Fed facelift will provoke frowns on Wall Street 1 Dec 2021 Former CFPB boss Richard Cordray’s mooted candidacy to lead supervision at the U.S. central bank signals a tougher watchdog. A return to qualitative stress tests, which banks used to complain were too onerous, is likely. Lenders lobbying lawmakers have only least-bad choices.
Vaccinating the world is a worthy but elusive goal 1 Dec 2021 Ensuring all rich and poor countries are fully jabbed is the best way to stop Covid-19 variants. The cost of lockdowns makes it an economic necessity. The challenge, as South Africa shows, is getting needles to people, and persuading them of the benefits. That may take years.
Bondholders are biggest losers in telco LBO frenzy 1 Dec 2021 Telecom Italia’s bonds fell on fears that the securities may not be redeemed if KKR’s $37 bln buyout succeeds. The M&A boom has made unexpected targets of large public companies. Even when investors enjoy stronger protections, as with UK rival BT, these offer limited solace.
UK’s Facebook slap-down raises bar for US watchdog 1 Dec 2021 Britain’s antitrust body told the social media giant now named Meta to sell GIF maker Giphy. Its ruling hinges on a view of how the online ad market will evolve, not what it’s like now. CEO Mark Zuckerberg can appeal but the order still sets a punchy precedent for Big Tech deals.
UK robot worker M&A ends in value destruction loop 1 Dec 2021 Fund administrator SS&C Technologies will pay $1.7 bln for London-listed Blue Prism, topping a bid from buyout firm Vista. To make a good return, it will have to find huge revenue boosters from selling the target’s automation software. A counteroffer may raise the stakes further.