<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>(Nov 4): KPMG will lay off&nbsp;4%, or about 330 people, of its audit workforce in the US, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>Besides KPMG, Ernst &amp; Young, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers make up the Big Four of accounting firms.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>"The actions reflect our ongoing focus to align the size, shape and skills of our workforce to the market, while addressing continued low levels of attrition," a KPMG spokesperson said in a statement via email.</p></div><div class=inPageAd id=div-gpt-ad-inpage></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>KPMG has a presence in "more than 143 countries and territories with over 273,000 partners and employees".</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>The accounting firm had planned to&nbsp;cut about 100 jobs&nbsp;in its deal advisory business in the UK, a source told <em>Reuters</em> in October 2023.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p>In June last year, KPMG also announced layoffs&nbsp;affecting 5% of its US&nbsp;employees&nbsp;after feeling the pinch of "economic headwinds, coupled with historically low attrition", a spokesperson for the accounting firm had said.</p></div>

<div class=newsTextDataWrapInner><p><em>Uploaded by Siow Chen Ming</em></p></div>


KPMG will lay off 4%, or about 330 people, of its audit workforce in the US, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Besides KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers make up the Big Four of accounting firms.

KPMG to lay off 4% of US audit workforce, source says

It will be a pretty quiet week ahead as Christmas, which falls on Wednesday, will see most global economies’ markets closed except for China, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. For Boxing Day, markets in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, as well as most of Europe and Canada, will also be closed. North Korea will commemorate Constitution Day on Dec 27.

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Oil prices inched higher on Monday, along with other risk assets, after US data showed cooling inflation, reviving hopes of further policy easing next year that will support global economic growth and oil demand.

Oil prices firm on hopes of US policy support for economic growth

Malaysia Airlines Bhd has grounded its brand-new Airbus A330neo for at least 48 hours following “a series of technical issues” in less than a week since its inaugural flight, Business Times reported.

Malaysia Airlines grounds new Airbus plane barely days after first flight — report

Bursa Malaysia says embarking on CEO succession

President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.

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In a rare display of “independence”, the independent directors of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) (KL:AIRPORT) told shareholders to reject the offer to take the company private.

Frankly Speaking: Funds put in a bind over MAHB

Singapore Post Ltd shares slumped by the most in more than four years after the firm fired its chief executive officer and a number of other senior executives following allegations related to its international e-commerce logistics parcels business.

Singapore Post fires CEO, executives over whistleblowing report

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said on Monday it would sell its Australian cable TV and streaming unit Foxtel to British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform DAZN for A$3.4 billion (US$2.1 billion), including debt.

Murdoch's News Corp to sell Foxtel to Britain's DAZN for US$2.1 bil

Asian shares rallied on Monday after a benign reading on US inflation restored some hope for further policy easing next year, while there was relief that Washington had averted a government shutdown.

Asia shares rally on US inflation relief

MORNING CALL: 23/12/24

<p>Singapore Post Ltd shares slumped by the most in more than four years after the firm fired its chief executive officer and a number of other senior executives following allegations related to its international e-commerce logistics parcels business.</p>


<p>(Dec 22):&nbsp;Emerging markets (EM)-focused investors have had little to celebrate over the past year. Or for that matter, over the past decade. Now the prospect of Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade wars has some considering abandoning them altogether.</p>


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<p>President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.</p>


<p>SEREMBAN (Dec 22): Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has assured that Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), as component parties, will be fully committed to the Unity Government until the next election.</p>


Umno and BN will remain a part of Unity Govt for GE16 — Ahmad Zahid

<p>Malaysia Airlines Bhd has grounded its brand-new Airbus A330neo for at least 48 hours following “a series of technical issues” in less than a week since its inaugural flight, <em>Business Times</em> reported.</p>


<p>Asian shares rallied on Monday after a benign reading on US inflation restored some hope for further policy easing next year, while there was relief that Washington had averted a government shutdown.</p>


<p>BENGALURU (Dec 22): Qatar will stop shipping gas to the EU if member states strictly enforce a new law cracking down on forced labour and environmental damage, Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the <em>Financial Times</em>&nbsp;(<em>FT</em>) in an interview published on Sunday.</p>


Qatar vows to stop EU gas sales if fined under due diligence law, FT reports

<p><em><strong>More to come</strong></em></p>
...

<p>BENGALURU (Dec 22): Japan's competition watchdog is expected to find Google guilty of violating the country's antitrust law, <em>Nikkei Asia </em>reported on Sunday, citing sources.</p>


Japan's antitrust watchdog expected to find Google guilty of violating country's law in search case, Nikkei reports

<p>Australia’s new targets for carbon emission cuts by 2035 are expected to be delayed by several months as a result of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, likely pushing them out beyond the next election which is due to be held by May.</p>


Australia to delay new climate targets following Trump’s return

<p>Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said on Monday it would sell its Australian cable TV and streaming unit Foxtel to British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform DAZN for A$3.4 billion (US$2.1 billion), including debt.</p>


<p>In a rare display of “independence”, the independent directors of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) (KL:AIRPORT) told shareholders to reject the offer to take the company private.</p>


<p>It will be a pretty quiet week ahead as Christmas, which falls on Wednesday, will see most global economies’ markets closed except for China, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. For Boxing Day, markets in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, as well as most of Europe and Canada, will also be closed. North Korea will commemorate Constitution Day on Dec 27.</p>


<p>Oil prices inched higher on Monday, along with other risk assets, after US data showed cooling inflation, reviving hopes of further policy easing next year that will support global economic growth and oil demand.</p>
