Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com Inc. will hold a second Prime Day sale on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12 to boost sales among cost-conscious consumers who are expected to start their holiday shopping even earlier this year. This marks the first time the e-commerce giant has hosted the event twice in the same year.

Retailers are bracing for a lackluster holiday that will require deep discounts to move a glut of inventory. Many consumers, meanwhile, are planning to cut back because higher food and fuel costs have left them with less to spend. 

More than one-third of consumers said they would begin their holiday shopping in October or earlier, according to a survey by Bankrate.com.

Amazon’s “Prime Early Access Sale” will feature exclusive offers to Prime members in 15 countries. The Seattle-based company launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers who now pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other perks. The event helps Amazon lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them deals on Amazon gadgets and other goods.

This year US online sales will rise just 9.4% to $1 trillion, the first time growth has slipped into the single digits, according to Insider Intelligence, which in June lowered an earlier annual forecast. Spending on Amazon will hit $400 billion, up 9% and slower than the overall industry, the research firm says.

Amazon held a two-day Prime Day promotion in July that boosted online spending in the US by 8.5% to $11.9 billion, according to Adobe Inc. Amazon said it sold more than 300 million items over the two days, more than any previous Prime Day.

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(Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi is setting up a new $200 million fund to invest in early-stage startups as the oil-rich emirate deepens its push into the technology sector. 

Further Ventures, which is anchored by sovereign wealth fund ADQ, will focus on investments in digital assets, fintech and supply chain, it said in a statement. 

The new vehicle will partner with founders and provide “capital from pre-seed to growth, product, engineering, design, regulatory support and market access to teams who want to build lasting technology companies.” 

ADQ was set up in 2018 and its portfolio contains some of Abu Dhabi’s most strategic assets across energy, transport and food.

Another ADQ-linked investment vehicle, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, was established last year to invest in private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and public equities. Together with artificial intelligence firm G42 it set up a $10 billion emerging markets tech fund in August.

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(Bloomberg) — Trip.com’s Hong Kong website experienced a nearly 400% increase in outbound flight orders over the weekend compared with Sept. 17-18, the online travel agency said Monday, after the city eased virus travel restrictions, including doing away with the dreaded hotel quarantine. 

Most orders were for the National Day long weekend at the start of October and Christmas, with short-haul travel in Asia proving popular. The average length of overseas hotel bookings for Hong Kong travelers is three to four days, said Eddy Yip, Trip.com’s e-commerce lead for Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The top five flight destinations are Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and Osaka, with orders for the latter soaring 7,300% from the previous weekend, Yip said in an emailed statement. 

Trip.com’s Hong Kong-listed shares advanced as much as 6.7% Monday, building on Friday’s 5.1% gain. 

For inbound flights to Hong Kong, there was a 155% increase in orders from the previous weekend. The average hotel booking in the city is for about five days. 

Hong Kong Businesses Push For Full Reopening to Revive City 

“Travelers from overseas countries may need more time to digest and respond to the ‘0+3’ policy,” Yip said, referring to curbs in the first three days of arriving in Hong Kong, such as not being allowed into bars and restaurants. Trip.com is “convinced” inbound tourism will increase sharply in the fourth quarter, he said. 

Meanwhile, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Klook Travel Technology Ltd. said Japan was the top pick among customers, followed by Thailand. Many people are taking advantage of the October long weekend, Eric Gnock Fah said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. They “can’t wait to get back on the road,” he said. 

(Updates share price, adds comments from Klook co-founder.)

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(Bloomberg) — Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, is seeking a license to operate in Japan, four years after retreating from the country as it didn’t have a permit, according to people familiar with the matter.

The nation’s easing approach to crypto and substantial potential for user growth are the key reasons for Binance’s renewed interest in the world’s third-largest economy, one of the people said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s agenda for reinvigorating the economy under the rubric of “New Capitalism” includes support the growth of so-called Web3 firms. The term “Web3” refers to a vision of a decentralized internet built around blockchains, crypto’s underlying technology.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on any conversations with regulators,” a Binance spokesperson said in response to request for comments. Binance is “committed to working with regulators and policymakers to shape policies that protect consumers, encourage innovation, and move our industry forward,” the spokesperson added. An official at the Financial Services Agency declined to comment.

Last month, Japan’s financial regulator proposed relaxing corporate tax rules for crypto assets. Lobbying groups have been calling for changes, saying high corporate taxes cause some firms to relocate to Singapore and elsewhere. 

Such steps are somewhat of a contrast to the tougher regulatory oversight emerging in a range of countries after a $2 trillion wipeout in digital assets from last year’s peak led to blowups at crypto hedge funds and lenders.

Binance’s billionaire co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in 2018 ditched a plan to build a base in Japan, following inquiries from the securities regulator that led to an official notice to stop operating in the country without a license. It got a similar warning three years later for not complying with registration rules. 

In Asia, Binance is present in countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India through partnerships.  

Binance has been the target of regulatory probes in a variety of jurisdictions, including the US. In response, the firm has said it works with authorities and will continue to meet requirements set by officials.

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(Bloomberg) — A persistent depreciation of the won against the dollar risks exacerbating inflationary pressures in South Korea, the nation’s central bank said, pledging to take action to boost stability if needed.

The won breached the key psychological level of 1,400 per dollar last week after the Federal Reserve executed another outsized interest-rate increase. The weakening adds to concerns for the Bank of Korea, which has been tightening policy for more than a year to try to rein in inflation.

There is a “possibility that the continuation of the high exchange rate can serve as additional upward pressure on inflation,” the BOK said Monday in a report to parliament.

“The BOK will ratchet up its market monitoring and plans to take market-stabilization measures at the right timing if market instability widens due to herd phenomenon,” it said.

Governor Rhee Chang-yong told reporters last week that the Fed’s moves had altered the picture the BOK had in mind for future moves. A growing number of economists see the BOK hiking rates by a half-percentage-point when the board meets on Oct. 12.

The BOK raised its rate by a half point for the first time ever in July. While Rhee made clear in the wake of that decision that he preferred a gradual pace of tightening, he has also kept the door open for another outsized hike.

The central bank stressed that Korea’s economy remains fundamentally sound, saying the weakening of the won was primarily due to external factors. It blamed Fed policy tightening, the Russian war on Ukraine and a weakening of the Japanese and Chinese currencies for the depreciation.

The central bank also pointed to rising overseas investment by Korean businesses and the national pension fund among other reasons, saying this amounted to more than $81 billion from January-to-July this year.

The won’s depreciation coincides with growing trade deficits as oil prices remain elevated and concerns mount over a global recession. Korean exports, a barometer of worldwide demand, are barely rising, while sales of memory chips, the nation’s biggest source of income, are slackening globally.

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(Bloomberg) — The Reserve Bank of Australia is working to identify business models and uses for a central bank digital currency, or eAUD, and is likely to conduct a pilot early next year.

The project, which began in July, will help “further understanding of some of the technological, legal and regulatory considerations associated with a CBDC,” the RBA and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre said in a White Paper Monday.

The findings will be published at the conclusion of the project in around mid-2023. The research implies no commitment from the RBA to issue a CBDC, it added.

Central banks worldwide are acting swiftly to ensure they don’t fall behind as money edges toward its biggest reinvention in centuries with alternative concepts like cryptocurrencies taking hold. That new technology, as well as events like the coronavirus pandemic, are among forces pushing consumers to go cashless. 

The RBA is seeking submissions from industry participants ranging from financial institutions, fintechs, public sector agencies and technology providers. It is also engaging with regulators to work through any regulatory implications. 

Participants are expected to submit:

• Use cases that utilize CBDC; and
• Expressions of interest to operate their use case

All proposals will be used to inform assessments of the rationale for an eAUD, the White Paper said. A limited number will also be selected for operation within the CBDC pilot project infrastructure. Pilot participants will bear their own costs for the conception, design, development, implementation and piloting, if selected.

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(Bloomberg) — South Korea said Interpol requested law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest fugitive Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon.

Prosecutors in Seoul said Monday the international police organization has issued a Red Notice for Kwon. He faces charges in South Korea related to the $60 billion wipeout of cryptocurrencies he created.

Officials have accused Kwon and five others of crimes including breaches of capital-markets law. Kwon earlier this year moved from South Korea to Singapore, where his now collapsed Terraform Labs had a base, but his location became unclear after the city-state on Sept. 17 said he’s no longer there.

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(Bloomberg) — Chinese electric-vehicle maker Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. raised about HK$6.3 billion ($800 million) in its Hong Kong initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

Leapmotor priced the offering at HK$48 per share, the bottom of its marketed range, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The company marketed 131 million shares at HK$48 and HK$62 apiece. An external representative for the company declined to comment.

The Hangzhou-based firm’s offering joins a group of similarly sized listings as larger deals come back to Hong Kong, though proceeds raised through IPOs this year are still down nearly 80% from the same period in 2021, Bloomberg data show. The Asian financial hub’s slump has outpaced the global decline due to factors including the economic impact of China’s Covid Zero policies.

Leapmotor is part of an industry that has largely escaped the scrutiny of Chinese regulators, a development which has hobbled the nation’s broader technology sector and put a damper on share sales overseas. EV makers are considered an important component of the country’s push toward electrification and clean energy.

The IPO follows so-called “homecoming” deals by US-listed Chinese EV makers Li Auto Inc. and XPeng Inc. since last year. The firms raised about $3.8 billion through their Hong Kong listings, after a dispute between regulators in the two nations prompted such companies to seek alternative listings. Nio Inc., another Chinese EV maker, chose to debut in the Asian hub in March without raising funds.

Leapmotor is planning to use the IPO proceeds for business expansion and brand awareness promotion, according to the prospectus. Five cornerstone investors, including Zhejiang Industrial Fund and Jinhua Industrial Fund, agreed to purchase around $308.5 million of stock.

The company’s main focus is on the mid to high-end EV market, with a price range of 150,000 to 300,000 yuan ($21,146-$42,292). The segment that is forecast to show the fastest growth by 2023, according to the prospectus, citing Frost & Sullivan. Leapmotor delivered 43,748 vehicles in 2021 and 51,994 in the first half of this year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., China International Capital Corp., Citigroup Inc. and CCB International Holdings are joint sponsors of Leapmotor’s IPO. Shares are slated to start trading on Sept. 29. 

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(Bloomberg) — Tropical storm watches have been posted in the Florida Keys, including Key West, as Ian continues to churn through the Caribbean to possibly blast into Florida’s mainland as a Category 4 hurricane by midweek. 

Despite a dip in speed, forecasters still expect Ian’s winds to reach 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour) by Wednesday. The problem forecasters are struggling with is exactly where it will make landfall in Florida, possibly anywhere from the Panhandle south to Tampa Bay. 

Ian’s winds decreased slightly to 45 mph about 495 miles southeast of Cuba’s western tip, down from 50 mph earlier, according to a US National Hurricane Center advisory at 5 p.m. 

“Ian is expected to be a major hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico during the middle of this week, but uncertainty in the track and intensity forecasts remains higher than usual,” Brad Reinhart, a hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in his outlook. 

“Regardless of Ian’s exact track and intensity, there is a risk of dangerous storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and heavy rains along the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle by the middle of the week,” he said.    

This means Ian could slam into sparsely populated areas in the Florida Panhandle south of Tallahassee or strike Tampa, St. Petersburg and possibly hit citrus groves. The path of the storm could cause travel delays, with some airlines warning customers flights could be canceled as the system moves across the Gulf of Mexico into the southern US.

A direct strike on Tampa from a major hurricane would push a wall of water into Tampa Bay, flooding the city and its suburbs and causing as much as $30 billion in losses and damage, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. 

Track Ian’s latest path

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Saturday, freeing federal disaster aid to the state. He also postponed a trip to Florida scheduled for Tuesday that included a Democratic National Committee rally in Orlando. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency across all of Florida and warned residents to prepare.

One of the problems with determining exactly where Ian will hit is a larger low-pressure trough over the eastern US, said Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger. Some computer models predict that system will pull away earlier, which would put Ian on a more easterly coast threatening Tampa, while others have it remaining in place longer, which places the target on the Panhandle. 

A strike near Tampa would come probably late Wednesday with Ian still a major hurricane on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale, while a Panhandle landfall would likely be toward the end of the week at Category 1 or 2 strength. 

Truchelut also said no one should underestimate Ian’s current lack of strength because it sometimes takes a storm a little while to rapidly intensify, but once the process starts it can “make up for lost time once underway,” he added. 

Before it reaches Florida, Ian will bring “significant wind and storm surge impacts in western Cuba,” the hurricane center said. Parts of the island could get up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of rain and it’s possible Ian would push ocean levels 14 feet (4 meters) above normal tide levels. 

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(Bloomberg) — Tropical storm watches have been posted in the Florida Keys, including Key West, as Ian continues to churn through the Caribbean to possibly blast into Florida’s mainland as a Category 4 hurricane by midweek. 

Despite a dip in speed, forecasters still expect Ian’s winds to reach 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour) by Wednesday. The problem forecasters are struggling with is exactly where it will make landfall in Florida, possibly anywhere from the Panhandle south to Tampa Bay. 

Ian’s winds decreased slightly to 45 mph about 495 miles southeast of Cuba’s western tip, down from 50 mph earlier, according to a US National Hurricane Center advisory at 5 p.m. 

“Ian is expected to be a major hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico during the middle of this week, but uncertainty in the track and intensity forecasts remains higher than usual,” Brad Reinhart, a hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in his outlook. 

“Regardless of Ian’s exact track and intensity, there is a risk of dangerous storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and heavy rains along the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle by the middle of the week,” he said.    

This means Ian could slam into sparsely populated areas in the Florida Panhandle south of Tallahassee or strike Tampa, St. Petersburg and possibly hit citrus groves. The path of the storm could cause travel delays, with some airlines warning customers flights could be canceled as the system moves across the Gulf of Mexico into the southern US.

A direct strike on Tampa from a major hurricane would push a wall of water into Tampa Bay, flooding the city and its suburbs and causing as much as $30 billion in losses and damage, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. 

Track Ian’s latest path

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Saturday, freeing federal disaster aid to the state. He also postponed a trip to Florida scheduled for Tuesday that included a Democratic National Committee rally in Orlando. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency across all of Florida and warned residents to prepare.

One of the problems with determining exactly where Ian will hit is a larger low-pressure trough over the eastern US, said Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger. Some computer models predict that system will pull away earlier, which would put Ian on a more easterly coast threatening Tampa, while others have it remaining in place longer, which places the target on the Panhandle. 

A strike near Tampa would come probably late Wednesday with Ian still a major hurricane on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale, while a Panhandle landfall would likely be toward the end of the week at Category 1 or 2 strength. 

Truchelut also said no one should underestimate Ian’s current lack of strength because it sometimes takes a storm a little while to rapidly intensify, but once the process starts it can “make up for lost time once underway,” he added. 

Before it reaches Florida, Ian will bring “significant wind and storm surge impacts in western Cuba,” the hurricane center said. Parts of the island could get up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of rain and it’s possible Ian would push ocean levels 14 feet (4 meters) above normal tide levels. 

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.