Business

Cooperation approach to be taken by the SMEs

In order to achieve more productivity, the SME workplaces are being improved. A new initiative of SCORE training program by the ILO helped a lot of small companies in China to improve their work conditions and the employers say that it is helping them.

Small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ) make up 60 per cent of China’s national industrial output and create nearly 80 per cent of jobs. They tend to have lower level of compliance with the nation’s labour laws. Such as unregulated or excessive work hours or failure to adhere to legal wage rates and benefits, strained industrial relations, inadequate safety, and a lack of health protection for workers. All of these resulted in the lower productivity rates.

While facing this increasing price competition with growing expectations from customers to provide improved working conditions, how SME battle or engage in the Global market place is the next big question. There is a positive association between good workplace practices and positive enterprise-level outcomes which includes decreased staff turnover, improved profitability and greater customer satisfaction. This is what the ILO’s Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) Program has clearly exhibited. The training can help achieve this, being contrary to misconceptions that formal training for smaller enterprises is less tailored and more expensive, and the disruption to work is costly.

China first engaged with the SCORE Program in 2009, initially functioning with the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) in Liaoning, Chongqing, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Shanghai, to target few sectors such as manufacturing of machines, auto parts and garments. In March 2017, the ILO launched a new project to increase the productivity and theworking conditions in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, and Shanghai, under the SCORE Program, in partnership with the UK based Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an association of companies, trade unions and NGOs that endorses respect for workers’ rights around the globe.

SCORE training mainly emphasized on the importance of closely involving the workforce, building cooperation with managements in order to support the initiatives aimed at improving enterprise performance. It also highlighted on the establishment of sustainable management systems which ensured that the good practices will continue after these training concluded. SMEs, which had a high job creation potential, but mostly also had significant decent work deficits which were the ultimate beneficiaries. And, in development of cooperation, SCORE Training contributed to economic and social development as well as poverty lessening. It helped create a win/win situation for them. The five SCORE Training modules cover- Workplace Cooperation, Quality Management, Clean Production, Human Resource Management, Occupational Safety and Health. Each module was a two day classroom training process for training the managers and the workers. This was followed by the on-site consultations with the industry experts which helped the training to be more efficient in putting the training action into workforce. The ILO/ETI initiative was co-funded by develoPPP.de, a German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) programme which helped the German and the European enterprises to run long-term projects that combined business practices and the development policy targets. To add to this partnership, ILO SCORE Programme will enter its final and third Phase in November 2017, with funding until October 2021.

Business

LexisNexis risk solutions study reveals sharp rise of financial crime compliance costs

Decision makers inside banks, investment firms, asset managers and insurance firms identify the drivers impacting financial crime compliance. LexisNexis® Risk Solutions revealed that the results of its annual True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance Study for the U.S. and Canada. The total projected cost of financial crime compliance for the region is approximately $49.9 billion. The survey illustrates the sharp increase in financial crime compliance costs.

The study projects the average annual cost of financial crime compliance for U.S. financial institutions with $10 billion. Pandemic Continues to Spur Growth. The pandemic continues to negatively impact compliance operations. Sixty eight percent of U.S. respondents report longer times required to complete due diligence. Fifty five percent of U.S. respondents report reduced productivity compared.

More U.S. financial institutions now rank real estate and hospitality as top money laundering risk segments. Crime involving digital payments, trade-based money laundering and money mule schemes are on the rise. Digital currency is a growing problem for Canadian firms. Crimes involving digital payments have the greatest impact on compliance costs. Cryptocurrency crimes have the greatest impact on compliance costs for Canadian firms. The survey results demonstrate that financial institutions are battling a broader set of issues.

Survey respondents indicate that a lack of current and extensive data tops the list of Know Your Customer (KYC). Leslie Bailey, vice president of financial crime compliance strategy for LexisNexis Risk Solutions stated that the study shows clear linkages between the pandemic, digital crime and increasing regulations. Hence, financial institutions need to prepare for expanded compliance obligations and risks from emerging financial crime. Bailey added that digital transformation is a game-changer for financial crime compliance operations.

This will require a sophisticated approach that incorporates insight into digital behaviors. This study surveyed 145 decision-makers in the U.S. and Canada. Responses were collected in June 2019, August 2020 and June 2021. Organizations such as banks, investment firms, asset management firms and insurance firms. The total annual cost of compliance across firms was calculated using survey data. The spend amount was generated by multiplying the average percent allocated to financial crime costs.

Business

COP26 delegates agree on need to deliver on $100 BLN climate finance pledge

Delegates heading to the COP26 U.N. climate summit in Glasgow. These delegates agreed that they must deliver on the $100 billion per year pledge. COP26 president Alok Sharma said that, it is to help most vulnerable nations for tackling the climate change.

After many days of meetings at the pre-COP26 climate event, which happened in Italy, Sharma said that there was a consensus to do more. Which is to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius target within reach, adding more needed to be done collectively in terms of national climate plans.

The COP26 conference in Glasgow aims to secure more ambitious climate action. This is from nearly 200 countries, those all that have signed the 2015 Paris Agreement for limiting the global warming, well below 2.0 degrees Celsius. And to 1.5 degrees, above pre-industrial levels.

Business

City’s exposure to Evergrande is very minimal-Hong Kong finance Chief

Hong Kong’s exposure to debt-laden developer China Evergrande Group is very minimal at 0.05%. This is of banking assets, South China Morning Post reported, citing the city’s finance minister. Financial Secretary Paul Chan told the newspaper that it is very minimal and won’t cause them any systemic risks. He added that he had arrived at the conclusion after a recent audit of the local banking sector’s exposure to the company.

Chan also said that the Hong Kong’s stock market was inevitably subject to some volatility. This is amidst a recent mainland crackdown on some industries. But still he believed any setback would be temporary. With liabilities of $305 billion, Evergrande has sparked concerns its cash crunch could spread through China’s financial system. This may reverberate globally and that is a worry that has eased with the Chinese central bank’s vow, to protect homebuyers’ interests. Evergrande has missed two bond interest payments. Bondholders have said this and its offshore debt, amounting to about $20 billion, trades at distressed levels.