ComfortDelGro to buy 51% in Uber Singapore rental unit Scandinavian bankers in say Basel rules hit them hard

ComfortDelGro Corp, Singapore’s largest taxi company, struck a deal to buy 51 per cent of Uber Technologies Inc.’s Singapore car rental unit for S$295 million ($218 million) in cash and form a joint venture with the ride-hailing giant. The deal for Uber’s Lion City Rentals will give ComfortDelGro control of a fleet of about 14,000 vehicles in the city-state, with the acquisition to be financed from internal funds, the Singapore-based company said in a filing after the market close on Friday. Uber will retain the remaining 49 per cent. Under the agreement, ComfortDelGro taxi drivers will be able to receive ride requests on the Uber driver app, while allowing users of Uber’s app to directly book ComfortDelGro taxis. BLOOMBERG< The financial industries of Sweden and Denmark were quick to criticise the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s completed framework on Thursday, arguing it will hit Scandinavian lenders too hard. Global Regulators Reach Deal on Tougher Bank Capital Standards “The Basel standards will, if they are fully implemented in the EU and Sweden, have large negative effects for Swedish banks, their clients and the Swedish economy,” Hans Lindberg, the head of the Swedish Bankers’ Association, said in a statement on Thursday. In Denmark, the banking lobby said it is “fundamentally opposed” to the introduction of a capital floor, and pledged to work to ensure European authorities are aware of the “very unfortunate side effects of such regulations.”

REUTERS<