July, 2019

• 24 July

  Libyan neighbours fear chaos to deepen West Africa instability

  

  Bloomberg The chaos in Libya, where strongman Khalifa Haftar has vowed to capture the capital from the internationally recognised government, is threatening to further destabilise its West African neighbours, Niger’s interior minister said. Several countries in the Sahel, a semi-arid region on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, are already struggling to cope with extremist violence and a surge ...

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• 24 July

  Russia opposition leader detained amid vote standoff

  

  Bloomberg Russian police detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a standoff intensified over the authorities’ decision to bar prominent anti-government candidates from September elections in Moscow. Navalny has called for another major rally in front of the mayor’s office after he addressed the biggest protest in three years in the Russian capital on July 20, attended by more than 20,000 ...

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• 24 July

  ‘Germany must boost defense spending’

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s new defense minister said the country must boost defense spending and overhaul its military equipment, risking a fresh conflict in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s teetering coalition government. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkel’s heir-apparent as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, said after her swearing-in that she’ll insist on “reliable and continuous increases,” and that Germany will achieve a NATO-endorsed goal of ...

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• 24 July

  Salvini backs coalition, quelling breakup fears

  

  Bloomberg Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini had everyone worried he would force the collapse of Italy’s government. Now he’s won concessions that have appeased him, at least for the moment. Premier Giuseppe Conte handed Salvini a victory with support for a high-speed Alpine rail link with France, a project the rightist League chief has championed in a long-running clash with ...

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• 24 July

  Stocks turn mixed on results, Treasuries gain with bonds

  

  Bloomberg US stocks were mixed as investors mulled weak economic data and mixed corporate results, including an unexpected quarterly loss for Boeing. Treasuries advanced along with bonds in Europe. In addition to Boeing, Caterpillar weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the equipment maker projected earnings at the low end of forecasts. UPS helped to keep the S&P 500 ...

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• 24 July

  Health insurers sink as rising spending gauge alarms investors

  

  Bloomberg Health-insurance stocks sank across the board after Anthem Inc became the third insurer to report it is paying out a higher percentage of the premiums it takes in to cover patients’ medical claims. Investors watch the so-called medical-loss ratio reported by health insurers closely. The number is a key measure of the companies’ financial health; when the ratio goes ...

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• 24 July

  Deutsche turnaround fizzles as lower rates loom longer

  

  Bloomberg Just a few weeks into Deutsche Bank AG’s biggest restructuring yet, the complications are already starting. Germany’s largest lender posted the worst second-quarter trading result of the big Wall Street banks. The bottom line was below expectations after a $3.8 billion restructuring charge. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, finance chief James von Moltke signaled that some turnaround targets ...

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• 24 July

  EU lenders may face tough laundering rules

  

  Bloomberg European Union (EU) officials called for a further tightening of the bloc’s anti-money laundering rules after identifying a host of failures that led to scandals across the financial system. Banks at times completely ignored requirements to stop illicit financial flows and supervisors were ill-equipped and often slow to deal with the issues, the European Commission said on Wednesday. Handing ...

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• 24 July

  Bill Evans sees RBA cutting to 0.5%, possible extra measures

  

  Bloomberg Australia’s central bank will lower interest rates twice more and could adopt a package with the second easing to allow lenders to pass on the reduction in full, Westpac Banking Corp Chief Economist Bill Evans said. Evans brought forward his forecast for the next cut to October from November — saying by then the labour market will have deteriorated ...

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• 24 July

  Standard Life, Lloyds settle ‘fund row’

  Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Standard Life Aberdeen Plc have reached a settlement in what was one of the most high-profile disputes in the UK fund management industry’s history. Lloyds, which wanted to pull a 104 billion-pound ($129 billion) mandate, will pay the asset manager 140 million pounds in cash as compensation, according to a statement from Standard Life. ...

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