World Street: Fossil fuel in fine balance; China noose on MF trade; Marx in Musk; green push at COP28

World Street offers a sneak peek into the world of business and economy.

Casting an eye upon global developments, the COP28 summit grabs headlines with fresh news continuing to emerge. As the fate of fossil fuels hangs in balance, banks emerge as likely winners on carbon offset trading gaining favour. Tesla’s Nordic woes continue while China grapples with sharply falling consumer prices. All this and more on this edition of World Street.

MF Costs 

China's securities regulator has published draft rules aimed at cutting trading commissions for mutual funds and addressing the conflict of interest between the securities trading and fund sales businesses of brokerages. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said the proposals were designed to protect investors and better regulate the way fund managers allocate trading commissions.

Realty Bites

Australia will triple fees on purchases of existing homes by foreign buyers as part of measures aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing. The Centre-left Labor government would also cut application fees for foreign investment in "build to rent" projects to encourage construction of more homes.

Auto Shift

Automotive supplier Bosch said it needs to cut up to 1,500 jobs at two of its German sites by 2025 to adapt staffing levels to changing demand and technologies in the auto sector. Bosch added it was trying to achieve this through moving staff to other departments, early retirement or voluntary redundancy agreements, adding the group was in talks with the works council over specifics.

Heating up

Negotiators at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai remained far apart on the future role of fossil fuels on Sunday as talks at the Dubai summit entered their final stage. The question of whether the world should, for the first time ever, agree on an eventual end to the oil age has been central to the international conference where nearly 200 countries are trying to hash out a solution to climate change.

Musk versus Marx

US automaker Tesla should respect fundamental labour rights, including collective bargaining, Norway's $1.5-trillion sovereign wealth fund said, while adding it would keep its stake in the company and seek to influence policy over time. The electric vehicle producer faces a backlash in the Nordic region from unions and some pension funds over its refusal to accept a demand from Swedish mechanics for collective bargaining rights covering wages and other conditions.

D for Deflation

China's consumer prices fell the fastest in three years in November while factory-gate deflation deepened, indicating rising deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand casts doubt over the economic recovery. The consumer price index (CPI) dropped 0.5 percent both from a year earlier and compared with October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Slippery Slope

Oil prices notched their longest decline in five years, falling over seven weeks. Brent crude settled around $75, down 18 percent from the $92 mark it hit around mid-October. The fall comes as a blow to OPEC+ countries, who will cut production to stabilise prices.

Green Rush

Banks are looking to enter carbon trading, advise corporations purchasing carbon offsets, trade credits and more, as the carbon offset market gets a boost at COP28, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan, Citigroup and other global banks have already set up carbon trading and finance desks.

Tightening the Noose

The UK government will create an enforcement unit to clamp down on companies evading Russian sanctions, noted Reuters. Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation will investigate potential sanction breaches, issue penalties and more. "We are leaving no stone unturned in our commitment to stopping Putin’s war machine. That means clamping down on sanctions evaders and starving Russia of the technologies and revenues it needs to continue its illegal invasion," said Nusrat Ghani, the country’s Industry and Economic Security Minister.