- Tsipras Braves Parliament on Aid as Greek Outlook Worsens (BBG [29])
- European markets rise before Yellen speech, Greek vote (Reuters [30])
- China’s Growth Beats Economists’ Forecast as Stimulus Kicks In (BBG [31])
- China stocks drop again, positive data shrugged off (Reuters [32])
- Yellen intensifies Republican outreach amid Fed probe, Senate bill (Reuters [33])
- Iran deal holds both promise and peril for Hillary Clinton (Reuters [34])
- Iranians Party Into the Night as Khamenei Backs Accord (BBG [35])
- U.S. Chamber calls for long list of reforms for SEC enforcement program (Reuters [36])
- Apple's Lack of Sales Data Raises Flags About Demand for Watch (BBG [37])
- China’s Bid for Chip Giant Signals Lofty Ambitions (WSJ [38])
- Nasdaq Ditches Plan to Tinker With Its Closing Auction in U.S. (BBG [39])
- La-Z-Boy Adjusts to More Than Recliners (WSJ [40])
- BlackRock’s Latest Fix for Bond Trading Is Circumventing Banks (BBG [41])
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* For all the talk of Iran's business potential after sanctions are lifted, the Islamic Republic has a long and well-earned reputation for being a difficult place for companies of any stripe to operate. (http://on.wsj.com/1L8i3gR [42])
* Toshiba Corp President Hisao Tanaka and several other executives are likely to step down soon over an accounting scandal involving profit inflated by more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the situation. (http://on.wsj.com/1I174oU [43])
* The IMF questioned the ability of Greece to deliver on promised bailout overhauls and warned in its starkest language yet that Europe must commit to debt relief to ensure the program will work. (http://on.wsj.com/1CFR7SJ [44])
* Consumers and businesses chastened by the recent recession are paying back their debts more regularly than they have in more than a decade. On Tuesday, banking giants JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo & Co both said the percentage of loans they couldn't collect was close to zero in the second quarter. J.P. Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon even went so far as to call customers' credit quality "pristine." (http://on.wsj.com/1K6ErnN [45])
* China's growth remained at 7 percent in the second quarter, a level economists had deemed unlikely, amid broad signs that Beijing's policies to jump-start the economy had yet to take hold. (http://on.wsj.com/1SmbUwz [46])
* A Chinese state-owned company's proposal to buy Micron Technology for $23 billion signals China's growing ambition to become a technology superpower. (http://on.wsj.com/1I21yR9 [47])
* As Mexico opens its oil industry to competition for the first time in nearly 80 years, several Mexican businessmen have helped create homegrown oil companies to compete with former state monopoly Pemex. (http://on.wsj.com/1ObSDx9 [48])
FT
According to British bankers, Apple, which launched Apple Pay Service on Tuesday in the UK, gets lesser money per transaction for the service in UK than it receives in the US.
IAG has gained European Union antitrust approval for its 1.4 billion euro ($1.54 billion) bid for Irish carrier Aer Lingus after agreeing to make concessions to ease competition worries, the EU Commission said on Tuesday.
European refining company Ineos is close to a settlement with Chinese state-owned oil group Sinopec. Inoes announced last year that it would take Sinopec to court over an intellectual property dispute.
The Bank of England's governor, Mark Carney, said a rise in interest rates in UK is nearing, but any increases in the cost of borrowing will be limited.
NYT
* Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-owned company that is China's top chipmaker, is preparing a $23 billion bid for Micron Technology, the United States maker of memory chips, according to a person briefed on the matter. However, in a report released on Tuesday, Credit Suisse said the deal was "highly unlikely to get past U.S. regulators who are increasingly viewing semiconductors as a strategic industry." (http://nyti.ms/1M9wH7M [49])
* The International Monetary Fund threatened to withdraw support for Greece's bailout on Tuesday unless European leaders agree to substantial debt relief, an immediate challenge to the region's plan to rescue the country. (http://nyti.ms/1M9wP7l [50])
* A technical disruption that closed down the New York Stock Exchange for three hours last week, has brought attention to the slew of job cuts that took place ever since Intercontinental Exchange Inc took over the stock market in 2012. In a little more than a year, ICE shed 800 jobs, or about 40 percent of the work force at NYSE-Euronext, the New York exchange's parent company. (http://nyti.ms/1GkRWve [51])
* Four months after his proposal to merge with General Motors was rejected, Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , said Tuesday that he had no plans to make another offer. (http://nyti.ms/1GkS3Hc [52])
* Biotechnology company Celgene Corp agreed on Tuesday to pay $7.2 billion in cash to acquire Receptos , which is developing a potentially promising drug for autoimmune diseases. Celgene will pay $232 a share, a 12 percent premium to Receptos's closing price on Tuesday. The deal was announced after markets had closed. (http://nyti.ms/1GkS7GL [53])
* Shares of Twitter Inc briefly spiked after an article that appeared to come from the Bloomberg News website contended that the company had received a takeover offer worth $31 billion. (http://nyti.ms/1GkSfpQ [54])
* Verizon Communications Inc is adding Vice Media's youth-oriented entertainment content to its roster of programs that will be available on its mobile-first video service that is expected to start this year. (http://nyti.ms/1GkSjG2 [55])
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** A government-appointed panel of legal experts has tabled a series of reform proposals to modernize Ontario's business legislation, including a recommendation to remove the province's requirement to have at least 25 percent Canadian residents on boards. (http://bit.ly/1Ma386a [56])
** Canada's national energy regulator has ordered Spectra Energy Corp to correct a series of "management system failures" following more than two dozen safety and security incidents at its Canadian plants and facilities since 2014. The National Energy Board issued a safety order to the Houston-based pipeline and midstream company on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/1Ma1ph4 [57])
** A coalition of groups representing consumers, seniors and anti-poverty activists is calling on Canada's telecom regulator to force industry players to expand access to high-speed Internet for low-income households and those living in rural areas. (http://bit.ly/1Ma1AZL [58])
NATIONAL POST
** Oxford Park Group, a Toronto-based investment firm that buys into companies with an eye to working with management, has acquired more than 5 percent of the outstanding shares of Extendicare Inc. Oxford Park officials said in a statement on Tuesday that they had "initiated discussions with the management" of Extendicare. (http://bit.ly/1Ma1TDQ [59])
** Telus Corp has agreed to sell the Blacks.ca website and related app business to a Montreal-based company that sells photo prints, calendars, posters and similar products. Telus didn't disclosed the terms of sale, but said the deal was set to close on Aug. 4. (http://bit.ly/1Ma2BAV [60])
** National Public Relations is buying Equicom, an investor relations and financial communications firm owned by TMX Group Ltd. The transaction, which builds on the public relations firm's financial communications business in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal, includes a multi-year referral agreement with TMX Group. (http://bit.ly/1Ma2God [61])
Hong Kong
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Staff shortages are threatening the quality of services for the elderly as a survey has found a third of physiotherapist jobs in nursing facilities are lying vacant. A survey by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service found almost 34 percent of the physiotherapist positions in 174 elderly services units remained unfilled. (http://bit.ly/1CCLu81 [62])
-- Beijing has exempted Hong Kong accountants from a controversial rule that bans overseas auditors from working on the books of mainland companies. Raphael Ding, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said the city's auditors would still be banned from taking work documents out of the mainland. (http://bit.ly/1M4C1Iy [63])
-- Cargo volume at Cathay Pacific Airways remained flat last month as a worrying downward trend continues in the global market. Mark Sutch, Cathay's general manager for cargo sales and marketing, said growth in the cargo markets had been softening and the trend continued in June. (http://bit.ly/1DfwmrW [64])
THE STANDARD
-- The lead-contamination scandal has spread to two more public housing estates, with at least 6,500 households now having to fetch water amid growing health fears. Water samples taken at Kwai Luen Estate in Kwai Tsing and Shui Chuen O Estate in Sha Tin were found to contain excessive lead. (http://bit.ly/1Jgme4o [65])
-- Fewer than 20 percent of retailers are looking to hire managers in the second half of this year, down from 47 percent at the start of 2015, a study has found. Siddharth Suhas, a director with recruitment firm Hudson in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, said it is a shift from expanding business to maintaining headcount as employers are conservative in the current economic climate. (http://bit.ly/1Sm4lpq [66])
-- Hong Kong is the sixth richest place in the world in terms of GDP per capita, according to Global Finance magazine. It placed Qatar as the "richest" country. Second is Luxembourg, followed by Singapore, Norway and Brunei. Hong Kong was ahead of the United States, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Australia in the top 10. (http://bit.ly/1gAIOxK [67])
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- Chinese Estates Holdings said it would sell three property projects in China's Chengdu and its investment in a Shanghai investment advisory services firm to Evergrande Real Estate Group for HK$6.5 billion ($838.56 million). The Hong Kong developer said it expected to record HK$1.15 billion gain from the disposal.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- China Communications Construction Co Ltd said its parent bought 200,000 A-shares of the company in Shanghai for 3.3 million yuan ($531,503.67), raising its stake to 63.8 percent.
Britain
The Times
UK INFLATION RETREATS TO ZERO IN JUNE
According to the Office of National Statistics, inflation in UK has dropped back towards its lowest rate in more than 50 years, as summer fashion sales and the supermarkets' food price war took its toll on prices. (http://thetim.es/1TBanFp [68])
BBC BOSSES TELL TORIES TO KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF AS WAGE BILL HITS 1 BLN STG
BBC bosses have launched a stinging counter-attack against government attempts to limit the corporation's remit and funding, though figures show that its wage bill increased to almost 1 billion stg last year as staff numbers and presenter salaries rose. (http://thetim.es/1HJqyIm [69])
The Guardian
LORD GREEN ADMITS HSBC SHOULD HAVE CONDUCTED TOUGHER CHECKS ON SWISS ARM
The former HSBC Holdings PLC boss Lord Green has admitted the bank should have made more stringent checks before buying its Swiss private banking arm, as he apologised for failures at the disgraced UK-based bank. (http://bit.ly/1Ht6nBj [70])
OSBORNE RESISTS USE OF UK-BACKED EU FUND FOR GREEK EMERGENCY LOAN
Europe is split over whether Greece could be offered an emergency loan from a central EU fund in a move that could require around 850 million stg of financial support from the UK. George Osborne, the chancellor, is furiously opposing the idea, saying it is a "non-starter". (http://bit.ly/1V0ct37 [71])
The Telegraph
BRITAIN'S BANKS FACE 40 BLN STG BILL AS A RESULT OF GEORGE OSBORNE'S EXTRA TAXES
Britain's banks are facing a 40 billion stg decade-long tax headache as a result of industry specific levies imposed by the Chancellor. (http://bit.ly/1M9g2RC [72])
IMF STUNS EUROPE WITH CALL FOR MASSIVE GREEK DEBT RELIEF
The International Monetary Fund has set off a political earthquake in Europe, warning that Greece may need a full moratorium on debt payments for 30 years and perhaps even long-term subsidies to claw its way out of depression. (http://bit.ly/1IYOw7B [73])
Sky News
POUND UP AFTER MARK CARNEY RATE HIKE COMMENT
The value of the pound against the dollar has jumped by more than one cent after the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, suggested the time for a rise in interest rates was getting closer. (http://bit.ly/1M9gijy [74])
CITY BOOSTS BRUSSELS PRESENCE AS POLL LOOMS
The City of London Corporation has initiated a process to recruit a prominent figure who will serve as a senior representative for London's financial services sector during a crucial period for Britain's European Union (EU) membership. (http://bit.ly/1TAGmpd [75])
The Independent
GREECE DEBT CRISIS: GREEK GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL SAYS TSIPRAS 'WILL NOT RESIGN' AFTER PARLIAMENT VOTES ON THE BAILOUT PACKAGE
A Greek government official has said that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will not resign after agreeing to a bailout package from EU leaders, despite speculation that he would after the parliamentary vote on the tough plan. (http://ind.pn/1MsmW1x [76])