Latest news with #London-headquartered
Express Tribune
16 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Sizewell C nuclear plant secures final go‑ahead
Britain gave the final go-ahead for the 38 billion pound ($51 billion) Sizewell C nuclear plant in eastern England on Tuesday after it secured investment from British and international investors, including Canadian pension fund La Caisse. Under the deal, the British state will be the largest shareholder in the project with a 44.9% stake, La Caisse will hold 20%, UK energy firm Centrica 15% and London-headquartered Amber Infrastructure will take an initial 7.6%, joining France's state-owned EDF, which had already announced its 12.5% stake. Britain needs to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing fleet, boost energy security, reach its climate targets and create new jobs. "Delivering next generation, publicly-owned clean power is vital to our energy security and growth," Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement. The announcement of La Caisse as the second biggest shareholder comes as a surprise after months of speculation that Canadian investor Brookfield was in pole position to invest. Sizewell will be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF's Hinkley Point C. That has been beset by delays and cost overruns, and is not due to start operating until about 2030. First proposed in the early 2010s, Sizewell C was originally going to be developed by EDF with China General Nuclear Power Group, but the UK government bought out the Chinese firm's stake in 2022 amid security concerns. France's EDF has said it is investing around 1.1 billion pounds in Sizewell, while Centrica said in its statement it had committed to construction funding of 1.3 billion pounds. The government statement said Britain's National Wealth Fund would provide the majority of the debt finance for the project, alongside a debt guarantee from France's export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export. ($1 = 0.7424 pounds)
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Education finance platform EduFund raises $6 million from Cercano Management, MassMutual Ventures
ETtech EduFund, an education planning and financing platform, has raised $6 million in a funding round led by Cercano Management and MassMutual Ventures. The funds will be used for scaling artificial intelligence (AI)-driven advisory, expanding the range of loan products, and deepening presence in tier II and tier III markets. 'Education is a consumer staple in India, and parents already spend about 30 percent of their earnings on it. With costs rising at home and abroad, the middle-class Indian parent faces a major challenge,' said Eela Dubey, cofounder and chief executive of EduFund. Founded in 2020, EduFund helps fund children's education from early years to higher studies. Its suite of tools spans investments, loans, visas, immigration, international remittance, and expert counselling, translating to end-to-end financial planning. The company has a partner network of over 40 asset management firms and more than 15 lending institutions (public and private sector banks, NBFCs, and international lenders).This comes at a time when there is a temporary dip in the global study abroad market driven by macroeconomic challenges and stricter visa startup has raised a total of $12 million to date. Commenting on the investment, Danika Ariadna, vice president of Cercano Management, said, 'Higher education is getting costlier and less accessible worldwide. So, parents need a platform that helps them start planning early.' 'Our follow-on investment underscores our confidence in EduFund's innovative approach,' said Doug Russell, managing partner and head of MassMutual June 3, education financing startup GyanDhan raised Rs 50 crore in a funding round from edtech firm Classplus and venture capital firm Pravega Ventures. In March, Leap Finance, the student lending arm of study abroad platform Leap, secured $100 million in debt funding from London-headquartered bank HSBC through its Asean Growth Fund. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. From near bankruptcy to blockbuster drug: How Khorakiwala turned around Wockhardt Paid less than plumbers? The real story of freshers' salaries at Infy, TCS. What if Tata Motors buys Iveco's truck unit? Will it propel or drag like JLR? As deposit ground slips under PSU banks' feet, they chase the wealthy If data is the new oil, are data centres the smokestacks of the digital age? Stock Radar: M&M likely to break out from 1-year consolidation range; time to buy? Will consumer stocks see a comeback this festive season? 12 stocks to keep an eye on even when analysts are not bullish Don't fear volatility, focus on businesses: 5 mid-cap stocks from different sectors with upside potential of up to 27% Best way to deal with volatility, just ' Hold' for wealth creation: 7 large-cap stocks with an upside potential of up to 41%
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
HSBC renews hunt for board chairman amid struggle to fill shortlist: FT
HSBC is refreshing its search for a new board chairman, the Financial Times reported on Saturday (Jul 19). The development came after the bank could not find enough satisfactory candidates for a final shortlist. The London-headquartered lender has been seeking a replacement for Mark Tucker, who announced earlier this year that he will stand down by the end of 2025. Tucker has presided over a turbulent tenure marked by multiple changes of the chief executive, a clash with one of the bank's largest shareholders and a public slap-down from the US government. HSBC stepped up its efforts to find a successor after Tucker surprised fellow board members with an announcement that he would leave the bank in September to take on a non-executive chairman role at AIA, Bloomberg previously reported. A spokesperson for the bank said that the process to appoint a new chairman is underway and that Brendan Nelson, the head of HSBC's audit committee, will be interim chairman from Oct 1. The bank has struggled to develop a shortlist of successors after considering more than 100 people for the role, the FT reported, citing unidentified sources. HSBC has mulled tapping executives such as Zurich Insurance Group CEO Mario Greco, Goldman Sachs executives Kevin Sneader and Richard Gnodde, as well as Bruce Carnegie-Brown, former chair of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, the newspaper reported. Some of the potential candidates were unavailable, while others declined when approached, according to the FT. A spokesperson for Zurich told the FT that Greco was approached by a headhunter and had declined because he was committed to Zurich. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
HSBC renews hunt for board chair amid struggle to fill shortlist: FT
HSBC is refreshing its search for a new board chairman, the Financial Times reported on Saturday (Jul 19). The development came after the bank could not find enough satisfactory candidates for a final shortlist. The London-headquartered lender has been seeking a replacement for Mark Tucker, who announced earlier this year that he will stand down by the end of 2025. Tucker has presided over a turbulent tenure marked by multiple changes of the chief executive, a clash with one of the bank's largest shareholders and a public slap-down from the US government. HSBC stepped up its efforts to find a successor after Tucker surprised fellow board members with an announcement that he would leave the bank in September to take on a non-executive chairman role at AIA, Bloomberg previously reported. A spokesperson for the bank said in an e-mailed statement that the process to appoint a new chairman is underway and that Brendan Nelson, the head of HSBC's audit committee, will be interim chairman from Oct 1. The bank has struggled to develop a shortlist of successors after considering more than 100 people for the role, the FT reported, citing unidentified sources. HSBC has mulled tapping executives such as Zurich Insurance Group CEO Mario Greco, Goldman Sachs executives Kevin Sneader and Richard Gnodde, as well as Bruce Carnegie-Brown, former chair of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, the newspaper reported. Some of the potential candidates were unavailable, while others declined when approached, according to the FT. A spokesperson for Zurich told the FT that Greco was approached by a headhunter and had declined because he was committed to Zurich. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
HSBC disbands team focused on managing geopolitical risks
[LONDON] HSBC Holdings is disbanding a team of staffers that were focused on identifying and managing geopolitical risk even as the possibility of such threats has ratcheted up since US President Donald Trump returned to power. The move will impact fewer than 10 roles across Asia, Europe and other regions, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of those staffers have been given the opportunity to apply for other jobs within the lender, they said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel information. The London-headquartered firm is the world's largest trade bank and an anchor of commerce between the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world. As the largest non-US clearer of US dollars, it has become highly sensitive to the political jostling between Washington and Beijing, who have engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war this year prior to a truce that has appeared to stabilise ties for the moment. The firm's geopolitical team was responsible for helping top HSBC managers identify risks in countries the company has a presence in, people familiar with the matter said. Some in the team also advised clients at times, they said. 'We continue to focus on supporting our clients as they navigate a complex and fast-moving international environment,' according to a statement from HSBC. Fast-changing geopolitics have weighed on banks' results in recent months. Investment-banking revenue at the five biggest Wall Street lenders is still almost 40 per cent below the 2021 peak as that uncertainty weighed on merger and IPO volumes. Some rivals have sought to seize on the trend. JPMorgan Chase debuted a Center for Geopolitics in May to offer clients advice on everything from 'the new Middle East chessboard' to 'the endgame in the Russia-Ukraine war,' according to a statement at the time. Goldman Sachs Group and Lazard also offer clients advice on the topic. The HSBC move comes as Wells Fargo suspended travel to China after one of its top trade financing bankers was blocked from leaving the country, the latest case of authorities imposing exit bans on staff of foreign firms. The disbanding of HSBC's team is the latest change under chief executive officer Georges Elhedery, who has been pushing through a sweeping overhaul of Europe's largest lender ever since he took the reins last year in order to curb costs. BLOOMBERG
