May, 2016

• 22 May

  IPO to value Dong at $15bn feeds currency hedge speculative bets

  

    Bloomberg What looks set to become Denmark’s biggest initial public offering in more than a decade may add to pressure on the krone at a time when the exchange rate is already testing levels last seen during a 2015 speculative attack. With 15 percent of Dong Energy A/S slated to be sold to the public next month, the potential …

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• 22 May

  Three French Total refineries partially halted amid protests

  

    Bloomberg Production at three Total SA refineries in France was disrupted following a vote by workers to stop the plants amid discontent over the government’s handling of a proposed labour law. A number of production units at the Gonfreville refinery in Normandy, Feyzin near Lyon and at Donges, close to Nantes, have been shut down, industry group Union Francaise …

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• 22 May

  World’s biggest wealth fund faces wider ban on coal investments as guidelines tighten

  

    Bloomberg Norway’s sovereign wealth fund may be forced to step up divestments of coal companies and could face a wider ban on investments in other fossil fuels such as oil sands. A majority of parties in Norway’s parliament want to tighten guidelines that prevent the $850 billion fund from owning companies that base more than 30 percent of their …

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• 22 May

  Swiss, EU plan immigration talks after UK vote: Report

  Bloomberg Switzerland is preparing for a final round of negotiations with the European Union on immigration in the 13 days following the U.K. vote on EU membership, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported, without saying how it got the information. Switzerland’s chief negotiator with the EU, Jacques de Watteville, informed the government on Wednesday about his plan for talks on limiting the …

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• 22 May

  Bondholders sue over Puerto Rico debt-moratorium law

  

    San Juan, Puerto Rico / AP Holders of bonds from Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank are suing to challenge aspects of a debt-moratorium law that island officials say is crucial to maintaining essential services as the U.S. territory struggles under a nearly $70 billion debt load. The amended federal lawsuit filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court in San …

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• 22 May

  Elvis guitar fetches $334,000 at New York auction

  

    New York / AFP A guitar given to Elvis Presley by his father in 1969 went under the hammer for $334,000 in New York during an auction that also saw a Michael Jackson vest fetch $256,000. Vernon Presley is said to have changed the finish of the Gibson Dove acoustic guitar to ebony after his son earned his black belt …

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• 22 May

  Brazil swaps traders shrug off surprise jump in cost of living

  

    Bloomberg Brazilian swap rates slid, even after consumer prices rose faster than forecast, in an early vote of confidence that the new administration will be able to slow inflation. Swap rates on the contract maturing in January 2018, a gauge of expectations for interest-rate moves, declined 0.05 percentage point to 12.72 percent, even as inflation accelerated more than all …

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• 22 May

  Richest lithium nation risks being left behind in tesla-led boom

  

    Bloomberg The electric-car revolution is here and Chile is looking to ramp up production of the lithium the industry needs for batteries. Or it would be, but for a bitter dispute between the government and the former son-in-law of a military dictator. After Chile’s government moved to withdraw its license to exploit one of the world’s largest deposits, Soc. …

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• 22 May

  US mogul Redstone ousts Viacom chief

    New York / AFP Media mogul Sumner Redstone has ousted the head of Viacom from a trust with the power to take over his business interests, putting his daughter in position to control his $40 bn empire, a source close to the matter told AFP. Redstone, 92, is the controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS whose failing health has set …

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• 22 May

  Leaving Europe is a risk UK should avoid

  

    The British electorate does not need Americans to tell them how to vote in the June 23 referendum, and I wouldn’t dare try. I have always had great admiration for the British people — and great respect for the country’s democratic traditions. But from across the Atlantic, we Yanks are watching the campaign closely — and many of us …

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