World's Biggest Telco Conference Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Concerns
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BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY TOP TRUMP? THE STELLAR PERFORMANCE WE DEMOCRATS ARE PUT SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20 SEARCHING FOR ULTRA UNDER THE LENS P24 A WINNER P22 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE 3,555 CITYAM.COM FREE LOONEY CHANGES TUNE BP’s BAILEY WARNS new chief imagines life after oil EU OVER CITY ANNADEALPUNCH MENIN UP sort of metaphorical punch-up every pean Parliament called on chief EU AND CATHERINE NEILAN time and a threat to withdraw equiv- negotiator Michel Barnier to push the alence, that process would just not case for “dynamic alignment” of @annamenin @CatNeilan work properly.” cross-border rules with Britain. A res- BRITAIN and the European Union Writing in City A.M. this week chan- olution passed by MEPs said that fu- must avoid a “metaphorical punch cellor Sajid Javid pushed for the UK’s ture competition with the EU must be up” and find a way to settle disagree- right to diverge from EU financial “kept open and fair through a ‘level ments over how the UK’s finance in- services regulation as part of a post- playing field’” on issues including the dustry can do business with the bloc, Brexit trade deal based on an en- environment, tax, and state aid. said incoming Bank of England gover- hanced form of equivalence. Prime Minister Boris Johnson last nor Andrew Bailey. Bank of England deputy governor week explicitly ruled out tying the Bailey, who is currently head of the Sam Woods, at the same Lords hear- UK’s regulatory framework to future Financial Conduct Authority, also ing, said the risk that the EU could rules and standards made by Brussels. said it would be “hard to imagine” the withdraw equivalence would deter Brexiters such as former trade secre- UK not being granted equivalence by cross-border activity. Woods said he tary Liam Fox said dynamic align- the EU after the post-Brexit transition hoped something “more durable” ment would be “incompatible with EDWARD THICKNESSE transition to net zero. We all want period ends in December. could be negotiated, adding the UK the concept of Brexit”, as one nation energy that is reliable and affordable, Appearing before a House of Lords should be “concerned” about the pos- is effectively still bound by the regu- @edthicknesse but that is no longer enough. committee yesterday, Bailey said that sibility of the bloc taking a “mercan- lations of the other. THE NEW boss at oil behemoth BP “It must also be cleaner. To deliver the bigger challenge would be estab- tilist” approach to regulatory disputes Barnier responded to Javid’s call by yesterday unveiled plans to become that, trillions of dollars will need to lishing how the two sides deal with in a bid to grab business from the City. saying British politicians should “not a net zero emissions company by be invested in replumbing and disagreements. Under current rules, However, Woods said he was “cau- kid themselves” that Brussels will 2050 or sooner — one of the most rewiring the world’s energy system. It the EU can grant equivalence to coun- tiously optimistic” that the EU will grant a special position to the City. ambitious climate pledges yet made will require nothing short of tries which it deems to have a regula- grant permission for London’s clear- “There will not be general open-ended by an oil major. reimagining energy as we know it.” tory framework as stringent as its ing houses to continue to process tril- ongoing equivalence in financial serv- Along with absolute net zero Looney did not give details on how own, but can unilaterally withdraw lions of pounds of derivatives for EU ices, nor other management or finan- commitments across all of BP’s the oil behemoth would reinvent this with only 30 days’ notice. customers. The London Stock Ex- cial agreements with the United operations, the firm will also cut the itself. The firm has previously been “You would want to have a mecha- change’s LCH unit holds positions Kingdom,” he said. carbon intensity of products it sells in criticised for boasting of its green nism to say OK, let’s sit down and talk worth £57 trillion on behalf of clients The European Parliament’s man- half by 2050 at the latest. credentials while spending just three about what we’re doing here,” said in the bloc, but will need permission date, which is based on Barnier’s rec- Bernard Looney, the firm’s new per cent of its capital expenditure on Bailey, who is due to take over from to continue clearing for them after ommendations, now needs to be chief executive, said in a statement: renewables projects in 2018. Mark Carney in Threadneedle Street the transition period ends. signed off by EU27, with trade talks “The world’s carbon budget is finite next month. “If that ended up in a It came on the same day the Euro- expected to begin early next month. and running out fast; we need a rapid £ CONTINUES ON P3 World’s biggest telco conference cancelled amid coronavirus concerns JAMES WARRINGTON annual conference, last night said would still go ahead, outlining a and Deutsche Telekom, withdrew the local economy, according to the outbreak had made it list of health precautions, from the convention. GSMA estimates. @j_a_warrington “impossible” for the event to go including a ban on visitors from It marks the first time that the It is unclear whether the event TELECOMS extravaganza Mobile ahead later this month. the Hubei province — where the telecom industry’s largest event organisers will have to shoulder World Congress (MWC) has been It comes after a string of drop- outbreak started — and a no- has been scrapped since it was the costs of the cancellations, with cancelled after fears over the outs from major tech firms handshake policy. established in 1987. experts stating any insurance coronavirus sparked a mass exodus including Nokia, Ericsson, Amazon However, the body was forced to The cancellation will come as a policy would be unlikely to kick in by some of the world’s most and Facebook. hold an emergency board meeting major blow to Barcelona, as unless restrictions were placed on powerful tech giants. In a statement issued on Monday, yesterday after a fresh wave of MWC’s 100,000 visitors give a boost public gatherings due to health GSMA, which organises the GSMA insisted the conference attendees, including BT, Vodafone of roughly $500m (£386m) to concerns. FTSE 100▲ 7,543.37 +34.93 FTSE 250▲21,793.48 +147.46 DOW▲ 29,551.42 +275.08 NASDAQ▲9,725.96 +87.02 £/$▲1.298 +0.003 £/€▲ 1.191 +0.006 €/$▼ 1.089 -0.003 02 NEWS THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 CITYAM.COM WHAT A TATE Luxury central London flat owners lose court case against nosy neighbours at Tate Modern viewing platform THE CITY VIEW BP’s plan is far bigger than a PR manoeuvre HE CLOSEST thing to a boastful holiday snap on Bernard Looney’s new Instagram page is a rather dreary image of TBonn. BP’s new boss was in the German city last week, so the caption tells us, to meet the head of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. It should have come as no surprise to Looney (or at least not to his PR team) that social media users piled into the comments, lambasting the oil industry and BP in particular. In response, Looney wrote “I see the many comments... I get it, I am listening to the frustration [and] I hope that what we say next week will help.” He was referring to the speech he delivered in London yesterday. “Providing the world with clean, reliable affordable energy will require nothing less than reimagining energy, and today that RESIDENTS of a luxury London block who were trying to stop visitors to the neighbouring Tate Modern art gallery from peering becomes BP’s new purpose,” he said. That phrase, reimagining into their glass-walled apartments lost their case in the Court of Appeal yesterday. The dispute began in 2016 when the Tate energy, appeared as part of a huge new opened an extension with a panoramic platform on its top floor that gives visitors clear views of the inside of some flats. logo, looking more like the branding for an ethical smoothie than one of the world’s top oil and gas supermajors. It may seem Just under 20 years ago, BP rebranded incremental with the introduction a floral emblem, but that’s how but today Looney was adamant that his Tech titans spared in first transition new strategy is much more than works another PR exercise. There will always be some people for whom BP and the energy sector can do no right. Those demanding immediate divestment, overnight online harms crackdown transitions to renewable across the board and global net zero carbon emissions before HS2 rolls into Birmingham will always view Looney and his colleagues as part of the problem. This JAMES WARRINGTON plans to hold top tech executives per- “Startups rely on an internet where cynicism is misplaced. BP has just committed to a reduction in sonally responsible for breaches of the users feel safe, but these plans simply oil and gas production. As Sky’s Ian King notes, none of the @j_a_warrington new legislation, meaning they could won’t work,” said Dom Hallas, execu- other supermajors (Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, THE GOVERNMENT has pushed back face criminal prosecution. tive director of the Coalition for a Dig- plans to slap sanctions on social But in its initial response to a ital Economy.