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Microsoft’s bid for Activision gets UK approval, removing last hurdle to the deal_我的网站

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A | LONDON -- Microsoft’s purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion gaming deal and removing the final obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history.The Xbox maker’s quest to acquire Activision — maker of other blockbuster games like Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch — could close imminently ahead of a Wednesday deadline. That would wrap up a merger delayed for close to two years by intense scrutiny from authorities around the world.The blessing from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority was expected after it gave preliminary approval last month to a revamped Microsoft proposal meant to address concerns that the deal would harm competition and hurt gamers, especially in the emerging cloud gaming market where players can avoid buying pricey consoles and stream games to their tablets or phones. “The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the watchdog said. Microsoft was grateful for the “thorough review and decision” on a tie-up that “will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” President Brad Smith said.Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says the game maker looks "forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team.”The deal will benefit gamers and be “productive for the gaming industry as a whole," said Josh Chapman, managing partner at venture capital firm Konvoy, which invests in video game startups.However, it also tilts the “balance of power significantly" in favor of Microsoft, whose Xbox console has lagged behind Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo, said George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at tech research and advisory firm Omdia. Microsoft “now has a big opportunity to dictate the future of the games industry,” he said. Since the deal was announced in January 2022, Microsoft has secured approvals from antitrust authorities covering more than 40 countries. Crucially, it got a thumbs-up from the 27-nation European Union after agreeing to allow users and cloud gaming platforms to stream its titles without paying royalties for 10 years.But the deal faced resistance from British and American regulators who worried it would stifle competition in the video game industry. Top rival Sony also feared it would limit PlayStation gamers’ access to Call of Duty, Activision’s long-running military shooter series. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission lost a court bid to pause the deal so that its in-house judge could review it. The FTC hasn't given up, appealing the decision and last month filing notice of its plan to resume that trial. That signals the U.S. regulator's intention to unwind the deal even after it closes. In the meantime, the U.K. regulator was the last major hurdle to the transaction going through. To gets its approval, Microsoft will sell off cloud streaming rights outside the EU and three other European countries for all current and new Activision games released over the next 15 years to French game studio Ubisoft Entertainment. British regulators had initially blocked the transaction over concerns Microsoft could withhold Activision titles from the cloud gaming market. Then, in an unprecedented move, the U.K. watchdog said it needed to reconsider.One factor was the EU’s approval, granted after Microsoft promised to automatically license Activision titles royalty-free to cloud gaming platforms. Another “material change of circumstance,” according to court documents, was an agreement Microsoft signed with Sony to make Call of Duty available on PlayStation for at least 10 years.But the regulator still criticized how the deal came together and warned other companies not to use the “tactics employed by Microsoft.”“Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work,” the watchdog's CEO, Sarah Cardell, said in a statement. "Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”The U.K. regulator “deserves credit for imposing a structural remedy on Microsoft that is significantly stronger than the weak commitments accepted by the European Commission," said Max von Thun, director of the Europe office of the Open Markets Institute, a proponent of stronger antitrust enforcement. But the CMA's flip-flopping makes the U.K. regulator look “weak and indecisive,” he said.“Moving forward, there is now a serious risk that in their dealings with the CMA, merging companies and their advisors will no longer take no for an answer,” von Thun said. ___AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.。 新加坡作为亚洲首屈一指的金融中心，曾经的亚洲四小龙之一，区域内的银行和金融机构可谓遍地开花。新加坡货币作为一种非常稳定的亚洲货币，也得到了很多世界性的金融机构的青睐。那幺小编今天就为大家揭晓一下新加坡本地的四大银行的开户流程！方便各位小伙伴在新加坡的生活。一、新加坡本地银行盘点新加坡的本地四大银行已成为人们的首选！包括：1.DBS星展银行；2.POSB邮政储蓄，被DBS收购；3.OCBC华侨银行；4.UOB大华银行。

B | 8视界二、新加坡本地银行卡开户流程1.POSB星展银行/DBS在新加坡，小伙伴们最常用的就是POSB！这家银行通常都是人头攒动，取钱、存钱以及办理各种业务的人群络绎不绝。DBS星展银行作为小坡最受欢迎的银行卡，被广大朋友称为最方便，最容易操作的银行卡之一。

C | 在坡岛，也是最为普及的银行卡，是众多网友的首选卡。

D | 8视界2.开户流程：开户要求年龄要求在16岁及以上；需要提交的文件：身份证/护照；或者是工作准证、学生签证到银行柜面办理。同时还需要提供新加坡的有效地址！譬如说是住所的水电账单或电话账单，或者任何可以证明住家地址的文件：譬如租房合约。开户最低存款金额：每个月户头必须有：$500 新币，如果没有达到 $500，每个月将扣$2。所以小伙伴们最低请准备$500.00新币即可。

E | 8视界申请人通常需要提交一份填写完整的申请表，填表过程中如若有不明白的地方，可以请教柜面人员。现在办理活期存款账户，客户会收到一个活期储蓄本、一张 ATM 卡以及一个网上银行专用的 PIN 密码。

F | 新加坡DBS热线：1800 111 11118视界友情提示⚠️：如果是新客户，这里指刚到新加坡工作，没有新加坡身份的人员，是无法做到自行开户的，这个时候就需要通过所在的公司在MOM帮助申请了。

G | 如果是学生签证，但学生证尚未办好，可以提供学校的信件：例如是私立教育委员会或教育部管辖的教育机构或学校的正式函件。8视界2.UOB大华银行UOB借记卡的办理流程：年龄要求：18岁及以上；每个月户头必须有最低500 新币，如果没有达到 $500，每个月将扣$2。8视界所需文件包括：护照，工作准证，水电单或电话单皆可。大华银行的专线电话：1800 222 21218视界3.OCBC华侨银行OCBC卡中最好申请的是FRANK CARD。

H | 此卡作为储蓄卡，也是非常好用的。华侨银行办卡流程：开户要求：年龄要求在16岁及以上办理流程：携带护照，工作签证或工作证和住址证明到OCBC各分行办理；银行会以邮寄的方式把银行卡和密码信件寄去所填的地址。OCBC办理360账户具体流程：年龄要求在18岁及以上；存款金额最低：$1,000.00；每个月户头结余必须有：$3,000 新币；第一年没有要求，之后如果没有达到 $3,000，每个月将扣除$2。提交的文件：护照，工作准证，水电单或者电话单皆可OCBC 华侨银行电话专线: 1800 363 33338视界注意⚠️：注意如果你刚到新加坡，没有收入，不能申请信用卡。只有持有S-pass，Employment Pass，PR以及公民在满足一定薪水要求的情况下才可以办理信用卡。不过，随着中国经济的增长，国内银行的信用卡在新加坡也可以使用了！新加坡的很多地方现在都可以使用银联或者Visa、Master来消费。8视界拿旅游签证可以在新加坡开户吗？小伙伴持有旅游签证是无法开通新加坡普通银行账户，但是可以开贵宾账户，账户余额要求20万新币或等值外币，各家银行区别不同，开户成功后可用账户内的资金做理财，投资或购买保险等产品。新加坡银行十分重视客户的隐私权，新加坡金融管理局设立了严格的监管和惩罚机制，最大程度上保障客户的账户安全和私密性。所以，小伙伴们尽可放心开户！。