1. RENAULT :-Renault  is in advanced discussions to end its joint venture to build vans with China’s state-backed Brilliance, a source close to the matter said, as the French firm overhauls its struggling Chinese operations.

The tie-up dates back to 2017, when Renault and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd set up manufacturing operations in Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaoning, and set out to make a push into electric commercial vans in particular.

The Chinese market has proved difficult for some foreign producers, however, with sales faltering right before the COVID-19 pandemic, which walloped the industry.

Renault last year ditched its main passenger car business in China following poor sales at its loss-making venture with Dongfeng Motor Group. But it is making a fresh attempt to crack the market with Geely Holding Group, announcing in August a hybrid vehicle joint venture.

Renault said in a statement its joint venture with Brilliance was still beset by challenges despite a transformation plan set out in June 2020, but declined to comment on its possible end.

“We do not comment on market speculation,” it said. “The two shareholders have brought a lot of support (to the venture) and are in regular contact about the development of the group.”

2. LLOYD:- Lloyd’s of London is likely to be exposed to around 10% of the billions of dollars of insured losses from Hurricane Ida, its chairman said on Thursday, as the commercial insurance market reported a swing to a first-half profit.

Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast, hit Louisiana more than a week ago before moving northeast and causing intense flooding that killed dozens.

Risk modelling agencies’ estimates for the hurricane’s total insured losses range from $17 billion to $35 billion..

“Typically, if you looked at Lloyd’s’ exposure to those kinds of events, it would be about 10% of that number,” Bruce Carnegie-Brown told Reuters.

“Because of our market share in the U.S., we have a bigger exposure than we would, for instance, to continental flooding.”

North America is Lloyd’s biggest market.

Lloyd’s, which reports the combined results of its 100-odd syndicate members, recorded a pre-tax profit of 1.4 billion pounds ($1.93 billion) in the six months to end-June, versus a loss of 400 million pounds for the same period a year earlier.

3. PAYPAL--PayPal recently announced its intention to start its own stock-trading platform, a lucrative segment that could bring forth even more growth for the fintech giant.

As other competitors within the red-hot space look to break into the payments and wallets arena — think Shopify  with its Payments business, and Alphabet  with Google Pay Send — it’s clear that PayPal is going to have to spread its wings into new areas if it is to sustain its marvelous growth rate.

As PayPal makes lateral moves, I remain bullish on the name. (See PYPL stock charts on TipRanks)

Undoubtedly, the fintech arena could stand to get very crowded through the 2020s. PayPal will need to play smart to stay at the top, with expansion into new arenas like stock trading, while defending its turf in peer-to-peer payments.

4. GOLDMAN SACHS: Goldman Sachs Group Inc hired a partner from McKinsey & Company to co-lead its operations in the Asia Pacific region outside of Japan, according to a memo sent to staff on Wednesday that was seen by Reuters.

Kevin Sneader will join Goldman in Hong Kong in November as a partner and become a member of the Wall Street bank’s top management committee, according to the memo.

Sneader joined McKinsey in 1989 and rose through the ranks to serve as head of the firm’s Asian offices from 2014-2018. Most recently, he served as the consultancy’s global managing partner.

He will work with Todd Leland as co-president of the region. Leland also leads the investment banking division in the Asia Pacific area, outside of Japan

.5. KPMG –  Accountants KPMG said on Thursday it had become one of Britain’s first companies to set a target for staff from working class backgrounds to help close a pay gap and diversify its workforce.

Companies are already taking steps to diversify by increasing the number of women and ethnic minority employees, particularly in senior roles.

Targets for socio-economic background have featured less in corporate diversity efforts.

“We’re setting a socio-economic background representation target for the first time, alongside our other diversity targets,” KPMG said in a statement.

“We are aiming for 29% of our partners and directors to be from a working class background by 2030,” said KPMG, one of the world’s ‘Big Four’ accounting firms along with Deloitte, PwC and EY.

It has 582 partners and around 1,300 directors in Britain.

Currently 23% of KPMG’s partners and 20% of its directors are from a working class background, with working class representation across KPMG’s board at 22%, dropping to 14% in its executive committee.

Staff from a professional background typically earn about 8.6% more than colleagues from a working class background, which KPMG defines as having parental occupations like receptionists, electricians, plumbers, butchers and van drivers.

“We’re training all our colleagues on socio-economic background, including the invisible barriers that exist.” KPMG said.

In July, the Financial Conduct Authority set out proposals to increase gender and ethnic diversity in Britain’s board rooms and executive committees, and suggested companies could also consider other types of public disclosures, including sexual orientation, disability and socio-economic background.