BIZ BRIEFS
Rich support wealth tax
Multimillionaires and billionaires in the United States have written a letter published on Medium on Monday. The letter is addressed to presidential contenders from the Democrats and Republicans and calls on them to support a moderate wealth tax on the fortunes of the “one-10th of the richest 1% of Americans — on us”.
The “us” includes 18 people spread across 11 families , among them financier George Soros and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The letter says revenue collected from this tax could “substantially fund the cost of smart investments in our future, such as clean energy innovation to mitigate climate change, universal child care, student loan debt relief, infrastructure modernisation, tax credits for low-income families, public health solutions, and other vital needs”. According to The New York Times, a bill backed by US President Donald Trump in 2017, which delivered the biggest benefits to Americans with the highest incomes, has reinvigorated the debate.
PIC to act against staff over Ayo
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages more than R2-trillion in government employees’ pension money and government funds, is set to take disciplinary action against 11 staff members for their part in the decision to invest in Ayo Technology Solutions, Business Day reported. The recommendation comes from an internal PIC report. The Ayo deal is under scrutiny at the PIC commission, which is looking into allegations of impropriety at the fund manager. In December 2017, the PIC invested R4.3-billion in Ayo, the investment being allegedly agreed and signed without following due processes and at an inflated valuation, under the watch of former chief executive Dan Matjila. The staff members facing disciplinary action include suspended acting chief executive and former chief financial officer Matshepo More, Business
Day reported.
Tymebank boss resigns
Tymebank chief executive Sandile Shabalala has tendered his resignation. The bank was launched in February last year. Shabalala had been with the bank for three years. In the statement issued by the bank’s parent company, African Rainbow Capital, Shabalala’s resignation was for “personal reasons, the most important of which is to spend more time with his family”. The bank is well on its way to acquiring 500 000 customers by July. A new chief executive will be announced in due course.
Merrill Lynch fined $25m
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued an order charging Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. (MLCI) with “spoofing, manipulation and attempted manipulation over a six-year period with respect to certain precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange”. Investopedia defines “spoofing” as a practice in which traders attempt to give an artificial impression of market conditions by entering and quickly cancelling large buy or sell orders onto an exchange, in an attempt to manipulate prices. The order imposes a monetary sanction of $25-million. The commission said it had found that “from at least 2008 [to] 2014 certain traders at MLCI placed orders to buy and sell precious metals futures contracts with the intent to cancel the orders before execution”.