- Greek Banks Under Pressure (WSJ [33])
- France Seeks Eurozone Stability Package (FT [34])
- Germany Dashes Eurozone Expectations (FT [35])
- Geithner Says European Leaders Know They Must Do More (Bloomberg [36])
- In Athens, Party Aims to Delay Austerity (WSJ [37])
- Rajoy Battles ECB for Loans; Monti Appeals for EU Action (Bloomberg [38])
- Nokia Slashes 10,000 Jobs, Cuts Outlook (WSJ [39])
- H-1B Visas Hit the Cap, Sending Companies to Plan B (Businessweek [40])
- Swiss National Bank Vows to Defend Currency Floor (WSJ [41])
- Euro Crisis Deeper With Moody’s Downgrading Spain, Cyprus (Bloomberg [42])
- Yuan Steady After Central Bank Raises Fixing by Most in a Week (Bloomberg [43])
- When all else fails... Truckers As Leading Indicator Show Stable U.S. Economic Growth (Bloomberg [44])
Overnight Media Summary
FT
BANKS BOW TO EU OVER LIMIT TO BONUSES
Bankers' bonuses across the European Union are set to be limited by law, with many bank lobbyists admitting in private that they have lost the fight against a European Parliament initiative to limit the size of bonuses relative to salary.
FRANCE SEEKS EURO ZONE STABILITY PACKAGE
France is pressing the EU to adopt a financial stability package to stem the euro zone crisis, believing negative market reaction to the 100 billion euro ($125.74 billion) bailout of Spain's banks shows the need for more comprehensive action.
JPMORGAN CHIEF BLAMES EXECUTIVES
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, told a congressional hearing on Wednesday he was unaware the bank's chief investment office was accumulating large losses because he was "assured" by his top executives there was only an "isolated, small issue".
AMAZON AND GOOGLE TO COMPETE FOR DOMAINS
Amazon and Google are set to go head-to-head in a battle to own the potential successors to .com, as the Internet undergoes a "Big Bang" of domain names that will see the introduction of hundreds of new web suffixes.
UK'S CAMERON CLEARS WAY FOR HEATHROW U-TURN
British Prime Minister David Cameron has paved the way for a U-turn on building a third runway at Heathrow airport, amid signs that Downing Street is cooling to the idea of building a new hub in the Thames Estuary.
WPP INVESTORS REJECT SORRELL PAY PLAN
Shareholders in WPP have delivered one of the biggest investor rebukes over executive pay in UK corporate history, voting down the board remuneration policies of the advertising group in protest at the rewards offered to chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell.
BLAIR CALLS ON GERMANY TO STAND BY EURO
Tony Blair has delivered a stark warning of a popular backlash against austerity policies in the euro zone ahead of this Sunday's re-run election in Greece.
CABLE TO UNVEIL REVISED EXECUTIVE PAY PLANS
More details have emerged of British business minister Vince Cable's watered-down proposals to give investors more power over executive pay as Labour hailed the "blossoming" of shareholder activism on the issue.
UK'S OSBORNE TO ADOPT VICKERS REFORMS
British Finance Minister George Osborne is to vow to stop problems created by the financial services industry from threatening ordinary taxpayers as he sets out plans for a reform of British banking.
WSJ
* U.S. lawmakers interrogated JP Morgan CEO Dimon in a much-anticipated and sometimes-heated exchange after the bank registered more than $2 billion in derivatives losses.
* Big money managers and Wall Street banks are laying the groundwork for a new marketplace for corporate bonds, an effort that highlights the heft of large investors and the impact of new rules limiting bank risk-taking.
In recent weeks, senior traders at investment managers and big Wall Street banks have been discussing how the financial industry can set up a centralized electronic market that would let all participants trade bonds freely with one another, according to people involved in the talks.
* Comcast Corp's NBC wrapped up its prime-time ad-sales deals for the coming TV season, negotiating slightly more money than it did last year despite continued weak-ratings performance.
The Peacock network took in about $1.8 billion in ad commitments in the so-called "upfront" ad market, up from roughly $1.7 billion in last year's upfront, according to a person familiar with the matter.
* An ex-partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP has accused the former leaders of the bankrupt law firm, once one of New York's largest, of running a "Ponzi scheme" that used money invested by new partners to enrich themselves and others.
* England's Premier League, one of the world's most popular soccer organizations, said that two companies agreed to pay £3 billion ($4.67 billion) for the U.K. broadcasting rights to three years of live matches, 69% more than broadcasters paid for similar rights in 2009.
* Some investors are buying shares in developing economies again, encouraged by steps central banks from Brazil to China are taking to boost growth.
* Online video companies are ramping up their lobbying of lawmakers and regulators, but their adversaries-traditional cable-TV companies and Internet-service providers-have far deeper pockets on K Street.
* To combat a thriving black-market in greenbacks, Argentina's government has taken to deploying tax inspectors with dollar-sniffing dogs and widely publicizing its busts of street money changers.
* As Mitt Romney hops among battleground states to highlight U.S. economic woes, he keeps knocking against dissonant voices from his own side: Republican governors touting recent turnarounds.
NYT
- Despite his firm's multibillion-dollar trading loss, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon navigated the Senate Banking hearing on Wednesday with relative ease, deflecting tough questions and fielding softball inquiries.
- In final statements in the trial of the former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, prosecutors tried to connect the dots among reams of evidence, but defense lawyers said they could not substantiate any wrongdoing.
- With Jamie Dimon out of the picture, there may be an opening for least-hated banker in America, and Lloyd Blankfein appears to be applying for the title.
- Google proved to be one of the more ambitious applicants for new top-level domain names, applying for Web addresses with extensions like .google, .youtube, .goog and .plus.
- As middle-class society deteriorates, many Greeks fear that elections on Sunday will offer no clear route out of a deepening political and economic crisis.
- Time Inc, once the magazine industry's most ardent opponent of selling subscriptions through Apple, will make all of its magazines available via Apple's newsstand, the two companies said Wednesday.
- Felda Global Venture Holdings has successfully raised $3.1 billion by selling shares in Malaysia in the world's second-largest initial public offering this year after Facebook's botched Nasdaq listing last month.
- Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, the prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, filed its legal response Wednesday to the sex discrimination charges made last month by junior partner Ellen Pao.
Hong Kong
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
- Cai Jinyong, chief executive of Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities, a Beijing-based investment banking joint venture, is expected to retire in the next couple of months to pursue personal interests, according to two industry sources.
- Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said Beijing will likely announce measures to help Hong Kong, which is feeling the impact of global stock market volatility and a worldwide economic slowdown.
- Listing candidate Huadian Fuxin Energy, the clean-energy arm of state-owned power generator China Huadian Group, is considering issuing corporate bonds and shorter-term notes to fund its future development, said the board secretary Liu Lei.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
- The government's inflation-linked bonds (iBonds) have attracted orders of as much as HK$50.2 billion, more than five times the HK$10 billion on offer, and almost three times more than the previous issue, a government spokesman said.
THE STANDARD
- Mainland developer and decoration services provider Richly Field China Development said its chairman He Guang was arrested in April. He will assist police in an investigation into a misleading announcement in the company's 2009 annual report.
TA KUNG PAO
- Hong Kong will need the local currency's peg to maintain itself as an international center for financing and investment, said Chief executive Donald Tsang, added that the government has no intention to change the linked exchange-rate system.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
- Opposition members say the effects of a federal budget bill that is in its final stages in the House of Commons will be felt by Canadians for years to come and will serve as a stark reminder of Conservative tactics when the country next goes to the polls.
Report in the business section:
- The Canadian housing market is on the wrong side of the ledger in a survey of global housing prices for the first time since 2008, down 2 per cent from the same time last year when adjusted for inflation as stricter borrowing rules and fading demand cool the market.
NATIONAL POST
- Quebec government lawyers are defending a controversial protest law that is being challenged in court, arguing that it should remain in effect.
Lawyers representing student federations, unions and other groups are trying to get parts of Bill 78 - parts that pertain mainly to public protest - temporarily suspended.
FINANCIAL POST
- The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in a report released Wednesday, says resource development - primarily in Western Canada - is causing an economic imbalance in the country.
European Economic Summary
- Eurozone CPI -0.1% m/m 2.4% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus -0.2% m/m 2.4% y/y. Previous 0.5% m/m 2.4% y/y.
- SNB 3-Month Libor Target Rate 0.00% – in line with expectations. Consensus 0.00%. Previous 0.00%.
- Spain House Prices ToT Homes -5.0% q/q -12.6% y/y. Previous -4.2% q/q. -11.2% y/y.
- Netherlands Retail Sales -8.7% y/y. Previous 2.2% y/y. Revised 2.4% y/y.
- Italy General Government Debt 1948.6B. Previous 1946.1B. Revised 1946.2B.
- Greece Unemployment Rate 22.6%. Previous 20.7%.
- Germany Wholesale Price Index -0.7% m/m 1.7% y/y. Previous 0.5% m/m 2.4% y/y