May, 2017

• 31 May

  Merkel salutes a new European partnership

  

  Germany wants good relations with both Russia and the English-speaking world, but it can’t really trust either, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Such admissions don’t advance her re-election campaign as some claim, but her aim is much broader than that anyhow. Merkel’s remarks that “the time when we could fully rely on others is pretty much gone” and that ...

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• 31 May

  Right investment play on agriculture futures

  Investors with a macro view of the global economy will undoubtedly take into account population growth. Even though the pace of the expansion has peaked (1962-3), the overall number of people continues to grow, led by emerging markets. Estimates have put the total at 8.4 billion by mid-2030, and 9.6 billion by mid-2050. Contributing to this statistic is that people ...

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• 31 May

  China’s 220 million seniors may reshape the world

  

  For decades, Nestle SA has tried to get its infant milk powder into the hands of China’s new mothers with promises of brighter, healthier babies. Now it’s trying to do the same for the elderly. Last week, the company launched “Nestle YIYANG Fuel for brainTM senior milk powder,” a formula designed to help China’s seniors “refuel their brains and start ...

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• 31 May

  US stocks slip from records

  

  Bloomberg US stocks halted a seven-day advance as data showing a rebound in consumer spending offset a wider selloff in commodities. Treasuries advanced amid month-end buying. The S&P 500 Index edged lower from an all-time high banks paced gains while energy producers slumped amid a retreat in crude. Tech shares lifted the Nasdaq 100 Index to a fresh record. The ...

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• 31 May

  Hong Kong stocks cap longest monthly gains since 2013

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index capped a fifth month of gains, its longest winning streak in more than four years, as improving earnings outweighed concerns about China’s campaign to cut leverage. The Hang Seng Index advanced 4.3 percent in May to be among Asia’s best performers. The gauge retreated 0.2 percent on Wednesday at the close. Geely Automobile Holdings ...

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• 31 May

  Deutsche Bank fined $41mn for money-laundering lapses

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $41 million to settle Federal Reserve allegations that its U.S. operations failed to maintain adequate protections against money laundering, the latest in a string of fines that have cost the German lender billions of dollars. The Frankfurt-based bank’s US operations fell short in complying with the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires lenders to ...

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• 31 May

  Co-Op Bank heads for debt- for-equity swap

  

  Bloomberg Co-Operative Bank Plc, the UK lender that put itself up for sale amid a capital shortfall, is coming closer to forcing bondholders to swap debt into equity and selling shares as it runs out of options to bolster its financial strength, according to people familiar with the matter. The Manchester, England-based lender is seeking an agreement with bondholders including ...

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• 31 May

  AIB takes spotlight as Ireland plans biggest 2017 London IPO

  

  Bloomberg The Irish government fired the starting gun for the initial public offering of Allied Irish Banks Plc, laying out a plan to sell 25 percent of the nationalized lender. The government plans to sell the AIB stake in a share offering in London and Dublin, with terms to be set in mid-June, the country’s finance ministry said in an ...

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• 31 May

  BOJ may stop cutting bond purchases

  

  Bloomberg The ‘stealth’ tapering of bond buying by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) may take a summer break, at least for June. With medium-term Japanese government bond yields on the rise, a further scaling back of monthly debt purchases could risk upsetting the market, strategists say. That means the central bank may keep the pace of buying as is for ...

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• 31 May

  Citi to sell fixed income index unit to LSE for $685mn

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc agreed to sell its fixed-income analytics and index business to the London Stock Exchange Group Plc for US$685 million in cash following a strategic review of the unit. The transaction includes Citigroup’s fixed-income analytics platform, The Yield Book, and indexes including the World Government Bond Index, the New York-based bank said in a statement on Tuesday. The ...

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