Does the Metaverse Have a Bright Future?

Maybe of the most frequently examined point in invention moment is the" metaverse", which is roughly portrayed as the confluence between the virtual and factual worlds. Because of it being in its foremost stages, it presently can not feel to be fully characterized and it's still part of the way in the sphere of thesis.

Charge Malik, VP of frame systems at Pattern Miniature, gauges the full prosecution of the metaverse to associate with five to 10 times from fully turning into a reality. nevertheless, network protection specialists have preliminarily anticipated a troubles that should be tended to in advance.

A new report by Pattern Miniature advised of the presence of the darkverse, which is the dull web brought to the metaverse. Because of the absence of oversight from regulators and policing, darkverse is a space for underground marketable centers, felonious correspondences, and felonious operations.

" The metaverse permits people and bots to act principally without operation, principles, guidelines, or regulations," Malik told Corporate Gamble and Protection." Among the troubles are conceivable thievery or change of an association's defended invention, violation of a singular's security, and felonious exchanges."

As per the report, darkverse spaces will be in secure areas, open just to those with the licit evidence commemoratives. Correspondence will be confined to vicinity grounded informing, and these marketable centers will act as scenes of felonious geste , for illustration, dealing malware, swapping of taken information, and making arrangements for authentic violations.

Malik said that authentic associations carrying on with work on the metaverse ought to have acceptable insurance for their data invention( IT) and functional invention( OT).

" A deal interfaces a broker who has an item or administration and some licensed invention with a many purchaser cash and a business necessity over a correspondences medium," Malik said." In the metaverse, the foundation that causes it to appear to be genuine comprises of colorful types of invention, both regular IT and OT, trying to deal with the detecting of corridor, their factual nonintercourses, and their cooperations. While utmost IT conventions can be gotten, OT needs data security and protection plan norms. therefore, troublemakers will actually want to undermine deals by taking or changing the item, the backing, or the licensed invention, taking or diverting the purchaser's cash, sneaking around on the business necessity, or altering the exchanges streaming between them."

Another variable that convolutes managing the metaverse is that no bone fully comprehends what it is. This could prompt serious slips and oversights from associations' adventure chiefs.

" The metaverse will bear more prominent association data transmission, handling power, and capacity limit than conventional electronic business or contemporary advanced change," Malik said." The biggest slip- up will misinterpret the foundation requests the metaverse will order. Near that will be neglecting to comprehend the mound sins this climate adds to the association's assault face."

Due to the metaverse being a confluence of the virtual and factual worlds, genuine issues like social designing, hype and" phony news" are supposed to transude into the metaverse, confounding how associations and people explore this space.

" These troubles are at present serious issues and will just proliferation with time," Malik said." Organizations will defy upgraded business dispatch resolve the difference, stick phishing, and ransomware assaults, which will presently have a bigger and more expensive objective- the precious metaverse frame itself. People will find a unfeignedly witching climate overflowing with bettered detectors, giving publicists and disseminators more noteworthy understanding into members, and more noteworthy impact and enticing capacities."

Malik made sense of that exercising metaverse's bettered intuitiveness and information multifariousness, inciters can take advantage of people's internal propensities to propel their objects.

" We know from brain wisdom that individualities answer visual filmland that they may just see for a moment," Malik said." These responses appear as atomic articulations, like the briefest grin or light. While a member is having fun, a protagonist could band a solitary edge of, suppose, a lamb, which the member could shortly beam at. Note that neither the picture nor the grin arrives at the conscious knowledge of the member. A couple of seconds after the fact, the guarantor could band a picture of a bull, at which the member could shortly mouth. The protagonist presently realizes that this member has a close to home response to those filmland. subsequently, the member might watch a news grasp of two over- and- moneybags. While the primary contender is talking, the protagonist sneaks through a terse picture of a lamb. The member does not see the picture still thinks' She's great.' When the posterior contender is on screen, the publicist stripes a picture of a bull.' He is unwelcome', the member feels. The guarantor has effectively affected the member who noway designedly saw either detector. Along these lines, the metaverse as well, will actually want to reap immense and definite bits of knowledge into every one of its members."

One system for securing associations and people from the different troubles in the metaverse, is to give members sufficient medication to try not to succumb to inciters, Malik said. nevertheless, that is not sufficient.

" Metaverse purveyors could give preparing spaces so members could exercise judgment and work on managing fake news, bits of gossip, and important procedures," Malik said." Be that as it may, the associations subsidizing this climate have no financial provocation to make their guests shrewd. The paying guests the promoters and bootstrappers that produce the income- would lean toward a oblivious client. They would be more straightforward targets.

" At last, we should turn to guideline and regulation to make the metaverse safe," he said." That will bear some investment. The nonstop exposures of protection abuses and security slips by the present online entertainment mammoths show that tone- guideline will not work. It's introductory for the tech and security original area to likewise step in now to contemplate how the metaverse will be taken advantage of by peril impersonators throughout the following couple of times."

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How Six Figure Tech Salaries Really Work ?

Today we are speaking about that sweet tech compensation. This is a message you guys requested, as well as i'm below to supply. So before we get started, i do want to share a tale regarding how not understanding technology settlement screwed me over when i obtained my very first deal as a software program designer. It was a huge deal for me because i went from a 50 000 income to doubling that in yet much less than a year. But you know what i'd check out a great deal of articles online and i recognized better than to approve the first offer.

So also, though, i was absolutely frightened, i determined to discuss as well as i had the ability to discuss like a five 6 thousand buck bump in salary, and that was the only number i cared about was the base salary after that over a year later. On my business obtained acquired which's, when i determined to look at my compensation package and also i understood that there was a piece of the payment bundle that i never also check out, which was equity. I didn't even check out anything past the base income. Yet when my firm got acquired, that little sentence came to be a significant piece of my compensation going even more. I understood that if i'd actually put in the time to take a seat and understand tech settlement, i essentially can have altered my life as well.

As i possibly wouldn't have actually needed to function, so in this articles clip we're going to be discussing tech settlement. However, i wanted to begin by letting you guys recognize. Please review every piece of your tech settlement bundle as well as do not be like me, making this articles clip for me five years back due to the fact that i really did not have a lot of people chatting concerning technology compensation. I really did not understand anything about exactly how it functioned as well as this articles clip ought to provide a comprehensive sight of whatever you require to recognize about technology payment not only like your salary, your benefit, but also concerning equity, from rsu's to speaking about options. As well as just how to value your alternatives at a start-up as well as i hope you delight in so technology, payment is damaged right into typically 4 pieces.

The very first item of your technological payment is your base. Pay this resembles a wage at a lot of various other firms. It'S an annual income based upon regarding 40 hrs a week, despite the fact that you may work basically than that and also you're paid the salary typically on a bi-weekly basis. So all of us recognize what wage is. So, let's get on to the next item, which is your incentive, so there are 3 sorts of bonuses.

I have actually seen in various settlement packages. I'Ve seen like a yearly incentive, so a yearly bonus is a bonus offer you're given annually based on your performance for that year, it's normally created down in your technology compensation depending upon the size of the tech company that you're benefiting at bigger business. They tend to provide you about 10 to 20 percent of your base, pay as your target annual bonus. Yet, obviously this is a target annual bonus, so you might get greater than this or you might get much less than this. Your yearly incentive is essentially based upon your efficiency as you get more elderly and also senior at a technology company.

This can be an even bigger item of your payment. The 2nd piece of bonus i've seen at technology firms is something called a sign-on perk so for signing an offer. The tech business could agree to provide you a particular amount of cash. That'S paid within your initial two pay cycles and that's called your indication on bonus. Yet you intend to see to it to read the great print since for sure companies there may be a stipulation that says if you leave the firm within a year or within 2 years, you need to pay back that sign-on benefit.

So it's really essential to review the great print as well as recognize if there are any type of clauses to taking your sign-on reward so for our sign-on benefits. I have actually seen new graduates obtain joined incentive as an experience. Individuals get authorized on perks, so your sign-on perk can be negotiated based on a couple points. If you have completing deals and the company wishes to be a more appealing offer, they may raise their compensation by increasing your sign-on bonus offer if you're leaving like a yearly reward or annual perk by joining a brand-new company. The firm may agree to offer you that equivalent quantity in your sign-on bonus, so it's mosting likely to depend on how you discuss as well as that's going to truly influence.

What your perk looks like ensure to look into my articles, clip that i made about bargaining. Your payment, so the third piece of benefit that i've seen at tech business is something called a relocation bonus offer. So if you're crossing state lines or you're also moving in that exact same state, the firm could provide you a little incentive to help you with the relocating procedure. To make sure that's something to see. If you can discuss and request, if you're going to be signing up with a firm, that's in a different state or very far away from where you currently live - and this is something i've commonly seen extra for bigger tech firms, also so an additional piece of payment That nobody really discusses is absolutely not the sexiest part of your compensation, or your benefits i seem like benefits can be comparable to an added 500 to a thousand dollars a month.

So i would again enhance the fine print as well as i'd look to see. Is your company offering you free wellness treatment? Are they doing a 401k suit? Are they doing an hsa contribution? Do they have advantages like a totally free health club like at my old business?

I have cost-free equinox, which was equivalent to an additional 250 a month since i go to the gym pretty frequently, and also that was a perk. I was most definitely gon na utilize. Various other rewards i have actually seen are things like free food, complimentary transportation. So all these different things you must think about when you're checking out your tech payment, as well as when you're contrasting two different offers. Considering your advantages can truly help you comprehend just how much each offer is really valued at.

Finally, the fourth item of this settlement pie that i have actually seen is equity, so equity for me resembles probably one of one of the most intriguing items of your technological payment before we hop into the conversation regarding equity. I do wish to thank the sponsor of this articles. Occupation fate. If you have an interest in breaking into tech, one of one of the most prominent methods is by participating in a coding. Bootcamp occupation karma is a fantastic resource for locating bootcamp as well as work training programs.

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So what is equity? You can see equity as just a possession risk in a firm for a public firm. This is straight tied to their stock rate. Yet, at a personal business, this equity is seen as kind of like paper currency, as well as the genuine worth is actually seen when the firm undergoes either an ipo or obtains obtained. That'S when you in fact get the monetary value of this equity.

Yet you can still calculate what it might be and also we'll talk regarding that later, the entire suggestion of equity is that it's supposed to straighten business passion with the staff member's rate of interest. When you consider it, ideally, staff members need to desire to work tougher to enhance the supply cost, because that simply raises the quantity of compensation they get. So it type of as a way to kind of line up business interests with the staff members interest. So, sort of recognize equity a bit a lot more. I think you have.

We have to see it in 2. Various means we need to see personal firm equity and also your public company equity. Allowed'S start first with your public firm equity. When we're talking about public companies, we're discussing big tech business, like your google, your facebook, any type of firm that gets on the securities market, the type of equity these business typically provide is something called an rsu. An rsu is a limited stock unit.

It'S supply of a company - that's not fully transferable, until specific problems are met, as well as those particular problems are usually just that the equity has actually vested or a period has been passed as well as it's simply generally a periphrastic method of firms. Staying clear of tax obligations: that's why they do not give you the equity directly. Since then, you would certainly have to pay taxes on it right now, at these big firms in their deal, letters you'll see something similar to this. Forty thousand bucks worth of facebook rsu's over 4 year spending duration with a one year cliff. I do wish to claim that that 40 000 obtains transferred to the comparable devices of facebook shares and also after that, those units of facebook shares are what you really get.

As well as that's, what's launched each and every single quarter or every solitary, investing duration, let's discuss the terms vesting in cliff. So i like to see high cliff as sort of like gold handcuffs. A cliff is essentially a clause that states your equity will not be released to you up until x amount of time, so some companies might have one-year high cliffs, where you're not going to obtain any type of equity up until one year at the one-year mark. You might get a year worth of equity, so one-fourth of your equity may be provided to you and afterwards, every fasting period, which is the duration of time, they're mosting likely to remain to release the continuing to be shares to you for some firm. It'S quarterly or month-to-month, so every spending routine, you may simply amount x, obtain of shares on a monthly basis or every quarter as well as something to note.

Also with like your investing schedule is taxes. I know we have actually sort of discussed a lot of things. Yet, like i mentioned earlier in this articles, at the amount of time at fpdfs, you instantly pay revenue tax on that particular equity. After you pay earnings tax on that equity, you might pay a secondary tax obligation. So if your shares raise in value and also then you sell them much less than a year, you'll pay temporary resources gains tax on that particular equity.

If you wait over a year as well as there's, been a rise in the worth of those shares, you'll pay long-term capital gains, which is much less than temporary funding gains, and when your equity is vested to you, then generally you'll see it in whatever broker agent Account that the company utilizes that equity, those shares, like 10 devices, are launched to you as well as then. You can make a decision if you intend to sell them in the general public market or on the supply market. If you desire to market those supplies to get cash money equity at these companies at public business is certainly a large deal like as an example, if you think of tesla workers who a great deal of them became millionaires throughout the pandemic, when tesla's stock was really Pumped up a google worker that was a chef after the company ipo'd, his shares were worth over 40 million dollars. So equity is a huge piece of the problem, specifically at public business. Now allow's speak about how equity operates at private companies, so a private business is a company, that's not on the stock exchange as well as it's typically called like a start-up and also it can be a firm, that's, typically, collection, a or series e round of moneying.

So this is where things can get actually tricky and also sort of amazing, and at startups you can sort of see your equity as a lotto game ticket. If your business appeals or obtains acquired, you could find yourself a millionaire overnight or your equity can be worth. No, since many startups actually fall short, so with your startup equity, it's truly vital to recognize that many startups fall short. So this kind of equity resembles a lotto ticket and also is a little a lot more dangerous than a public firm, so startups have rsus, which i've kind of explained prior to the only distinction is that you cannot sell them at factor spending quickly. You might have to find an ambiguous method to sell them.

A really typical method startups provide equity is something called alternatives, so a supply choice is the choice to get a share at an affordable rate called the strike cost. As an example, a start-up may give you 10 000 alternatives over four years when those options finest like, if they confess just like rsu's, quarterly or month-to-month, then you have the selection to exercise those options and also what it indicates to work out an option that indicates That you're just buying the alternative at the strike rate and also you're, really hoping that when the business has an exit through an ipo or getting acquired, the share worth of that supply is greater than you paid for when you work out those options. So you're wishing to make money off that spread, there are a whole lot of factors why a person could select to exercise their options before the company obtains acquired and it may be for, like tax functions, you intend to pay long-lasting funding gains. You don't wish to pay temporary resources gains. There are tax benefits of working out your alternatives, yet you're, likewise taking a risk, since there is a possibility that at leave or maybe at failing the firm, isn't in fact valued even more than the strike price.

So after that, how do you value your equity at a firm? So you wish to follow this formula. You intend to take a look at the existing evaluation of the firm and also the number of shares superior and also this kind of programs you the present well worth of your options. Another point you intend to look out for also when you're valuing your choices is the dilution, so in future financing rounds you want to make certain the firm isn't issuing new shares so that the shares deserve dramatically less. So dilution is something you most definitely want to examine out when you're valuing your options.

So there you have it a whole extensive guide regarding exactly how to value your startup equity, understanding, much more concerning public, firm equities and all the pieces that enter into your settlement.

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Activist hedge fund calls for major changes at Intel

 By Clare Duffy, CNN Business

New York (CNN Business)Intel has been going through a rough patch and now a major activist investor wants to help right the ship.

Daniel Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point LLC, wrote a letter to Intel Chairman Omar Ishrak on Tuesday calling on the chipmaker to hire an investment adviser to explore "strategic alternatives" aimed at regaining market share from competitors, particularly Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung.

The suggestions in the letter — which include calls for the company to more seriously consider whether to continue making all of its chips in-house and divesting from "failed acquisitions" — could lead to major changes if Intel acts upon them.

Intel said in a statement Tuesday that it welcomes investor input. "In that spirit, we look forward to engaging with Third Point LLC on their ideas towards that goal," it said.

Intel has long been known for doing both its chip design and production in-house. But that approach has been called into question as Intel has fallen behind TSMC and Samsung in producing the most advanced microprocessors.

Intel in recent years struggled to move from a 14-nanometer to a 10-nanometer chip, and said in July that its 7-nanometer chips (which some of its rivals already have) would also be delayed. Meanwhile, Intel's competitors continue to move ahead with developing even smaller, more powerful processors.

Intel CEO Bob Swan began suggesting this year that the company could outsource some chip production, though analysts have had mixed opinions about precisely what such a move would look like. Intel's challenges have been a major boost to TSMC.

"The loss of manufacturing leadership and other missteps have allowed several semiconductor competitors to leverage TSMC's and Samsung's process technology prowess and gain significant market share at Intel's expense," Loeb wrote in the letter, which was shared publicly.

Third Point has a nearly $1 billion stake in Intel, according to a spokesperson for the hedge fund. It is not currently among the top ten owners of Intel stock, according to CNN Business data, but Loeb said in the letter that the fund is filing for approval from the Federal Trade Commission to acquire additional shares and preserve the option to submit board nominees at Intel's 2021 annual meeting "should we sense a reluctance to work together."

Intel's stock ended Tuesday up nearly 5% following news of Loeb's letter. The chipmaker's shares have fallen nearly 19% this year, even though the PC market received a boost from the shift to working from home during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Intel competitors have had a solid year. AMD, which is eating away at Intel's share in the PC and data center markets, is up 85% since the start of 2020 (its stock price also grew 150% last year). Nvidia, a leading producer of graphics chips for the growing gaming market, is up 116% this year. And TSMC and Samsung's stock prices have gained 76% and 42%, respectively.

Intel was also recently dealt a blow when Apple announced it will use its own processors, rather than Intel's, in its new series of Macs.

"You must be able to offer new independent solutions to retain those customers rather than have them send their manufacturing away," Loeb said in his Tuesday letter. He added that if Intel falls too far behind semiconductor manufacturers in Asia, it could pose a threat to American national security (some US officials have raised similar concerns about national security issues if America falls too far behind in semiconductor manufacturing).

He also urged Intel to address its "human capital management issue," saying that many talented chip designers and leaders have left the company and those remaining are being "demoralized by the status quo."

Loeb did not elaborate on which of Intel's acquisitions he considered "failed" bets. Among the chipmakers recent purchases: In 2015, it bought programmable chip firm Altera for $16.7 billion; In 2017, it purchased self-driving car firm Mobileye for $15 billion in 2017 and in May, it acquired digital mobility firm Moovit for $900 million. The latter two deals were aimed at bolstering the company's efforts in the self-driving tech space.

Source : cnn.com

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Reddit is buying TikTok rival Dubsmash

 By Charles Riley, CNN Business

London (CNN Business)Message board juggernaut Reddit is accelerating its push into video, snapping up a sharing platform that is popular with young people and women.

Reddit said in a statement on Sunday that it has acquired TikTok rival Dubsmash. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Dubsmash allows users to create and share video content, and it's especially popular with young, diverse audiences. About 25% of Black teens in the United States use the app. Women make up 70% of Dubsmash users, and roughly 30% of users log in every day, according to Reddit.

The New York-based platform enables more than 1 billion video views per month, Reddit added.

Dubsmash's three co-founders, Suchit Dash, Jonas Drüppel, and Tim Specht, will be joining Reddit with immediate effect. While Dubsmash will maintain its own platform and brand, its video creation tools will be integrated into Reddit, which is best known for its freewheeling message boards.

Reddit has allowed users to upload and share their own videos since 2017, and the segment has grown quickly. The number of videos posted to the platform has doubled in 2020, according to the company.

"We are excited to accelerate Reddit's focus on video, bringing our tools and technology to their passionate, rapidly-growing user base and sparking evermore forms of creation," Dash, Drüppel and Specht said in a statement.

An earlier iteration of Dubsmash was launched from Berlin by Drüppel, Roland Grenke and Daniel Taschik.

Social media platforms have in recent years invested heavily in short videos, spurred on by the success of TikTok and Snapchat. Facebook's (FB) Instagram and Google's (GOOGL) YouTube have launched their own products designed to compete with TikTok.

Source : cnn.com

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Apple's supply chain woes are adding up in Asia

 By Rhea Mogul and Michelle Toh, CNN Business

Hong Kong (CNN Business)Apple has placed a second major supplier in Asia on probation after finding that the company delayed payments to workers — a breach that apparently spurred vandalism at a factory in India earlier this month.

The Silicon Valley tech firm launched an investigation after local Indian media reported that workers vandalized an iPhone factory near Bangalore run by Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron. A local labor minister and a labor organization told CNN Business last week that workers there claimed they were not being paid their wages.

Apple (AAPL) said in a statement to CNN Business that an independent audit conducted in the wake of the violence found that payment for some workers was delayed in October and November.

"Our main objective is to make sure all the workers are treated with dignity and respect, and fully compensated promptly," Apple said, adding that it has stopped placing new orders with Wistron as a result of its findings. "We are very disappointed and taking immediate steps to address these issues."

Wistron did not respond to multiple requests from CNN Business for comment on Monday. However, the company has let go of an executive in charge of its business in India, according to Taiwanese media reports.

"We are removing the vice president who oversees our business in India," Wistron said in a statement, according to the Taiwan Times. "This is a new facility and we recognize that we made mistakes as we expanded."

Apple has had to grapple with serious labor concerns in Asia in recent weeks. Last month, it placed another big supplier, Pegatron, on probation for violating its labor code by having some student workers in China work nights and overtime.

Apple said at the time that Pegatron had fired an executive in light of the infractions. Pegatron also said that it had worked to increase oversight after the violations were discovered, including by arranging an external audit.

Allegations against Pegatron haven't gone away, however. Last week, hundreds of workers protested at Pegatron's facilities in Shanghai and the eastern Chinese city of Kunshan because they said they were owed bonuses and wages, according to human rights group China Labor Watch.

The organization estimates that up to 500 temporary workers, employed by local recruitment agencies in partnership with Pegatron, gathered outside the company's Shanghai factory to protest on Saturday, chanting: "Pay the workers, sweatshop!"

Agencies had promised the workers special bonuses if they worked for 55 days, but did not follow through upon completion of their work, according to China Labor Watch.

Pegatron declined to comment on Monday.

The riot at the Wistron factory in India, meanwhile, made headlines worldwide last week after footage circulated on social media that appeared to show people smashing glass panels and tearing down CCTV cameras. In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange last Tuesday, Wistron estimated that the violence had caused as much as $7 million worth of damage.

In its statement Monday, Apple noted that Wistron had taken disciplinary action and was in the process of "restructuring their recruitment and payroll teams" in Narasapura, the Indian region where the factory is located.

The firm has also set up a hotline for workers at the facility to call in anonymously with any concerns, it said.

Apple has long faced criticism for how workers in its supply chain are treated. To improve practices, the US company regularly conducts audits, including surprise visits, of its suppliers' facilities around the world.

Source : cnn.com

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Twitter updates warning label for election misinformation to say Joe Biden won

 By Brian Fung, CNN Business

(CNN Business)Twitter (TWTR) has updated the warning labels it applies to election misinformation to reflect that Joe Biden is the president-elect, the company said on Saturday.

Previously, Twitter's labels said that claims of election fraud were "disputed."

The new labels say: "Election officials have certified Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. Presidential election."

The fresh language is active now on President Donald Trump's tweet from Saturday morning undermining the election outcome, and will be applied to all future tweets that do the same.

"Following certification of the results of the 2020 US Presidential Election, we've updated our label to reflect thee latest information," Twitter spokesperson Nick Pacilio told CNN.

The change follows mounting criticism by democracy experts who said social media platforms' labels haven't done nearly enough in the post-election period.

While Twitter said last month that it labeled roughly 300,000 tweets for content that was disputed or potentially misleading during a two-week period covering the election, critics have said such labels are ill-matched for the torrent of false claims that continue to divide Americans.

Source : cnn.com

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Brexit is finally done. It will leave the UK poorer

 Analysis by Hanna Ziady and Julia Horowitz, CNN Business

London (CNN Business)The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a trade deal, closing the book on more than four years of uncertainty over how the country would conduct business with its biggest export market following Brexit.

UK companies are heaving a collective sigh of relief at retaining tariff-free trade with a market of 450 million consumers that buys more than 40% of Britain's exports and provides more than half its imports. The country left the European Union on Jan. 31 but had continued to enjoy its previous trade privileges under transitional arrangements.

The deal spares the United Kingdom some of the most dire potential consequences from Brexit as it battles a crippling pandemic, and should give a short-term boost to the economy. But the trade agreement will still leave the country poorer at a time when it faces a jobs crisis and the worst recession in more than 300 years.

"The United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union and the single market, to renounce the benefits and advantages held by member states," EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters. "Our agreement does not reproduce these rights and benefits, and therefore despite this agreement there will be real changes in a few days from now."

The new relationship is expected to lead to a long-run loss of output of around 4% compared to remaining in the European Union, according to the UK Office for Budget Responsibility, which produces economic forecasts for the government. Leaving the EU's single market and customs area means higher costs for UK companies, which could lead to higher consumer prices and even more job losses, as well as reduced export prospects, economists say.

Another drawback: The deal appears to mostly cover trade in goods, where the United Kingdom has a deficit with its EU neighbors, and excludes key service industries like finance, where it currently enjoys a surplus.

"The good news is that a disruptive and acrimonious 'no deal' has been avoided," JPMorgan's Malcolm Barr wrote in a research note Thursday before the deal was finalized. "The bad news for the UK, in our view, is that the EU appears to have secured a deal which allows it to retain nearly all of the advantages it derives from its trading relationship with the UK, while giving it the ability to use regulatory structures to cherry pick among the sectors where the UK had previously enjoyed advantages in the trading relationship."

Here are some of the major challenges facing the battered UK economy when the Brexit transition ends on Jan. 1.

Trade barriers

UK companies are losing unfettered access to the European Union. While a deal means that exporters have been spared the pain of having costly tariffs slapped on their goods, new import and export declarations alone will cost UK companies £7.5 billion ($10.3 billion) annually, according to Britain's revenue authority.

Costs will rise rapidly if new customs checks delay goods at the border and snarl supply chains, forcing factories to pause production. UK ports are already gridlocked, partly as a result of stockpiling ahead of Brexit, with industry groups representing retailers and food producers warning that pressure will only increase when the transition period ends.

Even before France abruptly closed the border following a warning from UK officials of a new, more infectious coronavirus variant, Honda was forced to halt production at a major plant in England for three days in December because it couldn't get the parts it needed.

While the government will phase in border checks over the coming months to avoid choking off vital supplies, truckers and transportation companies are among those warning of dire consequences. Rod McKenzie, head of policy and public affairs at the Road Haulage Association, told CNN Business earlier this month that supply chain hiccups could mean that factories aren't able to work. There could also be "gaps on supermarket shelves," he added.

That situation could be made worse by backups from this week. While France has reopened ferry ports and the Eurotunnel rail link, thousands of trucks remained stranded Wednesday morning with their drivers waiting for the negative Covid-19 tests they need to travel. Supermarkets such as Tesco (TSCDY) and Sainsbury's (JSAIY) were struggling to keep their shelves stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, and Toyota (TM) closed its UK and French plants early for Christmas.

"The clock is still very much ticking for businesses," Jonathan Geldart, director general of the Institute of Directors, a lobby group, said in a statement Thursday. "Digesting what the changes mean in practice and adapting, in the middle of a pandemic and the festive season while border disruptions continue, is a huge ask."

Worker shortages

Britain's new immigration system, which takes effect in January, is designed to reduce the number of unskilled workers coming to the United Kingdom and end what the government describes as the country's "reliance on cheap, low-skilled labor."

Immigration was a key issue in the 2016 Brexit referendum. As an EU member, Britain was part of a bloc that allowed the free movement of people. That meant companies were able to easily employ EU citizens in sectors such as farming, social care and the National Health Service.

The number of EU workers coming to the United Kingdom has fallen sharply since 2016, and employers are worried about labor shortages, even though immigration from non-EU countries has been on the rise.

UK farms need 70,000 to 80,000 seasonal workers each year for a successful harvest, according to the National Farmers' Union. The NFU is lobbying government to introduce a seasonal worker program, without which some farmers have warned that in the worst case crops could be left in the fields to rot.

"Workers from outside the UK are absolutely vital to the success of our horticultural sector," NFU vice president Tom Bradshaw told CNN Business last week. "We are at a critical time in recruitment for many growers. As freedom of movement ends on Dec. 31, [growers] still don't know where they will recruit experienced workers from."

Loss of investment

Years of uncertainty over the future terms of EU trade have already damaged the UK economy. GDP growth in the three years after the June 2016 Brexit referendum slowed to 1.6% as business investment stagnated, according to analysts at Berenberg.

Greater clarity over Britain's future relationship with the European Union could help. A survey conducted by EY in April found that 24% of investors regard Brexit as a risk factor, down from 38% last year. According to EY, there was a slight increase in the number of inbound foreign direct investment projects into Britain in 2019, ending three years of decline.

"A deal [will] unlock significant investment in UK and support the recovery once the ongoing coronavirus shock starts to fade," Berenberg economists told clients Thursday.

But there's still a risk that foreign companies, including Japanese carmakers such as Nissan (NSANF) and Honda (HMC), will no longer view the United Kingdom as a launchpad into Europe.

That may already be happening. Chinese investment across the whole of Europe has increased since the Brexit referendum but declined in the United Kingdom, said EY. Global banks have been moving some of their operations out of London to cities in the European Union.

Financial services snags

Worries that London would quickly lose its status as Europe's financial capital to the likes of Frankfurt or Paris after the Brexit vote in 2016 have turned out to be overstated.

The United Kingdom remains the world's biggest net exporter of financial services, with its £60.3 billion ($81.6 billion) trade surplus in 2019 outpacing rivals including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, according to a report by TheCityUK, a lobby group.

Still, international financial services firms have migrated £1.2 trillion ($1.6 trillion) worth of assets and relocated 7,500 jobs from Britain to the European Union since the 2016 referendum, according to publicly available data tracked by EY. Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris have been the major beneficiaries.

The European Union and United Kingdom have not yet struck a deal that will give UK banks and asset managers access to European markets. EU regulators are unlikely to let London keep the benefits of the single market without its obligations.

"While a deal is welcome, financial and related professional services are clear-eyed about the need for both sides to continue to develop the relationship in services in the years ahead," Miles Celic, CEO of TheCityUK, said in a statement Thursday.

Some outside countries receive preferential market access rights from the European Union, a standard known as "equivalence." The level of market access is worse than what the United Kingdom currently enjoys, but it's the best the country can hope for once outside the European Union.

Major banks say they have prepared for Brexit, and the new terms of trade with the European Union won't disrupt their operations while negotiations continue over equivalence.

Source : edition.cnn.com

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