When the UK’s former London Mayor Boris Johnson was once asked about business concerns overBrexit, his famous response was “**** business.” Now he is the country’s prime minister and the reaction from business is less than enthusiastic.

Widely touted as “Britain’s Trump”—even by the US president himself—Boris Johnson took over from Theresa May last week after being elected the new leader of the Conservative Party by its members. Johnson is seen as one of the chief architects of Brexit, having campaigned prominently in favour of the Leave vote.

Not long after his election, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)—a UK business organisation—issued its business manifesto for the British prime minister. In a statement, Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI’s Director-General, said: “Business needs three things in the first 100 days. A Brexit deal that unlocks confidence; clear signals the UK is open for business; and a truly pro-enterprise vision for our country.”

The first of those appears unlikely. The new prime minister has populated his cabinet with members of the so-called European Research Group (ERG), a clique of backbench conservative MPs advocating for what is widely viewed as the worst-case scenario: a no-deal Brexit. Among them is minister Michael Gove who recently said planning for no-deal is now the government’s “number one priority” as it is “accelerating preparations.”

By promising to deliver Brexit by October 31″come what may”, Boris Johnson is gambling that Europe will blink first and agree to remove the contentious “Irish backstop” agreed in Theresa May’s draft EU withdrawal deal. The backstop is an insurance policy that ensures open borders by keeping Northern Ireland will in the EU customs union if future negotiations fail. Ursula von der Leyen—who became the first woman president of the European Commission last week—has already warned the arrangement could not be renegotiated.

Yet, even as the pound falls, Johnson is trying to project a different image and has pledged to be the most “pro-business” UK prime minister ever. Johnson has even hired Andrew Griffith, the former COO and CFO of Comcast-owned UK broadcaster Sky, as his chief business adviser.

Now it seems the best business can do is prepare for the worst.In a report on a likely no-deal outcome, CBI’sFairbairn, said taking steps to reduce the impact of a cliff-edge Brexit is the “right thing to do.”

“The new government must dedicate just as much effort to striking a deal as preparing for a failure to agree one because there is no such thing as a no-deal without negative consequences for jobs and growth,” she said.

While protestors have been storming Hong Kong’s legislature, high-tech firms are taking the local market by storm, fueling a boom in IPOs.

A June report from KPMG China noted that in the first half of 2019 Hong Kong ranked third globally by total funds raised, after the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. HK$69.2 billion (US $8.85 billion) was raised on the main board across 68 new listings, the highest ever for the first six months of the year. Total proceeds for the period were the highest since 2016. KPMG predicts the boom will accelerate, with Hong Kong’s IPO market taking in more than HK$200 billion for 2019.

IPO activity in the special administrative region has been bolstered by reforms that make it easier for “new economy” companies—meaning high-growth technology firms—to list. “New economy as a sector needs time to establish itself, and this is where global venture capital and private-equity managers can seize the benefit of Hong Kong as a regional fund-management center,” Irene Chu, head of New Economy and Life Sciences at KPMG China, said in a statement.

Innovation and technology firms accounted for more than 37% of IPOs in the first six months of the year. More are expected in mainland China too. China’s new STAR Market, which targets tech firms, has a pipeline of 124 companies for the third quarter of 2019, KPMG noted.

No surprise, then, that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a central bank umbrella group, approved plans to launch a new fintech innovation hub. Based in Basel, Hong Kong and Singapore, the hub will seek insights into trends impacting central banking, and act as a focal point for innovating and networking among banks.

“The IT revolution knows no borders and therefore has repercussions in multiple locations simultaneously,” said Jens Weidmann, chair of the BIS board of directors, in a statement. The hub “will enable central banks to extend their existing collaboration to identify relevant trends in technology.”

Libra wasn’t mentioned, but the stir it has already created has no doubt focused minds. BIS has previously called on politicians to regulate big tech firms for the new risks they may pose to the global financial system. Meanwhile, BIS general manager Augustín Carstens told the Financial Times in a June 2019 interview that many central banks are already working on their own digitized currencies, noting, “It might be that it is sooner than we think.”

Nearly all 159 North American CFOswho participated in Deloitte’s second-quarterCFO Signals survery expect an economic downturn in the next two years. Almost80% of these anticipate a mild slowdown.Fear of trade wars was a top concern among CFOs in Deloitte’s 2018 surveys; today,fears over US-China friction remainbut are increasingly overshadowed by worriesaboutpolitical instability and gridlock.

The outlook for Europe wasweak, with just 10% of surveyed CFOs seeing current conditions as “good” and only 4% expecting an improvement over the next 12 months. Expectations surrounding the Chinese economy improved compared to the last quarter (with 26% seeing conditions as good), but only 10% foresee better conditions over the next year.

“With mixed economic indicators in the US and observed slowing in several key economies around the globe, it is understandable that CFOs’ optimism dipped this quarter,” said Deloitte US CEO Joe Ucuzoglu. “At the same time, we continue to see relative confidence across our client base in the underlying fundamentals of the US economy and CFOs are highly focused on acquiring and retaining talent.”

Similar responses could be found in Deloitte’sSpring 2019 European CFO Survey, which found that business confidence stagnating among European CFOs. However, more than 66% of European CFOs do not expect a recession in the next 18 months in Europe. Just 20% of European CEO foresee a US recession.

“As the external environment becomes more uncertain, economic concerns predominate among European businesses,” said Christopher Nuerk, managing partner, clients and industries, with Deloitte in a note. “In addition, deep structural changes are taking place—and they can be expected to speed up rather than slow down during a period of economic difficulty.”

Nuerk added that the cost-reduction approach that many companies rely on in a downturn, may not be enough to cope in this environment. Unsurprisingly, Brexit was a major focus for European CFO worries. More than 80% of European CFOs said they expected the domestic business environment to deteriorate as a result of Brexit.

While of the lack of clarity around the Brexit process has hit confidence, the survey report said that more UK CFOs remain unchanged in their level of optimism. This suggests some are learning to cope with the uncertainty. On the other hand, overall confidence dropped in almost all countries within the Eurozone area.

When Ryan Ding, executive director of Chinese smartphone maker Huawei, cheerfully announced on June 24 that his company would be increasing its investment 5G technology, the company seemed to have shrugged off its recent US ban. In reality, the company—which already claims to have sunk $2 billion into 5G product development—has to go a long way to assuage cybersecurity fears in the US and beyond.

Ding’s keynote address emphasized that cybersecurity and privacy protections are “top priorities” for his company, adding: “We ensure the security of carriers’ 5G networks with our secure products and trusted services.” This is no surprise given that Huawei has been at the frontline of the US-China trade war, where cybersecurity has been a top issue. US President Donald Trump has already named Huawei as a threat to national security, but now these fears have boiled over into Huawei’s other markets.

The UK is considering whether toallow Huawei to help develop the country’s 5G network. A leaked report from the UK National Security Council suggested the government could give the company access to “non-core” parts of the network. While the final decision will sit with the next UK prime minister, this proposed partial ban has received mixed responses.

Conrad Prince, a senior cyber adviser with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI),a UK defence and security think tank, said in recent commentary that UK’s approach is a “clear-headed recognition” of the influence of the Chinese state on companies like Huawei and the danger of Chinese intellectual property theft to UK companies: “The UK approach is fundamentally about making informed risk management judgements, and keeping Chinese (and certain other) technology out of key parts of the network.”

In an interview with the Financial Times, Niklas Heuveldop, chief executive of phone maker Ericsson’s North American business, criticized the partial ban. Heuveldop—who says he does not advocate a bandespite his company being a competitor to Huawei—said a partial ban planned by the UK reflected a “misunderstanding” of how 5G worked.

The UK’s refusal to enforce an outright ban on Huawei has been a source of tension for US-UK relations. This week, Woody Johnson, the USambassador to the UK, told a conference in London that allowing for Chinese involvement in the UK’s 5G network was like “letting a kleptomaniac into your house.” Other than the US, Australia is the only English-speaking country to ban Huawei’s 5G technology outright.

Other European markets are moving to limit Huawei’s involvement in 5G technology. Earlier this year, Dutch telecoms giant Royal KPN said it would choose a Western supplier for its core 5G mobile network—making it the first European operator to do so. Huawei’s involvement will be limited to supplying non-core radio equipment. On the other hand, Germany—Europe’s largest economy, and arguably most significant market—have ignored the US calls to ban Huawei on security grounds, setting a level playing field for foreign companies.

However, RUSI’s Prince says a narrow focus on Huawei and 5G risks obscuring a broader question over the global nature of Chinese technology and its implications for governments and corporations. He asked: “Not just telecommunications, but also energy, health, civil aviation, manufacturing and many other sectors are all likely to involve digital products that have some Chinese dimension. Is it sensible or realistic to ban it all?”

After more than a week of violent protest in Hong Kong, the territory’s government was forced to shelve a controversial extradition bill that both angered citizens and alarmed businesses. So far, the retreat has done little quell protests or allay the fears of companies operating in the region.

Protests broke out earlier this month after the government of the former British colony proposed a new extradition bill that could mean citizens of Hong Kong and foreign nationals within the territory could be sent for trial in People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” arrangement that guarantees Hong Kong a degree of autonomy. Critics of the bill feared it would erode the Special Administrative Region’s judicial independence. This week, Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam apologized for the controversy and promised to “indefinitely suspend” the bill. Notably, she did not withdraw the bill from consideration and protests have continued.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)in Hong Kong said the government should drop the bill to avoid “hurting the city’s rule of law and hard-earned competitiveness.”In an interview with the South China Morning Post last month, Tara Joseph, the president ofAmCham’s Hong Kong chapter, warned that pushing the bill through would risk “shooting Hong Kong in the foot.”

Steve Dickinson, an attorney with law firm Harris Bricken which specializes in corporate law in China, added that the protests, coupled with the growing integration of Hong Kong with the PRC, will likely push financial professional and multinational to other Asian hubs.

“Singapore will be the most likely beneficiary, but Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul will also benefit,” he tells Global Finance. “The PRC would like these folks to move to Shanghai. But recent actions on the part of the PRC government driving away expats of all types means that a move to Shanghai is not going to happen.”

If the bill is revived—as many fear it will be—Gary Hufbauer, an economist and non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says several countries could be affected. Ultimately, if the extradition law is enacted the impact on business will depend on the response of the US and other countries.

“If the response is sharp—for example repeal of the Hong Kong Policy Act [a 1992 act that allows the US to treat Hong Kong separately from China with regards to trade]—lots of financial firms will migrate to Singapore and other Asian centers,” says Hufbauer. “This would be a real blow to Hong Kong. There’s no reason for multinationals to expand investment in Hong Kong if it’s going to be caught up in the emerging cold war between the US and China.”

Hufbauer adds that China’s President Xi Jinping must essentially choose between benefits of foreign investment and making Hong Kong an integral part of the PRC. Dickinson meanwhile notes that Beijing’s long-term ambition is for cities like Shanghai to supplant Hong Kong as China’s primary hub for international business. “From the perspective of the PRC, the unrest serves that purpose,” he says. “On the other hand, the unrest shows long term that it may be difficult to fully integrate Hong Kong into the PRC.”

Hufbauer adds: “Other [Chinese] cities give Hong Kong competition for finance and high tech, but Hong Kong’s charm is its distance from Beijing’s regulatory sway. At the moment, that’s a big calling card.”

Billions of consumers hit by Chinese mobile firm Huawei’s inclusion on a US trade blacklist are the latest victims in a “tech Cold War” hitting corporates in both countries. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday (May 29), Song Liuping, Huawei’s Chief Compliance Officer, said the decision by the US Commerce Department to add Huawei and its affiliates to anentity listcould harm 3 billion customers using Huawei products in 170 countries.

The list includes companies barred from doing business with US companies for reasons of US national security. The inclusion means Huawei users will no longer have access to updates for Alphabet’s Android operating system. New Huawei phones will also lose access to some Google apps. The ban also limits the company’s access to technology from chipmakers such as Intel, Qualcomm and Broadcom.

The move sees the US-China trade war over tariffs evolve into a tech arms race,fuelled by US government fears over China’s growing surveillance technology and potential 5G network dominance. Gary Hufbauer, an economist and non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, argues that theCold War analogy is accurate and predicts that things will get worse before they get better.

“[Director of trade and manufacturing policy, Peter] Navarro and [former White House chief strategist Steve] Bannon have convinced [US president Donald] Trump that China poses an ‘existential threat’ if it develops a lead in several hi-tech industries, such as 5G, AI, quantum computing and others,” Hufbauer tells Global Finance magazine. “So the time is now to cut off Chinese tech at the knees.I think the diagnosis and cure are both nonsense, but a great many Americans broadly agree, making the tech war popular.”

However, while the intention is to hobble China’s tech dominance, some US corporates are likely to be collateral damage. For his part, Huawei’s Liuping asserts that the government’s policy will “directly harm more than 1,200 US companies.”While Huawei has an interest in exaggerating this number, the potential negative impact for US tech companies cannot be ignored.

The biggest losers will be components makers. In the short term, Huawei’s suppliers have already seen their shares slide. In the long term, Huawei’s inability to do business with US firms could slow the development of 5G technology. This is bad news for American component makers who had planned for a major surge in 5G adoption in 2019.

On the other hand, tech companies in Asia and Europe could benefit. Huawei’s biggest Asian rival, South Korea’s Samsung, is already poised to take the lead in 5G, with its flagship phone, the Galaxy S10, slated to be released later this year. Also, according to Reuters, Nokia chief executive Rajeev Suri told shareholders in a meeting earlier this month that the company spied a “long term opportunity” in the regulatory issues Huawei is facing.

For his part, Hufbauer believes China will be the hardest hitover the next two to four years as a result of the US-China trade and tech war, but the country will rebound: “Unless the US dramatically ramps up its own public and private spending on tech R&D, the US stands to be hit hard over the next decade. If US spending ramps up, then I suppose the US military-industrial/technology complex will benefit.”

Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev has unveiled plans to spin off its Asia business—Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC—via a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) in a bid to reduce debt and take on Asian rivals.

The company—which owns brands such as Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois—has a $102.5 billion debt burden it is looking to reduce following its 2016 purchase of rival SABMiller for over $100 billion. The company did not disclose the value of the deal in its draft prospectus but analysts have said the float could be worth anywhere between $4 billion and $7 billion, valuing the unit as much as $70 billion.

AB InBev borrowed a record $75 billion to buy SABMiller. As a result, the US-listed brewer is currently the most indebted company in the global food and drinks industry by a significant margin. The company has thus far struggled to whittle down its debt obligations.In December of 2018, Moody’s cut its senior unsecured debt rating to Baa1. In January 2019, the company issued corporate bonds worth $15.5 billion to pay off part of itsdebt. The multinational’s financial situation comes at a time of growing anxiety about corporate debt in US and globally.In November last year,the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association revealed that the US corporate debt had grown by 86% over the past decade from $4.9 trillion to $9.1 trillion.

News of AB InBev’s planned listing coincided with the company’s quarterly earnings call last week. In a statement, the company said it expects to reduce net debt to EBITDA ratio from 4.6x to below 4x by 2020. CFO Felipe Dutra indicated in a statement that further capital raised could also go to fuel the company’sAsia growth: “The merits of this initiative are based upon the creation of an APAC champion in the consumer goods space.” He added the firm’s “superior portfolio of brands and leadership” in the industry made it a good platform for further acquisitions.

The company has a lot of catching up to do. AB InBeV—which holds exclusive rights as the China distributor for Japan’s Sapporo beer—is currently the number three brewer in Asia’s biggest market.Its biggest rival in China is Dutch beer giant Heineken. Shortly before merging into AB InBev, SAB Miller had to shed its mainland business—China Resources Beer—as part of antitrust regulations. Heineken then took the opportunity to enter into a operational tie-up with business, taking a 40% stake in CRB last year. AB InBev also sold several European brands to Japanese beer maker Asahi in 2017 for $7.3 billion, which in turn took those brands into China.

Jumia priced 17.6% of its shares at $14.50 apiece, valuing the business at $1.1 billion and raising around $200 million for the venture. The shares opened at $18.95, a 31.7% premium on the IPO price. The stock has since soared past $40, pushing the start-up’s valuation past $3 billion.

The proceeds will be used to pay shareholders and fund growth. Its largest shareholder is African telecoms giant MTN. Other early backers include Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, Rocket Internet, AXA Group and CDC Group.

Jumia saw its revenue jump by 40% to $147.3 million in 2018. Like Amazon in its early days, Jumia is still far from profitable, racking up losses of nearly $1 billion since it was founded by two French entrepreneurs in 2013. Jumia operates in 14 countries across the African continent, yet there is some controversy over its African credentials: The firm is incorporated in Germany and has its core tech team in Portugal.

This deadline was moved to April 12 after Prime Minister Theresa May failed to secure enough votes for her withdrawal agreement. With the British Parliament still unable to agree on what to do next, the EU again offered a “flexible” deadline of October 31, meaning the UK could leave earlier if May’s deal gets through.

Announcing the extension on April 10, European Council President Donald Tusk said the next course of action is “entirely in the UK’s hand,” whether it ratifies May’s withdrawal agreement, rethinks it strategy, or revokes Article 50 and stops Brexit. In a message to the UK, he added, “This extension is as flexible as I expected, and a little bit shorter than I expected, but it’s still enough to find the best possible solution. Please do not waste this time.”

UK businesses reacted with a mix of relief and exasperation. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said: “The prospect of a messy and disorderly exit on Friday has again been averted. Businesses will be relieved, but their frustration with this seemingly endless political process is palpable.” The BCC added that it was “urgent” that Parliament reaches consensus, and that it would be a “disaster for business confidence and investment if a similar late-night drama” unfolds in October.

There are ongoing talks between the Conservative Party–led government and the opposition Labour Party to try to break the deadlock. Parliament could still agree to May’s already thrice-rejected deal, but it is unlikely. If that doesn’t happen, the UK must take part in European elections on May 23. After that, the possibilities could range from a general election, another referendum, a cancelled Brexit, or even a possible no-deal exit in October, meaning businesses could be in for an especially scary Halloween.