Company news

China targets tech giants in app privacy crackdownChinese tech companies including social media giant Tencent were ordered by regulators on Thursday to clean up how their apps handle user information or face possible penalties. The order is the latest in a series of crackdowns by Communist authorities who encourage internet use but are steadily tightening censorship and other controls on operators. Violators in earlier crackdowns have lost licenses or suffered other penalties that cut into revenue or depressed their company's share price. The industry ministry said 41 apps failed an examination following orders in July to ensure they comply with user data rules. Violators include Tencent Holding Ltd.'s QQ messaging app, Sina Corp.'s Sina Sports, Sohu.com Ltd.'s Sohu News and Xiaomi Corp.'s Xiaomi Finance. The ministry said violations included improperly collecting or using information about visitors to their services. The ministry said companies must comply by December 31 or face “relevant resolution work”, but gave no details. Data protection rules say possible penalties include fines and loss of operating licenses. – NAMPA/AP Sany Strengthens its Offerings One of the largest equipment manufacturers in the world unveiled over twelve new products at Excon 2019, the largest construction equipment exhibition in South Asia. Organized by CII and supported by Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association, Excon attracts over 1250 exhibitors from India and abroad. This mega trade fair which is a confluence of business minds, policy makers and vendors proved to be a perfect platform for Sany to launch their new products and display their existing range of construction machines, popular all over the globe for its technologically advanced design, ease of operation and reliability. Their stall displayed state-of-the-art Complete Excavator Range, Truck Crawler and all terrain Cranes, Road Equipments including Graders, Mining Equipment and Piling Rig created lot of excitement among customers. Sany's newly launched products will soon be available all over India through their dealer and Direct Sales Network. At present, Sany Group has done business in over 120 countries and regions around the world. They were recently awarded one of “the 100 most innovative companies” by Forbes Magazine and “the most innovative company in China” by Fortune Magazine. - NAMPA/PTISocGen agrees to sell SG Finans arm to Nordea French bank Societe Generale has agreed to sell its Nordics-based SG Finans division to Helsinki-headquartered Nordea Bank for 575 million euros (US$634 million) as part of a wider asset sales plan. The price valued the SG Finans business at a price-to-book multiple of 1.07 times, Nordea said on Thursday. The transaction is expected to have a positive impact of 140 million euros on Nordea's annual income, it said. SocGen said the deal would have a negative impact of around 100 million euros on its fourth quarter results but boost its core tier 1 capital ratio by around 10 basis points. SG Finans runs equipment finance and factoring solutions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and has 360 employees. "This acquisition strengthens our ability to advise and help small and medium-sized corporates with their financial needs," said Nordea Group CEO Frank Vang-Jensen. - NAMPA/REUTERSCrunch moment for Facebook in clash with privacy activist Facebook's clash with Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems reaches a critical point on Thursday when an adviser to Europe's top court will offer his view on whether tools used by companies to transfer data abroad protect European citizens' data. The U.S. social media giant and companies ranging from banks to industrial giants use standard contractual clauses to transfer personal data to the United States and other parts of the world. The clauses underpin important business activities such as outsourced services, cloud infrastructure, data hosting, human resources management, payroll, finance and marketing. Schrems, a law student who successfully fought against the EU's previous 'Safe Harbour' privacy rules in 2015, triggered the current case when he challenged Facebook's use of such contractual clauses on the grounds that they do not offer sufficient data protection safeguards. Henrik Saugmandsgaard, advocate general at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), will offer a non-binding opinion. Equally important will be the court adviser's recommendation on whether the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which was launched in 2016 to protect Europeans' personal data when it is transferred across the Atlantic for commercial use, is lawful or not. Judges, who will rule in the coming months, follow advisers' recommendations in four out of five cases. - NAMPA/REUTERSFreddie Mac offers early retirement to 25% of workforce Freddie Mac has offered early retirement to around 25% of its staff as it begins to overhaul its workforce amid a broader push by the Trump administration to reform the housing finance giant, according to four people briefed on the matter. The company has offered the packages to 1 650 eligible employees, although it expects around one quarter or just over 6% of its workforce to take the buyout, one of the people said. Two of the sources briefed on the matter said that the early retirement program had been communicated to all staff. Reuters could not ascertain how many people had so far taken the buyout. “As is common in many American companies, Freddie Mac is offering employees who meet certain age and tenure requirements a voluntary opportunity to retire early. As we prepare for our next chapter, we anticipate this will help realign our workforce to create a company attractive to outside investors as well as current and future employees," a spokesman for Freddie Mac said in an email statement. Freddie and its fellow government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae were bailed out in 2008 during the subprime mortgage crisis. In September, the Trump administration unveiled a long-awaited blueprint to remove the pair - which guarantee over half of the nation's mortgages - from government control in coming years. That plan, led by the U.S. Treasury Department and Fannie and Freddie's regulator the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), calls in the meantime for the pair to shrink their business footprint, review their operations, and rebuild their capital reserves. - NAMPA/REUTERS

Company news

Kommentaar

Republikein 2025-05-01

Meld asseblief aan om kommentaar te lewer

Company news

Kommentaar

Republikein 2025-05-01

Meld asseblief aan om kommentaar te lewer

MELD AAN

Advertensie