Cryptocurrency producer plans Hong Kong IPO

Beijing-based Bitmain Technologies, the world’s largest producer of cryptocurrency mining chips, is planning a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise as much as US$3 billion. The company, founded by 32-year-old Jihan Wu, designs chips known as application-specific integrated circuits, which are ideal for number crunching required by cryptocurrency miners. A listing could give the company, which controls an estimated 80 percent of the market for mining gear, the extra funding needed to explore other industries such as artificial intelligence, according to media reports. “The challenge is advancing our technology beyond what we’ve already achieved,” Wu said in an interview with Bloomberg in May.

American oil giant Exxon Mobil face a lawsuit by investors who claim that the company’s shares dropped on the disclosure that regulators were scrutinizing its reserve accounting related to climate change, Bloomberg reported this month. The United States District Court Judge denied Exxon’s bid to dismiss the suit, and wrote that the Greater Pennsylvania Carpenters Pension Fund sufficiently pleaded securities fraud claims against the company and several of its executives, including former chief executive officer Rex Tillerson. Investors said the company refused to write down any of its oil and gas reserves in the face of declining oil prices.

Some Hong Kong-listed companies are failing to see the value of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and are treating it as a box-ticking exercise, says KPMG, according to the South China Morning Post. “Like financial statements, if you only give the numbers without explaining the details, the readers cannot appreciate the substance of the performance,” Patrick Chu, Head of Business Reporting and Sustainability at KPMG, and an Institute member, was quoted as saying. A compliance review report issued by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing in May revealed that only 38 percent of 400 listed companies complied on all 11 ESG aspects in their first report after the requirements came into effect in 2016.

EY in the United Kingdom has acquired Riverview Law, a London-based provider of legal services, the firm announced on 7 August. The acquisition of Riverview Law will extend the existing EY Law offering and add talent in legal innovation and operating model transformation. The law firm will be known as EY Riverview Law once the acquisition is complete, with EY Global Head of Alliances for Tax, Chris Price, as its Chief Executive Officer.

Deloitte extends retirement age 

Deloitte Australia is allowing its partners to work beyond the age of 62. While the firm’s unofficial policy requires partners to retire upon reaching that age, its new Chief Executive Officer Richard Deutsch told the Financial Review: “My personal view is it’s about energy and I have no issue with us having partners working beyond 62.” A Deloitte Australia spokesperson said that while the firm does not have a retirement age for employees or partners in Deloitte, there are no partners over the age of 62.

PwC creates tool to detect fake steaks

PwC has developed an invisible barcode technology that aims to tackle food fraud. Consumers of beef will be able to scan the barcode and get information about the origins of the meat they are buying through their smartphone. The firm is set to launch the detector in Australia and China over the next year, following a trial with Australian beef producer Vic’s Premium Quality Meat. Slices of beef will be sprayed in the slaughterhouse with very fine particles of silicon dioxide, which acts as an edible barcode tag.

Wildfire victims to quality for tax relief

Victims or those affected by the wildfires that ripped through California since late July, may qualify for a tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS said affected taxpayers who reside or have a business in Shasta County, one of the worst-hit areas of the fires, may qualify for tax relief of up to four months. As of 20 August, a total of 5,511 fires had burned an area of 4,228 square kilometres, according to the California Department of Forestry. The IRS provided the same four-month relief period in response to the wildfires in 2017, which burned a total of 5,590 square kilometres of land.

Sean Connery paid accountant in suits

EON Productions, the British film production company behind the James Bond film series, claimed last month that film star Sean Connery paid his accountant in Bond movie suits. Meg Simmonds, archivist for the production company, told the Daily Express in the United Kingdom that the actor kept all suits he had requested for himself. EON had to buy back the costumes over the years, and during an auction for a coat Connery wore in Dr. No, Simmonds found that the vendor could have been Connery’s accountant. “So I thought, ‘So he paid his accountant with costumes’,” said Simmonds.