Dr. Atie J El Mouallem elected as a Board Member of Lebanon Certified Anti-Corruption Managers. — atiejelmouallem.com

Beirut, Lebanon, September 1, 2021, Lebanon Certified Anti-Corruption Managers (LCACM} today announced the election of Dr Atie J El Mouallem as a Board Member. Dr Atie J Mouallem is previously also a member of the American Anti Corruption Institute (AACI).

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Webinar: ‘Investigating Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor’

Highlights:

– In this one-hour virtual event, OCCRP and Daraj.com journalists, including myself, will discuss how we uncovered Riad Salame’s hidden wealth — almost $100 million in overseas assets that he owned through a network of companies.

– To join this event, we ask that you donate any amount to become an OCCRP Accomplice.

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UAE to Grow Asia, Africa Trade, Seek $150 Billion Investment – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– They include South Korea, Indonesia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Turkey.

– It will also expand economic ties with Britain, India and Israel, where the Gulf state normalized ties a year ago.

– Asia and Africa have emerged as important destinations for UAE funding, mostly carried out by way of investments through Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds. The UAE’s particular focus has been on India, where Mubadala Investment Co.’s investments in 2020 eclipsed its combined total of the preceding 19 years.

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Living at AlJurf

Find Out More About Living at AlJurf

AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm.

Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards.

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Letter Requesting Donation for School

Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. — atiejelmouallem.com

Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. 

From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donations. 

Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school.

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Heir to $10 Billion JCB Fortune Forms Fund for Hydrogen Bets – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– HYCAP has raised more than 200 million pounds ($277 million) to invest primarily in British businesses as it aims to boost the production and supply of hydrogen made from renewable energy, according to a statement Monday. Bamford set up the fund with multifamily office Vedra Partners, co-founded by Max Gottschalk. Managed in the U.K., the Luxembourg-based fund is looking to raise 1 billion pounds and has already identified more than three-dozen possible investments.

– The move comes as hydrogen becomes an increasingly popular option for combating climate change.

– This fund is really designed to help develop the U.K. hydrogen ecosystem from start to finish,” he said. It’s about “really getting our hands dirty.”

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Millennials and Gen-Z Shoppers Are Addicted to $46 Billion Klarna – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– Klarna’s obvious appeal for Millennial and Gen Z shoppers (its average customer age is 33) helped it snag a $45.6 billion valuation in a recent funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

– The fast-expanding Swedish company, which operates in much of northern Europe, is pushing aggressively into the U.S. It says it’s the world’s most valuable fintech startup after Stripe Inc.

– The credit card model is simply unsustainable for consumers,” Klarna’s billionaire founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski told investors last week.

– Siemiatkowski says more than 98% of its transactions are interest-free.

– The fintech makes most of its money by charging the retailer instead, with companies paying up to 3.4% of each transaction plus 20 pence (28 cents) for the “pay in 30 days” product.

– The company reckons retailers offering BNPL see an increase of approximately 45% in average order value.

– It’s this apparently carefree attitude toward credit that has disturbed banking supervisors, especially as the booming BNPL industry remains largely outside their jurisdiction.

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Xi’s Common Prosperity Drive Triggers a Rare Debate in China – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– How China can balance two key goals: Creating more balanced growth to bolster the party’s support among the masses and spurring the technological breakthroughs needed to outpace the U.S. as global tensions rise.

– China imposed limits on the number of hours kids can play video games.

– China’s broadcasting regulator moved to ban film stars with “incorrect” politics, cap salaries and rein in fan culture — particularly “sissy and other distorted aesthetics.”

SunDrive Solar Startup Beats China’s Giant Manufacturers in Efficiency Test – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– If SunDrive can mass produce its technology — and that’s a big if — the Australian startup could reduce the cost of solar panels and make the industry far less dependent on silver. “The thing about copper is that it’s very abundant and usually about 100 times cheaper than silver.

– Solar panel makers now consume as much as 20% the world’s industrial silver each year. When silver prices are high, the metal alone can account for 15% of a solar cell’s price.

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George Soros Calls BlackRock’s China Risk to U.S. Security, Investors – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Highlights:

– Pouring billions of dollars into China now is a tragic mistake,” Soros wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “It is likely to lose money for BlackRock’s clients and, more importantly, will damage the national security interests of the U.S. and other democracies.”

– The world’s largest money manager last month began offering investment products to Chinese individuals, two months after winning approval to become the nation’s first wholly foreign-owned mutual fund firm.

– The divergent views from two of the world’s most influential money managers underscore the increasingly fraught environment confronting financial firms in Asia’s largest economy.

– BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and most of their major peers in money management and banking have decided the opportunities in China outweigh the risks.

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