02/04/2025

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | APR 2, 2025

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UK court hears car loan case as banks risk huge payout LONDON: The UK’s highest court yesterday opens a hearing to determine whether controversial car loans were unlawful, in a case that could cost banks billions of pounds in compensation. sufficiently informing borrowers. It is estimated that millions of drivers would be eligible for compensation should the Supreme Court side with borrowers in the three-day hearing. estimated it could cost banks up to £16 billion, while other analysts expect the sums to be higher, with those at HSBC suggesting it could hit £44 billion.

made the commissions illegal. The Supreme Court will consider two cases against South African lender FirstRand bank and one against British bank Close Brothers. In preparation for the ruling, British banks have set aside considerable sums, including Lloyds Bank, which has earmarked nearly £1.2 billion (RM7.1 billion). Consumer group Which!

Aston Martin to sell stake in Formula One team LONDON: Luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda said on Monday it planned to sell its minority stake in the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team to help turn around its loss-making core business. At the same time, Aston Martin’s main shareholder, the Yew Tree Consortium, plans to raise its stake in the group to 33%, a statement said. Aston Martin, the model beloved by fictional British spy James Bond, added that the combined action will increase the group’s liquidity by more than £125 million (RM718 million). The consortium is led by Canadian Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance Stroll drives for the Formula One team. The company said its long-term Formula One sponsorship deal will not be affected. “A long-term contract is now in place to ensure the Aston Martin name remains at the pinnacle of motorsport for decades to come,” said a statement from the F1 team. Aston Martin chief executive Adrian Hallmark said the new investment will “accelerate our progress into being a sustainably profitable company”. The company last month announced it would cut about 5% of its workforce as weak Chinese demand contributed to losses widening in 2024. – AFP fallout, the UK government made an unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the case earlier this year. Analysts said that the government may be concerned about the impact on banks’ willingness to provide credit at a time when the economic outlook remains uncertain. While the hearing is due to conclude tomorrow, a judgment is not expected until the summer. – AFP

The highest figures could put it on the same scale as the fallout from payment protection insurance (PPI), one of Britain’s most costly consumer scandals, according to analysts. Amid concerns over the economic

Lenders are appealing a landmark ruling by a Court of Appeal in November that deemed it unlawful for car dealers to receive a commission on loans without

The loans, which were around for 14 years from 2007, incentivised car dealers to give higher interest rates in return for a higher commission. Britain’s financial watchdog has

Political support tarnishes crypto industry

people holding and exchanging them. In the absence of a centralised authority, the system relies on “trust” in the people “who are endorsing these products”, said Maximilian Brichta, a doctoral student of communication at the University of Southern California. Many traders will use automated programmes to buy a new token as early as possible in the hope of reselling it for maximum profit. Milei defended himself by likening losses endured by buyers of $LIBRA to someone entering a casino and knowing they may not win. However with crypto, it is argued by some that the “game” is rigged from the outset. To avoid price manipulation, “when launching a cryptocurrency, best practice dictates that the first investors... hold a very small share of the offering” and are prevented from selling for “several years”, said Balva. Except that at the launch of $LIBRA, “more than 80%” of the available tokens were in the hands of “a handful of large holders (who) controlled all the liquidity and could liquidate it all at any time”, she added. According to Balva, this was “either monumental recklessness or outright fraud”. – AFP

Financial exchange, increasing accusations of a conflict of interest. On paper, his support for crypto projects could boost the sector’s legitimacy. “But at the same time, it can backfire,” said Larisa Yarovaya, director of the Centre for Digital Finance at Southampton Business School. “Any conflicts that will emerge from it ... hackers, speculative attacks, problems in relation to these specific coins or these specific projects” can prove counterproductive, she said. There is scepticism also over the launch in February of the memecoin $CAR by the Central African Republic. “The domain name had been reserved only a few days before” launch, noted Balva, which “shows that there was too little preparation”. The Central African Republic was the second country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, after El Salvador in 2021, which has since reversed course owing to a lack of local popularity. Bitcoin was launched in 2008 as a way to free transactions from traditional financial institutions, notably banks. Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, which publicly records transactions between

o Early investors in $LIBRA, $TRUMP make huge profits while majority of buyers suffer losses

LONDON: Support for crypto currencies from US President Donald Trump or Argentine leader Javier Milei has seen investors lose billions of dollars and is damaging a sector struggling for credibility, researchers told AFP. “The entire crypto industry is being tarnished,” said Claire Balva, strategy director for fintech company Deblock. Prosecutors are reportedly examining whether Milei engaged in fraud or criminal association, or was in breach of his duties, when he praised the $LIBRA cryptocurrency on social media in February. The token’s value soared from just a few cents to almost US$5 and then crashed. Milei deleted his blessing hours later. He denies all allegations made against him. “I did not promote it,” Milei told broadcaster TN in February, adding it “is a problem between private parties because the State does not play a consecutive month in March, contributing to the lowest first-quarterly sales figures in the country since 2021 for Elon Musk’s electric car brand, data showed yesterday. The billionaire CEO, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has stirred controversy by courting far-right parties in Europe, which has added to Tesla’s sales slump ahead of the much-anticipated launch of its new Model Y mid-size SUV. Tesla registered in March 3,157 car sales in France, a 36.83% drop from last year, for a total of 6,693 car registrations in the first quarter, data from French car body PFA showed. Its market share in the country dropped to 1.63% in the quarter ending March, and lost ground to brands not accounted for by the PFA, including BYD and other Chinese EV makers, whose

role here” and “I acted in good faith.” The price collapsed after a handful of early investors decided to sell at a huge profit, causing colossal losses for the majority of those who purchased $LIBRA. It also dragged down prices of other cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Hayden Davis, who helped launch $LIBRA, said he had been inspired by the initial success of Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP, that marked the president’s inauguration. Having reportedly made Trump at least US$350 million, according to the Financial Times , about 810,000 buyers went on to lose more than US$2 billion combined, stated crypto data group Chainalysis. A memecoin is a cryptocurrency that rides on the popularity of a viral personality or phenomenon on the internet and is often seen as a purely speculative asset. Trump is offering multiple products linked to digital currencies, notably through his World Liberty Overall new car registrations in France fell 14.54% in March and were down 7.83% in the first quarter. Tesla is set to report its global first-quarter deliveries and production numbers today. Analysts expect data from France and other key European markets this week to provide an important indication of the group’s performance in the quarter and consumer sentiment towards the brand. In response to the company CEO’s right-wing activism, Tesla cars have also become targets for vandalism across several countries. On Monday, Musk said that an overnight fire at a Tesla dealership in Rome that destroyed 17 cars was an act of terrorism, reiterating earlier comments by Trump. Tesla share prices closed at US$259.16 on Monday.– Reuters

Tesla car sales in France drop to lowest Q1 in four years PARIS: Tesla’s sales in France fell year-on-year for a third total share of the market rose to 3.19%.

Damaged and destroyed Tesla charging stations, burnt during ‘Tesla Takedown’ protests, in the French city of Saint-Chamond. – AFPPIC