Wednesday newspaper round-up: Asda, Intel, Netflix, Mastercard
The global financial system faces an existential threat from climate change and must take urgent steps to reform, the governors of the Bank of England and France’s central bank have warned, writing in the Guardian. In an article published in the Guardian on Wednesday aimed at the international financial community, Mark Carney, the Bank’s governor, and Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the Banque de France, said financial regulators, banks and insurers around the world had to “raise the bar” to avoid catastrophe. - Guardian
Asda has been accused of planning to cut the pay of 3,000 supermarket staff, under proposed changes to employee contracts that will end paid breaks. The supermarket confirmed last week that consultations were taking place to simplify terms for hourly paid workers and increase the basic rate of pay to £9 per hour. Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, has claimed in a letter to Asda’s chief executive, Roger Burnley, that staff involved in the process were likely to be up to £500 worse off a year.- Guardian
Intel has announced that it is winding down a multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade effort to win a foothold in the mobile phone industry. The mammoth chipmaker, whose products dominate many other kinds of computing but which has struggled to compete in mobile hardware, said it would meet current orders but cancel its planned new products. - Telegraph
Netflix has dismissed the threat to its business from rivals such as Disney and Apple even as it signaled that its subscriber growth would slow in the face of new competition. The video streaming company reported a record $4.5bn (£3.5bn) in revenue in the first three months of 2019, saying it did not expect new rival services to "materially affect" its bottom line. – Telegraph
One of the largest damages claims to be brought in the English courts is back on after the Court of Appeal revived a £14 billion lawsuit against Mastercard on behalf of 46 million UK consumers. If the case is successful, in theory it would enable anyone who was aged 16 or over between 1992 and 2008 to claim compensation from Mastercard, the American payments processing business. The claim works out at up to £304 per person. – The Times
America’s top shareholder advisory firms have recommended that Boeing investors demand a new chairman in the wake of two fatal crashes of the company’s 737 Max jet. International Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis said that investors should back a proposal to appoint a new independent chairman at Boeing’s shareholder meeting on April 29. This would strip the chairmanship from Dennis Muilenburg, 55, who is also the company’s chief executive. – The Times