Bloomberg TransCanada Corp. hired RBC Capital Markets LLC to sell a stake in the Coastal GasLink project, which would supply a Royal Dutch Shell Plc-led gas-export terminal, as the pipeline faces mounting opposition. If TransCanada moves forward with the sale, joint venture partners in the C$6.2 billion ($4.7 billion) project could end up owning as much as 75 percent of ...
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Europe economic confidence plunge extends into 2019
Bloomberg Euro-area economic confidence extended its worst losing streak in a decade at the start of 2019 as member states faced a variety of domestic frailties and trade uncertainties. The European Commission’s economic sentiment index dropped more than economists forecast in January, reaching the lowest in more than two years. Pessimism spread in industry, services and retail trade, while the ...
Read More »Fund managers in UK face new guidelines seeking transparency
Bloomberg An endangered UK regulator is demanding that asset managers change the way they interact with investors under new rules that require funds to provide more information on their business culture. A key difference in the updated stewardship code from the Financial Reporting Council is that asset managers will have to report what they’ve actually done, rather than just their ...
Read More »UK lending slows as Brexit concerns hangs over outlook
Bloomberg UK lenders approved the fewest home loans in eight months in December and demand for unsecured debt remained subdued, Bank of England figures show. The slowdown reflects fears that Britain risks leaving the European Union without a deal, a scenario that could rock the property market. Consumer credit grew at its slowest annual pace in four years. UK mortgage ...
Read More »Tech group backs privacy bill that preempts tougher laws
Bloomberg A new privacy bill proposed by Senator Marco Rubio, which would override more restrictive state laws, is winning support from a Washington-based technology trade group that counts Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and eBay Inc. as members. The Florida Republican’s legislation would impose a national privacy standard and supersede tougher data-protection regulations that will take effect in California in ...
Read More »Where does Trump’s economy rank in US?
Stock and bond markets are flashing warning signs of a US recession just over the horizon, and President Donald Trump is having none of it: Investors may be gloomy about the vanishing gap between short- and long-term US Treasury yields, the dreaded yield-curve inversion that tends to forecast recessions, but the president is focusing on the bright side. The US ...
Read More »Italy starts handing out free money
Italy’s Five Star Movement has risen to global prominence more for the colorful oddness of its founder, the comedian Beppe Grillo, than for the seriousness of its populist policies. But one of its proposals has attracted genuine interest from across the world: The idea of a “citizens’ income.†This concept could in theory appeal to both the left and the ...
Read More »Tesco is playing with fire by cutting jobs
In Britain’s retail apocalypse, culling staff might seem like an obvious course of action for hard-pressed store chains. But cut too deep, and the damage inflicted on the business can be even more devastating than Brexit-induced nervousness. Tesco is looking to eliminate up to 9,000 jobs – about half of which could be shifted elsewhere in the company – as ...
Read More »With China, US needs to verify but trust
With high-stakes trade talks set to resume in Washington, US officials say any deal with China hinges on how it can be enforced. That is indeed a key issue. But to have any hope of success, the US can’t be entirely worried about whether China might cheat. It also needs to consider what conditions would best encourage Beijing to comply. ...
Read More »UK economy needs a reboot no matter Brexit outcome
“I’m really enjoying the season finale of the UK,†quipped Irish software engineer Damian Sullivan on Twitter. His joke may not be far off the mark. Brexit negotiations are looking more and more like the type of destructive brinkmanship that the US has seen in recent years. But the stakes are much higher in the UK — rather than just ...
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