20/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JAN 20, 2026

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Tesla poised to benefit from China-Canada deal

Britain eases rules for companies to raise funds

LONDON: Britain’s revamped framework for raising capital came into force yesterday, aiming to make it easier and cheaper for listed and private companies to secure funds as it replaces the EU-inherited prospectus regime. The Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regime, set out by Britain’s financial regulator over the summer, removes the requirement for listed companies to publish costly and time-consuming prospectuses in most cases when raising additional capital. The reforms are part of a wider package of changes from the Financial Conduct Authority intended to boost the appeal of the London Stock Exchange after a prolonged downturn in new share issuance. Just nine companies floated on the LSE’s main market last year, far below historic levels, according to exchange data. “By cutting paperwork and speeding up access to capital, these reforms back the entrepreneurs, innovators and investors who drive our economy – while preserving the high standards and investor protections that make the UK one of the most trusted markets in the world,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will say in a speech at the LSE this week, according to pre-released excerpts. Pointing to the regulatory changes and record highs for the FTSE 100, Reeves will say the City of London financial hub is set for

a “new golden age”. Under the new rules, companies will only be required to draw up a prospectus if issuing shares equal to 75% of their existing capital, compared with the current 20% threshold. The FCA told Reuters it expects the changes to make a noticeable difference. “We got early feedback from advisors and from investment banks about deals ... which couldn’t have been done under the old rules. So we knew pretty quickly that these rules would be effective,” Jamie Bell, head of capital markets, said. The regulator estimates the reforms will save companies around £40 million (RM219 million) a year. Three lawyers told Reuters that although the reforms were welcome, their impact may be limited because issuers seeking US investors will still have to meet American standards. As a result, many fundraisings well below the 75% threshold are still likely to require issuers to produce documents similar to a prospectus, they said. To encourage greater participation from retail investors in fundraising, the FCA will also push companies to issue corporate bonds in smaller, more investible sizes and ease the liability that attaches to forward looking information in prospectuses, with the aim that companies are more comfortable about putting that information into public documents. – Reuters

Oxfam executive director Amitabh Behar said. Trump will arrive with one of the biggest US delegations ever for the Davos conference, where he is expected to dominate an agenda officially billed as “A Spirit of Dialogue”. Trump’s participation galvanised around 300 protesters who arrived in Davos on Sunday, many wearing masks of Musk or US Vice-President JD Vance and holding fistfuls of euros. Nathalie Ruoss of the Swiss Young Socialists told AFP the most powerful people in the world make decisions at Davos that impact everyone. “And they do it with no democratic legitimacy,” she said, calling it “unacceptable” that the WEF welcomed “Donald Trump”. For Oxfam, Washington’s decision to exempt US multinationals from an internationally agreed minimum tax rate of 15% was a stark example of ignoring growing inequality. “In country after country, the super-rich have not only accumulated more wealth than could ever be spent, but have also used this wealth to secure the political power to shape the rules that define our economies and govern nations,” it said. “Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many.” – AFP to a Reuters’ request for comment. Other brands that exported cars made in China to Canada before the tariffs included Volvo and Polestar, which are both owned by China’s automaking group Geely. Volvo and Polestar also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the clause on price will likely give Chinese brands some breathing room. “The beneficiaries are likely to be Chinese automakers and the Canadian customers looking for an entry-level vehicle,” Fiorani said. John Zeng, head of market forecast for China at London-based consultancy GlobalData, said that the quota also would likely offer Chinese carmakers an opportunity to test the waters in Canada where there’s a large population of Chinese Canadians. Canada wants to look at joint ventures and investments with Chinese companies within the next three years to build a Canadian electric vehicle with Chinese knowledge, the public broadcaster CBC reported, citing a senior Canadian official. China’s top EV maker BYD currently has an electric bus assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. US officials have criticised Canada’s decision. The former Joe Biden administration quadrupled tariffs on China EVs to 100% in 2024 too, all but blocking such exports to the United States. – Reuters

DAVOS: The collective wealth of the planet’s billionaires soared to a record level in 2025, charity Oxfam reported yesterday, warning of “highly dangerous” political consequences as the global elite gathers for the World Economic Forum. US President Donald Trump’s policies in particular spurred the fortunes of the ultra-rich, which jumped 16.2% in the first year of his second term to US$18.3 trillion, the NGO said in a report released each year ahead of the Davos forum. “Actions of the Trump presidency including the championing of deregulation and undermining agreements to increase corporate taxation have benefited the richest around the world,” Oxfam said. The world now has more than 3,000 billionaires for the first time, it added, with the top 12 – led by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk – having “more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, or more than four billion people”. Increasingly this money is buying political power, Oxfam said, pointing in particular to tycoons’ buying newspapers and other media, such as Musk’s takeover of X or the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. “The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable,” Tesla has an existing network of 39 stores in Canada, whereas Chinese rivals such as BYD and Nio do not yet have a sales presence there, and it can also likely move faster with marketing plans as it only has four core models, far fewer than its Chinese competitors. “Tesla indeed has an advantage with its offering of a few models, versions and simple production lines so that it can be flexible to sell cars produced in any country in any markets to achieve the best cost efficiency,” said Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy AutoForesight. Tesla did not immediately respond globally, to build and export a Canada specific version of its Model Y. The US automaker had that same year started shipping the car from Shanghai to Canada, boosting Canadian imports of automobiles from China to its largest port, Vancouver, by 460% year over year to 44,356 in 2023. But it was forced to stop in 2024 and switched to shipping from its US and Berlin factories after Ottawa imposed 100% tariffs, citing a wish to counter what they called China’s intentional state-directed policy of overcapacity. Now, it ships Model Ys produced in Berlin to Canada, but more variants such as cheaper Model 3s are mostly built in China. “This new agreement could allow resumption of those exports rather quickly,” said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of research firm AutoForecast Solutions.

SHANGHAI: Tesla is poised to be one of the first automakers to benefit from Canada’s move to remove 100% tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, thanks to its early efforts to ship cars from its Shanghai plant there and its established Canadian sales network, experts say. Under the deal announced last Friday, Canada will allow up to 49,000 vehicles to be imported annually from China with a tariff of 6.1% on most-favoured nation terms. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the quota could rise to reach 70,000 vehicles within five years. However, under one clause in the agreement, half of the quota will be reserved for vehicles under C$35,000 (RM102,000). Tesla model prices are all above that number. While many Chinese automakers will be keen to seize the opportunity as they expand exports, Tesla has an advantage as it in 2023 already equipped its Shanghai plant, its biggest and most cost-efficient factory o American automaker equipped its Shanghai plant to export to The Great White North in 2023

Surging billionaire wealth a political threat, says Oxfam

Protesters wearing a mask of Musk, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vance hold cardboard cut-out euro banknotes while taking part in a demonstration against the World Economic Forum in Davos. – AFPPIC