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Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Top Banker Vows Loyalty to DEI at Tokyo Pride Parade as Trump's Pushback Rages
The head of one of Japan's largest investment banks used the Tokyo Pride parade to strike a rare public stance on pushing ahead with diversity initiatives, as US President Donald Trump seeks to abolish such policies. Few Japanese corporate executives have taken a clear position on US efforts to roll back the diversity, equity and inclusion policies that had become common at global corporations, though many firms appear to have quietly maintained their initiatives. 'Even if the US has adopted an anti-DEI policy, Japan should press ahead and make up for lost time rather than following suit,' said Akihiko Ogino, president and chief executive officer of Daiwa Securities Group Inc., before the start of the Tokyo Pride parade near the bustling Shibuya area. He was speaking Sunday at his first visit to the Tokyo iteration of the global event that organizers describe as 'advocating LGBTQ rights and dignity.' Read: Trump's Anti-Diversity Drive Diverts Investors to Laggard Japan Faced with a rapidly aging and shrinking population, some Japanese firms have sought to bolster the pool of available workers by becoming more inclusive of different gender and sexual minorities, as well as women. Major financial firms including Nomura Holdings Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG are also among the sponsors of the event, according to its website. Companies around the world that do business in the US have faced a dilemma in dealing with the abrupt about-face on the issue. Read: Trump Has Companies in Europe and Asia Walking a DEI Tightrope Trump has vowed to stamp out diversity policies across the board, saying they are illegal and have disastrous consequences. In response, Citigroup Inc. withdrew its ambitious DEI goals and other U.S. financial firms have made adjustments. Ogino said he doesn't necessarily oppose the anti-DEI movement in the US, but that he thinks it's 'important to recognize that there are people with different viewpoints and work together within an organization.' 'I believe we should acknowledge such diversity, recognize the differences between ourselves and others, and work together while respecting each other,' he said. Daiwa earned less than 7% of its ordinary profit last fiscal year through businesses in the Americas as a whole. Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. rolled back some initiatives in the US last year after pressure from conservative activists like Robby Starbuck. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. erased references to DEI from its American websites, but the Japanese company left its international websites untouched, describing the US changes as part of a global digital restructure 'after many months of planning.' A survey by the Mainichi newspaper published in March found 83% of Japanese companies who responded agreed that DEI initiatives are necessary to secure talent. With assistance from Takashi Nakamichi. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
02-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Goldman Bankers Roll Up Sleeves and Plead for LBOs to Return
(Bloomberg) -- Leveraged finance bankers are ready to get to work. They're just waiting on clarity from everyone else: private equity firms, corporate borrowers and the Trump administration. 'Sponsors in the room, we're counting on you guys,' Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s global head of credit finance, Christina Minnis, said at the firm's 10th annual leveraged finance and credit conference in Dana Point, California, on Thursday. While mergers and acquisitions have picked up — alongside corporate borrowing — private equity sponsors are still having a tough time offloading their investments. Buyouts are more difficult, too, as global private equity fundraising has plunged. That's left Wall Street banks with fewer deals to finance. 'Sponsors are asking: 'How do I buy something today, and model what my exit looks like in three-to-five years?',' Chris Bonner, Goldman's head of US leveraged finance capital markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. 'There are so many things that you have to put into your model that are currently up in the air that is hard to define.' Private equity sponsors, lenders and credit investors are still trying to parse how tariffs will affect corporate borrowers and which companies will be able to successfully adjust their supply chains or balance sheets to meet the new levies. Almost two months after President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, trade is still making up most of the chatter between bankers. At the conference, held at the sprawling beach-side Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach resort, they all got a sense of just how quickly trade regulations were changing. Some points made at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time were irrelevant just an hour later. On Thursday morning, many conversations centered around one key question: would a US trade court ruling from the night before striking down the president's tariffs stick? The ruling could be appealed in court, and even if it was upheld, the Trump administration could impose tariffs through other laws. 'The president loves tariffs and hates bilateral trade imbalances,' Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs' chief economist, said at the conference. By lunchtime in Dana Point — where conference-goers feasted on a buffet with everything from pasta salad to shrimp — a US court of appeals had struck down the ruling, pressing play on Trump's tariffs. In light of tariffs and other inflationary pressures, there's 'a lot of credit dispersion,' Minnis said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the conference Thursday. 'Big companies will be able to manage this,' Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman Robert Kaplan said during a presentation. 'The only reason they're struggling right now is because it's so abrupt.' However, smaller companies 'don't have the levers to adjust,' Kaplan said, which will lead to more small ones closing or going out of business by the end of the year. For credit investors, borrower names and their financials matter more than ever. Credit investors like 'sleep-at-night' names, and companies that are familiar and resilient in a downturn, Bonner said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV. While there's still plenty of cash waiting to be invested, credit investors have less appetite for risk than they did pre-April, Bonner said. --With assistance from Rene Ismail and Sonali Basak. More stories like this are available on
The Star
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Ex-Goldman banker Leissner apologises to Malaysians after being sentenced to two years in prison in 1MDB case
Tim Leissner, former chairman of Southeast Asia for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., exits federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, May 29, 2025. Leissner, who pleaded guilty to helping loot the Malaysian investment fund 1MDB, was sentenced to two years in prison over his role in the massive fraud. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg PETALING JAYA: Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner apologised to Malaysians for his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, according to Reuters. "First and foremost, I offer my sincere apology to the people of Malaysia," Leissner, 55, told the hearing, his voice breaking as he read a statement. "I deeply regret my actions." He said this after being sentenced to two years in prison by a judge in a New York court on Thursday after playing a key role in a multi-billion-dollar scandal involving Malaysia's sovereign fund 1MDB. Malaysian and United States authorities estimated US$4.5bil was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials in the fund, former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Goldman executives and others. Leissner, a former South-East Asia chairman for Goldman, pleaded guilty in 2018 to a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and participating in a money laundering conspiracy, all tied to his role in the 1MDB scandal. Leissner's conduct was "brazen and audacious," judge Margo Brodie said during sentencing. While his cooperation with the government was taken into account, it did not make up for the harm caused by the corruption at the highest levels in several countries, the judge said. Goldman helped sell US$6.5bil of bonds for 1MDB, which former Malaysian prime minister Najib set up with the help of Low to promote economic development. Some of the funds were diverted to offshore bank accounts and shell companies linked to Malaysian financier Jho Low, who is now a fugitive. Leissner became a US government witness in the case after his arrest in 2018. He was allowed to remain free after he agreed to help the government in the investigation and testified against former banking colleague Roger Ng. Ng has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to launder money and violate an anti-bribery law. The former head of investment banking for Goldman in Malaysia was convicted in Brooklyn and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was transported to Malaysia in 2023 to assist probes there. Leissner met with the government on dozens of occasions, reviewing countless documents and communications he received related to the 1MDB scheme and other matters, according to a filing by prosecutors. "We respect the court's decision today and Mr. Leissner is prepared to serve his sentence and continue his future life of good works and care for his family," said his lawyer, Henry Mazurek, a partner at Meister Seelig & Fein PLLC. Prosecutors requested that the court impose a sentence below the applicable guidelines range due to Leissner's cooperation in the probe. Malaysian minister Johari Abdul Ghani, who chairs its 1MDB asset recovery taskforce, said the two-year prison term for Leissner was "too short". "Considering he is one of the masterminds facilitating the 1MDB scandal, he should be given a maximum jail sentence," Johari told Reuters in a text message on Friday. Only criminal case against Goldman Leissner told the court that he had lost his freedom, family and financial independence in the wake of the scandal. The former executive said his health also suffered, and that he took pills and lost the will to live. Goldman said in a letter to the court on May 21 that Leissner deceived his colleagues for years, culminating in the only criminal case filed against Goldman in its 156-year history. Goldman in 2020 paid a record US$2.9bil fine in the United States and arranged for its Malaysian unit to plead guilty in a US court. It also clawed back US$174mil in executive compensation. Malaysia's former prime minister Najib was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Malaysia's top court in 2022 upheld a guilty verdict against Najib, sentencing him to 12 years in prison. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia's former king. The former premier is currently in prison and is pursuing a legal bid to compel authorities to let him serve the rest of his sentence at home.
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First Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
China's budget deficit hits record $367bn amid trade war pressures
The general budget's fastest-growing area was interest payments on debt, which increased 11% annually. Spending on education, social security, and employment—which may have aided workers at risk from the trade war—came next read more As China's trade war with the US intensified, the government increased its support for the economy, pushing its four-month budget deficit to a record high. Based on statistics given by the Finance Ministry on Tuesday, Bloomberg calculated that the wide deficit hit 2.65 trillion yuan ($367 billion) in January-April, the highest amount ever for the period. Compared to a year ago, the deficit increased by almost 50%. It is the most convincing proof to far that Beijing has stepped up its efforts to use this year's budgetary stimulus to assist the economy withstand shocks from the outside world. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Prior to the two nations reaching a truce earlier this month, US tariffs on the majority of Chinese imports increased to an extraordinarily high level of 145% in April. In contrast to incomes that were stabilising, expenditures skyrocketed. After a far greater loss in the first quarter, total income in China's two major fiscal books fell by just 1.3% year-over-year to 9.32 trillion yuan in January-April. According to estimates by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., tax revenue increased 1.9% in April compared to the same month last year after declining 2.2%. The experts primarily credited the gain to the strength of individual income tax collections. According to the figures, total spending increased 7.2% to 11.97 trillion yuan between January and April. That figure combines spending in the general budget, which covers primarily ordinary expenses, with spending in the government fund budget, which is more focused on capital investment projects. The general budget's fastest-growing area was interest payments on debt, which increased 11% annually. Spending on education, social security, and employment—which may have aided workers at risk from the trade war—came next. At both the federal and municipal levels, expenditure growth was significantly greater than in the first quarter, which is probably an indication of increased spending on infrastructure and other projects supported by the issuing of government bonds. In the first four months, central authorities' spending in the fund budget increased by 75% compared to the same period last year, while provincial governments' spending increased by 16.6%. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Going forward, the need for more fiscal assistance is waning following a deal between the US and China to temporarily reduce tariffs on each other's goods. A few significant foreign banks have increased their projections for China's growth this year and lowered expectations of more government support as a result of the truce and respectable April economic activity figures. Tuesday's budget numbers have given them even more cause to believe that the administration would postpone any supportive measures.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Goldman to Boost Middle East Headcount, Eyes Wealth Fund Deals
(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is looking to open more offices and boost headcount in the Middle East, joining Wall Street peers expanding in the region to tap its deep pools of capital. America, 'Nation of Porches' NJ Transit Train Engineers Strike, Disrupting Travel to NYC Can Frank Gehry's 'Grand LA' Make Downtown Feel Like a Neighborhood? NJ Transit Makes Deal With Engineers, Ending Three-Day Strike The New York-based firm continues to work with regional sovereign wealth funds on investment partnerships and expects to pursue further opportunities, said Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management. 'The Middle East provides attractive risk/return opportunities,' he said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. Nachmann also pointed to a strong pipeline of initial public offerings in the region, which could create 'more opportunities for international investors to make money from the region.' Get the Mideast Money newsletter, a weekly look at the intersection of wealth and power in the region. Wall Street banks have been rapidly expanding across the Middle East, where many countries are undergoing multibillion-dollar investment programs aimed at remaking their economies and be less dependent on oil. In recent months, Goldman hosted a 'cap intro' event in Abu Dhabi aimed at connecting hedge funds with local investors ready to deploy capital. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Asset Management secured Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as an anchor investor in a new series of funds focused on the region. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said earlier today that it plans to add over 100 staffers to its Middle East businesses in the coming years, increasing its regional headcount to about 500. The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg. Why Apple Still Hasn't Cracked AI Anthropic Is Trying to Win the AI Race Without Losing Its Soul Microsoft's CEO on How AI Will Remake Every Company, Including His Cartoon Network's Last Gasp Inside the First Stargate AI Data Center ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
