Clegg hired
Facebook's new friend
Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg has been hired by Facebook (US: FB) as vice president of its global affairs and communications team. Several executives have left Facebook this year as the social media website has faced allegations about election meddling and the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Sir Nick told the BBC that he has spent the last few years working with politics and technology, and said he hopes to help Facebook work better with governments and regulators. The former Liberal Democrat leader started the role immediately and will soon move to California.
HSBC heads east
China listing
It looks like global bank HSBC (HSBA) will become the first foreign company to trade on the Chinese stock exchange as part of plans for a link between the London and Shanghai markets. The London-Shanghai Stock Connect will allow global investors to buy and sell shares in Chinese companies, while investors in China will have access to stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange. HSBC would become the first batch of Chinese Depository Receipts, which are a tradable security that reflects underlying shares listed somewhere else.
CAKE still sweet
Petition denied
Patisserie (CAKE) announced that the winding up petition against Stonebeach Limited, the company's principal trading subsidiary, was dismissed by the High Court. In a separate statement Patisserie said that it is investigating why the grant of options to chief executive Paul May and chief financial officer Chris Marsh in 2015 and 2016 have not been appropriately disclosed and accounted for in its financial statements. The company’s shares are still suspended from trading at 429.5p, although a £15.7m share placing at 50p per share took place last week.
Barclays numbers
On the defense
Barclays (BARC) used its third-quarter results to defend its strategy to focus more on investment banking. Chief executive James Staley said the company’s corporate and investment bank “outperformed peers again in markets” with income from the division up by nearly a fifth. Barclays was an adviser on three of the largest M&A deals done over the period. The bank has been under pressure from activist investor Edward Bramson, who has a 5.2 per cent stake through Sherborne Investors, to give up on pursuing investment banking and instead return money spent on its expansion to shareholders.
Brexit blues?
The FRC wants to know
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Britain’s accounting watchdog, has written to all UK-listed companies urging them to avoid basic mistakes in their accounts, and to disclose more information about the impact of Brexit on their business. The FRC’s annual review of corporate reporting and governance found 15 companies that were required to correct their financial reporting during the period, up from two in the previous year. The watchdog announced it would launch a major project that would consider whether annual reports are fit for purpose.
UK rail
Boom and bust
A survey carried out on behalf of the Railway Industry Association found that 99 per cent of senior executives polled agreed that there were noticeable peaks and troughs in rail funding from the UK government. This “boom and bust” spending had pushed 61 per cent of those surveyed to freeze hiring and 45 per cent to stop investing in their own organisation. Nearly all respondents urged the government to do more to smooth its spending schedule. The survey covered 120 senior executives in the rail business.
Astra shines
Drug success
AstraZeneca (AZN) announced that its cancer drug Lynparza has successfully halted the progression of ovarian cancer in patients with a BRCA-mutated gene. Trials found that the disease had not progressed in 60 per cent of newly diagnosed women with the particular mutation who had taken the medication, compared with 27 per cent who received no medication. This is the first time a gene therapy has improved the chances of progression-free survival for patients who had not previously been treated. Last year AstraZeneca reached an agreement with US drugmaker Merck to collaborate in developing and commercialising the medicine.
The yield curve for US Treasuries has flattened further over the past week. A yield curve should normally slope upward, with a higher yield for longer maturity dates.
This is meant to compensate investors for the risks associated with holding the asset for a longer period of time, since a longer maturity date gives central banks more time to make changes to interest rates.
When the yield spread between bonds with short and long-term maturity dates begins to narrow, investors are no longer compensated for holding the long-dated asset. This tends to be an indication that traders are concerned about the long-term economic outlook.
