 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | ||||
Manuel looks for growth as rates fal... SA banks strong, but the global ground... Sacob worried about 'restrictive' labour... Creating a sheriff for the global Wild W... Tax and duty relief for exporter... Raft of jobs summit agreements in offin... Boom time as blue-collar America cashes ... Interest rates cause surge in inflatio... Employment equity on track despite criti... |
BUSINESS ROUNDUPTRADER UNDER INVESTIGATION Gensec Asset Management has put one of its traders on "enforced leave" during an investigation relating to certain allegations, reports MARCIA KLEIN.Gensec Asset Management (formed through the merger of the asset management arms of Gensec and Sanlam) has called in its auditors to conduct a forensic audit and has suspended a dealer. The action follows rumours, which industry sources say have been circulating for the last two weeks. Gensec Asset Management said the matter was in the hands of its auditors. The unnamed dealer was on leave with full benefits until the investigation had been completed, the company said in a statement. Industry sources spoken to were aware of a problem, but none seemed to know any details. One said that as the suspended dealer was an institutional trader, he was not subject to the regulations which bound JSE traders. It was therefore the company's onus to suspend the trader and decide on appropriate censure.
SA SATELLITE LAUNCH South Africa is on the verge of joining the world's exclusive space club with the launch of its first satellite scheduled for January next year, reports SHERILEE BRIDGE. Sunsat, developed by the University of Stellenbosch at a cost of about R11-million, will be 'piggy-backed' into orbit on a Nasa launch vehicle during a mission for the US Air Force. Project leader Prof Garth Milne says the American space agency has arranged for a free launch of the satellite in exchange for the use of a portion of the satellite for a global positioning system to be used to measure the movement of the earth's crust. The satellite will transmit full-colour, high-resolution images which will be used for research purposes but also has the potential to be exploited commercially, says Milne. Sunsat contains new technology which has already been exported. A video imager developed for the SA satellite has been sold to Korea for use on one of its space systems. Milne says the second generation is already in production and the manufacturing expertise developed could also be used to develop satellites for the private sector. DOLLAR LOSES GROUND The dollar lost ground against the yen and mark on Friday after a surprise interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve on Thursday which pushed shares and bonds higher around the world. But European shares ended off their best values as the euphoria sparked by the rate cut gave way to concerns about what bleak economic times it might signify. Leading London shares ended with gains of around 1.5%, while shares in Frankfurt and Paris also rose, by 1.8% and 0.8% respectively.
$20M TENDER AWARDED A consortium of black economic empowerment groups has been awarded a $20-million tender to manage the implementation of a fund aimed at raising the industrial competitiveness and export potential of SA manufacturers. The fund forms part of the Department of Trade and Industry's Industrial Competitiveness and Job Creation Project which supports sustainable economic growth and job-creation efforts by enhancing the industrial competitiveness of firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. The black economic empowerment firms which will manage the competitiveness fund are Labat-Anderson Africa, KMMT Brey and Tru-South. In the first such grant to Africa, the $20-million project is financed by the World Bank.
BRAZILIAN RESCUE PLAN Brazilian officials were due to fly to Washington on Friday to discuss an austerity plan with the International Monetary Fund, but an international credit line to save the country from its deep crisis was not seen as imminent. The Brazilian team would hold "technical meetings to swap details" with the IMF over the weekend, following up on a week of recent emergency negotiations over the precarious state of Latin America's largest economy, a finance ministry spokesman said. "The plan is still being drawn up and will only be sent to the president on October 20," said the spokesman, quashing reports in the Brazilian media that the government would show the IMF the hotly awaited plan in detail this weekend.
|