October, 2018

• 8 October

  Interpol chief probe shows opaque Chinese justice

  Bloomberg A clandestine bribery investigation into Interpol’s first Chinese president has put a new spotlight on the country’s opaque legal system and undercut Beijing’s efforts to build prestige in the global law enforcement community. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security said on Monday that former Interpol President Meng Hongwei was being investigated under suspicion of accepting bribes and violating other ...

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• 8 October

  Taliban to block parliament elections in Afghanistan

  Bloomberg The Taliban has called on its supporters to block this month’s parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, describing the October 20 vote as a “malicious American conspiracy.” The militant group vowed to create “severe obstacles” to prevent the elections from going ahead, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said in an emailed statement. The poll was a conspiracy to deceive Afghans and achieve “the ...

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• 8 October

  Brazil’s strongman closes in on presidency after round-one rout

  

  Bloomberg Jair Bolsonaro, the divisive, far-right former Army captain, stormed to a huge lead in the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections as voters enraged by years of recession, corruption scandals and soaring crime rallied around his strongman message. The result puts the seven-time congressman on track for victory in the decisive, second-round vote on October 28, when he will ...

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• 8 October

  Bosnian hardliners win risks ‘ethnic strife’

  

  Bloomberg Nationalists prevailed in elections for Bosnia’s multi-ethnic, power-sharing institutions in victories that are sure to further fuel distrust and tension in a country that’s been divided since a devastating war in the 1990s. The Balkan nation of 3.5 million people has flirted with spiraling back into crisis since agreeing to a US-brokered peace pact in 1995 that left the ...

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• 8 October

  Macron readies overhaul to jump-start presidency

  Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron is readying for Phase Two of his presidency. The 40-year-old French leader is preparing broad changes within his government to jump start his presidency and draw a line under months of scandals and political setbacks. He is readying for “an important rebound,” according to his office. The new cabinet is expected to be announced on Tuesday, Journal ...

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• 8 October

  Trump needs a plan to win his trade war with China

  

  President Donald Trump’s trade war is less bad than it was just a short time ago. After some tense negotiations, the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) has been replaced with a new, very similar arrangement, meaning the disruption to trade — and to US relations with Canada and Mexico — will be contained. The agreement might even ease the ...

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• 8 October

  Comcast won’t let $100bn bring it down

  

  With Comcast Corp.’s 12-part, $27 billion jumbo bond offering to fund its acquisition of Sky Plc, the US cable giant is on the path to joining a select group of companies with more than $100 billion of debt. But what’s just as noteworthy is the club that Comcast chose to avoid. Comcast will likely keep its A- and A3 credit ...

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• 8 October

  Europe’s banks miss out on a globalised world

  Bashing European banks together in a game of spin-the-deal-wheel makes for great headlines — UniDeutsche? BarChart? — but it will do little to dent the record market share in investment banking their US rivals enjoy. Of the many diseases blighting Europe’s financial industry, the most relevant one for clients is the gaps in its global presence. As long as the ...

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• 8 October

  France, Europe need Macron to succeed

  Since becoming France’s president last year, Emmanuel Macron has made bold moves. He has modernized the economy by relaxing labor rules, reducing taxes for entrepreneurs, and making the higher education system more meritocratic. His government’s new budget includes the biggest tax cuts introduced in France in more than a decade. Yet the public remains unimpressed. Macron’s approval rating has been ...

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• 8 October

  India’s shadow-bank crisis stems from old problem

  

  When one of India’s largest shadow bankers — an institution with 169 subsidiaries that calls itself Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) — admitted to a series of defaults last week, Indian markets came close to a crisis. Fearing that a prolonged investment slowdown would intensify, the government invoked a little-known clause in India’s Companies Act and appointed a new ...

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