Corporate
HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia Said to Bid for Thailand’s Siam City
HSBC Holdings Plc, Bank of Nova Scotia and Hong Leong Bank Bhd. are among bidders for a stake in Siam City Bank Pcl, Thailand’s seventh-biggest lender by assets, four people familiar with the matter said.
Bank of Nova Scotia made the offer together with its local affiliate Thanachart Bank Pcl, which owns 4.9 percent of Siam City Bank, the people said, declining to be identified as the talks are private. Thailand’s central bank is seeking about $1 billion for its 47.6 percent stake, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.
Thailand, wracked by violent political protests in the past two years, is easing restrictions on foreign ownership of banks to encourage investment and boost competition in the financial industry. Siam City Bank’s higher cost of funding puts it at a disadvantage to larger local rivals, said Anne Jirajariyavech, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Bangkok.
via HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia Said to Bid for Thailand’s Siam City – Bloomberg.com.
Corporate
The 3 key barriers to remote working (and how to overcome them)
COVID-19 created the world’s largest remote working experiment and, for many, showed just how possible it was for employees to do their jobs without being at the office.
Following the real-world experiment with remote working, it’s time for business leaders to re-examine their previous misgivings, and explore how to adopt flexible working in the long term
Corporate
Digital transformation: what will be the long‑term effect of Covid‑19?
For many businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic was the catalyst for their organisational caterpillar to evolve toward digital transformation. Yet following the crisis, it remains to be seen which companies will emerge with wings – and which will simply be crawling along slightly faster than before.
The outbreak of Covid-19 forced the rapid adoption of remote working practices and an acknowledgment of the importance of digital transformation. Following the pandemic, what will the lasting impact be?
Corporate
Fitch Ratings Expects Improvement of Thai Corporates’ Credit Outlook
Fitch said the outlook for the food retail sector in 2021 would remain stable as earnings rebound, while the outlook for the building material and power & utilities sectors to be stable in the coming years.
BANGKOK (NNT) – The credit rating agency Fitch Ratings expects Thai corporates’ credit outlook to improve this year as vaccination is rolled out and economic activity recovers.
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