Frontrunning: November 18

• Security jitters drive European investors back to safe havens (Reuters)
• Global Anti-ISIS Alliance Begins to Emerge (WSJ)
• Merkel says cancelling soccer match was 'responsible' decision (Reuters)
• Paris attacker may have had accomplice on journey through Balkans (Reuters)
• Drop Assad demands if you want to unite against Islamic State: Russia to West (Reuters)
• Putin sets up commission to combat terrorism financing (Reuters)
• Turkey Detains IS Suspects En Route to Germany, Anadolu Reports (BBG)
• Xi says China’s economy resilient, ample room for manoeuvring (AP)
• LinkedIn’s Hoffman: Half of Tech ‘Unicorns’ May Not Succeed (BBG)
• Sky Upgrades TV Service to Fend Off Rivalry From Netflix, BT (BBG)
• World's Worst Currency Rout Turns Norway Prince Into Fishmonger (BBG)
• As stock buybacks reach historic levels, signs that corporate America is undermining itself (Reuters)
• El Nino Is Causing California Power Prices to Spike (BBG)
• Fear Spreads as China's Finance Firms Face Arrests (BBG)
• Yahoo a new target in NY daily fantasy sports probe: source (Reuters)
• From Berkshire to Zurich, Here's What Insurers Lost on Tianjin (BBG)
• ConAgra Foods to split into two public companies (Reuters)
• Asset Managers to Face Scrutiny Over Costs, Value in FCA Study (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Federal prosecutors are actively pursuing criminal cases against executives from Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC  and JPMorgan Chase & Co for allegedly selling flawed mortgage securities, people familiar with the probe said, as the clock ticks down on bringing cases from the 2008 financial crisis. (on.wsj.com/1NCG0Jz)
   
- Timothy J Sloan was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Wells Fargo & Co on Tuesday, putting the long-time executive in line to take over the world's biggest bank by market capitalization. (on.wsj.com/1NCG3VK)
   
- France's Air Liquide SA agreed to pay $10.3 billion for U.S.-based Airgas Inc, which produces cylinders of gases used in manufacturing, food production, health care and to fill helium balloons. Air Liquide highlighted the complementary businesses of the two companies, in a statement. (on.wsj.com/1NCGiQD)
   
- Wal Mart Stores Inc's U.S. sales edged higher last quarter as changes in stores helped the retailer attract some of the shoppers who have skipped other chains in recent months. Sales at the retailer's existing U.S. stores rose 1.5 percent in the third quarter, the fifth-straight quarterly gain after a long stretch of declines. (on.wsj.com/1NCGkb7)
    
- Federal securities regulators are looking more closely at whether U.S. mutual funds have proper procedures in place to accurately price shares of private technology companies, according to people familiar with the matter. The Securities and Exchange Commission in recent months has been asking more questions of large fund firms about how they value startups and whether their process ensures an accurate estimate of a company's worth, the people said. (on.wsj.com/1NCH3sS)

NYT

- Gawker.com, a site that pioneered the knowing, irreverent tone that has come to define web journalism, will switch from covering New York and media, as it has done since its founding in 2003, to focus on politics, according to a memo sent to the staff on Tuesday. (http://nyti.ms/1Ll1bhj)

- Martha Stewart has ditched eBay Inc, taking her American Made store to Amazon.com Inc's Handmade marketplace, as the e-commerce giant flexes its muscle in the burgeoning online market for handcrafted goods. (http://nyti.ms/1Ll1ite)

- Greece and its international creditors said on Tuesday they reached an agreement on the country's next round of economic changes, a deal that is meant to unlock as much as 12 billion euros ($12.77 billion) in loan money. (http://nyti.ms/1Ll1kkN)

- Lyft, the ride-hailing start-up, is seeking to raise new capital, four people briefed on the round said, as Uber Technologies Inc, its larger rival, also ramps up conversations with investors about another private fund raising. (http://nyti.ms/1Ll1AAq)

- Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd said on Tuesday that it sent an offer letter to Norfolk Southern Corp, proposing a merger that would reshape the North American rail industry. (http://nyti.ms/1Ll1FEc)

FT

UBS is to buy Santander Private Banking (SPB Italia), a unit of Spanish bank Santander in Italy which manages 2.7 billion euros in assets, the Swiss banking group said in a statement on Tuesday.

Monsanto Co. is evaluating whether it should acquire agrochemical rivals, including Syngenta AG, Monsanto's Chief Operating Officer Brett Begemann said on Tuesday. This comes less than three months after the U.S. company abandoned a $46 billion hostile pursuit of the Swiss group.

British bank Barclays Plc could face another $100 million fine by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) over forex market practices, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the case.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has called it "inappropriate" for BT to bill part of the cost relating to its acquisition of EE to its Openreach division.

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided new detail on his plans to shift the country's military mission against Islamic State, stating that the number of Canadian Forces trainers on the ground will be larger than the current contingent of 69 soldiers. (http://bit.ly/1N8CJau)

** A Foreign Affairs spokeswoman has said a Canadian was injured during the Paris attacks on Friday. Diana Khaddaj says in an email that Canadian consular officials in Paris are in contact with the family of the Canadian and are providing assistance. (http://bit.ly/1Mz0liN)

** Premier Kathleen Wynne is defending her government's secret C$3.74 million ($2.8 million) in payments to teacher unions as simply the price of securing labor peace. In an interview in Beijing at the end of a week-long trade mission in China, Wynne said the province's negotiations with teachers were "a successful process" and the financial status of the unions and the government is not "germane to the issue." (http://bit.ly/1SztKNw)

NATIONAL POST

** The federal government is walking away from a legal battle over attempts to strip Canadian citizenship from dual-nationals convicted of terrorism offences. (http://bit.ly/1Szu9zr)

** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was hailed for naming as many women as men to cabinet and for his matter-of-fact justification of gender parity: "Because it's 2015." But now Trudeau's government is being asked to put its money where its mouth is as city councillors in Montreal and Toronto call for the addition of a Canadian woman to the country's banknotes. (http://bit.ly/1QJkpo0)

** Canada's largest pipeline company Enbridge Inc confirmed it laid off 500 people on Monday and would not be hiring for an additional 100 unfilled positions. (http://bit.ly/1SzueDx)

China

SECURITIES TIMES

- China's four major state-owned banks - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank - lent 35.69 trillion yuan ($5.60 trillion) in October, 65.6 billion yuan less than September, which was the first decline in their total loans since 2009, according to the central bank.

- The average revenue of listed companies on National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) board, known as New Third Board, increased 13.65 percent year-on-year, much higher than the growth in small and medium enterprise (SME) board and ChiNext, said Wang Juanfeng, Deputy General Manager, NEEQ.

NATIONAL BUSINESS DAILY

- Yirendai, subsidiary of CreditEase company, presented an Initial Public Offering prospectus in the U.S. on Tuesday, saying it planned to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, seeking $100 million financing. It may become the first domestic P2P company to list outside China.

21st CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD

- The trading volume in exports and imports during January to October this year dropped 8.5 percent as compared with last year, with imports down 15.7 percent and exports down 2.5 percent, according to General Administration of Customs of China.

- China's investors conducted external non-financial investment in 152 countries and regions between January and October, with a total value of $95.21 billion, up 16.3 percent year-on-year, according to General Administration of Customs of China.

CHINA DAILY

- The U.S. is doomed to fail in its designs by instigating ASEAN countries to challenge China's maritime rights in the South China Sea, said an opinion piece, written by deputy director of a State Oceanic Administration-linked marine affairs institute.

Britain

The Times

The extent of the crisis in Britain's supermarket sector was laid bare yesterday when Asda suffered another plunge in sales and warned that the country's food market had "changed permanently". (http://thetim.es/1HX1Gy7)

The Bank of England's much-delayed report into the failure of HBOS is expected to paint a damning picture of the lax regulation of the boom years. (http://thetim.es/1HX1Mpu)

The Guardian

The City of London skyline is to be dominated by a newcomer after the latest version of a tower formerly known as the Pinnacle or Helter Skelter received the green light from planners. (http://bit.ly/1HX1XAZ)

Air passengers have failed to show up for flights to and from France after the Paris attacks, but people's desire to travel will override fears, Carolyn McCall, easyJet's chief executive said, as the budget airline announced record annual profits. (http://bit.ly/1HX28we)

The Telegraph

Britain will stop burning coal for electricity within a decade and build a new fleet of gas power plants to keep the lights on, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd is expected to announce today. (http://bit.ly/1NClWqJ)

Baidu, the biggest search engine in China, is working on an internet banking venture to cater for the country's rapidly growing online customer base, in a move that could rival non-bank financial services set up by fellow tech giants Alibaba and Tencent. (http://bit.ly/1SWS5hd)

Sky News

Every company in Britain could become the target of a cyber attack as Islamic State terrorists ramp up their efforts to take their campaign online, George Osborne has warned. (http://bit.ly/1HX2ZwQ)

The publisher of so-called lads' mags Zoo and FHM has announced its intention to close down both titles at the end of the year. Bauer Media said it was taking the decision because of the shift in habits towards online media - despite both titles having a digital audience of over five million. (http://bit.ly/1HX3cjL)

The Independent

Lego has teamed up with a French branding company to 'invent' some slippers to save parents from one of the nastier pains associated with raising children: the moment you step on a tiny lego brick. (http://ind.pn/1HX5DTr)

Comments

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