Business

Pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital currency: ECB President – Cointelegraph

Published

4 years ago

September 10, 2020

The pandemic has seen consumers adopt digital payments in increasing numbers and the trend was accelerating, said the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde.

She also indicated a panel of euro-zone central bank officials is set to reveal a verdict on a European central bank digital currency (CBDC) imminently.

Speaking at an online conference hosted by Deutsche Bundesbank on Sept. 10, Lagarde, stated that EU residents had embraced digitalization, with e-commerce sales increasing roughly 20% between February and June, even as total retail sales declined 1.2%. She said the volume of online payments had experienced “double-digit growth rates” since the start of the outbreak.

“The pandemic has served as a catalyst, accelerating the transition towards a digital new normal,” Lagarde stated. “A vast majority of consumers expect to continue to use digital services as often as they do now or even more often.”

Other institutions have reached the same conclusion as data comes in regarding the economic fallout of COVID. An August report from Singapore’s DBS Bank stated that “the ongoing pandemic has added fuel to the move toward a society with less cash dependence.”

Lagarde supports the ECB developing a CBDC to address the move towards digitalization, in addition to faster and cheaper cross-border payments. Last September, when she was the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the ECB president said she would focus on ensuring EU institutions adapt to the changing financial environment by being open to crypto.

“The Eurosystem has so far not made a decision on whether to introduce a digital Euro,” Lagarde said.

“But, like many other central banks around the world, we are exploring the benefits, risks and operational challenges of doing so.”

According to the ECB president, the results of a taskforce studying the potential effects of a CBDC on Europe will be announced “in the coming weeks.”

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source link

Business

Chorus shareholders vote to approve sale of aircraft leasing business

Published

14 hours ago

September 25, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Chorus Aviation Inc. says its shareholders have voted to approve the sale of the company’s regional aircraft leasing business to HPS Investment Partners.

The Halifax-based company says the $1.9-billion deal was greenlighted by 98.1 per cent of votes cast by shareholders at a special meeting. The transaction needed approval by a two-thirds majority vote.

Chorus also says the waiting period mandated under U.S. legislation has expired and that it has received approval from Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

Chorus announced the sale of its plane leasing business to New York City-based HPS in July for $814 million in cash and $1.1 billion in aircraft debt to be assumed or prepaid by the buyers at closing.

The deal marked a one-eighty for Chorus, which bet big on aircraft leasing just two years earlier by buying London-based plane-leasing outfit Falko Regional Aircraft Ltd.

Chorus, which also provides regional service for Air Canada via Chorus subsidiary Jazz Aviation, says the sale remains subject to the other regulatory approvals and customary conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CHR)

Source link

Business

AGF Management reports Q3 profit down from year ago, revenue higher

Published

19 hours ago

September 25, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – AGF Management Ltd. says its net income attributable to equity owners totalled $20.3 million in its latest quarter, down from $23.0 million in the same quarter last year.

The investment manager says the profit amounted to 30 cents per diluted share for the quarter which ended on Aug. 31, down from 34 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Total net revenue for the quarter amounted to $102.0 million, up from $84.0 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, AGF says it earned 37 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 34 cents per diluted share a year ago.

The company says its total assets under management and fee-earning assets totalled $49.7 billion at Aug. 31, up from $42.3 billion a year earlier.

Kevin McCreadie, AGF’s chief executive and chief investment officer, says the company was pleased to see early signs of improvement with positive retail net flows complementing its solid investment performance amid an uncertain economic backdrop and significant market volatility.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:AGF.B)

Source link

Business

Cannabis Retail Blues: To much Stock, to Few Customers

Published

1 day ago

September 24, 2024

Steven Kaszab

As of January 2024, Canada is home to more than 3,600 recreational cannabis retail shops and this number is increasing annually with a single store to every 10,000 Canadians. The retail sector has been facing multiple challenges and one is surely overabundance of stores within smaller communities. Too many retailers compared to users of cannabis. The use of cannabis has remained relatively the same, while multiple retailers and online sales forces are competing for this marketplace.

Failures within the retail field are not a surprise, as Tokyo Smoke closes its multiple stores, and most shops’ profit margins remain small and diminishing over time. Mass closures may happen within certain provinces such as Ontario where situations of multiple retailers are situated right beside a competitor. Massive amounts of revenue have been collected by provincial governments while these stores remain open to every possible financial flux possible.

The black market remains healthy and profitable. An excuse to legalize pot was to challenge illegal pot sales and make it difficult to sell this pot outside of legal means. 22% of Canadian pot smokers get their supply from the black market. They say the pot tastes better and is slightly less costly. Legal pot management is costly and this cost is passed onto the customer. With gummy sales growing, the cost of management by legal means is difficult and costly too.

It seems the government may need to rethink its policy regarding cannabis and the possibility of legalizing further types of illicit drugs in the future. A total ack of imagination exists within the policy network where old-fashioned prejudice towards addiction and the use of narcotics is seen as criminal and threatening to society. All the while the number of traffic stops due to drivers under the influence of narcotics continues to grow, and the use of drugs by the youthful generation continues to be a problem. A solution to our society’s problems will never come from present-day authorities.

Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca