Company briefs: Wirecard

Markus Braun PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Wirecard

Wirecard's former chief executive stonewalled questions from lawmakers on Thursday when he was temporarily released from jail for an inquiry into post-war Germany's biggest corporate fraud.

Markus Braun declined to answer more than 50 questions about Wirecard's demise, other than to say no German officials behaved inappropriately.

He told lawmakers that he had confidence in the German legal system but said little else in a prepared speech. Braun also refused to speak to Munich state prosecutors, who have charged him with fraud and embezzlement.

REUTERS


JTB Corp

Japanese travel agency JTB Corp will cut its workforce by 6,500 members to 22,500, a company official said yesterday, in the latest sign of the dire impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry.

JTB will also close 115 of its outlets, or 25 per cent of the total it had in the 2019 financial year, by the next fiscal year, and freeze the hiring of new graduates, the official said.

The travel agency will also need to slash personnel costs by 30 per cent in terms of the annual incomes of all the employees in the next financial year, said the official, who declined to be identified.

REUTERS


Boeing

China's aviation regulator will not yet allow Boeing's troubled 737 Max jet to fly in the firm's biggest market owing to lingering safety concerns, despite the United States lifting a ban on the plane's commercial flights.

Boeing's best-selling aircraft was grounded worldwide early last year following two crashes that killed 346 passengers. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said yesterday that there was "no set timetable" for the resumption of flights, according to state broadcaster CCTV, dealing a blow to the plane-making giant.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 21, 2020, with the headline Company briefs: Wirecard. Subscribe