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☆ EU executive to outline gas price 'correction mechanism' on Friday -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose a gas price "correction mechanism" to the 27 EU states on Friday, a measure aimed at easing price spikes but not the firm cap sought by many countries, according to sources and documents seen by Reuters. The European Union has been in a tug of war over a gas price cap, with a dozen-or-so member countries calling for various versions of such a measure to cut prices amid an acute energy crunch that is driving record-high inflation. But Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, the Netherlands and the EU executive Commission say a cap would risk putting off suppliers and reduce incentives to bring down gas consumption. The Commission told EU countries that a "comprehensive hard" cap on TTF, Europe's main natural gas futures market used as the benchmark price, would all but fail to lower prices while also drawing legal and supply risks, according to an EU diplomat. An EU official said the Commission - at a closed-door meeting with 27 national envoys starting at 0800 GMT on Friday - would outline thinking around a "market correction mechanism" instead, which would amount to "a price corridor" on TTF.

☆ Germany's economic 'wise ones' less pessimistic than govt on looming recession -source
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Germany will not face as severe a recession next year as currently predicted by the government, according to the so-called five "wise ones" who advise Berlin on economic policy. The advisors see Germany's economy shrinking by 0.2% in 2023, versus the official forecast of a 0.4% contraction, a person familiar with their annual report told Reuters on Tuesday. The economic advisory council is also slightly more optimistic about 2022 in its annual report, set to be released on Wednesday and first reported by Spiegel weekly. The top income tax rate should be raised or an energy solidarity tax imposed on high earners, the advisors said in their annual report, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Such measures would "increase the accuracy of the overall package and signal that the energy crisis must be overcome with solidarity", Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted the annual report as saying.

☆ Foxconn electric vehicle alliance plans boxy three-seater
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Sarah Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Foxconn-led (2317.TW) electric vehicle consortium MIH announced plans on Tuesday for its first car, a boxy single row three-seater which it hopes will be popular with one-child families in Asia. Betting on strong demand in Asian markets for smaller electric cars, MIH Consortium plans to build its first car, which it calls Project X, in 2023 and start mass production the following year, though no customers have been confirmed, the company said. "Build your own vehicle with Project X," Cheng said, referring to the car's modular design. MIH is eyeing not only Taiwan, but also India, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan as prospective markets for the three-seater. "The American market tends towards large cars," Cheng told reporters, adding that this model would suit a single-child family.

☆ Turkish bankers fear regulatory burden will reverse profit boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Ebru Tuncay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Bankers forecast a very tough 2023 and beyond for earnings and lending, several of them told Reuters. Their share of outstanding loans has fallen to 29%, compared to 46% for state lenders that have increased their dominance in recent years. Other bankers said the regulations and rising costs have interfered with basic credit extension and could lead banks to cut operational costs. Authorities "tied the fate of the banking sector to state lenders with the recent regulations. Still, other sources close to the state lenders said these concerns are exaggerated given exporters, the focus of Erdogan's programme, are easily getting credit.

☆ Germany's economic council less pessimistic than govt on looming recession -Source
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The five-member economic advisory council sees Germany's economy shrinking by 0.2% in 2023, versus the official forecast of a 0.4% contraction, a person familiar with their annual report told Reuters on Tuesday. The council is also slightly more optimistic about 2022 in its annual report, set to be released on Wednesday and first reported by Spiegel weekly. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said the panel of advisers envisaged inflation of 7.4% next year. The top income tax rate should be raised or an energy solidarity tax imposed on high earners, the advisers said in their annual report, according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Such measures would "increase the accuracy of the overall package and signal that the energy crisis must be overcome with solidarity," Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted the annual report as saying.

☆ UK bond turmoil leaves smaller pension schemes with longer-term costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Carolyn Cohn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

As pension funds scrambled for cash to meet margin calls, the Bank of England intervened to stabilise the market and avoid the collapse of some LDI-exposed funds. But pension schemes that could not meet margin calls in time - many of them smaller schemes - had their positions liquidated by LDI fund managers. Larger schemes in segregated funds were more likely to have retained their hedges, industry sources said. Large schemes in segregated funds pay lower fees for more volume - a benefit small schemes cannot enjoy. LDI fund managers BlackRock (BLK.N) and Insight Investment did not respond to requests for comment.

☆ GSK's blood cancer drug fails main goal of trial, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Pushkala Aripaka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Data calls into question existing drug approval -analystsGSK in talks with health authorities, other trials continuingShares fall 3%Nov 7 (Reuters) - GSK's (GSK.L) blood cancer drug Blenrep failed the main goal of a late-stage study designed to show it was better than an existing treatment on the market, the company said on Monday. In April, the company agreed to buy U.S. drug developer Sierra Oncology, gaining access to its main experimental drug for a rare blood cancer and complementing GSK's Blenrep. In the trial, Blenrep was compared with a combination of pomalidomide and low doses of the steroid dexamethasone. Pomalidomide was developed by Celgene, now part of Bristol-Myers Squibb , and was approved in 2013 as a treatment for multiple myeloma. The drug belongs to a promising category of treatments called antibody drug conjugates, which are engineered antibodies that bind to tumour cells and then release cell-killing chemicals.

☆ Euronext Italian arm to become group-wide clearer from end 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Pan-European stock exchange Euronext (ENX.PA) said on Thursday that customers will be able to clear all share trades at its Italian arm from the end of 2023, a move that ends reliance on a London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) unit in Paris. "This is the first milestone in the transformation of Euronext Clearing to create the Euronext clearing house of choice for its cash equity markets," Euronext said in a third quarter trading statement. Clearing in Euronext credit derivatives will follow in 2024. As many are likely to shift stock and derivatives trading to Italy given efficiencies from using one location. Earlier this week, Deutsche Boerse's Eurex Clearing offered payments to buy-side customers who relocate derivatives clearing from London in 2023 in anticipation of the EU legislation.

☆ Factbox: Companies count the cost of ditching Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

INDITEX (ITX.MC)Zara owner will book a provision of 216 million euros after agreeing to sell its Russia stores to UAE-based Daher Group. TRATON (8TRA.DE)Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) truck division Traton in September said disposing of some assets in Russia would cause a 550 million euro loss. CREDIT AGRICOLE (CAGR.PA)Credit Agricole provisioned more than 500 million euros related to its Russian exposure in Q1. LINDEThe world's largest industrial gases company's exit from Russia recorded impairments of $993 million from its Russia exit. SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)The Munich-based engineering and tech firm said in May it would take a 600 million euro hit in Q2 for exiting Russia.

☆ Three of China's largest lenders report over 6% rise in third quarter profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People stand at a booth of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Three of China's largest lenders posted third quarter profit rises of over 6% as non-performing loan ratios shrunk. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) (601398.SS), the world's largest commercial lender by assets, said net profit rose 6.8% year-on-year in the third quarter in a Friday filing. All three lenders posted slight falls in non-performing loan ratios in the third quarter. Both ICBC and AgBank posted NPL ratios of 1.4% for the end of September compared to 1.41% at the end of the quarter before.

☆ Dead body found at Frankfurt airport in undercarriage of aircraft from Tehran
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Oct 28 (Reuters) - A dead body was found in the undercarriage of a Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) aircraft that arrived at Frankfurt airport from Tehran on Thursday, German daily Bild reported. The discovery was made by workers after the passengers of flight LH 601 had left the aircraft and the A340 had been moved to a hangar for maintenance. Frankfurt police was not immediately available for comment. The incident comes amid widespread unrest in Iran, ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who was detained by the Islamic Republic's morality police for "improper attire" and died in police custody. Reporting by Paul Carrel; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Abu Dhabi geo data firm Bayanat draws bumper demand for IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Bayanat, an Abu Dhabi-based provider of geographic data and analytics, said on Thursday it drew robust demand of 57.5 billion dirhams for its IPO. Bayant is offering 22.22% of its share capital at 1.1 dirham per share, valuing the stake at 628.6 million dirhams ($171.15 million). AI firm G42, which is backed by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, will continue to own 77% of Bayanat. In the same year, Mubadala took an undisclosed stake in G42, which is chaired by the UAE's national security adviser. Dubai Islamic Bank was lead manager, First Abu Dhabi Bank was lead receiving bank and International Securities was the lead placement agent on the IPO.

☆ Trinidad gets to work on design of small LNG hub to feed the Caribbean
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationPORT OF SPAIN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned gas company has started work on designing a small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub that could help the Caribbean move away from oil-based power generation, the firm told Reuters. LNG producers in Trinidad have ramped up supplies to Europe this year amid buoyant demand and high prices. LNG to be handled by the plant will be sourced from the Atlantic LNG project. NGC said it will continue selling the fuel to customers in other regions and will evaluate the feasibility of LNG shipments via ISO containers that can be loaded onto feeder ships, or via small LNG carriers if economical. For shipments via LNG carriers, regasification terminals will be required at destinations.

☆ Google Play in EU antitrust sights as Android fine appeal pending
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google's Google Play Store is the target of an EU antitrust investigation, the company said in a regulatory filing, a move that could expose the U.S. tech giant to another billion-euro fine. Over the last decade, Google has incurred 8.25 billion euros ($8.24 billion) in EU antitrust fines following three investigations into its business practices. The European Union antitrust watchdog declined to comment. Separately, Google said on Thursday it will appeal its record 4.1-billion-euro EU antitrust fine at Europe's top court after a lower tribunal threw out its challenge last month. The company can only appeal on matters of law to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union.

Pappas, 27, an aspiring actress, says it is not the dividend young people hoped for after a ravaging debt crisis and a decade of austerity. He attributes the surge in rents mainly to "an overly depressed market during the (debt) crisis." Loan-to-values on mortgages have dropped to 70-75%, from more than 100% before the debt crisis. Banks' caution underpins financial stability but could also keep young working people off the property ladder for decades. Officials expect about 10,000 young couples aged 25-39 will benefit from the programme offering 1% interest on loans up to 150,000 euros.

"Policy stability is absolutely critical," Miles Celic, chief executive of finance lobby group TheCityUK told Reuters. Finance chiefs want Sunak to balance spending on infrastructure with easing immigration policy for skilled workers and investing in education, Celic added. Sunak confirmed on Tuesday that he was keeping Hunt as his finance minister, after he was appointed late in Truss' brief premiership to shore up confidence in Britain's finances - and tear up much of her planned tax-cutting agenda. Britain's 164 billion pound ($185 billion) financial industry was largely locked out of directly serving EU customers after Brexit. Any moves to extract more tax from banks are likely to be met with industry opposition.

☆ UK financial watchdog proposes rules to stamp out 'greenwashing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Trillions of dollars have flowed globally into investments touting their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, but rules on what constitutes ESG are patchy. The market for UK-listed responsible investment funds grew 64% in 2021 to reach 79 billion pounds ($89.34 billion), the Financial Conduct Authority said. "Greenwashing misleads consumers and erodes trust in all ESG products," said Sacha Sadan, director of environment, social and governance at the FCA. "This places the UK at the forefront of sustainable investment internationally." It said it was stepping up checks on sustainable products and enhancing enforcement.

☆ BOJ, BoJo, Beijing and bond bounce
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A surge in Japan's ailing yen from 32-year lows later on Friday, amid reports of out-of-hours Bank of Japan intervention in New York, saw a peak-to-trough drop in dollar/yen of almost 4%. There were wild swings again on Monday amid suspicion of further BoJ sales, even though officials refused to confirm the action. A weekend of political twists from Beijing to London only added to edgy market on Monday. China leadership China's Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term on Sunday and introduced a top governing body stacked with loyalists. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HSI) has now underperformed MSCI's broadest global stock index by almost 50% over two years.

☆ Qatar energy chief says oil and gas trade should be depoliticized
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Saad al-Kaabi, the head of Qatar's state-run energy company, said on Monday all oil and gas trade should be depoliticized, calling for policies to move away from sanctions and anti-free market agreements. The Group of Seven countries agreed last month to cap Russian oil sales at an enforced low price by Dec. 5. The European Commission also last week proposed its latest set of emergency measures to tackle high energy prices, but steered clear of an immediate cap on gas prices as EU countries remain split over the idea. More than 15 EU countries, including Italy, Poland, Greece and Belgium, have called for an EU gas price cap, but disagree on its design. Germany and the Netherlands warn capping gas prices could leave countries struggling to attract fuel from global markets during a winter with scarce Russian supply.

☆ Philips to cut 5% of workforce as new CEO acts to counter falling sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Tosterling Bart H. Meijer | Bart H. Meijer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

AMSTERDAM, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Philips' (PHG.AS) new CEO announced plans on Monday to cut around 4,000 jobs following falling sales and after a massive recall slashed around 70% off the Dutch medical equipment maker's market value in the past year. The company said it expected the reorganisation to cost around 300 million euros ($295.41 million) in the coming quarters. Philips is in talks with the U.S. Department of Justice on a settlement following the recall. Comparable sales dropped 6% to 4.3 billion euros in July-September as Philips said supply chain problems were worse than anticipated and would continue to weigh on sales in the last months of 2022. Jakobs said his top priorities were repairing the company's reputation by ensuring the recall is completed as soon as possible, and resolving the supply chain problems.

☆ Google sets up high-tech school at Israeli University
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) and Israel's Reichman University have set up a school to train high-tech professionals, offering courses in computer programming, sales and data analysis among other subjects, the university said on Monday. Israel has a vibrant high-tech sector but a severe shortage of skilled tech workers has led to tens of thousands of unfilled positions. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We believe that a variety of voices, opinions and perspectives enriches Israeli high-tech and its developments," said Barak Regev, managing director of Google Israel. Courses are being rolled out over the next few weeks and students completing courses at the school will earn credit towards a degree, the university said. In the first half of 2022, Israeli tech firms raised nearly $10 billion in investments, according to the Israeli Tech Review.

☆ Retailer Zara under fire in Israel over event for far right candidate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Labor Party leader and Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli said that she will no longer shop at Zara in Israel due to the event, local media quoted her as saying. Trimera holds the Israel franchise for Zara, which operates 24 stores in Israel and 1,800 globally. Zara is owned by Spain's Inditex, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Schwebel and Zara described the event as private, declining further comment. While not confirming the campaign event, Ben-Gvir said Schwebel faced "a boycott based on his political background".

☆ China property stocks rise after easing of share financing rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Aly SongSHANGHAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - China's property shares jumped on Friday after state media said authorities will ease share financing rules for certain real estate-related firms, fuelling hopes of more measures to aid the struggling sector. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will allow certain companies with small property interests to raise money by selling A-shares, but the proceeds cannot be invested in the real estate business, China Securities Journal reported. For eligible companies, real estate must not be their core business, and should not contribute more than 10% of their profit, according to the article. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterChina has barred its property firms or property-related firms from financing via the domestic A-share market since end-2018, including both IPOs and additional or follow-up share sales. "The move aims to better support real financing for firms and stabilise the broader economy," said Liu Shui, an analyst at China Index Academy.

☆ Bosnian woman marks 100th birthday by staging her own art exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nada Rudan, a 100-year-old self-taught Bosnian painter, speaks with a journalist during an interview in her home in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 20, 2022. "I don't know what boredom means, I don't know what depression means, I always find something to do," she says. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterHer independent spirit, good health and love of travel help. After her husband died in 1999, Rudan visited the United States, central America and numerous European countries, and those journeys inspired many of her paintings, such as a volcano in Hawaii or pyramids in Mexico. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Under the law, which took effect this week, companies must share with authorities users' information if they post content constituting crimes, including misleading information. Social media companies are required to appoint Turkish representatives. The law has mainly been criticised for imposing jailtime on social media users and journalists spreading "disinformation", but it also builds on legislation imposed on social media companies in 2020, with much tougher measures. "I think (the law) is like a wish list - they put whatever they can think of in there," Akdeniz said. "There is an attempt to regulate social media platforms that could be a model law for authoritarian regimes."

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