BREAKINGVIEWS

CLSA exodus leaves owner Citic with an empty shell

20 June 2019READY SOON

The brokerage's star analysts are being poached by rivals like Credit Suisse and Jefferies. They take with them much of the brand value China's Citic Securities paid $1.3 bln for in 2013. Such mergers are always tough. But the state-owned group missed opportunities to do better.

Potash makes better sense for BHP than shale

20 June 2019

The miner is weighing whether to press ahead with a $20 bln Canadian project, its most significant investment in years. BHP shareholders, scarred from past blunders, are understandably wary. There may be a case, though, that potash will be more like iron ore than fracked oil.

Fed gives data one more chance

19 June 2019

The U.S. central bank held rates steady, though no longer says it’s patient. Policy setters are up against weaker global growth, trade worries, more dovish signals from Europe and Japan, market hopes of rate cuts and Donald Trump’s brickbats. The tension may last only six weeks.

Apple’s march from China is long and inevitable

19 June 2019

The idea of the iPhone maker shifting 30% of production elsewhere may concentrate minds as the U.S. and China square up in trade talks. Such a move would take years. Detroit and London show economic clusters rarely implode. But they can erode, and the process is hard to stop.

Second front opens in Vivendi’s Italian campaign

19 June 2019

Silvio Berlusconi’s plan to create a 4 bln euro pan-EU broadcaster from Mediaset could mute the influence of its French media rival in the new group. Vincent Bolloré’s firm, which may also be diluted by Rome in Telecom Italia, is getting a taste of its own cooking in Italy.

Gender pay gap deserves GAAP accounting

19 June 2019

Alphabet is the latest to oppose a shareholder call for it to report the difference between median male and female pay. Many companies publish data by job categories to deny sexism, but that sidesteps a lack of women at the top. Fuller numbers would help get at the real problem.

Schwarzman’s Oxford gift widens UK university gulf

19 June 2019

The Blackstone founder is giving 150 mln pounds to the 900-year-old institution for a humanities centre bearing his name. Oxford and other top universities already outspend less prestigious peers. Weaker players will have to borrow more to keep up, increasing their vulnerability.

Acacia and Barrick pay price for Newmont escapade

19 June 2019

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow won’t sweeten his offer to minority investors of the Tanzanian gold miner. A small raise could defuse the damaging stalemate. But after an expensive and failed tilt at Newmont, Bristow is under pressure to be seen to defend his shareholders’ interests.

Nordic banks’ soft regulators invite U.S. wrath

19 June 2019

Shares in Danske and Swedbank have fallen sharply due to concerns about American probes into money laundering. A $900 million fine by Dutch regulators helped ING escape U.S. ire for similar breaches. Laws limiting penalties in Scandinavia mean banks there may not be so lucky.

Gloating over Hong Kong distracts Taipei

19 June 2019

President Tsai Ing-wen made an unlikely political comeback largely thanks to unrest in the financial centre that rallied anti-Beijing sentiment. But the island’s citizens are unlikely to glean any economic benefit from Hong Kong’s pain. Tsai’s reform to-do list remains too long.

Ontario gives succor to Hudson’s Bay activist

18 June 2019

The Canadian province’s pension plan has ended a deal to sell shares to the retailer’s chairman at the same price he is now bidding for the whole company. That suggests common ground with investor Jonathan Litt, who says the buyers can pay more than the $1.3 bln offered so far.

Wells Fargo needs more than a new CEO

18 June 2019

There are obstacles to getting an external replacement for interim chief Allen Parker. But getting Wells Fargo back on course is more than a one-person job. The answer might be to keep Parker on, sandwiched between an executive chair and a seasoned second-in-command.

Facebook throws down crypto-gauntlet to critics

18 June 2019

The social network’s poor track record on privacy makes it an unlikely creator of digital money. Yet it boasts 2.4 bln users and has enlisted some of the biggest names in tech and finance as partners. The new currency, Libra, is a bet that Facebook’s trust problems are overblown.