Twilight zone
Global economy fear
Analysts at Morgan Stanley have reiterated their concern that the global economy could remain stuck in a 'Twilight Zone' for most of next year as low growth dominates. But the situation could worsen rapidly if policy-makers fail to act decisively in the US and Europe in the coming months. If the US is allowed to tumble over the fiscal cliff and the European Central Bank fail to shore up the eurozone through interest rate cuts and bond purchases, the global economy could experience a 2 per cent contraction next year, and the US economy is at risk of suffering three-quarters of contracting growth.
Eurohope?
Greek aid stalls
The latest in a long line of eurozone crises was kicked down the road again this week when the eurogroup meeting of finance ministers failed to agree on the release of the next tranche of bailout funds for Greece. The decision has been deferred at least until the next meeting on Monday, 26 November. Meanwhile, concerns flared up elsewhere when France suffered the ignominy of a second ratings agency downgrading its AAA debt rating. Moody's had put France on alert earlier this year when Standard & Poor's was the first agency to downgrade France.
Rogue trader jailed
Seven-year stretch
Former UBS trader Kewku Adoboli has been given a seven-year jail sentence after being found guilty of the biggest fraud in UK corporate history. Mr Adoboli will serve at least half his sentence minus one year already served. The judge in the case criticised Mr Adoboli's gambler mentality which led him to trade recklessly with his employer's funds, running up a loss of more than £7bn at one point, which he managed to claw back to a £1.4bn deficit when he finally admitted his situation to colleagues.
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Regional deal
The Daily Mail & General Trust has concluded a long-mooted deal to offload its Northcliffe regional newspapers arm, although the Daily Mail publisher will retain a 38 per cent stake in the Local World vehicle. Also taking a 20 per cent stake is rival publisher Trinity Mirror along with various financial investors. Local World will have 16 daily regional papers and 76 weekly titles as well as associated websites. Northcliffe chief executive Steve Auckland reprises his role at Local World, with former News of the World editor and Trinity Mirror chief executive, David Montgomery, as chairman.
Borrowing blow
UK tax take falls
The improving trend in the UK's finances came to a juddering halt in October, according to the latest statement of public finances. Public sector net borrowing ballooned to £8.6bn last month, up £2.3bn from the same month last year. In aggregate, this means that public borrowing in the first seven months of the fiscal year is running £5bn ahead of the previous year. The biggest concern is that corporate taxes are down 9 per cent on the previous year. Meanwhile, the National Audit Office on Wednesday warned that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance schemes which are leaching more than £10bn from the economy.
Glenstrata ok
Merger approved
The shareholders of mining giant, Xstrata, and commodities trader, Glencore, finally gave their approval for the proposed merger between the two this week after months of wrangling. But Xstrata's management was dealt a blow when a generous executive retention scheme was voted down as part of the same process. This will fuel fears among some investors that a raft of Xstrata managers may leave the company once the merger goes through, leaving the management of Glencore, who are all drawn from a trading background, running a company which will derive 80 per cent of its revenues from mining.
