Financial Mindset

Dozens of legal scholars and economists have issued stark warnings over attempts by the European Commission (EC) to weaken corporate accountability laws, saying the action will wreck corporate accountability commitments, slash human rights and environmental protections, and lead to higher costs for companies and society. Under pressure from corporate lobbyists, the EC has been discussing reshaping rules that govern how companies monitor and report their activity. Last month, both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz escalated their campaign against the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which covers firms’ supply chains, claiming that the regulations threatened to make European businesses uncompetitive. In a speech, Macron told business executives the CSDDD should be “put off the table” entirely, expressing support for an EC “Omnibus Simplification Package” that would eliminate requirements for companies to monitor their sup...

Wilmar International, the Singapore -based agrifood giant, has handed over 11.9 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($729 million) to Indonesia as a “security deposit,” related to misconduct allegations over palm oil export permits. Wilmar’s shares dropped by 3% on the news, reaching their lowest point in a decade. Wilmar generated $67.4 billion in revenue last year, a 0.3% increase year-on-year. The agrifood giant earned $1.2 billion in annual profit, meaning its $729 million “security deposit” is equal to about 60% of Wilmar’s entire 2024 net income.  Indonesian prosecutors accuse Wilmar of bribing officials to obtain the permits in 2022, during a national cooking oil shortage. While an Indonesian court cleared Wilmar and two other companies in March, the three judges behind the ruling were arrested on graft charges a month later.  Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office claims that corruption tied to these export permits cost the state 12.3 trillion rupiah ($755 million).  ...

Fortune’ s Southeast Asia 500 , which measures the largest companies in the region by revenue, covers seven economies: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore. Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy in terms of both GDP and population, has the biggest footprint on the list, covering more than a fifth of the total ranking with 109 companies. Thailand, the region’s second-largest economy, sits in second place with 100.  Singapore, the region’s wealthiest economy by GDP per capita, sits in the middle of the pack, with 81 companies on the Southeast Asia 500. Measured by revenue, however, the tiny city-state of six million ends up far ahead of its ASEAN peers.  Total revenue from Singapore-based Southeast Asia 500 companies reached $637 billion, or about a third of the list’s total revenue of $1.8 trillion. That’s twice as much of Thailand, which sits in second place with revenue of $352 billion.  What’s driving Singapore up ...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told hundreds of thousands of his employees on Tuesday that generative AI is coming for their jobs and that their best bet is to embrace the technology. “Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company,” he wrote in a company-wide email that was also published on Amazon’s corporate blog. But no matter how geeked Amazon employees get over new AI tools, Jassy also made a point to note that there’s not room on the bus for everybody: “We expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.” As I read this note – and I recommend reading the whole thing – some questions quickly came to mind. Are some parts of Amazon’s vast organization highly resistant to the new technology and perhaps in need of a public nudge (or, kick...

The Southeast Asian super apps GoTo and Grab have a lot in common. Both started in the early 2010s to fill a hole in the on-demand, private-hire transport and delivery service sector before moving toward the idea of a super app (much like what is seen in China), later adjusting their strategies to streamline offerings. Now, after a decade or so, Grab (No. 128 on the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 ) has arguably risen to the top. The firm’s on-demand services are available in eight of Southeast Asia’s 11 countries, while GoTo’s on-demand arm, Gojek, is lagging in the sector’s market share and has exited all Southeast Asia markets for on-demand services save for Singapore and its home market, Indonesia. But GoTo (No. 266) remains formidable in Indonesia, the region’s largest market—so much so that the rumor mill is spinning with talk of Grab seeking to buy some, or nearly all, of its chief competitor. Grab has denied reports of acquisition talks. And even if GoTo were to agree to sell it...

Amid Israel’s punishing air strikes , Iranians clogged roads and highways on Sunday to leave Tehran, according to reports. That came as fresh attacks targeted Iran’s energy infrastructure, including fuel supplies and a top natural gas field. Reduced electricity supplies could worsen an energy crisis that had already been hitting Iranians for months. Israel’s sustained air campaign against Iran, including on Tehran, prompted residents of the capital to flee, clogging roads and highways. There were traffic jams on roads leading out of the city, while others trying to flee were hailing taxis as they held suitcases, according to the New York Times . One resident of Tehran who gave his name only as Alireza told the Washington Post that they left the capital Sunday for Iran’s northern Gilan province after a building near his home was hit by an air strike. “We were lucky to leave very early,” he said. “Right after us the roads got really crowded.” The Post and Times also reported th...

Iran has launched hundreds of missiles at Israel in response to its expansive air strikes, though not as many as expected. Meanwhile, Israel has targeted Iran’s missiles as well as its ability to launch them. The Institute for the Study of War said Iran’s rate of attack is already slowing down from its initial barrages. The conflict between Israel and Iran escalated over the weekend as both sides appeared to expand their range of targets, including energy infrastructure. But despite Israel’s aggressive air strikes and even suggestions that they are aimed at the regime itself, Iran has not responded in kind, launching fewer missiles than expected and at a declining rate. That’s because Israel has targeted Iran’s stockpile of missiles as well as its ability to launch them, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). “The frequency of Iran’s missile barrages targeting Israel has decreased since the start of the Israeli air campaign on June 12, which suggests that Israeli...