December, 2017

• 11 December

  Only one side compromised on this Brexit deal

  

  After UK and EU negotiators reached a deal opening a path for trade negotiations, arch-Brexiter Michael Gove declared British Prime Minister Theresa May had ‘won.’ That is a statement worthy of all the now-debunked Brexit slogans. The parties’ agreement shows the EU has given up virtually no ground, and that’s what’s likely to happen in the trade talks, too. In ...

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• 11 December

  BOJ to cut exchange-traded funds ETFs by a third in ’18

  

  Bloomberg As stocks surge and consumer prices inch higher, investors say it’s time for the Bank of Ja-pan to reduce equity purchases that have been criticised for distorting the market. Sometime next year, the BOJ will cut its annual buying target for domestic exchange-traded funds by as much as a third from the current 6 trillion yen ($53 billion), says ...

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• 11 December

  Pakistan loosens grip on rupee as economic pressures persist

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s central bank allowed the rupee to decline as it bowed to persistent economic pressure, including widening deficits and declining foreign-exchange reserves. The rupee closed at 107 per dollar at the close on the interbank market, after falling as low as 109.5 per dollar, the State Bank of Pakistan said in an emailed statement. The currency — officially a ...

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• 11 December

  HSBC escapes prosecution as US ends 5-year deal

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc said its 5-year-old deferred prosecution agreement with Department of Justice has expired, signaling the US is satisfied with the bank’s improvements to its compliance systems after it was ensnared in a money-laundering scandal in Mexico. The Justice Department will file a motion with a court in the Eastern District of New York seeking the dismissal of ...

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• 11 December

  ECB topping up QE once more with short taper in late 2018

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank will spend 2018 guiding its bond-buying program to a gentle halt as the euro zone benefits from the most-synchronized economic growth in two decades, according to a Bloomberg survey. Policy makers, who have already agreed to halve monthly purchases to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) starting next month, will taper them to zero in the ...

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• 11 December

  Labour debates moving Bank of England operations to Birmingham

  

  Bloomberg The Labour Party is debating moving some of the Bank of England’s operations to Birmingham if it wins power in the next general election. The plans, first reported by the Financial Times and confirmed by the UK’s main opposition, are aimed at spreading investment across the country. They’re based on an analysis by the economist Graham Turner of GFC ...

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• 11 December

  WestJet plans to become global-network airline

  

  Bloomberg Out in western Canada, the airline world is about to watch a unique business experiment. If it goes as planned, in a few years there will be a new favourite carrier battling for your airfare dollars, regardless of whether you’re a penny pincher or a rich banker. WestJet Airlines Ltd., which flies Boeing Co. 737s in Canada much the ...

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• 11 December

  Steinhoff chairman Wiese in talks for standstill on loan

  

  Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV Chairman Christo Wiese, seeking to stabilise the embattled retailer, is negotiating a standstill agreement on a $1.8 billion margin loan under which banks would suspend the sale of stock until next year, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The owner of Mattress Firm in the US and Poundland in the UK needs a ...

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• 11 December

  United Air PR boss to step down in January ‘18

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc.’s top communications executive is stepping down after leading the airline’s PR strategy through a tumultuous two-year tenure and worldwide scandal this April. Jim Olson, senior vice president of corporate communications, will resign effective from January 8 to pursue other opportunities, he said in a letter to employees. The decision was his own and he wasn’t ...

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• 11 December

  P&G becomes supporter of ingredient disclosure rule

  

  Bloomberg It took more than a decade, but California has a new law requiring extensive labelling of ingredients in cleaning products, and it got support from what might seem the unlikeliest of advocates: product manufacturers themselves. Companies like Procter & Gamble Co. and Easy-Off maker Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, after years of arguing the need to preserve their proprietary formulas ...

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