australian banks narrow focus of apple paycollective bargaining request australian banks seeking permission from thecountry's competition regulator to bargain collectively with apple inc (aapl.o) overits mobile payment system said on monday they will focus on gaining access to the u.s. techcompany's contactless payment function, removing the fees apple charges as a bone of contention.
aapl inc, commonwealth bank of australia (cba.ax), westpacbanking corp (wbc.ax), national australia bank ltd (nab.ax) and bendigo & adelaide bankltd (ben.ax) command two-thirds of australia's credit card market but have yet to allow useof their cards with apple pay which was introduced to the country last year.
under australian law, bargaining cartels canbe formed with the approval of authorities. a cartel would strengthen the banks in negotiatingthe ability to offer their own digital wallets for apple's iphones - the first major challengeto apple pay of its kind globally. apple pay allows users to register creditcards on iphones, and pay for goods and services by swiping the devices over contactless paymentterminals. apple charges card providers for transactionsmade using apple pay and does not allow companies to develop their own mobile wallets, whichwould allow banks to circumvent transaction fees and get customers to engage more frequentlywith their own apps. in the banks' initial application lodged injuly, they sought to negotiate with apple
over fees as well as access to the contactlesspayments function. in a draft decision issued in november, whichit described as "finely balanced", the australian competition and consumer commission (accc)proposed to deny the collective bargaining application. at the time, accc chairman rod sims told reutersthat if fees were at the heart of the banks' application, then it would be difficult forthem to win approval. but if the issue was more about access toapple's contactless payment technology, then the banks had a stronger case, he said. in a statement ahead of a final decision fromthe regulator, the banks on monday said they
had narrowed the application to focus on contactlesspayments and halved the collective bargaining authorization term to 18 months. "it is about the consumer having the choiceof multiple wallets," said lance blockley, a spokesman for the banks. in a submission to the competition regulatoron jan. 31, apple said there were no public benefits to providing the banks access toits contactless payment system, and that doing so would give them a "free-ride" on apple'sinvestment in technology. among other banks, australia and new zealandbanking group ltd (anz.ax) has offered apple pay to customers since april, while macquariegroup ltd (mqg.ax) and ing groep nv's (inga.as)
ing direct on friday said they would introduceapple pay this month. soundcloud loses key executives amid fundraisingdrive music-streaming service soundcloud has losttwo senior executives and is seeking to raise new funding, the company said on sunday, butdenied a financial times report that it was running low on cash. marc strigel, soundcloud's chief operatingofficer, and finance director markus harder left after five years with the company topursue new opportunities, a spokeswoman for berlin-based soundcloud said, without givingdetails. "soundcloud is currently fundraising, whichis typical of most startups of our size and
in our phase of growth," the spokeswoman said,denying an assertion by an anonymous source quoted by the ft as saying it was seekingfinancing in "desperation." the firm raised $100 million last june froma group of investors including twitter, half the $193 million it has taken in since itsfounding in 2008, according to crunchbase data. the ft's source said soundcloud was lookingto raise funds while seeking to avoid accepting a lower valuation than the roughly $700 millionwhen it last raised money. soundcloud is popular among music artists,but has been less successful at striking licensing deals on favorable terms with major musiclabels than rivals spotify and apple music.
the soundcloud spokeswoman reported businessas usual, saying the executive departures were unrelated to its fundraising. the company said in a report filed early injanuary that it made a loss of 48.7 million euros ($51.8 million) after tax during the2015 calendar year. the company's auditors warned in the filingwith uk companies house that a material uncertainty exists that may cast doubt on the company'sability to continue as a going concern. "this is unrelated to our 'normal course'fundraising efforts, which are being led by our recently appointed chief financial officer,holly lim," the soundcloud spokeswoman said. lim joined in september after working at google.
"soundcloud remains in a position of strengthand is confident in its long-term prospects as it continues to be the go to platform forthe creative community," the spokeswoman said. thousands continue protests against governmentin romania thousands of romanians protested in bucharestand other cities on sunday against the social democrat government that tried to weaken acrackdown on corruption earlier this month. the one-month-old cabinet of prime ministersorin grindeanu enraged voters when it quietly approved late on jan. 31 an emergency decreethat would have decriminalized several graft offenses. the decree, which was widely criticized inromania and by its western allies, prompted
the largest display of popular anger sincethe fall of communism in 1989, with at least half a million people taking to the streetslast sunday. the government was forced to rescind the decree,and its architect, justice minister florin iordache resigned, citing a need to appeasepublic opinion but arguing he had done nothing wrong. but even after the degree was withdrawn, rallieshave continued throughout the week, with protesters demanding the resignation of a governmentthey say they cannot trust. in bucharest on sunday, at least 50,000 peoplegathered outside the government's headquarters, carrying banners that said "resist" and chanting"we want to work, not guard you".
at 1900 gmt they raised pieces of red, yellowand blue colored paper above their heads to form a giant romanian flag. tens of thousands protested in other romaniancities and abroad. "the feeling in the street is that there hasn'tbeen closure," said catalin tenita, 39, an it entrepreneur who co-founded geeks for democracy,an online platform that aims to connect it experts, designers and others for projectsthat would improve governance. "we're in a situation where the governmentis consuming social resources just because they wouldn't admit they have done somethingwrong." parliament, where the ruling coalition holdsa big majority, must still vote on whether
to confirm the decree’s withdrawal. on friday, social democrat leader and lowerhouse speaker liviu dragnea said parliament should meet to approve the withdrawal as soonas possible. ragnea, who is on trial in an abuse of powercase and who would have benefited from the decree, has urged allowing the governmentto implement a program of wage and pension increases that helped the social democratswin the dec. 11 election. interim justice minister ana birchall hassaid she plans to meet the top magistrates council, chief prosecutors and other membersof the judiciary on monday to discuss changes to the criminal code.
premier grindeanu has said the decree wasrescinded in the interests of social unity. he then appointed earlier this week a vicepresident of the state’s food safety authority who is under investigation by anti-corruptionprosecutors for 19 counts of bribe taking. grindeanu dismissed her one day later. toshiba prepares to unveil nuclear hole, otherperils threaten toshiba corp (6502.t) will on tuesday detaila writedown of close to $6 billion after bruising cost overruns at its u.s. nuclear arm, turninginvestor attention to the japanese group's efforts to fix that and other balance sheetheadaches. the tvs-to-construction conglomerate warnedof a potential multi-billion dollar nuclear
writedown in december, a year after a $1.3billion accounting scandal. sources familiar with the matter say the finalcharge, to be detailed alongside quarterly earnings, will be as high as 700 billion yen($6.2 billion), a sum which alone would wipe out the company's shareholder equity. toshiba, which has seen its market value almosthalve since the prospect of a writedown emerged in december, is also expected to outline theprospects for its nuclear arm and update investors on efforts to raise capital, including throughthe sale of a stake in its flagship memory chips business. "the question for toshiba is how is it goingto move forward," said masahiko ishino, analyst
at tokai tokyo research center. he added toshiba would need to show how itcould stay competitive in the cash-generating but capital-intensive memory chip industry,given its battered balance sheet. toshiba has offered a 19.9 percent of itsprize chips business to investment funds and rivals including bain capital, sk hynix (000660.ks)and micron technology (mu.o). pillar of business on thursday, a source said that toshiba hadreceived bids of between 200 billion yen to 400 billion yen for the flash memory stake,a range that could cover the 300 billion yen the company wants to raise.
it prefers multiple investors. toshiba is a pillar of japan's business establishment. born in the tumult of japan's emergence fromcenturies of isolation, it made japan's first light bulb and was a pioneer in laptop computers. toshiba's 190,000 workers, employed at some500 units, likely will make it too big to fail. but as with other established japanese firmsthat have dodged financial collapse, such as liquid crystal display inventor sharp corp(6753.t), toshiba could face protracted pain. financial sources last week pointed to problembusinesses within toshiba beyond nuclear,
including landis+gyr ag. toshiba agreed to buy that unlisted metermaker for $2.3 billion in 2011 to tap smart grid demand that at the time was expectedto grow six-fold to around $70 billion in 10 years. at the end of september, the goodwill valueof landis+gyr was 143.2 billion yen ($1.3 billion). other stumbling blocks for toshiba includea $7.4 billion commitment four years ago to buy u.s. liquefied natural gas believing thatwould help sell power plant turbines. accounting scandal
a fall in asian gas prices, now at about halfthe level they were, has cast doubt on that strategy. toshiba, on a stock exchange watchlist barringit from issuing new shares, must also contend with fallout from the 2015 accounting scandal. mitsubishi ufj trust and banking corp (8306.t)last month said it will seek 1 billion yen in damages, while sources say sumitomo mitsuitrust bank ltd and mizuho trust & banking co are preparing similar suits.[nl4n1fk07i} with its latest financial crisis unresolved,investors appear most nervous about toshiba's short-term prospects.
the cost of insuring against a credit defaulthas soared over the past two months. five-year insurance, or credit default swaps,was quoted at 315/355 basis points tosb5yjpac=mg on friday, compared with 75 basis points inmid-december. that quote, below late december highs, suggestsit would cost $315,000-$355,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million in bonds. the cds curve <0#tosbjpacmpbmk=> is inverted,suggesting short-term cover is most expensive. ($1 = 113.1900 yen)
