• Existing U.S. tariffs will have to be removed if there is to be a trade deal between Beijing and Washington, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.
• The leaders of the two countries agreed last weekend to relaunch trade talks that had stalled in May after U.S. officials accused China of pulling back from commitments made in the text of pact negotiators had said was nearly finished. Trade teams from both countries are in contact, commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a regular media briefing.
• To get talks restarted, U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed not to put tariffs on about $300 billion in additional Chinese imports and ease curbs on Chinese tech giant Huawei. The United States now has tariffs of 25% on $250 billion of Chinese goods, ranging from furniture to semiconductors. China welcomes the U.S. decision not to slap new tariffs on its goods, Gao said, when asked how long the trade truce can last.

(Source: Reuters)

• In most places, you could select the new leader of a group with one vote, maybe two if it’s close. But the U.K. isn’t most places, and the Conservatives aren’t just any group.
• After five separate votes, they’ve narrowed it down to two candidates who will now spend four weeks touring the country to persuade the party membership to back them in yet another vote.
• The main thing is, Boris Johnson will face Jeremy Hunt amid rumors some of the Boris camp voted for Huntin a bid to get an easier opponent for the last round. Hunt’s chances are seemingly very, very small. 
• However, their visions for Brexit are similar: both want to deliver on the referendum result of 2016, both want to ditch or renegotiate the Irish backstop in the existing accord brokered by May, and both are prepared to contemplate a no-deal Brexit if they can’t get the changes they want.

 (Source: Bloomberg)

1. Wigton Windfarm Limited, a subsidiary of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), is the largest wind energy facility in the English-speaking Caribbean.

2. Located in Rose Hill, Manchester, the wind farm currently comprises three plants that have a total capacity of 62.7 Megawatts.

3. The company’s main objective is to facilitate and promote the use of wind and other alternative forms of energy to drive the diversification of Jamaica’s energy mix.

4. Since becoming operational, Wigton has reduced national oil consumption by close to 406,000 barrels which has saved Jamaica almost J$3 billion.

5. Wigton’s vision is to be a catalyst for increased usage of wind power and other renewable energies for electricity generation. In fulfilment of this goal, the company actively supports the growth of Jamaica’s renewable energy industry by developing human capital.

6. As a clean energy facility Wigton’s operations contribute to efforts to preserve the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. Wind energy generation provides a viable alternative to combustion of traditional fossil fuels which cause greenhouse gas pollution.

When the Wigton Windfarm IPO (initial public offering) opens next week, investors looking to participate may now do so through a new, revolutionary digital platform courtesy of NCB Capital Markets.

The online portal, dubbed GoIPO and created in conjunction with the Jamaica Central Depository Service (JCSD), is designed to promote ease-of-use allowing participants to electronically submit their applications and thereafter receive real-time updates as to their status during the process. 

If Wigton is successful, the transaction stands to be among the largest, second only to Wisynco Limited’s floated in December 2017, as the wind energy company demands a raise of J$5.5 Bn.

“NCB Capital Markets had the distinction of executing the Wisynco IPO, which saw us processing over 8,000 applications… the most, by far, under the stock exchanges dematerialised framework, said NCB Capital Markets CEO Steven Gooden, admitting that the manual processing of the subscriptions proved to be an administrative and logistic nightmare for both NCB and the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

“Wigton in terms of dollar value is similar to Wisynco and as such, we thought it the perfect opportunity for us to showcase this solution that aims to faster process and update customers in less than one tenth of the time when compared to the traditional paper submissions,” he noted.

Of the GoIPO solution, he further noted that the platform was encrypted, provided security and confidentiality to users, who can access the digital portal once they have a JCSD number. Gooden said, too, that as selling agents of the IPO, NCB Capital Markets possesses the largest distribution channel within the broker space and clients who do not wish to apply digitally are encouraged to complete and return their forms to NCB Capital Markets locations islandwide.

“This is a major opportunity for Jamaicans from all walks of life, and this platform is our way of empowering the communities we serve,” he said referencing Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ 2019 New Year’s message wherein he said that the Government will be packaging and bringing to market several public sector assets for sale on the JSE.

“It’s an exciting time to be a Jamaican and as a leading brokerage firm, we believe in the creation of an ownership economy—giving everyday people the ability to own shares and actively participate in the country’s growth agenda,” Gooden said, noting that there is no charge or fees associated with accessing the GoIPO solution.

An IPO is an initial public offering, or the first sale of stock by a privately owned company to the public. IPOs are often issued by companies seeking the capital to expand, but in this case the government is divesting the company, for which it has 100 per cent ownership, in public hands.

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(Bloomberg) Oil price action has moved from a selloff to a collapse, with West Texas Intermediate plunging 7.1 percent in yesterday’s session. The latest leg-down in the price came after OPEC warned that demand for its crude is falling faster than expected. A barrel of WTI for December delivery was virtually unchanged at $55.75 by 5:45 a.m. Eastern Time as the International Energy Agency welcomed the oil market’s return to surplus.

Fitch has lowered its forecast for Mexico’s real GDP growth in 2019 to 2.1%, from 2.7% previously. Fitch expects economic growth in Mexico to slow over the coming quarters, as investors sour on President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Investment is expected to remain weak in 2019, as uncertainty around policy formation under AMLO outweighs more clarity in US trade relations following an agreement on NAFTA 2.0. The service sector will remain the key engine of growth, but the pace will slow as weaker investment ways on payrolls and inflation remains elevated.

(Barbados GIS) The government of Barbados is on track to revise its current suite of international business legislation by year-end to ensure compliance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 5 on harmful tax practices. According to the Ministry of International Business and Industry, the work is ongoing and engaging the full attention of the Office of the Attorney General, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission. A new regime which replaces the existing International Business Companies (IBC), as well as the International Societies with Restricted Liability (ISRL), would be rolled out effective January 1, 2019. While this will effectively bring to an end the issuance of new IBC and ISRL’s licenses, the new regime will ensure that the main incentives currently available to entities engaged in global business will continue.

 For the third quarter ended September 30, 2018, JSE reported a net profit of $293.3Mn (EPS: $0.42), representing a 96.6% improvement relative to the $149.2Mn (EPS: $0.21) reported last year. The performance was driven by strong growth in revenue due to an increase in Cess and Fee income attributed to increased volume of business, especially in relation to trading of securities. JSE continues to focus on the promotion of new and existing market, and new product development as a means of diversifying and growing revenue.