The U.K. government is set to double the funding for the installation of electric vehicle charge points on residential streets to £10 million ($13.06 million). At the moment, there are over 24,000 publicly available charge points, the government said, with more than 2,400 of these classed as “rapid” charge points. They will examine how real-time information – if charge points are working or in use, for example – could be published. Hybrid electric vehicle registrations increased by 17.1% to 97,8

Doom and gloom over Italy’s banking sector is “exaggerated,” according to Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina. The Italian government is in talks with the European Union over a 900 million euro ($998.4 million) rescue plan for ailing regional cooperative lender Popolare di Bari, its second such bailout plan in a year after the rescue of Genoa-based Carige. Popolare di Bari had accumulated losses due to non-performing loans while struggling to raise capital, a similar situation to Carige, which was

Andrey Kostin, chief executive officer of VTB Bank PJSC,looks on during a panel session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. Constitutional reforms in Russia were a surprise to everybody and only President Vladimir Putin knows if he will carve out a niche for himself once his presidency ends in 2024, Andrey Kostin, president and chairman of Russia’s VTB Bank, told CNBC Tuesday. Russia saw extreme political upheaval last week with Putin announcing c

“Sustainable business” has become a buzzword in the corporate world, and climate change is a key topic at this year’s gathering of political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The survey by PwC showed that “climate change and environmental damage” were 11th in the rankings that CEOs gave as the biggest threats to their companies’ growth prospects. Bob Moritz, chair of PwC International, told CNBC Monday that chief executives see climate-related issues as an opportunity, r

No company is ahead of Ericsson when it comes to 5G, the Swedish firm’s boss has told CNBC. Refuting claims that China’s Huawei is leading the pack on the fifth generation of mobile internet, Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm said he sees “no one ahead of us” on the technology. “I find it’s a bit difficult to say that we’re behind when I see no one ahead of us,” Ekholm told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dexter Thillien, senior industry analyst at Fitch Sol

DAVOS, Switzerland — Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told policymakers at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that time is running out to effectively tackle an intensifying climate crisis. Speaking during a panel session entitled “Forging a Sustainable Path Towards a Common Future,” the 17-year-old cited the International Panel on Climate Change report from 2018 as she delivered remarks to a packed audience. “With today’s emissions levels, the remaining budget is gone in less than eight

Negative interest rates are the key differentiator preventing European banks from presenting any serious challenge to their American counterparts, according to ABN Amro CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen. Negative rates mean that banks incur charges for deposits placed with their respective central bank, and van Dijkhuizen said ABN Amro, like a number of other banks across the continent, had promised to insulate clients depositing less than 100,000 euros ($110,996) from negative rates while passing costs o

Europe has the chance to lead the world in developing capital markets for green finance, according to UBS Chairman Axel Weber. Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Weber said that while Europe will struggle to catch up to the size of U.S. capital markets, one area where U.S. companies and federal policy trails the continent is in sustainability. “If you are asking me, as capital markets for green finance develop, where will the nucleus of those markets be? It will be in Europe,

President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke glowingly of negative interest rates and took another shot at the Federal Reserve to a global audience. … We’re forced to compete with nations that are getting negative rates, something very new,” Trump said in his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Economists are divided over the stimulative effects of negative interest rates. Some fear negative rates can keep an economy in a subdued state, rather than boost it from lackluster grow

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks to supporters on a visit to meet newly elected Conservative party MP for Sedgefield, Paul Howell at Sedgefield Cricket Club on December 14, 2019 in County Durham, England. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson set a hard deadline for trade talks to conclude by the end of this year. “The one thing we’ve learnt from Boris Johnson is that he can talk tough but when he needs to compromise, he compromises,” Niblett said. Niblett said that the U.K. had

Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei attends a session at the Congress center during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 21, 2020. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)Washington may step up its campaign against Huawei, but the impact on business will be minimal, the Chinese telecom giant’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, said on Tuesday. Huawei has been the target of U.S. concern over its links to the Chinese government. Washington maintains

President Donald Trump is scheduled to make a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday morning. The five-day gathering in Davos is used by business leaders and politicians to meet and discuss some of the most pressing issues worldwide. Investors will be watching for Trump’s comments on trade with Europe and any update on the progress of the second phase of the trade agreement with China. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump discussed a French digital

President Donald Trump delivers a speech during a special address on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. “America’s newfound prosperity is undeniable, unprecedented and unmatched anywhere in the world,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hours before his impeachment trial was set to begin in earnest back home. “Only when governments put their own citizens first will people be fully invested in their nation

Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), speaks during the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture event at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2019. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy steady and nudged up its economic growth forecasts on Tuesday, as the government’s stimulus package and receding pessimism over the global outlook took some pressure off the central bank to top up stimulus. The central bank also upgraded its growth estimate f

The logo of Swiss banking giant UBS engraved on the wall is seen on its headquarters on May 8, 2019 in Zurich. UBS cut profitability targets on Tuesday as Switzerland’s largest bank grapples with ultra-low interest rates and increased competition for wealthy clients. The bank said it would now target a 12-15% return on core capital (RoCET1) and a reported 75-78% cost/income ratio through 2022 after missing both ambitions in 2019. Its RoCET1 last year was 12.4% while its reported cost/income rati

British oil major BP said on Tuesday its finance chief Brian Gilvary will be retiring after eight years in the role, with the announcement coming just two weeks before Bernard Looney takes over as chief executive officer. Murray Auchincloss, who is currently chief financial officer of BP’s upstream division, will become BP’s chief financial officer on July 1, the company said. Gilvary, who oversaw BP’s recovery following the 2010 deadly Gulf of Mexico spill which has cost the company more than $

European stock markets tumbled on Tuesday morning, at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, as concerns over a new strain of pneumonia in China hit risk assets. Market focus on Tuesday will likely be on the opening of the annual WEF event in Davos, where politicians and business leaders will be gathered. High-profile attendees this year include U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and climate activist Greta Thunberg. The event itself has been

Ride-hailing giant Uber said Tuesday it sold its food delivery business in India to its competitor Zomato in an all-stock transaction. The sale gives Uber a 9.99% stake in the Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery start-up. Uber Eats is set to discontinue operations starting Tuesday, and it will direct restaurants, delivery partners and users to the Zomato app. Uber will continue competing in the Indian ride-hailing market against start-up Ola. Previously, Uber ceded ground in China and

A security guard show the way to a man outside of the Davos Congress Centre under snow ahead of the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, in Davos, eastern Switzerland. Once branded the playground for the elite epitomized by the stereotypical Champagne swashing “Davos Man,” this year the gathering ostensibly seems to be morphing into one epitomized by a “Davos Everyone.” Beyond large influential corporations, central banks are also looking at incorporating climate change into

U.S. government debt prices were sharply higher Tuesday morning after an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus linked to pneumonia in China sent investors fleeing risk assets. At around 2:15 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 1.7917%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also down at 2.2464%. TreasurysThe outbreak of a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China has killed four people with confirmed cases exceeding 200