge’s decision regarding the plan's disclosure statement, which requires modifications before bondholders vote on it. The decision was issued after an hours-long hearing that drew protesters to the courthouse who are opposed to electric bill increases outlined in the plan.

The bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority has dragged on for years amid intense debate on how to restructure its debt — the largest of any government agency in the U.S. territory.

Numerous restructuring attempts have failed, with several creditors seeking to recuperate more money than what the plan currently offers. The plan was amended for a third time in August and a fourth time over the weekend.

The newest proposal seeks to cut the power company’s debt by nearly 80%, to some $2.5 billion. If approved, it is expected to lead to increases in residential and commercial power bills that already are among the highest of any U.S. jurisdiction.

The power company is Puerto Rico's only agency that has yet to restructure its debt since the territory's government announced in 2015 that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion public debt, accumulated through decades of mismanagement, corruption and excessive borrowing. In 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history.

Adobe faces EU antitrust warning over Figma deal, sources say

Tue, November 14, 2023 

The corporate logo of software company Adobe is seen in Posa Studio school in Caracas

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Adobe's $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma is set to face an EU antitrust warning in the coming days, three people familiar with the matter said, a move that would ratchet up pressure on the Photoshop maker to offer remedies.

Tech deals around the world have recently attracted tougher antitrust regulatory scrutiny amid fears that some bigger companies may be acquiring rival start-ups to shut them down or boost their market power.

The European Commission is readying a statement of objections to send to the companies in the coming days, the people said.

Such documents or charge sheets set out the EU competition watchdog's concerns on why deals could be anti-competitive.

The EU agency opened a full-scale investigation into Adobe's proposed acquisition in August, saying that it could reduce competition in global markets for interactive product design tools and also shut out rivals.

The Commission and Adobe, which can offer remedies to stave off the EU warning, declined to comment.

Some companies prefer to wait for a statement of objections so that they know the precise regulatory worries before they offer concessions.

San Francisco-based Figma's web-based collaborative platform for designs and brainstorming is used by tech companies such as Zoom Video Communications, Airbnb and Coinbase.

The Commission is due to decide on the deal by Feb. 5.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Susan Fenton)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

France's top court demands new trial over $2 billion UBS fine

Wed, November 15, 2023



By Tassilo Hummel, Mathieu Rosemain and Noele Illien

PARIS (Reuters) - France's top court on Wednesday ruled a new trial should be held over a 1.8 billion-euro ($1.95 billion) fine against UBS for promoting illegal banking services and money laundering in the country.

The court, which also upheld the guilty verdict against the bank, said a new trial would need to take place at the Paris appeals court to determine a new fine, if any.

The ruling reverses and annuls the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal from Dec. 13, 2021, but only insofar as it relates to penalties and civil interests, all other provisions being expressly maintained, the court said.

UBS's shares, which were already up on the day, spiked as much as 3% more after news broke that the 1.8 billion-euro fine was struck down. However, they then erased those gains and more, to last stand up around 1.6%.

The decision by the Cour de Cassation, France's highest judicial court, means the guilty verdict on UBS is final. The court said a new trial over penalties was needed because the previous decision on the fine did not follow all the correct legal procedures.

UBS said it was disappointed the court had upheld the overall verdict against it, adding it continued to maintain that it acted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, and would defend itself in the forthcoming trial.

The ruling once again extends uncertainty over the fine for the Swiss bank, which sought to overturn the verdict and penalty for having wooed wealthy French clients into hiding undeclared funds in Swiss bank accounts between 2004 and 2012.

"UBS may be able to partially reduce the 1.1bn euros of provisions currently set aside (for the case)," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in a note to clients before the ruling was released.

"However, we would caveat that a new trial may lead to a final settlement above or below the 1.8bn euros," it said, adding that it expected the case to take "multiple years" to come to an end.

LEGAL SAGA

The legal saga has lasted for more than a decade and saw some of the bank's representatives grilled by French judges.

The 1.8 billion-euro fine ordered two years ago against UBS in France was less than half an initial overall penalty of 4.5 billion imposed on the bank after a first trial in 2019.

It is comprised of a 1 billion-euro penalty and 800 million euros in damages owed to the French state.

UBS reported in its third quarter results that it had put aside over $4 billion in provisions for litigation and regulatory matters, roughly half of which is for Credit Suisse. It estimated that the financial implications from the French case alone would come to 1.1 billion euros.

France's top court reviewed whether the Paris appeals court ruling had complied with the law, not the facts that underpinned its decision.

UBS remains involved in a string of litigation and regulatory matters including claims related to the sale of mortgages and residential mortgage-backed securities in the United States.

It also assumed a number of cases from Credit Suisse when it officially took over its former rival and has already settled a number of those, such as with Mozambique over the decade-old $1.5 billion-plus "tuna bond" scandal

($1 = 0.9207 euros)

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Mathieu Rosemain and Noele Illien; Additional reporting by Stefania Spezzati; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Mark Potter)

UBS Wins Right to Fight for Cut to €1.8 Billion French Fine

Gaspard Sebag and Leonard Kehnscherper
Wed, November 15, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG won a French top court ruling that may help it cut a €1.8 billion ($2 billion) penalty it got two years ago for helping wealthy French clients stash away undeclared funds in Swiss accounts, extending a decade-long spat yet further.

The judges upheld a lower court’s money laundering conviction against UBS but said the overall penalty should be reexamined. The judges called into question the validity of a €1 billion confiscation order and the justification for €800 million in reparation awarded to the French state.

The Cour de Cassation asked a different panel of judges at the Paris appeals court to issue a new ruling on the overall amounts based on Wednesday’s legal guidance. That also reopens the debate on a third part of the penalty, leaving the possibility that the actual criminal fine set at €3.75 million can be increased.

The legal saga in France has rumbled on for more than a decade with UBS fighting on to cut the €4.5 billion penalty it initially got in 2019. The case has also featured twice-failed settlement talks, a banking boss calling his staffers “egomaniacs,” a whistle blower spying on former colleagues during tennis matches and investigators accusing the bank of deploying stealth tactics “worthy of James Bond.”

“UBS continues to maintain that it acted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations at all times,” the company said in a statement. “UBS will defend itself in the forthcoming trial.”

Read more: UBS’s Record French Tax Fraud Penalty Slashed to $2 Billion

UBS shares jumped after the ruling and were up 2% by 4:28 p.m. in Zurich.

Morningstar analyst Johann Scholtz said the ruling was “a positive” for UBS, adding he didn’t see “much merit” in the initial French decisions.

On Wednesday, the top court also confirmed a prior finding that UBS covertly and unlawfully dispatched Swiss bankers in France to encourage prospective clients to move money across the border.

Throughout the French trials, UBS deployed a vast team of high-powered attorneys, executives and communications staff to deny the bank ever helped French citizens hide funds and hammer on the weaknesses in the case.

The bank relentlessly questioned the truthfulness of bankers-turned-witnesses, saying one “lied” and accusing another of stealing €750,000 from clients. But it’s the Swiss bank’s arguments on the amount of the overall penalty that have held the most sway with judges in France.

In the meantime, UBS acquired local rival Credit Suisse in a rescue that closed in June. The deal has set the bank on one of the most complex integrations since the financial crisis, which includes efforts to keep key talent in certain areas while shedding other aspects of the business.

UBS has also been winding down its backlog of unresolved cases this year, including a $1.4 billion settlement over US mortgage-backed securities. Switzerland’s biggest bank also reached a settlement with Mozambique over Credit Suisse’s role in a ship-financing scandal.

--With assistance from Alan Katz and Steven Arons.

(Updates throughout)

Bloomberg Businessweek

New York state sues PepsiCo over plastics pollution

Reuters
Wed, November 15, 2023 



NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York state sued PepsiCo on Wednesday, accusing the beverage and snack food giant of polluting the environment and endangering public health through its single-use plastic bottles, caps and wrappers.

The lawsuit filed in state court in upstate Erie County is among the first by a U.S. state to target a major plastics producer.

State Attorney General Letitia James accused PepsiCo of contributing to a public nuisance by generating a significant share of plastic waste found in and near the upstate Buffalo River, including more than 17% of trash that could be readily traced to specific brands.

She also said the company failed to warn consumers about the potential health and environmental risks of plastics in its more than 100 brands, and misled the public about its efforts to fight plastics pollution.

James said such pollution can enter drinking water after breaking down, contributing to health problems.

"All New Yorkers have a basic right to clean water, yet PepsiCo's irresponsible packaging and marketing endanger Buffalo’s water supply, environment, and public health," she said in a statement.

PepsiCo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint said health problems can include early puberty in females, reduced sperm counts, altered functions of reproductive organs, obesity, altered sex-specific behaviors, and increased rates of some types of cancers. The effects from plastic additives have been observed in mammals, and researchers expect the same effects would be observed in humans, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks to force PepsiCo to stop causing a nuisance, clean up contamination, and provide other relief.

PepsiCo is based in Purchase, New York. In addition to Pepsi cola, its brands include Cheetos, Cracker Jack, Doritos, Fritos, Gatorade, Lay's, Lipton, Mountain Dew, Ocean Spray, Quaker, Ruffles and Tostitos.

Connecticut and Minnesota have previously filed plastics-related litigation as well, alleging companies falsely and deceptively marketed bags as recyclable when they cannot be recycled in state facilities. California in 2022 announced it was conducting an investigation into the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries' role in plastic pollution.

(Reporting by Clark Mindock and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)