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Our briefing for Monday, September 20, 2021:
Sep 20, 2021 3:52:27 PM
- In the United States, the average daily death toll for Covid-19 over the past seven days reached 2000 over the weekend, the highest it’s been since March according to the New York Times. More than 30% of those deaths were in Texas and Florida – Texas has vaccinated about 50% of its population while Florida has vaccinated about 56%. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expert advisory panel recommended on Friday that boosters be provided to those 65 and older as well as those with underlying health conditions. Health experts have said they expect the FDA to expand that recommendation to the broader population in the coming days.
- In Canada, as the federal election arrives, leaders are divided over their stances on vaccine passports and other Covid-19 related measures. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party favours both vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination policies. New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh is also in favour of a national vaccine passport system, but Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole rejects the idea. His party still supports vaccinations but also favours alternatives like rapid testing. Experts have weighed in and said vaccine passports are probably inevitable, pointing to the examples of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where two conservative premiers brought in vaccine passport measures after saying for weeks that they would not do so.
- In the United Kingdom, a former prime minister has said 100 million Covid-19 vaccines are due to expire and be thrown away. Gordon Brown, referencing a new report by the research group Airfinity, said the world is facing a “vaccine waste disaster” and blasted world leaders for not developing plans to redistribute doses. The research by Airfinity predicts that 12 billion vaccines will be available around the world by December. Brown says it’s critical to determine how and where the vaccines will be distributed, pointing out that there is currently no plan to outline who will provide vaccines to poor countries. Brown sent the Airfinity research to political leaders including the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister.
- Italy has seen an uptick in vaccine appointments after the government announced that their health pass would be required for all workers. Italy’s pandemic commissioner Francesco Figliuolo said in a statement that there was an increase between 20% and 40% in bookings for the first dose, compared to last week. Last Thursday Italy became the first big European country to announce that their Green Pass would be required for all workers, public and private. “The Green Pass is an instrument of freedom that will help us make workplaces safer," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a news conference. "The second reason is to reinforce our vaccine campaign."
- New Zealand will ease some lockdown restrictions for its biggest city, as the government announces 22 new Covid-19 cases in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is confident that there is no undetected transmission of the Delta variant, but tough curbs will still remain in place for Auckland after the alert drops from level 4 to level 3. Schools and offices will stay closed, while residents will have to keep to their “bubbles.” Auckland will stay at a level 3 alert for at least two weeks, while the rest of the country remains under level 2.
- In Australia, New South Wales (NSW) reported 935 new Covid-19 cases, down from 1083 on Sunday and the lowest number since August 27th. "We're feeling more positive than we have in a couple of weeks... but I don't want any of us to sit back and think the worst is behind us," said State Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Some restrictions in NSW were relaxed for Sydney’s worst-affected suburbs; vaccinated people can now gather outside in groups of up to five, and time limits for outdoor exercise were lifted. Neighbouring Victoria state reported 567 new infections, its biggest daily rise this year.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
U.S. to Open Air Travel to Most Vaccinated Foreigners
Brief: The U.S. will soon allow entry to most foreign air travelers as long as they’re fully vaccinated against Covid-19 -- while adding a testing requirement for unvaccinated Americans and barring entry for foreigners who haven’t gotten shots. The measures announced Monday by the White House are the most sweeping change to U.S. travel policies in months, and widen the gap in rules between vaccinated people -- who will see restrictions relaxed -- and the unvaccinated. The new rules will replace existing bans on foreigners’ travel to the U.S. from certain regions, including Europe. While the move will open the U.S. to millions of vaccinated people and was celebrated by the airline industry, the White House cast the measure as a crackdown, pointing to stricter testing rules and a new contact tracing regime. The new policy will take effect in “early November,” according to the White House, though the precise date isn’t yet clear.
Covid crisis bruises Vietnamese trusts despite strong fundamentals
Brief: While the UK is making plans to protect itself from another Covid crisis it is easy to forget that some nations are in the middle of fighting the deadly virus. Vietnam is one such country. Up until the end of April it was a world leader in virus containment. However, since then a deadly fourth wave has caused significant disruption and markets have noticed. All three investment trusts that cover Vietnam are trading on double-digit discounts, despite achieving hefty returns across one and five years, according to figures from Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and FE fundinfo. Vietnam Enterprise Investments (VEIL) has returned 62.7% in one year and is trading on a 14.1% discount, VietNam Holding (VNH) has returned 88.7% and is trading on a 17.9% discount and VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity (VOF) has returned 40.9% and is trading on a 20.6% discount.
Corporate leverage returns to pre-pandemic levels
Brief: U.S. and European companies have marked another milestone in their road to recovery from COVID-19, seeing their debt levels relative to profits tumbling to the lowest since before the pandemic erupted in 2020. Net leverage, an important gauge of a company's financial health, refers to net debt as a proportion of EBITDA - earnings before accounting for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. At U.S. companies rated investment-grade, it fell in the second quarter to the lowest since 2018, according to BNP Paribas, while European leverage is the lowest since 2019.The trend is a good sign for corporate debt markets, where the lowest-rated segments are outperforming this year, signalling normalising credit quality.
The City of London Finally Gets Back to the Office
Brief: On the lower floors of HSBC Holdings Plc’s Canary Wharf headquarters, the desks are filling up. Traders, salespeople and close support staff not currently in the office have been told they are expected to be at their workstations on the second to fourth floors of the tower five days a week, according to people familiar with the matter. The only exceptions will be for domestic emergencies and unavoidable family commitments.It's a sign that, after several false starts, the City of London's return to the office is at last gathering pace. At times over the past two weeks, trains have been at their busiest since the pandemic broke out, while the streets have been thronged with workers again.
UAE central bank sees COVID-19 increasing money-laundering risks
Brief: The United Arab Emirates central bank sees increased risks of illicit financial flows emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, including money-laundering and terrorism financing, it said in a report published on Sunday. The use of unlicensed money service providers for money laundering has increased during the coronavirus crisis last year, the report said, as well as the use of e-commerce to launder money. "Widespread lockdowns have resulted in a significant surge in e-commerce. Due to limited ability to move funds and goods during the pandemic, illicit actors are turning to e-commerce as a money laundering tool", it said. The number of so-called "money mules" - people who receive illicit funds into their bank accounts to hold or withdraw and wire elsewhere, taking a commission for their services - increased, the bank said, with accounts in the majority of cases belonging to low income individuals from Africa and Asia.
