EMEA
Qatar's leverage over banks is on the wane
Doha still has an appetite for financial investments but its targets no longer depend on the Qatari bankroll. Capital is plentiful. The terms of the sovereign fund’s punts on Russia’s VTB and Deutsche Bank suggest the emirate may have to lower its return expectations.
Apple tax fight needs global response
The tech giant followed the law, but its aggressive use of Irish subsidiaries to reduce tax payments fails the smell test. Ireland comes off as an unscrupulous tax haven, while the U.S. government looked the other way. It’s time for a new international deal on corporate taxes.
Securitisation may have found a way to rehab
Can one crisis solve another? Securitisation could help small companies. That slicing and dicing of credit risk also caused the last credit boom. Getting it moving fast would require support from the ECB and governments, and the belief that past mistakes won’t be repeated.
"Balance of shame" holds key to ENRC fate
An independent board committee has rightly rejected a lowball bid for the miner from its three founding oligarchs and the Kazakh government. Whether a higher price can be extracted depends less on ENRC’s prospects than on how much the bidders are willing to pay to save face.
Vodafone's drab results are a sideshow
Analysts expected little from the mobile giant’s results. They got it. EBITDA is under pressure, an annual dividend increase is gone, and Southern Europe is hurting badly. The main driver of the share price remains hopes of action at U.S. joint venture Verizon Wireless.
Erdogan keeps keys to Turkey's long-term future
The economy is shining after a decade of stability and reform under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party. A peace deal with Kurdish militants could be the key to ensuring that he stays in power beyond his current term, while Turkey continues to rise.
FirstGroup cash call shows deleveraging imperative
The rail and bus operator is raising $1 bln to stave off a ratings downgrade. The chairman is leaving. Debt may be cheap, but too much is still a constraint. With equity markets rising, this won’t be the last over-geared firm to seek to restructure its balance sheet.
-
Hugo Dixon: UK should get on front foot with City
-
Widened EU bonus cap looks more like a net
-
Hollande gets serious on Europe - at last
-
Morrisons' click with Ocado makes M&A less likely
-
Glencore should just name Ivan Glasenberg chairman
-
Oil probe shows the slippery nature of prices
-
Thomas Cook turnaround can travel on in style
