June, 2018

• 4 June

  Total unconvinced by hydrogen cars as France unveils subsidies

  

  Bloomberg France’s biggest energy company expressed skepticism about the economics of hydrogen-powered vehicles as the government unveiled subsidies to promote the gas as way of cutting fossil-fuel consumption and fighting climate change. “We find it difficult to be convinced it has a future in 10 years time,” Total SA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with local …

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• 4 June

  OPEC, allies say more investment needed to ensure oil supply

  

  Bloomberg OPEC and its allies in the global oil output cuts stressed the need to maintain their cooperation to stimulate adequate investments to ensure stable oil supply. Energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria and Oman held an unofficial consultative meeting in Kuwait City, the Kuwait News Agency reported, citing a statement from the joint ministerial …

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• 4 June

  Social media furor hits Thailand’s oil giant

  

  Bloomberg Thailand has joined the global wave of anxiety over climbing energy costs. A social media furor over pump prices erupted in the past week, prompting state-run oil refiner PTT Pcl to defend itself in a Facebook post by Chief Executive Officer Tevin Vongvanich. The country’s military government rolled out fuel subsides for diesel and cooking gas. The developments signal …

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• 4 June

  US set to announce biofuel policy changes

  Bloomberg The Trump administration is slated to unveil biofuel policy changes, including efforts to tamp down costs for refiners while broadening the market for ethanol, according to people familiar with the action. The announcement follows weeks of negotiations by the Agriculture Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department to flesh out a tentative deal struck at the White House last …

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• 4 June

  Stocks rise on growth outlook; Treasuries steady, dollar drops

  

  Bloomberg US and European stocks advanced on Monday, tracking peers in Asia as optimism over the world’s largest economy helped investors put protectionist fears to one side. Treasuries were steady, the dollar fell, and the pound and euro rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes opened higher after Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy coding site GitHub for …

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• 4 June

  $210 billion of Indian bad debt lures funds seeking returns

  

  Bloomberg India’s two-year-old bankruptcy law, which gives creditors more power to restructure troubled companies, is luring more and more offshore investors from as far as Canada to buy the nation’s bad debt. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a Canadian pension fund manager, has made $600 million available to Edelweiss Group for investment in local distressed assets, according to …

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• 4 June

  China banks’ waning demand hints at more bond defaults

  

  Bloomberg China’s banks, scrambling to adjust to the government’s deleveraging campaign, are likely to add to pressures on the corporate bond market as they shed more of their massive note holdings and de-risk their balance sheets. Further payment problems are likely in a market that has already seen at least 14 corporate bond defaults this year, according to Logan Wright, …

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• 4 June

  UniCredit considering merger with SocGen

  Bloomberg Italian bank UniCredit SpA is considering a merger with France’s Societe Generale SA, a move that would combine two of Europe’s largest financial institutions, the Financial Times reported. UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier, who is French and once worked for SocGen, has been developing the idea for several months, the FT said, citing people close to the …

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• 4 June

  Commonwealth Bank of Australia to pay record fine to settle laundering suit

  

  Bloomberg Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to pay the biggest civil penalty in Australian corporate history, after admitting to more than 53,000 money-laundering law breaches that allowed drug syndicates to funnel millions of dollars offshore. The nation’s largest lender will pay A$700 million ($530 million) to bring to an end the 10-month saga, which led to the departure of …

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• 4 June

  Banks beat India’s RBI in raising borrowing costs

  

  Bloomberg Indian lenders are raising interest rates even before any central bank action as the strongest loan demand in four years amid weak deposit growth pressures funding costs. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank are among the nation’s biggest banks that increased their benchmark lending rates last week. The Reserve Bank of India, on the …

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