<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>Eddie Tan has been appointed director, private banker, Singapore/Malaysia team wef Feb 7 
Work experience:&nbsp; 20 years of financial services experience 
&nbsp;</div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner>Lim Ming How has been appointed director, private banker, Singapore/Malaysia team wef Feb 18 
Work experience: More than 10 years of private banking and wealth management experience 
 
Michelle Le Herissier has been appointed director/head, Barclays Wealth Trustees (S) Ltd wef March 
Work experience: 17 years of experience in trust administration, across various financial institutions</div></div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage>

Eddie Tan has been appointed director, private banker, Singapore/Malaysia team wef Feb 7
Work experience:  20 years of financial services experience

Barclays Wealth - Corporate moves

Leaders from a US dockworkers’ union and the group that represents their employers are set to resume contract talks on Jan 7 as the threat of a strike looms, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

US dockworkers, port employers set to restart talks on Tuesday — Bloomberg

Constellation Energy Corp has signed a pair of deals with the US government to provide more than US$1 billion (RM4.47 billion) of electricity and services, enough to fund upgrade projects that will boost capacity at the country’s biggest nuclear fleet. The shares surged.

Constellation Energy signs US$1 bil power deal with US govt

Airbus SE fell just short of meeting its annual delivery target for 2024 by handing over about 760 aircraft to customers following a last-month spurt that helped the company overcome a slow start to the year.

Airbus delivered about 760 jets last year, 10 short of annual goal

The suspect who died in a Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday was identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is treating the case as a possible terrorist attack, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe is private.

Suspect in deadly Las Vegas Cybertruck blast identified — Bloomberg

Any development in Kampung Baru will take into account its history and land status to ensure that the area remains preserved as a Malay village, according to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

Kampung Baru development will preserve Malay identity — Zaliha

Wisma Putra has confirmed the detention of a Malaysian in Saudi Arabia, saying it has extended consular assistance to the individual.

In a statement to Bernama on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said efforts are ongoing to ensure local laws protect that person's rights.

Wisma Putra confirms Malaysian detained in Saudi Arabia

Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated US$40 billion (RM178.76 billion) in 2022, was set to appear in US court on Thursday to face criminal fraud charges after being extradited from Montenegro this week.

Former crypto executive Do Kwon due in US court on criminal fraud charges

The cutting of Russian gas supplies to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region has forced the closure of all industrial companies except food producers, an official said on Thursday.

The mainly Russian-speaking territory of about 450,000 people, which split from Moldova in the 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed, has suffered a painful and immediate hit from Wednesday's cut-off of Russian gas supplies to central and eastern Europe via Ukraine.

Starved of Russian gas, industry shuts down in breakaway Transdniestria

Value Partners Group Ltd's co-founder Cheah Cheng Hye will step down from his roles as co-chairman and co-chief investment officer (CIO) on Jan 2, 2025, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX)-listed firm announced on Thursday.

Value Partners Penang-born co-founder Cheah Cheng Hye steps down as co-chairman and co-CIO, named honorary chairman  

If the latest round of airline delays over the holiday season has you feeling anxious about your next flight, the 2024 annual on-time performance list from Cirium, published on Jan 2, may help.

The aviation analytics firm analyses more than 25 million data points from 600-plus sources each day to determine whether airlines are meeting their scheduled arrival times.

Aeromexico tops 10 most on-time airlines in the world last year

Two senior executives at Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG), the parent company of national carrier Malaysia Airlines Bhd, have resigned in a surprise move, sources told The Edge.

Malaysia Aviation Group to see departure of two senior executives

The Road Transport Department (JPJ) is offering a special flat-rate compound fee of RM150 for three types of offences over a six-month period starting Friday, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He said the special compound payment covers certain types of JPJ summons notices, namely Summons 53A (AwAS Summons) for speeding violations or running red lights captured by the AwAS camera system, Notice 114 (Interview Notice) and Notice 115 (Sticker Summons Notice by JPJ).

JPJ offers RM150 flat-rate compound for three offences starting Friday

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (KL:SUNREIT) said on Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of Kluang Mall in Johor for RM158 million.

Sunway REIT completes Kluang Mall acquisition

Indonesia has yet to implement a higher mandatory blend of biodiesel planned for Jan 1 as industry participants await technical details of the new regulation, causing confusion among palm oil traders.

Indonesia's palm oil B40 delay causes market uncertainties

Rolex SA, the biggest luxury Swiss watch brand, raised prices on some of its most popular models after gold values surged in 2024. 
&nbsp; 
The Geneva-based company, controlled by a Swiss foundation named for its co-founder Hans Wilsdorf, began the year by hiking prices as much as 8% on some models made from precious metals.

Rolex kicks off 2025 by increasing watch prices after gold soars

Infrastructure works for the Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) Mutiara Line project and the expansion of the Penang International Airport (PIA) may be carried out simultaneously to minimise inconvenience to the public, according to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

CM: Penang LRT works, airport expansion to proceed simultaneously

Velocity Capital Partner Bhd (KL:VELOCITY) sees the emergence of a new majority shareholder yet again.

Velocity Capital sees emergence of single largest shareholder

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) expects crude palm oil (CPO) average selling prices (ASP) to range between RM4,500 and RM5,000 per tonne in the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025).

In a note on Thursday, Maybank IB expressed optimism about CPO prices in 1Q 2025, citing strong demand driven by the early Chinese New Year (CNY) at the end of January 2025 and the onset of Ramadan in March.

Maybank IB: CPO prices seen at RM4,500–RM5,000 in 1Q 2025

Pentamaster Corp Bhd (KL:PENTA) has been served with a writ and statement of claim by Ocado Innovation Ltd, a subsidiary of UK-based online grocery technology company Ocado Group, over allegations of patent infringement involving warehouse automation and robotics technologies.

Pentamaster faces legal action from UK-based Ocado over alleged warehouse automation patent infringement

Condom maker Karex Bhd (KL:KAREX) has redesignated its independent director Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman as the group’s chairperson, effective immediately.

Karex elevates Adeeba Kamarulzaman to chairperson after Ong Eng Long’s resignation

Eastern Pacific Industrial Corp Bhd (EPIC), a Terengganu government-linked company, on Thursday said it has secured a contract to provide pan Malaysia services to national oil-and-gas company Petronas.

Terengganu-backed EPIC bags contract for pan-Malaysia services

A brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday.

Awantec, Pentamaster, Velocity Capital, Ecobuilt, Karex, Sunway REIT

Below is a summary of how key Bursa Malaysia indices and the ringgit performed on Thursday.

FBM KLCI down 0.58% to 1,632.87 on Jan 2, 2025

Awanbiru Technology Bhd (KL:AWANTEC) has secured at least a one-year extension to its cloud framework agreement (CFA 1.0) with the government, under which it manages and delivers Google cloud services to the government.

Awantec secures extension of at least one year to provide Google cloud services to govt

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): Ecobuilt Holdings Bhd (KL:ECOHLDS) has until Jan 8 to submit its annual report for the financial financial year ended Aug 31, 2024, failing which the trading of its securities will be suspended the following day (Jan 9).

Ecobuilt faces trading suspension from Jan 9 after failing to submit annual report

Senai Airport City Sdn Bhd and Lincotec Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan’s Linco Technology Co Ltd, have entered into a sale and purchase agreement for Lincotec to acquire 4.02 hectares (9.93 acres) of industrial land.

Taiwan's Linco Technology acquires Senai Airport City land

Most Asian stock markets started the year on the back foot on Thursday, as investors braced for US President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House and the prospect of US interest rates staying higher for longer.

Asian stocks drop in rocky start to 2025 as Trump policies take centre stage

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): MMC Corporation Bhd’s 70%-owned unit, Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), has become the first container terminal in Malaysia to handle over 12.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a single year in&nbsp;2024.

PTP is Malaysia’s first container terminal to surpass 12m TEUs throughput in a single year — chairman

AmInvestment Bank Bhd projects that mandatory Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions for non-citizen employees could channel up to RM1.7 billion in additional annual inflows into Malaysia’s domestic equity market.

According to its Sector Report, the estimate is based on the presence of 2.5 million foreign workers, a minimum monthly wage of RM1,700, combined employee and employer EPF contributions of 11% and 13%, respectively, and the assumption that 14% of EPF assets would flow into domestic equities, as indicated in the latest 2023 annual report.

AmInvestment forecasts RM1.7 bil boost to Malaysia's equity market from non-citizen employees' EPF contributions

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