Markets: Predictions that the Federal Reserve will defer any tapering decision to 2014 gave risk assets a boost in Asia. (Financial Times)
Russia signalled on Monday that it was ready to offer loans to help bail out Ukraine's struggling economy, as the two countries' presidents prepared for talks. Senior Ukrainian officials said talks had been under way with Moscow on loans of at least $10bn, in return for asset sales to Russia, in a move that could intensify the geopolitical tug of war between Moscow and the EU for influence over Ukraine. (Financial Times)
Singapore's exports, excluding oil, fell 9.3 per cent in November compared to the month before. And analysts had forecast the city state's overseas sales would record a 2.8 per cent gain. The reason for the disappointing trade performance was a hefty 47 per cent decline in shipments of pharmaceuticals products. (FastFT)
Zions bank becomes early Volcker casualty: One of the first casualties of the Volcker rule is a small Utah-based bank that is far from the large Wall Street institutions that regulators had sought to rein in. Zions Bancorp said on Monday it would no longer be able to hold certain types of securitised debt as it seeks to comply with the Volcker rule, raising concerns about the cost of the new regulations to smaller banks. (Financial Times) (WSJ)
"U.S. securities regulators are seeking more than $1 million in fines and other payments from Fabrice Tourre, the former Goldman Sachs trader found liable for defrauding investors... In a filing submitted Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge to impose a penalty of $910,000 on Mr. Tourre. The regulator also is asking that Mr. Tourre repay gains of $175,463 as well as $62,858 in interest." (WSJ)
"The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is moving to force overseas financial firms to comply with certain U.S. rules... The CFTC is preparing to say that multiple rules developed by the European Union and five other jurisdictions governing so-called swaps aren't strict enough, clearing the way for the CFTC to impose its regulations on much of the $693 trillion global swaps market, the official said." (WSJ)
Boeing intends to increase its dividend by 50 per cent to 73 cents and ask investors to approve up to $10bn of share buybacks, the commercial jet maker said on Monday, calling the move a mark of confidence in its own future. (Financial Times)
Scandal-hit RSA has been dealt another blow after S&P cut its credit rating on the FTSE 100 insurer to its lowest level in more than a decade, from A to A-, and warned another downgrade could be on the cards. (Financial Times)
GlaxoSmithKline is to scrap individual sales targets for its commercial staff as it seeks to repair its image and reform working practices in the wake of allegations in China that its staff paid officials up to $500m in bribes -- the UK-based company is to eliminate bonuses linked to the use of its medicines by prescribers visited by its sales representatives. Instead, in a first for the drug industry, it says its pay awards will be linked to improved patient care and company-wide performance. (Financial Times)
The chief accountant for China National Petroleum Corp has been "summoned to assist in an investigation" into high-level corruption, according to Chinese news reports, in an apparent widening of a probe into Asia's largest energy company. Wen Qingshan, the chief accountant at CNPC and chairman of CNPC subsidiary Kunlun Energy, was summoned to assist in the investigation in recent days, the influential Chinese magazine Caixin reported. (Financial Times)
KKR, the private equity group, has agreed to buy KKR Financial (KFN) in an all-share deal that values the NYSE-listed corporate debt investor at $2.6bn. (Financial Times)
Court dismisses Cooper Tire appeal: "Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s legal battle to hold its would-be buyer, India's Apollo Tyres Ltd., to the terms of their $2.2 billion merger took a hit on Monday when a Delaware court dismissed Cooper's appeal." (WSJ)
"Iceland's central bank said on Monday it will begin selling just over 100 billion crowns ($8.6 bln) worth of bonds held against assets and claims left with it as the nation's banks collapsed during the global financial crisis." (Reuters)
COMMENTS & CURIOS
In conversation with Haruhiko Kuroda (Financial Times)
While Abe is morphing from manager to commander-in-chief (Financial Times)
Israel's public paranoia masks private complacency (Financial Times)
One side of the currency manipulation argument (Financial Times)
Fed to alter 'stress tests,' make own recession scenarios in 2014 (WSJ)
Architects of UK banking reform believe job is only half-finished (Financial Times)
What's a politician worth? (WSJ)
CDU's 'Crown princess' enters main arena of German politics (Financial Times)
Comcast weighs three options for Time Warner Cable deal (Reuters)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +145.28 (+0.96%) at 15,298
Topix up +6.64 (+0.54%) at 1,230
Hang Seng up +69.39 (+0.30%) at 23,184
US markets
S&P 500 up +11.22 (+0.63%) at 1,787
DJIA up +129.21 (+0.82%) at 15,885
Nasdaq up +28.54 (+0.71%) at 4,030
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +15.63 (+1.26%) at 1,258
FTSE100 up +82.24 (+1.28%) at 6,522
CAC 40 up +60.17 (+1.48%) at 4,120
Dax up +157.10 (+1.74%) at 9,164
Currencies
€/$ 1.38 (1.38)
$/¥ 103.00 (103.01)
£/$ 1.63 (1.63)
€/£ 0.8436 (0.8442)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.06 at 109.35
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.17 at 97.31
100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,246
Copper (Comex) down -0.01 at 3.37
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.87%
UK 2.90%
Germany 1.84%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.13bps at 62.65bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -0.6bps at 78.41bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -4.02bps at 313.77bp
Markit CDX IG -0.62bps at 69.37bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
