INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
ZTE has proposed a new financing plan worth $10.7 billion and nominated eight new board members as it seeks to comply with an agreement
reached with the US government that will allow it to return to business.The company had been banned from obtaining products and services
from US suppliers after it breached a previous agreement reached for illegally shipping products to North Korea and Iran
This led it to suspend operations and admit that its survival was at risk.ZTE business dealHowever, US President Trump intervened with a new
deal, which will see ZTE pay a $1 billion fine, change its board and management, and put $400 million in escrow, means it can get back to
work on its telecommunications network equipment and smartphones.According to Reuters, ZTE will need to replace its 14-strong board and
dismiss all executives at senior vice president level of above
two-month period of inactivity that saw as much as $3 billion wiped off its value.It has been suggested that it will be a month before ZTE
can resume shipping handsets to the US, while staff fear the reputational and financial damage the incident has caused could affect bonuses
There are also concerns that the overhaul of the board could lead to instability.The White House has made it clear that should ZTE infringe
again, it would not get another chance to redeem itself.
